As a contributor to this blog, I feel it's only fair for me to let anyone reading it know that I am a Cubs fan for life. While I may like and even respect some other teams, I will always root for the Cubbies.
Most people scoff when they find out my favorite team, mingled with slight looks of pity due to my team's lack of success in the form of streaky performances, seasons devoid of playoffs, and of course "The Curse of the Billy Goat."
This year marks 100 years since the Cubs last World Series win in 1908. 100 years. But if you are a true Cubs fan that statistic doesn't bother you. You don't just have faith, you KNOW they will win again, and you will live to see it.
Sure there are times when you can't help but wonder when we (and by "we," I mean the Cubs and all Cubs fans out there) will catch a break. I remember my second year at UCSD, walking around in my Sammy Sosa jersey and not having fellow peers cringe at my paraphernalia. I recall seeing others beginning to sport Cubs hats and smiling to myself about the bandwagon fans, yet feeling our time to shine was upon us. Then Steve Bartman chose to extend his reach out into the field and grab a fly ball out of the air as it was landing in Moises Alou's glove. I think I actually screamed in my living room. We were five outs away from the World Series; we were at top form- a great group of players having a fantastic season. From that play the Florida Marlins went on to score eight runs and Steve Bartman became a wanted man in Chicago. I still sported my Cubs hat the next day; unsurprisingly the trademark royal blue cap with the white outlined red "C" was nowhere else to be found on campus.
The point? Even considering the curse, the bad shakes so to speak that the Cubs have been dealt, when you're a Cubs fan you keep going, all the while saying "We'll win it next year." And we mean it; without pretension, without entitlement, just simply because we know we're due and that our time will come.
Here are additional reasons I love the Cubs:
*My Mom's family is from Chicago; I grew up indoctrinated with the love of the Cubs
*Wrigley Field- hands down the best ballpark ever built (yeah I'm biased, but it's true, go there and then tell me I'm wrong)
*Harry Caray- I grew up singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" along with him during the 7th Inning Stretch
*Wrigleyville Rooftops
*The fans - this applies to all Chicago fans: the Bears, the Bulls, the Cubs; invariably some of the nicest people you'll ever meet who know how to tailgate, cheer on their teams, and will include people they've just met simply because they are fellow fans
Until 1st Grade I never knew "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was a generic song that could be applied to any team. I only found out as I loudly sang "So let's root, root, root, for the CUBBIES!" as the rest of my classmates sang "home team"...and proceeded to have an argument with the teacher insisting she and the rest of the class were wrong and didn't know the correct words to the song.
18 years later, I still think the only way to sing that song is with the "Cubbies," and fervently believe that I will live to see the Cubs win a World Series. Hey, this could be our year.
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