Could this week get any better for the Chicago Cubs? I mean, they got the snot beat out of them by the Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs, getting swept for the second straight year. It was a devastating blow to Cubs fans all over, as I have a few friends who have slipped into catatonic states over it, and has even caused some to put their loyalty up for auction.

Of course, if whoring yourself out isn't your style, you could always just do what everybody else is and blame Kosuke Fukudome. It can't be that the Dodgers were just the better team, after all, there has to be something to blame. Whether it's a player, a goat, a black cat, or Steve Bartman. Well, I have some news for you Cubs fans out there that you might find a bit shocking. It's not a curse or any other stupid reason why you haven't won a title in one hundred years. There's something far more powerful at work here.

God hates you. Seriously. He hates you and your team with a passion. Don't believe me? Check this out.

Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol suffered minor injuries in a car accident early Tuesday in the Dominican Republic.

A truck hit a car carrying Marmol, a cousin and a friend in his hometown of Bonao near 2 a.m. The All-Star right-hander had just arrived in the Caribbean nation after the Cubs were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs.

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

You've probably noticed over the last few years there have been a lot more players in MLB with names that are hard to pronounce, or just sound dirty. Yes, Japan is quickly becoming the new Latin America as just about every team these days is adding a Japanese player to their roster.

It's hard to blame them for it, as guys like Ichiro Suzuki, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Matsui, and Akinori Iwamura are proving themselves to be pretty good players. It's also nice to have a Kosuke Fukudome around for a fan base to blame for everything.

Of course, on the flip side of this equation is Japan. Due to the amount of Japanese players crossing the Pacific for the honor of facing off against John Lannan and the Washington Nationals, it's leaving the Japanese league a little thin. Which is why they've decided to implement a new policy in hopes of keeping players from leaving the island.

An executive committee representing Japan's 12 professional baseball teams have agreed to introduce a ban on players returning to Japanese baseball after turning down rookie draft nominations in Japan and signing with overseas pro teams.

It wasn't so long ago that Kosuke Fukudome was the king of Wrigleyville, object of the ultimate in Cubs fandom. His mixture of perceived exoticism, Opening Day heroics, and early-season success propelled to fan favorite status as quickly as one can be so propelled.

No more: After a slump so long it can barely be called a "slump" and an 0-8 postseason, Fukudome is battling the unthinkable: rumors that he'll be traded, sent to the minors, or shipped back to Japan:

But if it were up to Fukudome, would he have preferred to change planes in Los Angeles and continue westward for Tokyo? Does the Cubs' first high-profile Japanese import have the toughness to dig himself out of the hole he has fallen into? Will the Cubs give him the chance? One scout interviewed Saturday suggested a course of action that could be tough to swallow. "He has to go to the minors," the scout said. "He has to get rid of all those habits, pulling out on pitches, collapsing. He'll never hit the way he's hitting now, and this is a tough place to work out your problems. Always has been."

What Fukudome really needs is some sort of intensive swing coach, or something. Or maybe he needs to stop thinking about baseball for a while. Whatever the case may be, he'll have to have a strong spring if he plans on being in Wrigleyville much longer. Jim Hendry isn't one to dawdle when it comes to dealing formerly impressive outcasts.

Life is not good for Kosuke Fukudome right now. The Cubs are down two games to none in their NLDS series against the Dodgers, he's hitless in eight postseason at bats, kids are getting in trouble at school for wearing his jersey, and those headbands fans used to wear around Wrigley are still being used, but by fans to hang themselves with.

To put it plainly, Kosuke's life just sucks right now. His manager made it pretty clear that he's not going to be playing again anytime soon, and now poor Kosuke is even getting heckled at O'Hare Airport when he's not even there.

Passengers at O'Hare Airport were surprised to hear his name being paged over the public address system in Terminal B on Friday morning.

But it turned out that it was all a joke.

"Paging Kosuke Fukudome, paging Kosuke Fukudome ... Please report to the Cincinnati Reds. You have been traded for a player to be named later."

Some of the passengers waiting for flights laughed, while others cringed.

See, now that's just cold. While Fukudome has struggled mightily for months now, it's pretty unfair for Cubs fans to unleash all their frustration on him. I mean, it's not like he's the only member of the team to disappear in October. The fact that the middle of the Cubs order has disappeared, the infield can't play defense anymore, and the pitching staff can't get anyone out when it counts isn't helping much either.

There's plenty of blame to go around Wrigleyville right now, Cubs fans, so spread the love.

Hey, I'm as panicked as anyone else. I had to get counseling via gchat last night from a Red Sox fan, our MLB editor Andrew Johnson. We did discuss, at length, one simple reality ... for a die-hard fan, losing in baseball sucks far more than in other sports.

For six months of your year, you live and breathe baseball. The games aren't just once a week like in football, or even three to four times a week as in basketball. Nope, baseball is almost every single day throughout half of every year. Andrew made an apt comparison ... the difference between your favorite baseball team and your favorite football team is like the difference between immediate family and your weekend friends. He's right. I live with the Cubs every day, and I have for nearly half of my life. I see the Bears once a week for each season. The Cubs are my family, while the Bears are my friend.

With this in mind, fellow Cubs die-hards, let's not give up on our family just yet. I'm here to breathe some optimism back into Cubs nation.

I'm not saying I necessarily believe it's going to happen this way, and I'm certainly not predicting it ... I'm just saying these are some reasons why we shouldn't quit on the team just yet.

Kosuke Fukudome isn't just causing problems for the Cubs, he's also making life difficult for high school students in suburban Chicago, as 15-year-old Jill Howe discovered earlier this week. From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The Elgin High School sophomore had to remove her Kosuke Fukudome jersey and wear a gym T-shirt to class Wednesday because of a misunderstanding about how to pronounce the All-Star right-fielder's last name.

"Someone stopped me in the hall and asked me what the back of my jersey said," Jill [Howe] said.

Seriously? There are people who live near Chicago who still haven't heard of him? Apparently so. Not only was the school staffer who stopped Jill oblivious but so was the school's dean. After Jill's mother called to complain later in the day, the assistant principal eventually agreed that Fukudome apparel would be allowed.

There was a time where Kosuke Fukudome was a cult hero in Chicago. But that was April, when he hit .305 and was hitting clutch home runs for them. But now it's October, and Fukudome has seen his average drop every month until now. And he's 0-for-8 so far in the playoffs, which have seen the Cubs get waxed twice by the Dodgers (including Thursday night's 10-3 loss). In Lou Piniella's post game newser after Game 2, he responded to a question about Fukudome by announcing that he will have a seat until further notice:

"From now on I don't want to hear about Fukudome anymore as far as whether he's going to play or not. I'm gonna play Fontenot or Reed Johnson or somebody else and that's the end of that story. The kid's struggling and there's no sense sending him out there anymore."

To be honest, no part of the Cubs game has been clicking, so it's hard to say that Fukudome is taking the hit for the entire team. But Fukudome is obviously struggling ... and it's not like he's hit .300 all season and then fell off the chart in the playoffs ... He hit .217 since the break. So while benching Fukudome isn't going to solve all the Cubs' problems, Cubs fans must be wondering what took Piniella so long.

Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates. Matt Snyder and Will Brinson discuss the NLDS between the Cubs and Dodgers.

We'll run through different aspects of each team -- starting rotation, bullpen, defense, starting lineup, bench, manager, and end with a prediction. We'll do it with numbers and snarky commentary (most of which was used by Brinson), and we'll get right to it after the jump.

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

As the final week of the regular season unfolds, millions of baseball fans across the nation are being treated to several close races.

Except for me, of course. I live near Detroit, and the only race the Tigers are involved in is the race to avoid last place. And after losing 6-2 to the Royals last night, the chances the Tigers might take sole possession of the AL Central's basement by Wednesday is a very real possibility.

This got me thinking: the Tigers have to be the most disappointing team in the majors, right? (It's actually been a recurring thought all year, but now seems like an appropriate time to dwell on it ...) They have the second-highest payroll in baseball and haven't been relevant since opening the year with seven straight losses.

As I see it, no other team comes close.

The Yankees had a disappointing final season in their stadium, but at least they're guaranteed a winning record (and haven't officially been eliminated from the playoffs, though that should happen any day now). The Rockies hoped for a chance to defend their NL pennant, but last year's finish was a little too incredible to be surprised by a let-down this season. I didn't expect the Mariners to be the worst team in the majors, but I also never thought they'd contend. Plus, this year wasn't a complete waste; at least they rid themselves of Bill Bavasi.

If the Tigers have been this year's most disappointing team, who's been the game's most disappointing players? It's a fuzzy question, so let's try to establish some guidelines.

The Chicago White Sox are barely managing to hang on to their one-game lead over the Minnesota Twins thanks to a recent rash of injuries, but as is often the case with the White Sox, all anybody wants to do is talk about their manager. That's why The Sporting News recently sat down to do an interview with Ozzie Guillen, and as you'd expect, Ozzie spoke his mind.

Ozzie's answered questions on Lou Piniella, the Chicago Cubs, his team, and just about anything he was asked. He also made sure to fill the pages with plenty of expletives as he is wont to do, and here are some of the highlights courtesy of the Daily Herald.

- Ozzie on the best manager in Chicago: "Me. Because our division is hard. Maybe all the people in the National League will be all mad, but I will trade (for a) National League Central (schedule) in a heartbeat. I will take that with my eyes closed."
- On media treatment toward the Cubs: "If (Carlos) Quentin was playing for the Cubs, he'd already be MVP. If (Alexei) Ramirez was with the Cubs, he would be National League Rookie of the Year. They talk about (Cubs rookie Kosuke) Fukudome more than they talk about Ramirez."