This Saturday, the Chicago Bears will host the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game as the underdogs. At the time of this writing, the Vegas line hasn’t come out yet, so this is just speculation, but no one is giving the Bears a chance. The Monsters of the Midway finished the season with a record of 13-3 and captured the number one seed in the NFC, but according to the critics and sportswriters, there’s no way that the Bears’ recently-struggling defense will be able to keep up with the likes of Drew Brees, Deuce McAllister, Reggie Bush and Marques Coleston. Despite the game being in
And I’m perfectly fine with that. It actually makes me glad. No one expects the Bears to do much of anything, and I couldn’t be happier about that.
No, I’m not playing the oh-so-used ‘disrespect” card. I’m not trying to give the
I know, I know…a
It is…the Curse of Great Expectations.
That’s right…every time there are great expectations put on any of our beloved sports teams, or even the White Sox, that is when their seasons go up in flames. Sometimes the Curse can be held at bay for a few starts, a couple quarters, hell, maybe even part of a season. But just like any evil supernatural force, it’ll get you eventually.
I didn’t start getting into sports until right when I got into high school, but in those 9 years, there’s still enough examples of the curse to fill up a good-sized article (hmm…). Now chances are that unless you’re a complete boob, you may not have had time to pay attention to 5 professional teams over the better part of a decade. Luckily for you, I am, and so I can give you examples of the curse in all of its glory.
Cubs: Although they aren’t the only team in
Despite the loss of Wood and the struggles of role players who had put up career years in 1998 such as Gary Gaetti and Mickey Morandini, the Cubs found themselves just one game behind division leading Astros on the eve of interleague play. The Astros had lost earlier in the night, and everyone expected the Cubs to finish their 3 game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, which would give them a tie for first place, before heading to the South Side of Chicago for a series with the White Sox.
Fate had other plans.
Instead of beating the Diamondbacks, Randy Johnson dominated the Cubs for most of the evening. The Cubs then went into
The next time anything was expected of the Cubs was in 2003. Behind the arms of Mark Prior and a healthy Kerry Wood (what???), the Cubs were the favorites to win the NL Central. When the Cubs clinched their first division title since 1989 on the second to last day of the season, the curse seemed to be defeated. The Cubbies then snuck past the Braves in 5 games and jumped out to a 3-1 series lead over the Marlins. It’s safe to say that with Prior and Wood due to pitch games 6 and 7 if needed, the Cubs were expected to make their first World Series since 1945.
Do I need to go on?
But the Curse didn’t stop there. Possibly as repayment for attempting to break it, the Curse came back with a vengeance in the years after 2003. The Cubs were expected to compete again in 2004 and 2005, and did…for a while. In truly heartbreaking fashion, the Curse waited until late in the season to dash the postseason hopes of the Cubs. Even the individual players weren’t immune. When the 2006 season started, Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee seemed to pick up right where he left off from his 2005 MVP-caliber season. Then a freak injury and family health issues prevented Lee from playing most of the season.
White Sox: Remember the 2000 White Sox? They came out of nowhere to win more games than any other team in baseball. They were heavily favored to win their series over the wild-card Seattle Mariners. The Curse kicked in, and the Sox hit .185 while getting swept by
After winning a World Series title in 2005, the 2006 White Sox were favorites to become the first repeat Series champs since the 2003 Yankees after they brought in Jim Thome in the offseason. The Sox struggled and failed to even make the postseason.
Bulls: I know what you’re all thinking. Yes, we all know that the Bulls of the 1990’s had great expectations put on them, and they came through and wound up winning 6 titles in 8 years. But this doesn’t mean that the Bulls are Curse-proof. The only thing that could keep the Curse at bay for the better part of a decade was the absolute inhuman will to win of the greatest athlete of all time. And because Mr.
And the beat just kept going. In the 2004-2005 season, the Bulls made the playoffs and won their first playoff game against the Washington Wizards in exciting fashion. The Bulls were expected to put away the wizards in 5-6 games, but instead lost a handful of close ones en route to being eliminated themselves 4 games to 2. Making sure that no one has forgotten about it, the Curse has already jumped onto this season’s Bulls, causing them to start out 3-9. Even though they’ve rebounded a bit, don’t overlook their 5-12 road record.
Blackhawks: The Blackhawks have suffered under the Curse of Great Expectations in as much that we expect them to be a professional hockey team every year, and every year, they can’t live up to those expectations.
Bears: Finally, we come to the Bears. My mom always tells me that in the mid-to-late 80’s, the Bears were expected to win at least 2 or 3 more Super Bowls than they actually did. The Curse caused them to draft Cade McNown over Daunte Culpepper, David Terrell over Santana Moss and Deuce McAllister, Reggie Wayne and Todd Heap. The Curse crippled favored Bears squads against
Now the interesting thing is that the Curse has a Reverse. It seems like every great
So let the experts at Sports Illustrated and ESPN.com pick the Saints to run through Soldier Field on their way to
After all, just about everyone picked
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