Welcome to Nearly Next Year! I hope this blog will help Cubs fans gain a deeper appreciation for their team, their fellow fans and the traditions and culture associated with bleeding Cubbie blue. After all, this is the year! And if not, there's always next year. (But so far, so good!)
To kick things off, I want to delve into an issue that has been bothering me since the beginning of the baseball season.
During the past few months, there has been a nearly non-stop assault on that humblest breed of baseball disciple, the Chicago Cubs fan. First Cincinnati Reds announcer Marty Brennaman called Cubs fans "the most obnoxious fans in baseball."
Then Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey insinuated that Cubs fans are no better than fair-weather New York Yankees fans.
Finally, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti threw salt in the wound by decrying Cubs fans as "fickle."
I was initially insulted by all of this mud-slinging. The Cubs finally see a little success and suddenly everyone starts passing judgment on the passion of a fan base that has been waiting a century for a World Series win. How can you look a true Cubs fan in the eye and question his commitment? The Cubbie faithful wrote the book on loyalty to a sports team.
But something is rotten in Wrigleyville. Sitting in the bleachers at Wrigley Field a few weeks ago, I was disturbed by what I saw. I encountered fellow patrons who could only be considered "obnoxious" (among other choice adjectives). Worse yet, I saw fans booing in disgust as the Cubs failed to score. An overbearingly vocal segment even booed Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee. That just doesn't happen. Were Mariotti and Co. right after all?
One of the predictable consequences of the Cubs' recent success is the phenomenon of the Bandwagon Cubs Fan (BCF). The BCF was born during the 2003 playoffs, when the Cubs came so infamously close to the World Series. A perennially subpar Chicago team was on the verge of making history and everybody wanted to be a part of it. As the Cubs have continued to be moderately successful in recent years--and Chicagoans have realized how much fun it is to be a Cubs fan--the BCF contingent at Wrigley has grown significantly. Unfortunately, most of these fans weren't around for the endless decades of Cubs futility and therefore can't possibly understand what it takes to be a true Cubs fan.
Lest these newer fans further soil the reputation of all Cubs fandom, I proudly offer the Five Laws of the True Cubs Fan. These laws are implicitly accepted as the Cubs Fan Credo and are in no way negotiable. Read them carefully, learn them well and live them constantly. If you object to any of the following statements, there is another baseball team in Chicago that is more accustomed to your brand of half-hearted support. And you'll have no problem getting tickets to their games.
Cubs Fan Law #1: Lay off the boos.
You can boo the umps, you can boo the other team, you can boo the rain delay, but you never boo the Cubs. This doesn't prohibit you from becoming frustrated with certain Cubs players who hit leadoff homeruns one day and injure themselves while striking out three times on pitches in the dirt the next day. That's human nature. But don't publicly ridicule the player whose replica jersey you're wearing. If you're booing your own team, why are you at the game?
Cubs Fan Law #2: The Cubs will win tomorrow.
When you've lost for a century, one tough night game shouldn't irrevocably dash your dreams. You have until the first pitch of tomorrow's game to vent your frustrations over tonight's loss. After that, let it go. Sometimes this is easier said than done, but you need to maintain perspective.
Cubs Fan Law #3: Know your Cubs history.
A good Cubs fan is a knowledgeable Cubs fan. The team has a long history that began before 2003. Look into it.
Cubs Fan Law #4: Don't be a hater.
What separates Cubs fans from other baseball fans (and our Southside counterparts) is the ability to remain positive in the face of annual adversity and the insults hurled at (and about) your Lovable Losers. The Cubs have fantastic rivalries with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago White Sox and several other teams. Fans of these teams will try to engage you in a derisive shouting match, but don't fall for it. Just root for the Cubbies and bask in their inevitable victory. Be secure enough in your love for the Cubs that chants of "1908" simply don't faze you. Please Note: With both Chicago teams somehow in first place and the White Sox coming to Wrigley, Cubs Fan Law #4 must be carefully observed this weekend.
Cubs Fan Law #5: If necessary, wait ‘til next year.
Cliché? Yes. Foolishly optimistic? Perhaps. But the defining characteristic of a Cubs fan is the sunny optimism that the team can win against all odds, and one of these years they will go all the way. Believe or leave.
Any laws I missed? Leave 'em in the comments.
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Matt Paolelli
Matt Paolelli has been root, root, rooting for the Cubbies since before he could stand on his own during the Seventh Inning Stretch. More
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Rule No. 6
Travel well. Cubs fans are everywhere and often they wait with breathtaking excitement for their beloved cubs come to their city to play the local team. It is not uncommon for the cubs as the away team to have more fans cheering for them than the home club. Behave, have fun, cheer on the cubs, wear your replica jersey with pride, but don't be an obnoxious guest!
Cubs fan now living in: San Diego
Rule number 7
(this goes for any baseball team, really)
If you're a female, don't go to a baseball game just because Derrek Lee is gorgeous and you'd like to watch him run the bases, then turn to your boyfriend in the middle of the 4th inning and ask how that guy at third just got a double play, and what does 6-4-3 mean? I've seen ALOT of girls who have just popped up out of the woodwork as fans , mainly because the Cubs have a pretty attractive team. I'm from central IL, so we have alot of die-hard females around here. I think that should be a rule as well.
Rule No. 7 sounds good...but let's be real. Wrigley Field has been full of bimbos who just want to be shown on TV in their bikini top since the Cubs were first broadcast on WGN. We chicks who really dig the game can just feel secure and proud that we're there for the right reason. Screw everyone else.
Speaking of which...
I live on the East Coast, where the most prominent example of what you described (bandwagon jumping) is the Red Sox. I do NOT want to see what happened there happening with the Cubs. But there are an alarming number of people in this world who only root for what's fashionable and popular at the time. For those of us who were BORN Cubs fans (seriously...I was born on Opening Day 1978, a Cubs loss) and got chided in high school for wearing our Mark Grace jersey, the eventual World Championship that we WILL see in our lives will be oh, so sweet. And like I said before, screw everyone else!
Great suggestions!
@ Ed: There's nothing cooler than seeing (and hearing) a bunch of true blue Cubs fans attending away games. It seems like every time the Cubbies are away, you can hear the fans chanting "Let's Go Cubbies" and drowning out the home crowd.
@ Kim: Uninformed baseball fans of either gender can be obnoxious, but I recognize the phenomenon you're talking about. When the Cubs won the division in '03 and I was a sophomore at Northwestern, the pink Cubs hat became required attire for many of the females on campus. Lots of the guys started sporting Believe bracelets and Prior jerseys, too. The bandwagon is an ugly thing.
@ Jennifer: Amen, sister. (right down to the ridiculed Mark Grace jersey)
First of all, Cubs fans have not been waiting a century for anything. They have been waiting since they jumped on the bandwagon in 2003. My apologies to the generations of REAL Cubs fans out there who were born into this culture of losing and poor sportsmanship. They know baseball. But back to this list. Just the fact that you need to post a list like this speaks volumes of the image of Cubs fans, and with every image or stereotype, there is indeed a little bit of truth. I agree with most of these flaws..but there is a major problem with your whole point--fans of ALL teams have these issues. Not just Cubs fans! It's just more of this self centeredness, this arrogance that Cubs fans display. That is the real reason why people hate Cubs fans. They act like they are in this elite club, but they have nothing to show for it. Not even the battle scars of being a true die-hard baseball fan. It's hard to feel sorry for 30-40,000 weekend warrior type yuppies who slink back to their cushy north suburban Chicago lairs after the Cubs lose. Who gives a crap? Another good reason cubs fans get a bad wrap? They can get pretty cocky for never having won a thing in over a hundred years, and that's about as annoying as it gets.