Jackson Free Press

It might be a challenge to find anyone who happened to be alive the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. The Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, meaning it has been 108 years since the team last won it all.

The last time the Cubs were even in the World Series was 1945. Chicago has waited 71 years to see a Cubs team in the championship series.

To put those 108 years in perspective, there were only 46 states and 65 sovereign nations, and the president was Theodore Roosevelt. MLB only had 16 teams, compared to the 30 teams today.

The highest-paid MLB player was Nap Lajoie, who made just $8,500 (that would be $210, 678 in today’s dollars) that season. MLB players salaries now average $4.4 million.

The average ticket price to see a game was just 25 cents (that would be 6.20 in today’s dollars) in 1908. Today, a ticket will cost you an average of $44.81.

There wasn’t even a NFL, NBA or NHL when the Cubs last won the World Series. Baseball was America's game, but football has since been dethroned it.

Every Chicago team in the four major sports but the Cubs have won a championship: the Chicago White Sox (two titles), Blackhawks (six titles), Bulls (six titles) and Bears (nine titles).

The Braves have won the World Series in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta since the Cubs won it all. Of the teams founded after the Cubs’ last World Series win, the Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks have won one or more titles.

Even long-suffering teams have broken out of their funk while the Cubs have waited for another title. The New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shed their loser labels by winning a Super Bowl, and the Golden State Warriors became good again en route to a title.

A few “curses” have been lifted since the Cubs’ 1908 win. Most notably, the Boston Red Sox have won three World Series, starting with the epic 2004 title, followed by the 2007 and 2014 titles.

In 1994 the New York Rangers broke their own curse and won the Stanley Cup. The biggest curse to be lifted recently happened for the whole city of Cleveland when the Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Finals.

The Cubs have their own curse, “The Curse of the Billy Goat” that occurred during the 1945 World Series. A lot written has been written about the curse, but the jest of the matter is that the team insulted Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis’ goat, so Sianis cursed the ball club.

That was the final World Series appearance for the Cubs, and the club has become known as “loveable losers” ever since the curse.

But things could change this year. The Cubs won 103 games, the most in MLB …

Normally at 1-3 heading into their bye week, you would think the New Orleans Saints’ season would be over. Since the playoff format changed in 1990, only 14 percent of 1-3 teams have made the playoffs. That number works out to 183 teams. Last season, the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs made the playoffs after a 1-3 start.

Remember, I said normally. This season, 13 teams in the league currently have a 1-3 record. That is nearly half the league, and if you add teams that are 2-2, that number balloons to 18 teams.

Currently only 14 have a winning record, and only three are still undefeated. Except for the 3-1 Atlanta Falcons, every team in the NFC South has a 1-3 record like the Saints.

New Orleans still has seven 1-3 teams left on the schedule, including the both, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice. The Saints also play the .500 Kansas City Chiefs for eight games against teams .500 or under at this point in the season.

That leaves four teams with a winning record on the schedule. Those teams are the undefeated Denver Broncos and three teams at 3-1 in the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons.

If the Saints beat all the teams at .500 or below left on their schedule, they would finish 9-7 on the season. Right now in the NFC, nine teams that have a .500 record are worse.

Unless the 3-1 Falcons run away with the NFC South, chances are, the Saints are still alive in their division. The Carolina Panthers, last year’s Super Bowl loser who are also at 1-3, could come back, as well, to take the NFC South.

I know what you're thinking: How can the Saints still have any playoff chance with their defense? It’s true that New Orleans has the 32nd ranked defense with 32.5 points per game.

But the rest of the NFC South isn’t much better. Tampa Bay is 31st with 32 points per game, Atlanta is 29th with 31 points per game, and Carolina is 28th with 29.5 points per game.

The Saints have the fourth-ranked offense with 28.5 points per game. Atlanta has the best offense in the league at 38 points per game, Carolina is sixth with 27.3 points per game, and Tampa Bay is 25th with 19.3 points per game.

Let’s look at this as a glass-half-full situation. New Orleans has been this bad on defense with an extreme number of injuries. The Saints, in theory, should get better on defense as the season goes along, and they begin to see defensive player return.

There is hope for the defense if it can get players back and play like it did in the second half against the Chargers. New Orleans outscored San Diego 21-10 in the second half and forced timely turnovers.

Right now, New Orleans …