Are the Cubs Cursed?

No, they just suck, according to the newly released book Scorecasting, by Tobias Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim  (h/t DougJ):

Defense doesn’t win championships. Teamwork isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Momentum is a myth. And the Chicago Cubs aren’t cursed; they just stink.
Conventional wisdom, sports division, takes a beating in “Scorecasting,” a book aimed at unsettling serious fans with essays that debunk ingrained strategy (punting on fourth down is largely a waste); malign the approach of champion athletes (Tiger Woods is foolishly less aggressive when he’s putting for birdie than for par); and offer a number of otherwise eye-opening assertions (officials in all sports are biased). For their arguments, the authors, Tobias J. Moskowitz, a behavioral economist at the University of Chicago, and L. Jon Wertheim, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, have whipped up a recipe that includes statistical analysis, psychological theory, creative sociology and a brash confidence in circumstantial evidence. If that sounds a little familiar, well, they owe a debt to Malcolm Gladwell and the “Freakonomics” boys.