Let this be a congratulations off to the Cubs and their fan base. We White Sox fans know about long suffering World Series droughts. Ours lasted eighty-eight years. Only one score off of the Cubs. "Score" being a term that means twenty years, that was more common closer to the last time that the Cubs won a World Series.
I have lots of friends and family who are die hard Cubs fans, including my beautiful wife. I enjoy the Cubs as I enjoy all of baseball. There is no hatred there. Only admiration and respect.
The only problem I have with the Cubs is not their team or their park. I don't even have a problem with most of their fans. I do have a problem with about .01% of the Cubs fans. I also have problem with .01% of White Sox fans. It the obnoxious fans that go to extremes that really cause the division in among fans. Cubs fans are portrayed as beer swilling, bandwagon party yuppies who don't pay attention to the game and just show up to the park to say they've been there. White Sox fans are portrayed as drunk suburban trash, who storm the field, the few times that they actually show up to the park. I'm here to tell you that neither of these portrayals represent 99.99% of each team's fans. The bad acts of the few should not represent the majority.
I can still cheer on the Cubs and not have to turn my White Sox card in. And the same is true for the Cubs fans. We all love the game of baseball. Shouldn't that be enough? It is in my book. Most fans just want to see a good game and if their team wins that game, it just makes it better.
So cherish this special team Cubs fans. It can be done. This team has proven it. From this moment forward, there will be no more excuses. No goats. No black cats. No Gatorade. No more "lovable losers". You guys are winners. It may require a completely different mindset for some of you, but know it's true.
If you would have asked me back in October 1984, if I would see a Chicago championship in my lifetime, I might have been optimistic, but I would probably have said no. Since that picture was taken, I have seen championships by the Bears, the Bulls, the White Sox, the Blackhawks and now the Cubs. I am simply amazed! It can be done.
Enjoy this moment Cubs fans. Cherish it. Relish in it. You deserve it. May you not have to wait another 108 years for another championship... unless you're playing the White Sox in that championship game, then, I'm sorry, I have to go with the White Sox. It's nothing personal and I hope we can still watch the game together.
4 comments:
I completely agree with you and your comments about both fan bases. I'm glad we're both in the 99.99%.
With that being said, thanks for your kind comments about enjoying the moment!
Well said - there are drunken buffoons in every fan base for every professional sports team. I too cheered for the White Sox during their run to the World Series title - I'm a Chicagoan before I'm a Cubs fan, after all. I truly can't believe that I've now seen both clubs (and the Red Sox) end their streaks when a full generation of people saw none. What a time to be alive!
Add me to the agree with you column. And for what it's worth, we took the orange line to the parade today and the train was SRO the entire way, jammed with south side Cub fans.
It's true, whatever fan base you are, we can't deny feeling a bit proud of the Cubs! They've come so far to be finally taking home the ring! Every team has their own time, it just so happened that the Cubs' time has come and it came with the glorious rain! Kudos Cubbies! Congrats!
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