It is a thoroughly enjoyable practice to see bandwagon fans fail. Seriously: I take great enjoyment in seeing the Yankees, the North Carolina Tar Heels and (lately) the Red Sox all fail. The Cubs, whether legitimate fans want to agree with it or not, are one of the bigger bandwagon teams in the entire world. And frankly, as a legitimate fan of non-trendy sports teams, such attachment annoys me.

So, I enjoy seeing the Cubs lose. I predicted the loss. I wanted it to happen. So, when it did happen, I simply assumed that I would enjoy the suffering of the Cubbie faithful.

Well, I was wrong. And I’m kind of surprised, honestly. I have a few friends that are Cubs fans and zero that are actively Dodger fans. (I myself, along with millions of others, am an active Manny Ramirez fan, but that’s a whole different ballgame.) And I am a tremendous Mark Prior fan, which leads me to dislike the Cubs more and more, for ruining his career (Dusty anyway) and then letting him go.

So, I am eternally qualified to root against the Cubs. I think. Or, at the very least, I was planning on it. But like I said, something was different about seeing them lose this way. A last second, out-of-nowhere loss in the NLCS (a la Bartman) might have been enjoyable. A heart-shattering kill job in the seventh game of the World Series would have been equally tantalizing and painful.

But the flat out beatdown that the Dodgers laid on them — in the form of a sweep no less — was just tough to take, even for a non-Cubs fan who was rooting against them. I realize that makes little to no sense, but there is something about watching unrealized expectations come to fruition in a full-on helpless manner that actually made me feel sympathetic for Wrigley rooters.

They didn’t care about the curses anymore, holding giveaways for NLCS tickets, shutting down Wrigleyville booze sales for series-clinching games and generally espousing what their collective reactions would be to a World Series victory. And that makes them even more lovable as a loserly group.

So, Cubs fans, you may have lost (again) and seen your collective will shattered, (again) but for the first time all season, I think you may have managed to garner some sympathy from the rest of the sports watching world. Small consolation, I know, but hey, there’s always next year.