Now Panic?

I've been out of town and I can't say I'm sorry I have missed the Cubs descent into madness.

Things are not going swimmingly. That's obvious. There is a growing sense of doom here in the Windy City. I am choosing to ignore it. The Tribune has a piece in the Sports Section today with comparisons to 1969.

I understand. Things always happen. Goats , Bartman and the '69 Mets. Who will play this year's Leon Durham or Brant Brown? I can't say I haven't felt that way in years past. This team just doesn't have that feel to me.

The Cubs have lost 7 of 8 and done it every which way but loose. No hitting. Bad pitching. Bad fielding. Big Z and Harden on the bench. Kid K blowing one late. Nevertheless, this team amazingly has a 4 1/2 game lead over the Brewers and a 7 1/2 game lead over the Phillies (the next closest contender for the Wild Card).

I've gone over the remaining schedule already and it isn't pretty. However, it is exactly what this team needs to right the ship prior to the playoffs. They don't need to flail through a soft schedule and flop themselves into the playoffs. They need to harden up (Harden up, too) by playing tough opponents and quality pitching as they tune this engine back up. Despite this mini-slump, the Cubs still lead the NL with 86 victories and are only 1 back of the Angels for tops in the majors. They are still 2 games above .500 away after muddling all year at a below .500 clip for games outside of the Friendly Confines.

This Cub team is a solid group and still have more going for them than the rest of the National League and can match up with the tops in either league. I refuse to feed into the negative mindset after this latest drop in production. This is what baseball is all about. I'm looking for Dempster, Lilly and Harden to reel off three good starts in a row against the Cardinals. The atmosphere will be there and I expect the Cubs to respond.