It hasn’t been a great weekend for Illinois sports, with the Cubs dropping three straight to the Reds and the Illini going into IU as seven-point favorites and leaving with a 53-point ass-whipping. That was pretty fun to watch, unlike the Cubs in Cincy. As much as I try to avoid meatball takes, I can’t help thinking that the Reds just want these games more.
Winning three straight has the Reds just one game behind the sliding Mets, and the Cubs still have a four-game cushion over the Padres with seven left to play. As I’ve been saying for a while now, the problem with the Cubs isn’t necessarily how they’re playing right now; it’s that continuing to play like they are now will see them bounced quickly when postseason play begins.