The Cubs have carried a curse that would have made King Tut proud, the byproduct of which is a century-old, dust-filled trophy case that now may be filled with the work of this 2016 team.From spring training on, this team has been the favorite, a strange juxtaposition for an organization that for decades carried a suitcase full of preseason predictions that had it set for dead last. This year, grounded by the calm of manager Joe Maddon, the Cubs embraced history and expectations, fueling a chance to redefine the significance of the organizations dance with futility.I was on one team that flirted with legendary emptiness, when in 1997, we started the season 0-14. After loss No. 5, local Cubs media man Dave Kaplan declared he would eat, sleep and shower in McDonalds until the Cubs won. Nine days of his life were spent in fast food hell. The season was not a complete loss; few noticed that we actually played over-.500 ball the rest of the season. But because the season was over before it barely began, I didnt blame anyone for looking ahead to 1998.I was drafted by the Cubs in 1991, so by the time I arrived to Wrigley Field in 1996, I had ingested some of this ancient toxicity. I was not a lifelong Cubs fan, but my minor league tenure made me more than just a hired gun like I was when I returned in 2003. My first introduction to professional baseball life was through the lens of Cubs culture. The tone is often set by the organization that drafts and signs you. Yet in any organization, no matter what has happened or how bad the current team may be playing, the future is just that: the future, a true opportunity to change the narrative with fresh blood and the optimism of youth.Then it got real. Minor league life, at the lower levels, was light-years away from the big leagues. For a while, I didnt understand the enduring pain, the sciatica of devastating defeat that shot down the legs of Cubs fans. But I did understand well that I could be part of the antidote, by looking toward a future of success, albeit hypothetical, since I was not in a major league uniform at the time. I was developing, not producing, which gave me enough Teflon-coated na?veté to dismiss curses. Especially since I was always nice to goats.Then, when I was put on the major league roster, it became real, palpable. Expectations, history, future, it slaps you in the face when you walk in the major league locker room in spring training for the first time (or as a September call-up). As longtime Cubs front-office man Larry Himes would say, You can see and feel the swagger in these locker rooms, it drips off of players. I walked into spring training and saw my jersey hanging next to Ryne Sandbergs, and no matter what the history, no matter how many Strat-O-Matic baseball games I played with Ryno hitting triples for my team, I was here now, imperatively unaware enough to believe I would write my own future as the decade-long center fielder for my Chicago Cubs. After all, as a minor leaguer with a great passion for baseball history, I looked around the room and saw great players, not a cemetery of the damned. Mark Grace (.300 hitter), Shawon Dunston (rocket arm), Randy Myers (lockdown closer), Sandberg (future Hall of Famer). Everyone was awesome, so why not us? Like any other major league team, we had All-Stars, we had first-rounders, we had guys like the late Jessie Hollins who could light up the radar gun. Who could beat these guys? They were the best I had ever seen in one room.So it was a good thing that I, or any young player, didnt have the burden of the past to cloud what my optimism told me about my future and this organizations future. This is the gift of youth, something the 2016 team has despite its ability to play like veterans. As Theo Epstein shared with me before a game last season, If you can find that balance of superior talent and maturity beyond his years, you have a star and winning player, for a long time. He found it in?Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell, Javier Baez?...In 1996, I was called up, a center fielder set to play left field in my debut at Wrigley Field. I was playing a position that was foreign to me to fill a void. A team lesson: Play where you can help this team the most. Bryant?went into 2016 being a super-utility player, not just a third baseman, and he may win MVP because of it. My being out of position did not secure me a long-term future as a Cub because I was a speedy defender who was not going to hit 30 home runs as a corner outfielder. But at least, I was in the lineup.By 1997, I was correct about running into career-development issues, as Cubs GM Ed Lynch would eventually say to me at the end of my .300-hitting first full season. We tried to give the starting job to everyone else but you, and to your credit, you rose above.I would get traded that offseason, interrupting my tenure as a Cub. I learned other team cultures -- the Phillies, the Rangers, even the Yankees in 2004 spring training. All had their own issues and challenges, with various levels of success.By the time I came back in 2003, I had seen a lot; I had experienced different baseball languages and societies. The attention to detail under Buck Showalter in Texas; the lax, full-loving, chill-fest of Terry Francona in Philadelphia; the high-octane, frenetic emotion off the rails under Larry Bowa, also in Philadelphia; the slithering life of the party and confidence-evoking wisdom of Dusty Baker in Chicago; all after Jim Riggleman in Chicago.I was back, but I was a different player, a different person. I had lost my father at the end of 2002; I was down a hamstring tendon from surgery earlier in the year; the evidence was in of what kind of player I was. The future was visible, no longer a dream. Even though it was the same Cubs uniform, 12 years after my first-round draft-pick status from 1991.Yet I had a lot left to play for. Things I didnt understand as a young prospect during my rookie campaign in 1996. Family, my fathers memory, debunking mythology, a second chance at what could have been if I played my entire career as a Cub. Bartman? Curse? No, what we all experience, life and loss, yet still with a chance at rebirth, redemption, honor.My graying in the game forced me to intake more than just the final score of a game. There was too much at stake at that point, and when we lost, I lay motionless in my apartment for 24 hours, trying to reconcile the level of exhaustion with taking the next step into tomorrow. Tired for the city, tired for the organization, tired from sitting on every pitch since I was traded over at the trade deadline in July.Maybe the 2016 Cubs dont know those stories. Player to player. Man to man. And maybe they shouldnt. They have overcome the invisible hurdle that eluded my 2003 team. Closing out a 3-2 lead, playing at home with the rotation set as well as it could be set. Something we could not accomplish behind the elite arms of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.They delivered, and what we instantly come to understand is the necessity of the prior journey. It tastes sweeter after all this time; we now see fine wine in the bottle instead of rat poison adorned with skull and crossbones. It has aged appropriately and better yet, they will celebrate with their teammates and with generations of fans, players and staff who were part of the process that Joe Maddon so often talks about. As Maddon told me when asked if his team were a wine, what kind it would be:A blend. Robust and full-bodied. Complex flavors, well-rounded, with a strong finish.I could never take credit for the success of the 2016 Cubs in any direct sense, but our pain from 2003 has ripened, helping us all reinterpret the events that led to this point. History has been rewritten, or maybe weve just been patient enough to let history become our present. Cheap NFL Jerseys USA . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. http://www.wholesalejerseysnflusa.com/ .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Cheap Jerseys 2018 .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Kevin Porter and defenceman Chad Ruhwedel from the minors as part of a five-player roster shuffle made by the NHLs worst team. NFL Jerseys Cheap . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency.Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane insists his squad must not rest on their laurels after blowing a 2-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Polish champions Legia Warsaw in midweek. Zidanes side return to La Liga action on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 3 HD from 10:55am, at home to Leganes and the former France international wants a more rounded performance from his side.I always think that I have the best squad in the world, but at the same time that is not enough, said Zidane. Only Mateo Kovacics equaliser five minutes from time ensured Reals 27-game unbeaten streak remained intact, as Legia took their first Champions League point for 21 years.We need to go out onto the pitch and always play at our top level for 90 minutes, Zidane added. To be persistent is the hardest thing in football. R Madrid vs Leganes November 6, 2016, 10:55am Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Despite Reals unbeaten run and still enjoying a two-point lead aat the top of La Liga, the club havent kept a clean sheet in 10 games in all competitions.ddddddddddddZidane will once again be without his preferred central defensive pairing of captain Sergio Ramos and Pepe due to injury on Sunday, but called on the whole team to defend better as a unit.It doesnt worry me, he said. I dont like conceding goals and the players like it even less, but it is a question for everyone, not just the four defenders.We can all improve and what I am going to try to do is impose more calm. Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has warned his players against complacency ahead of their league clash with Leganes on Sunday Real have received a big injury boost, though, with the return of Luka Modric after a month on the sidelines due to knee surgery.The Croatia international is likely to start on the bench against Leganes, but Zidane hopes to hand Modric some game time in the second-half.He is in the squad, Zidane said. The idea is that he will have minutes and well see tomorrow. The important thing is that he is okay and has completely recovered.Zidane confirmed Karim Benzema will miss out due to a hamstring problem, so Alvaro Morata will join Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo in attack. Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '