I've decided there's no reason for me to like the Cubs, and plenty of reasons for me to hate them, as follows.

1) They suck. The closest they get to NOT sucking is to be a little cock tease about once every 15 - 20 years.
2) Wrigley Field is a terrible place to go see a baseball game. Now, hear me out - the FIELD part is great...ivy, bleachers, great to watch on TV. Being there is horrible...the fans are assholes (when did Northsiders turn into a bunch of assholes, btw?), getting there and parking is a nightmare, the facilities are in terrible shape...it's just bad. I haven't been to Busch III but even Busch II was better than this!
3) They suck. Now I realize I already used this reason, but the last one focused on the past, this one focused on the future. The Tigers, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Devil Rays, Yankees, Mets, Braves, and probably some others all have hot prospects in their system and most of the previous have a good core now to put them into. The Cubs...have Felix Pie and Corey Patterson's younger brother, and when/if they get to the majors they have to not only contend with playing on a shitty team but being managed by Dusty Baker...ask Robb Nen, LaTroy Hawkins, Joe Nathan, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior (well, maybe the latter two in 5 years from now), Jason DuBois, Ronny Cedeno, and Matt Murton (give them 10 years) about that.
4) They railroaded Steve Stone and Chip Caray out of town

Reasons to like the Cubs (I lied, there is one)

1) I was born in Chicago, to a Cubs family, and have spent my whole life in the midwest as a Cubs fan. Ryne Sandberg was my favorite player.

Obviously it's time for a new afilliation. Let me lay out some ground rules for some teams that are OUT:

1. Yankees - no way.
2. Royals, Pirates, Devil Rays - I don't want to jump out of the frying pan of suckiness and into the fire of terribleness.
3. Marlins - what city will they be located in 5 years? Also, how long until this team wins a WS and then immediately gets "firesale'd"
4. White Sox, Cardinals - many reasons for hating both.

Some teams that I think are pretty cool are the Twins, Brewers, and Tigers. Actually, the Royals wouldn't be too bad if they didn't Royally SUCK.

Any ideas?

I'm in the same place as you being a Pirates fan...I kind a like the White Sox b/c their personalities are so interesting...but maybe you want to be an Indians fan? I like the way they do things, use their draft and minor leagues. Almost all of their stars were once Buffalo Bisons.

I know it's frustrating, and I think the Cubs have a better chance that Pittsburgh anytime soon, but it's also fun to root for interesting teams...the AL Central is full of them, Houston is too, just figure out how you'd run a franchise and find the team that is closest to it!

*waits for ricardo tubbs' reaction*

Forgot about the Indians...based on your theory, either the Twins or Tigers probably fit that bill the best. I really like Leyland, and I hate LaRussa (which is one reason why the Cards are out).

you gotta stick with your team through everything . don;t stop liking them.

Yeah but I've stuck with them my whole life and they've been futile for over 4x the length of my life...OVER FOUR TIMES.

look at the man who posted, a goddamn Browns fan...

Come join the Rangers. We don't win either, but at least we score a lot of runs.

There's no other choice than the Red Sox, they're what the Cubs will be if they ever get competent ownership. Plus, the Cubs and Sox were essentially the same franchise for about 80 years.

I'm a Giants fan for life. But if I wasnt, I'd either go with the Cardinals (who probalby have the best fans in baseball), or the Twins, who have just been putting together amazing talent as very low cost.

I've been a White Sox fan my whole life and until last year I bathed in mediocraty. Sorry, that probably doesn't help. I'd say the Tigers and Twins are great midwest teams to follow. But watch, right around the time you throw all of your Cubs stuff away they'll start winning.

There's nothing not to like about the Brewers, and a lot that is quite endearing (just don't listen to Eric, their stadium doesn't suck as much as he thinks it does). Plus they've got some good young talent and should be a fun team to watch over the next few years. Also new ownership ready to spend some money.

Twins. They do everything the right way and best of all you can hate the hell out of the white sox! Not to mention Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Johan Santana, Franciaco Liriano, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter and Jason Kubel are prettty damn good and fun to watch.

stick with your team you pussy!

i think i posted a similar question a while ago. i've got it whittled down to the twins, brewers, or maybe the dodgers.

only problem is they have one of the richest owners in baseball and he's a cheap bastard.

good point. they've recovered well from being run into the ground by selig.