To me, it's kind of like Pavolv's Dogs. It's a conditioned response. For as long as I can remember in my lifetime, SOMETHING happens to keep the Cubs from winning the World Series--or even GETTING to the World Series. It has at times affected my outlook on life in general, because I'm almost always ready for the other shoe to drop.
1969 was the year that I was sure (although I was still a child), that the Cubs HAD to win it all when they still had a significant lead in the standings in late August, but the other shoe soon dropped and they didn't make the playoffs.
1984 was the year that it was supposed to be a rematch of the 1945 World Series between the Cubs and Tigers, with the Cubs needing only to win one out of three games to get to the World Series, but the other shoe dropped, and they didn't get there,
2003 was the year they were "five outs away" from getting into the World Series--and were favored to do so--but the other shoe dropped and the Marlins scored 8 runs before they made those five outs, and the Cubs lost the next game to not get to the World Series again.
There have been other Cub playoff years in besides those in my lifetime, but in honesty, the Cubs were not FAVORED to get to the World Series in those other years, while they WERE favored by many people in 1969, 1984, and 2003. They made a great run at it in 2015, but they were not the favorites--and they did not make it to the World Series.
In 2016, many people expect the Cubs to make it to the World Series--and maybe win it all. These people include many baseball people who are not necessarily Cub fans.
I truly WANT to be excited. I truly WANT to think they'll win it all. But I can't make myself do it. Maybe a better analogy than Pavlov's Dogs is that I feel like Charlie Brown trying to decide if he will be able to finally kick the football or if Lucy will pull it away once again...
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