I'm going on record by saying the Cubs will not make the playoffs this year.  I know this will upset a lot of fans (I'm one of them) but I haven't seen enough fire, leadership, or professionalism to make me believe they'll win the division. 

Reason 1

Big Z- We need this guy to perform the way he's capable of and quit complaining about the fans or anything else.  If he was just .500 in his last 6 starts the Cubs would have a 3 1/2 game lead in the division.  He has been the antithesis of the staffs' "ace" and far from a team leader.  He has an 8.00 plus ERA in his last half a dozen starts and has failed to put up a quality start in over a month. 

Reason 2

Our hitting, or lack thereof, and bad, really bad baserunning has become quite comical.  How many mental errors, base-running gaffes can one team make in a single season?  Running through stop signs, getting picked off second, missing the cut off man are regular occurrences for this ballclub.  Oh wait, as I'm writing this DeRosa got doubled up at first base on a line drive.  Great!  

Reason 3 & 4

The Brewers and Cardinals.  Right now both teams are playing much better baseball than the Cubs and seemed poised to over take them this week.  The Cubs haven't beat a good team in a series in a long time.  The Brewers were the last but I wouldn't call them that good.  The central division is just downright awful.  The Cards have overcome quite a bit this year with injuries, deaths, etc.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them take the division from the North Siders since they have something the Cubs don't.....heart.   

I hate to sound this negative, but that's how us Cub fans deal with repeated failures.  All I can think of is a great line from The Princess Bride.  One uttered by the character Wesley.  "Get used to disappointment."  I truly hope my attempt at reverse psychology will mystically start a fire under their proverbial a*ses!!!