It's the age-old Cubs fan question that is too often rhetorical by this point in the baseball season: What if this year really is The Year?

We asked the question in 1998 when the Cubs won the Wild Card, but the boys in blue were dominated by the Atlanta Braves and didn't really have the makeup of a championship team.

With fire-throwing starting pitchers and potent mid-season acquisitions, we asked the question again in 2003 and watched our chances slip under Alex Gonzalez's mitt. (Blaming Bartman is so 2004...)

After a few more promising-yet-ultimately-faltering seasons, we asked the question once again last year. Surely on the eve of a century of failure, the Cubs were finally destined for World Series glory. It all seemed so poetic, until we were swiftly and embarrassingly swept out of the playoffs by the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks.

Now we have arrived at the centennial of futility, and I swear I'm not deluding myself when I say that this year feels different. When I pose the question this time--What if this year really is The Year?--I get the exhilarating sensation that I might soon get my answer.

You have to admit that it's coming a little bit easier than it has before. With only 31 games left to play, the Cubbies have the best record in baseball and the best record they've had since we tried the playoff thing in 1984.

The Cubs have contended with their fair share of injuries, but that hasn't cramped our style. Take the example of Alfonso "Mr. Glass" Soriano. The man missed almost two months of the season, but still managed to crank 22 home runs and drive in 62 RBIs.

Losing streaks have been kept to a minimum and come when other contenders have been in similar swoons. Meanwhile, the team has been on an offensive tear since Opening Day, frequently slaughtering opponents in an unrelenting barrage of runs. (See Fig. 1) Even Kosuke Fukudome is starting to hit again!

Amid all of this, Jim Hendry has demonstrated his typical prowess with the acquisition of the once-maligned Jim Edmonds, who always seems to homer at the right time. At the All-Star Break, Hendry worked his magic once again and acquired the batter-baffling Rich Harden.

And how about the rest of the pitching staff? It's so refreshing to hear the phrases "solid pitching" and "Chicago Cubs" in the same sentence. Pinch me. Or don't.

Which brings us to a more poignant question: Will success Spoil Chicago Cubs Fans?

The team is known as the Lovable Losers and that's a reputation that won't disappear with one World Series win. But could a championship change the culture of Cubs baseball? The Cubs Nation has a thick skin that has been developed over decades of disappointment and our anticipation of a World Series berth is reaching a fever pitch (not to be confused with the horrible Jimmy Fallon movie).

If the Cubs finally complete their 100-year quest, what do we do next? After you witness history, where do you go from there? Bask in the glory of the moment? Sure, that works for a while. Root for a repeat? Then, if you win, you're the new Red Sox.

I can't help thinking that the air will be let out of the tires, and it will be time for Cubs fans to process what has happened, and reinvent our mental image of the team that we've been supporting for so long. For the first time in our lives, we'll be winners.

I might be getting ahead of myself, but then again, the Cubs are ahead of themselves, too. They're 31 games over .500 with 31 left to play. Popping the big question this season only leads to deeper, more difficult questions.

With a little luck, we'll have all the answers in a little more than a month.

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