http://www.sbnation.com/users/razzpunk Posts made by razzpunk on SB Nation http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2008/10/5/628716/playing-tight-and-bad-mojo razzpunk Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:43:39 -0000 <p>I have been a hardcore Cubbie fan since 1984 when I first fell in love with them and then had my heart broken. Do I believe in curses??? Not really. What I do believe is the whole 100 years without a championship and the billy goat curse mystique and the long suffering fans all create a "mojo" or "energy" around this team that puts so much pressure on the team come playoff time that it gets to them and weird, wacky stuff happens when a ballplayer isn't relaxed and focused. I find it hard to believe that the players didn't care about bringing a title to Chicago, in fact I think they cared SO much that they tightened up and could not relax enough to play the kind of winning baseball we saw from them in the regular season. Perhaps what is needed is something or someone that can get them to relax....Manny Ramirez's approach to the game is playful (an irritating to fans of the other team) but I don't think he ever let's the pressure of post season weigh him down and thus you get the results he puts up. Maybe Torre has a way to relax his players and that leads to the post season success. Who knows? But I think if you looked in the faces of the Cubs players even in game one you saw the weight of 100 years of let down fans weighing on their shoulders. I mean what player wouldn't want to be part of the team that lifted the sadness off this organization....they would become practically eternal heroes in Cubdom. Add to that a kind of lurking suspicion in my mind that the mass fan expectation that the bottom will eventually fall out creates a nervous, negative energy in the ballpark which may effect the play on the field. I mean I have my doubts about alot of new age sounding theories but if you get that many people in one place all thinking the same "How are they gonna blow it this time?" thoughts it must create a palpable feeling of dread that sneaks onto the field.</p> <p>How to solve this? I guess we need the players to relax somehow, someway and forget about all those years and how amazing it will be when the team does win again. Rather they should just focus on playing good baseball and forget the expectations. Apparently Lou has not been able to create that kind of attitude yet in the clubhouse (at least in the post season). As for the fan created "mojo" I guess we could all try to get rid of our "we are going to lose" complex and find some way to up the positivity or at the least chase away our nagging doubts.</p> <p>That and a left handed power hitter and a true lead off hitter oughtta do it!</p>