I've been living in Saint Louis for almost 28 years now.  Actually longer than I lived in Chicago.  While I know it would have been smarter to become a Cards fan in 1983, it's just not going to happen.  I, for better or worse, am a life-long Cubs fan.

That being said, I have been watching the Cardinals organization for the last 28 years (probably closer then the Cubs organization) and I have to wonder why the Cardinals can consistently put a competitive team together when the Cubs can't.  During these 28 years, the only back-to-back seasons of losing records was during the strike shortened seasons of 94-95.  They've only had one losing season since the turn of the century.  Why are they able to do this and we can't?