Have Cubs Fans Finally Grown Tired of Being Cubs Fans?

I got the feeling this season from more of the Cubs fans that I talk to regularly that this season more than any of the previous 100 seasons was doing more to drive a wedge between them and the team they love. It was just that when talking about the Cubs this season there were a lot less excuses given for what was going wrong, and a whole lot more "I'm sick and tired of this team. Screw them."

I wasn't quite sure I believed it, but then the local television ratings for every team in Major League Baseball were released today, and guess what? The Cubs ratings are going down.

In another surprising development, White Sox ratings are going up.

On Comcast SportsNet Chicago this season the Cubs drew a 4.16 rating, which is a 16.3% decrease from the 2008 season. They were also watched in an average of 145,000 households this season, which is a 15.7% decrease from the 2008 season.

Across town the White Sox saw their rating rise 8.1% to 2.28 and their average households increase 9.6% to 80,000 a game.

Now I'm not entirely sure what this all means, but I think television ratings are a much better indication of how a fan base feels than attendance these days. A drop in attendance can easily be written off as an indication of the economy right now, but when people are no longer watching at home for free, I find that interesting.

Is it possible that some Cubs fans have finally reached their breaking point and have decided that they'd rather spend their time in front of the television watching Dancing With The Stars?

Or is it they were just so disgusted with the team's performance this season that they couldn't stomach watching them any longer?

Whatever the case is, I'm sure it will all be forgotten about next April. I'm already hearing people say that now that Milton Bradley is out of the picture the Cubs are bound to get back to the playoffs and the World Series in 2010.