Join us » bled one over for the S

CHICAGO -- Greg Maddux was the Opening Day starter in his Braves debut when he beat his former team in Chicago in April of 1993. Cubs fan Dan Lepse remembers it well.Cubs lost 1-0, he said. Coldest I have ever been in my life.Lepse also recalls it was the day he proposed under the Wrigley Field marquee to his future wife Tricia, who immediately ran for the bathroom because it was the only place that had heat.The first person she told we were engaged was the bathroom attendant, he said.Ah, the Cub fan. Much has been said, mocked and dissected in regard to this unique species. Motivated by a deep, often familial and civic loyalty, energized by unbridled and childlike optimism and distinguished by a gnawing and perpetual state of angst, Cubs fans may resemble those from other cities and towns, but its the rare combination of these traits that sets them apart.Psychiatrist and lifelong Cubs devotee Neal Spira would not go so far as to mix business and pleasure and say Cubs fans are a textbook example of any particular psychosis.No, no, not textbook, Spira said. Maybe a paper, though. You could definitely write a paper about the psychology of the Cubs fan.Dr. Leo Weinstein, Spiras colleague at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis, goes back to a central theme of psychotherapy in probing Cubs fans, and the theory that unconscious childhood feelings get expressed in adulthood.It taps into this feeling a lot of us have that things should be fair, that people should take turns and its our turn to win, he said. It also taps into the idea a lot of us believe subconsciously that if you suffer enough, youll be rewarded.Cubs fans have suffered for 108 years, so it only makes sense well be rewarded -- not because our team is good or that Theo Epstein and the front office have assembled a winning team, but because its right. And when [that] turns out not to be true, were upset. People have a hard time giving up that feeling ... but its a problematic way to live your life.Dan Lepse laughs at the prognosis but doesnt altogether dispute it.Lepse is a resident of Seattle, and he became a Cubs fan for life at age 8, when his father took him on a Midwestern baseball swing after their hometown Pilots moved to Milwaukee. On their trip to Wrigley, Seattle native Ron Santo hit a home run, Fergie Jenkins earned the win and a little boy fell in love.This year, Dan and Tricia celebrated their Sandberg anniversary, or in laymens terms, their 23rd. (Ryne Sandberg played as a second baseman for the Cubs and wore No. 23.)In addition to remembering the 40-degree temperatures and the wind whipping off the lake on that day in April 93, Dan also remembers his wife being none too happy with the amount of time she had to wait [for the proposal].But I guess that was the Cubs fan in me, he said. Always leave em wanting more.The couple have three daughters: Sammy (after Sosa), Kerry (after Wood) and Addison (after the street bordering Wrigley). Dan has a Wrigley Field turnstile in his house.And when Lepse interviewed for his current job of sports information director at Seattle Pacific University eight years ago, he told them if the Cubs made the World Series, he would need to take that week off.Lepse would buy a ticket and go see the Cubs by himself during summer visits to his brother in Chicago.I have seen so many things in that ballpark that should have driven me away, things major leaguers should never do, the bad baseball you encountered seeing the Cubs at Wrigley for any number of years, Lepse said. Ive left the park really frustrated. But theres something about going to see a win, even if your team [is] in last place. Thats uplifting. Its not a lost cause.Psychologist and happiness researcher Stephen Schueller likened the addiction and devotion Cubs fans have to their team to learned helplessness.As things replay over and over, its easy to rationalize away a one-year thing, said Schueller, assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern. You fail so often, you feel theres nothing you can do.Youre doomed to fail because youre a Cubs fan. Its a little sad. But Im an optimistic person, so I hope they win and break the curse.Of course, they already have broken the one that extends 71 years, the last time the team reached the World Series, which comes into some conflict with Schuellers study of happiness.Happiness is based on low expectations, he explained. When you have high expectations, a lot has to be delivered to get emotional. The Cubs were always that team you didnt expect to make it. ... But this year, they were a team of destiny and started out the season on such a historic pace, so fans had really high expectations, and thats really dangerous as far as ones emotional impact.A World Series loss could be very tough to take.It will be really hard on people, depending on how it goes, Spira said. If they really fold, I think people will be destroyed. If they go for it, people could feel good about it.Its inconceivable to some that the Cubs traditional cry of Wait til next year would take on a whole new meaning if they win the World Series. In the meantime, that long lost child in every Cubs fan can do little but wait.It has been 108 years [since the Cubs last won the World Series], so its long overdue, Weinstein said. For that reason, the thinking goes, we will win. The worlds magical forces will make the world just.Every year, were just waiting for justice to occur. Brett Favre Youth Jersey . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Randy Moss Youth Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. http://www.authenticvikingspro.com/Adrian-peterson-vikings-jersey/ . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Alexander Mattison Youth Jersey . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Alan Page Youth Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. You could forgive the Warriors for thinking their luck has run out.Twice in the last three matches they have been brought undone by unorthodox field goals; first James Maloney wobbled one over for the Sharks, then Daly Cherry-Evans sent a left-footed shot over the black dot in rain-soaked Perth to give Manly a golden-point win.Despite those couple of tough losses, Warriors coach Andrew McFadden is remaining upbeat.We didnt do a lot wrong, Warriors coach Andrew McFadden said of his sides fruitless efforts to score the winning point.Halfback Shaun Johnson had a field goal effort charged down, while prop Sam Lisone had earlier produced a comical air swing, before Cherry Evans gave Manly the win.Its not like they were any better in setting up (for the field goal), McFadden said.They just made their play, but theres certainly some things we can do that might help us there.Johnson, 25, said his side had failed to tire out the Manly defence with the set of six leading up to his unsuccessful field goal attempt.That enabled Sea Eagles lock Jake Trbojevic to rrush out and block the shot.ddddddddddddHaving those one-out carries to find that spot, it gave the (Manly) boys that were coming up the chance to have a breath, because we werent really moving them, Johnson said.Weve done a bit of work around that yesterday so hopefully, if we find ourselves in that situation again, we can put one over.Were very disappointed to go all that way to come up short like that.McFadden said it was devastating to lose in golden-point again but wouldnt be drawn into criticising the NRLs extra time format.He said his side was now focused on getting back to winning ways against the Raiders in Canberra on Saturday.Theyre the rules and thats what we play to, he said.I think our resilience is building and I think well get over that (defeat) pretty quickly now.The Warriors have also won one golden-point match this season, beating the Roosters 32-28 with a winning try from Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in Round 5. ' ' '