So it's root, root, root for the Dodgers

All other pop culture malarkey gets put on the back burner today, because the Dodgers (yay!) are playing the Cubs (boo! hiss!) tonight.

It's been a poor couple of decades for the Dodgers. They've gone dry since the Greatest World Series Ever, 1988's Kirk Gibson-punctuated trouncing of the Oakland A's. Despite a plethora of talent, including five (FIVE!) Rookies of the Year in a row in the '90s, the Dodgers have won only one (ONE!) postseason game since '88. Ouch.

Now, I don't need any Cubs fans, or fans of other ball clubs, giving me sob stories about how your guys haven't won a World Series since the Taft administration. Of course they haven't. Your guys stink. We're talking about my guys, the legendary Los Angeles Dodgers. Jackie Robinson! Don Drysdale! Sandy Koufax! Duke Snider! Steve Garvey! Ron Cey! Fernando Valenzuela! Orel Hershiser! Kirk Gibson! The Dodgers are winners, baby, winners! And every year they fail to win is a huge embarrassment. Every year, say, the Cubs fail to win is just another year.

Which makes tonight's game so thrilling. Dodgers vs. Cubs! The Dodgers have a terrible record this year, only six games above .500, the worst record by far of any playoff team, sneaking into the postseason by the grace of the rest of their division stinking even worse than they do. But the Dodgers have a lot of young talent mixed in with some tough veterans, they're on a hot streak, having gone 17-8 in September, including a crucial gut-check of a 12-1 run after losing 8 straight in late August, they've got Joe Torre at the helm, who has a certain amount of experience at guiding clubs to World Series, and, let's face it, if anyone can lose to the Dodgers, it's the eternally jinxed-in-the-postseason Chicago Cubs.

My hopes, I'll admit, are not tremendously high. But as always... you never know! I'm bouncing off the walls in anticipation. Go Dodgers! Play ball!