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Pressure. Expectations. I want our guys to thrive on those two words for the years to come. -- Joe Maddon, manager/philosopher-king of the Chicago CubsCHICAGO -- Suppose you were trying to accomplish something that hasnt been done in your lifetime, and hasnt been done in your parents lifetime, either. And very possibly hasnt even been done in your grandparents lifetime.Ask yourself this: How would you handle that? Would you pretend it was no big deal, nothing worth talking about, nothing worth thinking about?Or would you admit to yourself what you know is true -- that this is huge. Bigger than Yao Ming. Bigger than the Willis (nee Sears) Tower. Bigger, really, and more life-changing than anything you had done in all your time on this planet.Think about what you would do. And if you spend enough time thinking about it, congratulations. Now you know what its like to be the Chicago Cubs.On Saturday night, on the North Side of Chicago, they will kick off a potentially epic National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Except that for the Cubs, this is more than just a baseball series.After all these months and all these games of grinding away, they have put themselves on the precipice of altering the course of millions of lives. And not just their lives -- but the lives of several gazillion Cubs fans who have waited forever for this moment.Four wins away -- four -- from reaching a World Series for the first time in 71 years.Eight wins away -- eight -- from setting all the ghosts free, from ending 108 years of torture and heartbreak.Its all within their grasp now. Its no longer some cool goal lurking over the horizon, but actually right there in plain sight, within their view.And heres the thing: For the first time since, well, when -- 2003? 1984? 1969? -- the world expects them to do this. Pretty much from the moment the starting gates burst open, theyve been the best team in their sport, which means that, theoretically, this is their time. They just have to be strong enough, tough enough, talented enough and lucky enough to meet their moment over the next three weeks.So we ask you again: If you were in their shoes, how would you be looking at those expectations? Would you deflect them? Or would you embrace them?That would be an overwhelming question for some people. But its safe to say Joe Maddon isnt one of those people. Expectations? Pressure? Bring them on. And dont bring one without the other.My original, initial message to the boys was that, Why would you ever want to be in a situation that doesnt require a little bit of pressure added to it, or expectations? the Cubs manager sermonized Friday at Wrigley Field. I would not want to go into a season having zero expectations and zero pressure applied to you because youre going to finish fourth or fifth in a division. I mean, thats a bad way to live. So, I wanted our guys to understand that those words are going to be applied to us on an annual basis, and you need to embrace them.As far back as spring training, Maddon rolled out his mantra for a season to remember: Embrace the Target. Its a fascinating little slogan, isnt it? The target is that title theyre chasing. But the target is also them. If 29 other teams are looking at them as the team to beat, thats not scary. Thats an honor. Embrace it -- and all that goes with it.And so its fuel, man, Maddon continued. Why would you not [use those expectations for fuel]? Thats the baseball fossil fuel right there -- is expectations and pressure. Why would you not want to be affiliated with that or associated with [that]? I dont get it.He makes it sound so cool and so simple, you might think it would be easy to hear those words and jump on board. But humans arent all wired that way. Humans arent all built with that bring-it-on DNA. And some of those humans play baseball. So it sure is a good thing that Joe Maddon is one of the great spinmeisters in America.I always tell him hed be a great used car salesman, one of his favorite bench energizers, Chris Coghlan, said Friday. Hed tell you 14 stories about this one car, and then youd go, Well, I really want that one, but after these 14 stories, Ill take this one.And thats the Cubs. Theyve bought the car. Theyve bought the stories. Theyve bought into Embrace the Target and all that goes with it.What Ive always enjoyed with Joe, Coghlan said, is how he can articulate it to people, because most people suppress it. They try to do whatever they can to suppress that pressure. And really, I dont think, in a humanistic way, we can do that. Youre just deceiving yourself.When you know somethings truthful and you try to lie to yourself constantly about it, at the end of the day, you know in a deep root of your heart that its truthful. So if its truthful, you cant get rid of it, and you know that.Is there ever really a day that goes by that someone on the Cubs isnt hearing about those 108 years of emptiness? Of course not. Even if every single citizen in the city of Chicago made a pact not to mention it anymore, this team is fortunate to be surrounded by hordes of great media minds who figure out some way to ask about it approximately every 16 seconds this time of year.So the pressure and the expectation is truthful, Coghlan said. You knew that when you came in. You knew that when you signed these guys. You knew that when you went to the NLCS last year, and then you signed [Jason] Heyward, you signed [John] Lackey, and when you got [Jon] Lester and all those guys. So to try to tell a group of individuals that, Hey guys, the target is on us. Theres a lot of pressure here. Youre chasing history -- 108 years. And you know what? Lets just lie to ourselves and pretend thats not really there? It wouldnt work.And so what I think happens, and I totally agree with Joe on this, is that it ends up empowering you because your mindset embraces the truth. And then it goes, You know what? This is true. Everyone expects us to win. And we expect to win. Everybodys coming for us. So lets embrace it. And lets use it for ammunition.This is this teams second straight trip to the National League Championship Series, and a year later, many of the faces are the same. But those expectations? Not even close to the same.Last years Cubs were that team that wasnt supposed to get this far. So if they won, awesome. And if they didnt, hey, what the heck, what a fun year.So even though they wound up getting steamrolled by the Mets, that was one October sweep that didnt throw the entire franchise into a state of depression, for a change. Instead, the manager and the veterans in his clubhouse merely grabbed a hold of that October life lesson and used it to lay the groundwork for a very different journey back to this same place this season.I just think that these guys grew from that moment, catcher David Ross?said, from having a lot of success, and 97 wins. And finally getting over that hurdle of beating St. Louis. ... And then the Mets came in here and shoved it.So I think that they just learned not to take anything for granted and just to stay in the moment, go pitch to pitch. And they learned how fast it can go from all the way at the top to seasons over.Now, 12 months and one NLCS later, the stakes are higher and the pressure is greater. But as the 2016 Cubs peer into whats ahead, there isnt an ounce of fear in the room.Not yet anyway.I think the expectations within the group are as high as anybodys, Ross said. Its just not our way of doing things around here -- is to worry. Were not worriers. Were not going to worry about the negative and focus on the negative. Its all about the process and staying in the moment, and thats all you can control.You cant control 1930 or whenever that goat came here, Ross said, laughing with pride over his sketchy grasp of the Cubs curse history. I mean, I dont even know. And like, I dont care. I mean, who cares? Im worried about the legacy that were going to leave.On Saturday night at super-stoked Wrigley, they head for the stretch in the drive to carve that legacy. Over these next seven games, many things will come hurtling at them. There are losses ahead, ugly plot twists ahead and a Dodgers team ahead with its own legacy to chisel. But the pressure that goes with that? The Cubs couldnt be happier to invite that pressure to the party.Listen, Maddon said. If you hear the word pressure, you got to run toward it. Thats a good thing. Custom Pistons Jerseys .C. United of Major League Soccer. 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On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Along with Michael Phelps finale, another womens relay win in the pool and the race to determine the Worlds Fastest Woman, here are a few other results you might have missed Saturday from the Rio Olympics:Venus makes history: Two American mixed doubles teams will face off in the gold-medal match, and one of the players is Venus Williams. After joining the mixed doubles competition after her early exits in singles and doubles, Venus and playing partner Rajeev Ram will play against Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock for the crown. Venus is guaranteed a record-tying fifth medal and, if her and Ram win, shell become the only tennis player in the modern era to win Olympic gold in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Williams and Ram edged Indias Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna 2-6, 6-2, 10-3 to reach the final. Read moreRio Olympics: Complete tennis coverageMedal streak continues: The U.S. womens eight won its third consecutive gold medal Saturday, covering the course in 6:01.49 ahead of Great Britain (silver) and Romania (bronze). The squad of Katelin Snyder, Amanda Elmore, Eleanor Logan, Meghan Musnicki, Tessa Gobbo, Lauren Schmetterling, Amanda Polk, Kerry Simmonds and Emily Regan led the Americans to their 11th straight victory in either the Olympic Games or World Championship competition. The mens eight finished fourth overall in their race (5:34.23), just under five seconds behind winner Great Britain (5:29.63). Read moreIn womens single sculls, Gevvie Stone won silver after finishing seventh overall at the 2012 London Olympics. It is the Americans fifth medal in the event (all silver) and the fiirst since Michelle Guerette in 2008.ddddddddddddRio Olympics: Complete rowing coverageTeam medal: After being shut out in their individual events, the American womens sabre squad of Monica Aksamit, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Dagmara Wozniak and Mariel Zagunis won the bronze medal in the team event with a 45-30 victory over Italy. Zagunis led the 2008 team to bronze in the same event.Rio Olympics: Complete fencing coverageClose finish: Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert and Jennifer Valente took home silver in the womens team pursuit final, finishing in 4:12.454 behind Great Britain. The Brits won in world-record time (4:10.236), breaking the record they set earlier in the day during qualifying. Canada won bronze (4:14.627). Read moreRio Olympics: Complete cycling coverageOn to the knockout round: Maggie Steffens power-play goal with 6:02 left in the first half sparked four unanswered goals en route to an 11-6 win against Hungary. The U.S. womens team is now 3-0 in Group B play and will face host Brazil when knockout play begins Monday. Steffens led the team with four goals, while Maddie Musselman added three.Rio Olympics: Complete water polo coverageAnd finally ...Womens 3m springboard: Green water or not, Abby Johnston tied for fifth in the semifinals to earn a spot in Sundays final round. Johnston (324.75) was 60.25 points behind leader Chinas Shi Tingmao (385.00) and He Zi (364.05), while Canadas Jennifer Abel was third (343.45). Kassidy Cook finished 13th overall (304.35). Read more ' ' '