Could This Be the End of the Cubs?

If the Chicago Cubs come back from a three game to one deficit to win the Worlds Series tonight, they will have earned it and then some. Even if there is some Denkenger-esque controversy that denies the Indians the title, the Tribe should have slammed shut the door and never let it come to this. If the Cubs snag their first title in 108 years, I'll be the first to congratulate them.

But are Cubs fans sure that's what they want?

Because if the Cubs win, they're no longer the Cubs.

At least not the jinxed lovable losers everyone outside of Chicago can root for - the bumbling cousins of professional baseball that makes everyone else in the family look good. No, if the Cubs win, no one without a tie to Chicago will care one whit for the Cubs. They'll just be another baseball club.

Sure, they look to keep the momentum going for a few years and the bandwagon in filling up fast, but when they go back to finishing 20 games out (and everyone does sooner or later), what will you be left with?

• Fans that show up in the 4th and leave in the 7th like the Dodgers.
• No one outside of the North Side that cares when Wrigley finally gets torn down and the team moves to Aurora to play in Facebook Field
• A pennant run up the flagpole, yes, but a century of gritty tradition, of baseball as it used to be, of ivy covered walls and bleacher bums flushed down the toilet.

In short, just another cookie-cutter club to be milked by corporate America.

Is that what you want Cubs fans? Because if there's a win tonight, it's not for the ghosts of Harry & Ernie & Ron, it's for you.

Can you live with the result?