BeForE yOu PreSs SenD

Good afternoon, Fam.

I came across an old post from five years ago on Facebook. (By the way, that "On This Day" feature is excellent and a great reminder of what kind of head space we were in compared to now. Very educational!) The post was a message to some friends that happened to be female that were forced to delete me as a friend because the interaction (whether we were talking sports, politics, or entertainment) created a problem for them at home with their significant others. In hindsight, it is funny but sad at the same time.

In today's times, which in this regard, is not much different than back then, social media users use their pages to attack people with veiled messages, accusations, and insults. Guess they forgot to tag the person they intended to target. Their comment section will likely be filled with sad retorts and some form of commiseration. "Yes, I understand, girl. I'm here for you. I got your back, homey. Don't worry about them haters! Blah blah blah!"

That might sound harsh but only because honestly that is fake at its core and a weak attempt to get sympathy from people the poster doesn't even respect or care for at all. See, I'm no expert at social media but I didn't imagine the original intent was to defame or shame people or attempt to elicit guilt through a post the offending party might not even see. (They have 3,000 friends and a job. Their timeline is moving every three minutes or less. They probably won't see your critique and there's a good chance they don't even know how you feel. I'm sorry but you needed to hear that!)

People are pounding away at the keyboard intending to hurt the other person or make them look bad when in all honesty, the sender of these posts almost never looks in the mirror and clearly never considers their part in the dispute. They're wrong. I'm right. Support me with tear faced emojis and make me feel better about this situation. If there is a takeaway I would love for you to get from this is be very careful who you come in agreement with and whose side you jump in on. You work with them. You go to church with them. You know them from high school. But that's not an automatic that you know them. There's a great chance that you are on the losing side. The offending party might know something you don't know about the person you are comforting who has been so "wronged". 

That's the power of social media. You can align yourself with a person and a cause and have no idea what the background is and we ignore the pertinent details necessary to make a quality decision. We just go with the flow even if it takes us over a cliff. We've seen it a million times. We don't have all the facts because the poster of these veiled messages purposely leaves it out.  A great example of this are my friends in several sports groups have seen the obliteration of these first hand because of that very reasons. That's why we can't have nice things! We don't use them properly! Social media is supposed to be for the purpose of communicating. Send. Receive. Encode. Decode. Call. Response. It's really not that hard.

So to all of the folks that feel the need to lash out in anger and try to sully other's reputations simply because playing the victim is easier than dealing with the reality that you're just too into you, if you wanted pity, you have it. I pity you. You don't care who you hurt and your focus is solely on you and that's why your life is probably a lot emptier than it should be. You could be doing so much more for your community, for your family, and even for yourself personally and spiritually but it's more important that you try to build a Lynch mob to support a twisted notion that you have been wronged but you have wronged no one. (I know there are some that have and still are lashing out at me and friends of mines online because we refused to be a slave to the whims of other people. Broken people beget broken people! Massa said we can be free now and we're gonna be free! You're going to have to respect us for us or find a new toy to play with.) 

I don't write this to offend anyone but I would love this to help those someones who use social media maliciously and with a vindictive intent. I've been wrong many times and I probably am now but if being on social media means hurting people with my words and arming myself against them, I'll delete all my accounts and stay gone this time. Thankfully, some of my family and some good friends remind me that this is still a good medium when used correctly.

Maybe one day, the bold and courageous of us will call out these so called victims and shine a light on the victimizers they actually are. They use their timelines to hurt people when all they have to do is pick up the phone and privately (emphasis) share their feelings or admit their faults (yeah, that's rare!) 

Until then, I'll just my little blog and pray and try to be do better. What else can we do, right?

BOrN tO Die

Hey guys,

Quick editorial note: This post is not designed to be informational as it relates to the legalities and the personal situation of Mr. Hernandez or any affiliations or personal relationships connected to him. This is just my attempt (hopefully a successful one) to make us think and evaluate what we see and hear. This isn't an animal at the zoo that we point and laugh at. This is a human being with real issues. Thank you.  

If you're a dedicated fan of the National Football League, then you know and have seen glimpses of the potential talent of one Aaron Hernandez. There were times in his playing days when the Patriots offense looked unstoppable with Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski on the other side. They were a force to be reckoned with for sure. But apparently underneath a wealth of talent lied some serious issues from gang affiliations, violent crimes, and perhaps even multiple double murders. One person related to the NFL considered Hernandez the "ultimate chameleon".

As of April 19th, 2017, Aaron Hernandez was found dead in his Massachusetts prison cell appearing to have hung himself with the bed sheets in the cell. There's some speculation to the cause of death.

The radio waves and on air broadcasts are rife with not only speculation but also with deeper philosophical questions such as "Should we mourn for an alleged quadruple murderer?" to somber sentiments expressing sorrow for his family who is left behind and a perceived waste of an uber-talented potential superstar.

You don't have to love football to get involved in this discussion but I wanted to offer some questions to get some thoughts going?

• In your opinion, does Aaron Hernandez deserve to die for his crimes?
• Was justice served from start to finish?
• If suicide was determined to be the cause of death, do you consider this a cowardly and selfish act?
• Do you believe that Aaron Hernandez was guilty of murder or was he just a really bad person?
• Is it possible to be radically changed by the company we keep or is it solely our choice?
• What would your role be in Aaron Hernandez's life if he were still alive and you were his friend or relative?
• In the court of public opinion, how does one judge if someone is guilty or not? (Be specific)
• How do you honestly feel about the death and life of Aaron Hernandez?

Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts in the comment section. Feel free to add your own questions there also. Have a great day!

ThE hEArt oF a StePfAtheR: BeHinD tHe CuRTaiN

Fam,

You know I shoot straight with you every chance I get. This won't be any different. This book was and is my baby. It is the first true and authentic writing that I have ever done. I've written hundreds of poems, short stories, and a heaping handful of manuscripts, television scripts, movie ideas, and practically most anything you can think of. You name it, I tried to or did write it.

This was my first of its kind. It was not fiction that came from the creative and sometimes off the wall mind of a wannabe author. The way I choose to describe this work is this: This was my literal heart spread out on pages. I took two decades of pain, shame, agony, heartbreak, fear, betrayal, embarrassment, wisdom, courage, inspiration, victory, unconditional love, and personal and spiritual growth and sprawled it out onto 194 pages for the whole world to see. Every person that intentionally screwed me over, tried to get me arrested, wanted me dead, hoped to see my ministry obliterated, left me hanging, turned their backs on me, as well as everyone who was there for me all had a front row seat to the biggest and lowest moments of my life.

I was as transparent as I'd ever been in ever. The only areas that I held back anything in this book was to protect innocent people or to simply to protect my family from going through more than they needed to. My friends that were so happy I wrote a book hid themselves when I needed their support but I kept writing. Some of my family that knew what I wrote was true threatened to harm me or sue me or both. They wanted to destroy me for telling my own story. I would have had more respect if they wrote their own book. It would probably be a best seller because it would have been full of lies. I'm the only fool that writes a book that makes him look bad. LOL.

I was supposed to be happy and excited, not fearful and intimidated. Ha! I was happy and excited and not fearful or intimidated one bit. I'm too stupid to understand that bad things could've happened to me. I ran headlong into this with a reckless abandon. I refused to be denied. I was introduced to the "third largest Christian publisher in the world" and they wanted my book and they wanted it now. Wow. I was giddy and nervous about that.

Long story shortened, they hooked me up with a television appearance on ABC Charleston's "Low Country Live" (I would guess you can still view it online if you care to) and they didn't do one thing since. No promotion. No website until two months ago. No events or book signings. And most egregiously, no royalties after selling hundreds of books. I found out at a book signing I arranged for myself last month that the company closed in January. If you googled them by now, you should be in for a juicy and shocking set of articles. I'm not trying to talk about that here. Read that for yourself.

From the beginning, the company tried to strong arm me and paint me into a corner. Any of my friends know the creative, wildly imaginative, vision-oriented person that I am and when I do something, it's usually out of the box and it's normally unique. It's not cookie cutter. The company wanted me to be in a box of their choosing. They wanted me to fit their narrative and be as vanilla as possible. Hence, the book cover you see before you. No offense to my Caucasian brothers and sisters. This isn't about you but it's more about being pigeon-holed and not being able to be the butterfly you were made to be. I'm positive that you can all relate to being held back when you know you must soar. This was my life but I keep writing and I kept fighting. Trying to get a book signing event, Trying to get likes and re-tweets and comments and just anything that says "Yusef, this book is good".

I got heartfelt letters, tear stained messages, phone calls, home visits, emails, hugs, and every thing an author could need for validation that his work made a difference to someone somewhere. For me, that was more important than any royalty or any financial donation or any support from a pulpit or from the hands of so-called supporters. I knew it made an impact on someone and that was what it was all about. That's why I wanted this book seen. That's why this book had to be written.

I strongly recommend that you don't go to the online outlets and purchase this book unless you are just in need of reading this and want to support the book but please know, I get nothing out of those transactions. I never have. The company in question will profit in some way but I will not. I'm okay with that because I have made my peace. If you can do that, by all means, purchase the book and enjoy the chronicles of my life. I only hope that the book is actually shipped to you. I have heard that people are still ordering but no one is receiving. Just sayin'.

I will be re-publishing this book with a cover and some content of my own choosing. It will be revamped to say the least. If you want to support it, cool. If not, I totally understand. My second book is nearly finished but I can't bring it out of the shadows until this book has completed its intended work. Stay tuned for The Heart of The Stepfather or some version of this name but on a whole other level. Again, I thank you for your support of someone who believes they were born to preach, who believes they were born to teach, but also believes they were born to write books.

Several folks have asked about this and why I started writing and a host of other questions like who was the target of this book and how long it took to write it (which no one believes when I tell them). I'll be glad to answer them all if I can in the comment section. Thank you guys.

wOrTh A tHouSAnd WoRds

Every since blog post on MTWM is designed to create conversation. This is one post that is near and dear to my heart. Enough so that I wrote a book about topics like these and the issues that are associated with them and I still post on this stuff much. I believe it matters that much so with or without the "like", the "retweet", or the "plus one", I have to do what matters and use my voice to make a difference. In advance, thank you to those that support me and support these kinds of posts. Under-served and underappreciated but to all the voices out there that care enough to keep talking...THANK YOU!





Below are two "love" letters that I sent out to my friends on the same day that consist of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. I chose not to post the responses or lack thereof but I'll tell you that it was one of the saddest things I've ever personally experienced since joining social media. And I mean that with all sincerity. Even sadder is that people care even less about it. You be the judge.


Sons, Brothers, and Fathers:

What are you railing against? Who do you toil for? What are you wrestling to attain? It's a foregone conclusion that the world at large sees you as failures and as the cause for most of the historical and biblical mistakes that have occurred. You are needed, cherished, and loved by few but derided and degraded by many. You have the lineage of a king but the appearance of a little child that struggles for acceptance. You have been emasculated, castrated, deceived, and used. The anger and frustration is justified and understandable but not the key to your release from those invisible prison walls.

Inside of you, beneath all of the decades of shame, contempt, and helplessness, lies the bejeweled, royal truth. You are a king. You may not see glimpses of it in your homes, schools, workplaces, or communities. Perhaps not even at the family reunions. But God made you special and He made you with a purpose. You don't have to curse incessantly, threaten, lift your hand in anger, or use earthly weapons to cement your status or position. It is already signed, sealed, and delivered. For the sake of those after you, those that read your posts, that listen to your voice, that love you, honor and respect you, hope and pray more for you, for them, seek that which makes you better and stronger. And forsake that which keeps incarcerated in ignorance and doubt. Your potential is beyond words, beyond your imagination. You are a King. Your kingdom awaits you.




Your friend,

YU




Daughters, Sisters, and Mothers:

I saw your profile picture. Cleavage showing. Check. Boobs perky and visible. Check. Legs waxed and propped up nicely. Check. Caboose looks tight. Check. The atmosphere is set. Check. Everybody that sees it "likes" it. Check. Comments with offers of affairs, marriage, etc. Check. I guess the mission is accomplished.

I just wanted you to know and I hope you always remember when you don't see a like or a comment from me. Doesn't mean you are not valued or beautiful in my eyes. It's because you are that I won't like or comment. You're greater than just a pic meant to stir hearts and loins. I see you as a queen that deserves to be honored and respected but more to the point, that will honor and respect herself. You are God's chosen creation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. A light to the world. Now it's time to shine!

I am always here for you with no strings attached. I think about my daughters, sisters, and mother when I think about you. So you are really special.




Your friend,

YU



A picture is worth a thousand words is not just a cool proverb. It's a whole lot of people's reality. 

ThE lAsT DayS - A PoeM tHaT WoN't rHYme

These are the days when I wonder how my "family" could say they believe the Word but ignore the parts that don't suit their tastes, bias, and preferences.

These are the days when I have to remind myself out loud that I am not perfect and I make mistakes.  

These are the days when I have to check myself to ensure I'm not slipping into judgment.

These are the days when I wonder why the Lord doesn't wipe out certain things that are destructive to His kingdom plans.

These are the days when I am grateful that he doesn't do that or I might not survive either.

These are the days when I question how a brother or sister in the Lord can be so cold, calculating, manipulative, self-serving, vindictive, judgmental, self-righteous, disconnected, heartless, selfish, arrogant, proud, slanderous, willfully blind, controlling, rigid, gossip-loving, dishonest, and just downright ugly.

These are the days when I scurry to check the list and make sure I'm not becoming what I loath. 

These are the days when I cry because I see disaster for my brother and sister and all I can do is pray. They won't return my calls.

These are the days when I am more concerned if they can even hear the Lord anymore. His call is way more important than mines.

These are the days I mourn for people who have left us and went unfulfilled.

These are the days I mourn for people who have big, impressive-sounding titles and are still unfulfilled.

These are the days I get really angry at the countless people that shoved out of our buildings just because they don't meet the cliquish, social club-like standards.

These are the days I just hope and pray that I am not so angry that I obsess over the ninety nine and forget about the one.

These are the days I post stuff like this and wonder how many friends I will lose.

These are the days I press "Send", remembering who really matters at the end of the day.

Signed,
Grateful and Thankful 

#GodIsNotDead #HeCanSeeYou

ThE gOLdEn TicKeT

As long as I read the Scriptures, I found it so difficult to understand why the wrath of God was so harsh in certain situations. It was a conflict for me because I have personally witnessed how loving and kind the Father is. So why did this come through so prevalent in Scripture from end to end? Then it came crashing down about five years back.

Romans 1:18-20 is one of the best locations to see why this wrath is justified but it makes, or it should make, us look at the things we prop up as holy and good in our lives and what value they truly possess.

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.



If you dare to read the next three verses, it gives very basic but general examples of what this type of overt and blatantly defiant behavior looks like then and even in today's times. It's talking about a lot of things such as idolatry, sexual immorality, and the like. This isn't designed to be a religious argument. I don't care to do that just because of what these scriptures highlight. One can make themselves believe whatever they want even if the truth is right in front of them.

Do you know anyone that has the right answers right in front of them but they refuse to accept it because it doesn't fit the narrative or the dream they have mapped out for their own lives? Is that you perhaps?

The damning part of this passage is that the proof is being and has been clearly displayed and have been, as the passage notes, been "made plain". Now the people are without excuse.

Remember Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? I don't know how you took that movie but I was thought it was very, very sad. It was a symbol of how we look at life. We fix our eyes on the good things that make us happy only and ignore the evidence of instruction, reproof, and wisdom that are all around us. Then we hope that we can make a last minute reprieve to obtain heaven after we have lived our lives the way we want to. We just want a golden ticket and frankly, it doesn't work like that.

Heaven isn't something we can work for but our lives are required to line up to the standard left behind for us by the best example of holy living there was, is, and ever will be.

Just something to think about as we enjoy all the finer things in life. What will it be worth if we have nothing but misery after we've done living well? Take a look at this passage and you might see what I mean. (Luke 16:19-31)

ThE LaSt sTRaW

I ran into an old post from my sports writing days from about five years ago or so and I thought this would be a perfect time to bring this discussion back to the sports forefront.

We're in a place in the sports sphere where NFL fans are digesting heavy portions of draft talk and clamoring for late April to have some connection with the sport they love most. Then you have diehard NBA fans that are taking in the stories like real or imagined beef with Steph Curry and other NBA superstars, or the surprising Boston Celtics, or questions like can the Golden State Warriors win it all. If you don't care for those storylines, you have the MLB season underway and hopefully, your team is not already tanking the 2017 season. Now that March Madness is over, if you don't have hockey as a sports interest, this is what you have to choose from. 

Do you know what it's like to be a "DIE-HARD"? What does that mean in basic terms? Do you consider yourself a diehard? Is there anything that could possibly tear you from your favorite sports team? Listening to the abundance of fan comments in person, on fan pages, and other social media, I am convinced that most "diehard" fans are arguably the most dishonest people in the world. Not bad people but just dishonest. The true diehards are excluded from this. I meant most fans that call themselves diehard. There's a huge difference between loyalty and willful blindness.

I've been watching sports for more than 40 years, 35 of those years were with more dedication and cognizance of what was actually going on. That previous post was about my New York Knicks and in my humble opinion, well warranted. What a cataclysm cluster-bomb of tomfoolery, ignorance, mismanagement, and buffoonery! Those are all the big words I'll be using today! It was flat out how badly this team performed and how the front office and upper management managed. It was just unfair to the faithful fans of New York City that have supported this franchise. But this is only one example.

What about the Cleveland Browns? The Philadelphia 76ers? The Vancouver Canucks? The Seattle Mariners? Teams with a rich history and a fan base that has stuck it out for decades only to come up short when it counts or to start the season badly and end it in even more embarrassing fashion. 

What would it take for you to say goodbye to your favorite team? Some of my friends say all they have to do is leave the city, a la Baltimore (as in Colts) or Seattle (as in Sonics), and that would be more than enough to abandon the franchise. I have even heard some responses over the year that giving up or not resigning their favorite player is grounds for die-hard dismissal. There's even a smaller contingent that say that the league can't possibly do anything that would remove them from their favorite team's favor. The opinions are broad and varying no matter where I ask this. What would it take for you to permanently say "no more" to your favorite team? Is there anything that could make you leave the sport entirely? These are nearly impossible scenarios to most of you but for me, it is not so impossible. I have already felt that one sport in particular has changed so much and has sucked the excitement out of it that I find it unwatchable. The entire sport is unwatchable and I grew up playing it. What's the last straw for you? Love to hear your thoughts.

FoReIgNeR

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (I Corinthians 13:4-8)



Every once in a while, I hear a song from an era that I was raised in and the lyrics go "I want to know what love is. I want you to show me. I want to feel what love is. I know you can show me."

I'm not ashamed to say it was performed by 80's pop group Foreigner. It was a huge part of my upbringing and a symbol of how much music and their lyrics meant to me. It was also why I spent so much time living in my own head as a youngster coming up. I was very critical of people and if they acted like or treated me differently than the concept of togetherness, love, and compassion that I tightly held on to in those songs, I would turn myself off and become detached.



I thought that song and others like it was what love was about. It was a guideline for most every girlfriend or potential love interest I ever had. I romanticized every single relationship in my youth and held standards that I couldn't uphold myself. I wanted the best but I couldn't offer my best. I wanted excellent when I only offered lackluster. If I had the momentary ability to give my all and it was unrequited in even the slightest way, I would stick my head back into my shell and it would take what seemed like an eternity to get me to poke it back out again. I was damaged. I had a fantastic mother who loved me unconditionally but my concept of love was warped. I didn't see this thing called love through the right lens. I hurt a lot of people and I allowed a lot of people to hurt me. Wounds from which it took years to recover. I could write a book on the heart wrenching decisions I had to make in my life and the results of them that might surprise you about me. I didn't know what love was but I wanted to know. I was blessed to see outstanding examples of it up close.




"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

Seeing it like this has changed my whole perspective on the subject. It took my focus off of me and placed it where it belonged: on others. When you truly love someone, there are no chains or suffocating conditions. You promise to cherish, honor, and support because you care enough about the other person to do so. A shotgun wedding or arranged marriage doesn't quite paint the picture of love without condition. In that passage, we are given a beautiful but simple picture of what love should resemble. We are to give it to others, if for no other reason, simply because it was given freely to us. Thank you Jesus!

I wanted to know what love was. Thank you showing me. I wanted to feel what love was. You gently and patiently showed me.

Now I need to reflect that to others the way you did for me. The greatest love we can give is the one we give continuously without expectation of return. Ooo, that preaches!

LoVaBLe LoSeRs?

The Chicago Cubs have done what many fans just thought would never happen: They broke the supposed curse on their franchise and won a World Series! Doing it in dramatic fashion from having a 3-1 deficit to the Cleveland Indians just made the win more historic on several levels.

And now the talk goes to that familiar place that it always does after a great win of a championship. Can they repeat a WS win for the first time since the Yankees in 2000? Can they build a dynasty? Sure they can, right? Why not? They have a great manager in Joe Maddon and a GM that has proven to have the "Midas Touch" when it comes to helping a team with stellar postseason droughts turn into title contenders and then title holders in Theo Epstein. They should never again be known as the "Lovable Losers". 

MLB pundits seem to believe that the Cubbies have the best chance to repeat and could likely return to the big dance this year. They should have a healthy Kyle Schwarber back in the lineup. They will be without their million dollar leadoff man in Dexter Fowler but with Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo intact, the lineup should be dangerous for most any opponent. There is a noticeable improvement in the bullpen, at least, on paper which gives Coach Maddon some options. Jake Arrieta, when consistent, is one of the deadliest arms on the mound in this league. It is a bit difficult, however, to ignore his propensity to slide during the season. They have plenty of reasons to be competitive and reach the postseason once again. But this league is never that simple and we are normally surprised by the two combatants that square off every October and awe-struck by the road they take to get there. I have concerns that say maybe the Champs are not a lock to repeat as many hopefuls may, well, hope.

You may summarily dismiss their ace's slide as the season progresses as well as some ineffectiveness at the plate in key situations but even with a phenomenal 103 win season, there were some chinks in the armor, especially when the games were close in the latter innings. They were ranked 21st with RISP (.252). They were also ranked middle of the road with homers from the 7th inning on with 55 total. If a team has the firepower to match them pound for pound until the latter innings and upset their starting pitchers' rhythm, they may not be able to match that high win total again this year. 

Losing Dexter Fowler could be a serious deficiency at the top of the lineup and even in the clubhouse, where he was very popular. His .393 OBP won't be easy to replace. Just as a note, the Cubs went 23-20 when Fowler sat out games. He was clearly a big reason they had such a great season. Perhaps those are shoes too big to fill. 

Their starting pitching depth has been a problem since their run in 2015 and very noticeable when they were ousted by the New York Mets in the NLCS. An injury in this group could be a season killer. The Cubs have money to spend but will they be inclined to do so is another story altogether. There are also some concerns about the rotation in whether the Cubs can catch lightning in a bottle again with their number 5 starter, Jason Hammel. He won 15 games last year, which was amazing. Matching that with a guy that gets hurt so much in Brett Anderson is a gamble of a lifetime. 

There is plenty to give me pause about a potential repeat: the inconsistent bats, health of key players, issues with the starting rotation, and some definite changes in the team's makeup with role players having to step in for a high profile closer and one of the top leadoff men in the league last year. These are all tangible concerns. The one intangible is the fact that teams that have had such a long drought (case in point: The Boston Red Sox - 2005) have a dip in win total the following year. The fans don't bring as much emotion and perhaps the players won't have such a sense of urgency. That's not a guarantee to happen at all but it's something to watch. 

Vegas thinks the Cubs could win 94 games. I tend to agree but I am not certain a return to the WS is in the cards. Can the role players fill the huge shoes Aroldis Chapman and Dexter Fowler left behind? Despite the championship success, is the team currently built for the long haul? Can the Chicago Cubs truly be the first MLB dynasty in over seventeen years? Who's next to be considered the league's "Lovable Losers"? The Cleveland Indians? Or perhaps another team?

I would love to hear your thoughts, Cub fan or not.