Confessions of an Ex-Cub fan
by No Huddle Offense on Jul 21, 2008 9:52 PM CDT
27 comments
Hello, my name is Steve (Hi, Steve!), and there's something I need to get off my chest. You see, I used to be a Cubs fan.
It started in 1993. I was nine years old, and I had just been exposed to baseball for the first time. I loved it. Loved to play it. Loved to watch it. I'd watch every game I could find on TV. The Brewers were not on TV, but I had WGN. So I saw a lot of Cubs games. Harry Caray. The Ivy. Mark Grace quickly became my favorite player. And the Cubs, not the Brewers, became my favorite team.
Fast forward to 2003. The Cubs made a deep run in the playoffs, and I loved every minute of it. Well, until the Bartman game. I was devestated when that magical run came to an end. But this was also the beginning of my conversion. What if? What if the Cubs won the pennant...and then the World Series? Would there be anything left to cheer for? I couldn't help but to wonder if the only reason the so-called long-suffering Cubs fans and I rooted for the North Siders because they were crap, not in spite of it.
In 2004, I caught a couple of Cubs-Brewers games at Miller. I was embarrassed to be counted among the ranks of the Cubs fans. They were rude and obnoxious, deriding Milwaukee and Wisconsin. The Brewers fans talked trash, of course, but they were less crude and more clever. Again in '05 I caught a Cubs-Brewers game and again the Cubs fans were obnoxious. Sitting in the right field bleachers, many of them got arrested anyway. This would be the last game at Miller Park I'd ever wear a Cubs hat to.
In 2006 I graduated college and moved to Chicago. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Everyone told me you have to live a summer in the city to understand what baseball means there. I learned quickly: Baseball in Chicago is about sealing business deals, sending text messages all game, and blowing off work (at your dad's law firm of course--you don't need to get a job on merit!) with your fellow 25-year-old frat boys.
Yes, my friends, in 2006, I came home. Threw away the Cubs hat and put on a Brewer hat. It felt so right. It felt so clean. I didn't have to feel guilty or dirty any longer. I didn't have to feel ashamed.
Furthermore, I moved my family back to Wisconsin the first chance I got--October 2007. I hate that city more than anywhere I've ever been. Maybe the universe was trying to tell us something with the Chicago Fire.
One final observation: I've only ever once gotten close to landing a home run ball. But if I ever do snag one, I will never, ever throw it back. Dumbest tradition in sports.
I don't ask for your understanding. There is no way I can un-do being a Cubs fan. I only ask for your forgiveness, with this solemn vow: Even if the Brewers never win another game, I'd rather kick myself in the face every day for the rest of my life than cheer for the Cubs.
In conclusion, F the Cubs, F Illinois, fly the flag, Roll out the barrel, and go Crew!
-Steve
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Hi Steve!
The prodigal son returns.
I don’t understand why current Cubs fans are almost always so angry and mean. Between that and the team stealing Carroll’s emblem, I could never allow myself to root them on, no matter how good they are.
It’s good to have you back where you belong. :)
"Brett Favre looks like a man in a parking lot playing with boys." - John Madden
"Pujols just unloaded." - Bob Uecker
by kirbir on Jul 21, 2008 10:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Psst
I believe you’re thinking of another sport’s Chicago team stealing emblems…
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on Jul 21, 2008 10:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, they’re just the lowest common denomenator. The bottom feeders. Those little pieces of green crap that float around in the pickle jar.
It takes a LOT to make Sox fans look classy. Somehow, they do it.
http://nohuddleoffense.blogspot.com
by No Huddle Offense on Jul 21, 2008 10:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
The universe cares about Major League Soccer's Chicago franchise?
It really is crazy…
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on Jul 21, 2008 10:16 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Brilliant
“Maybe the universe was trying to tell us something with the Chicago Fire.”
Massively sig-worthy.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Jul 22, 2008 12:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Thank You Steve!
:)
"Maybe the universe was trying to tell us something with the Chicago Fire." -Former Cubs Fan Steve
by Michael M on Jul 22, 2008 12:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
You have seen the light – therefore all is forgiven – welcome home
by Saberilliterate on Jul 22, 2008 8:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Good for you, but...
Glad you have seen the light. However, Chicago is a great city. Its the stupid team and fans of Cubdom you should be deriding, not the city itself.
by redtiger on Jul 22, 2008 9:10 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
bleh
all those brownstones, everything is rickety, and the chicks all wear moonboots.
by Braunstalker on Jul 22, 2008 12:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Chicago really is an awesome city
especially in the summer. I’ve lived here (in enemy territory so to speak) for nearly six years and I too don’t understand the scorn for the city itself. I’ve been to tons of games at Miller Park South and yeah the “lowest common denominator” fans are pretty ridiculous (especially when they pass out and piss themselves on your back porch) but I don’t really think you can make an argument against the city itself.
by MillerParkSouth on Jul 22, 2008 1:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm a Cub(and Packer) fan, and I signed up just to reply to this.
I understand some of your complaints, I really do. It’s miserable sitting at a baseball game and having everyone around you be a drunken ass, or screaming on to their cell phones, with seemingly no regard for the people around them. But there certainly is a contingent of Cub fans (and I consider myself among them) that are knowledgeable and actually go to Wrigley Field to watch a game, and not as a social event.
I love the Cubs, and I hate many of their fans. To be honest, many Cub fans are just downright embarrassing. But I implore you to realize that although they may spoil your perception of Cub fans, there are good fans among the bad. Also, I don’t really understand your hate for Chicago, it really is a great city. Just my opinion, of course.
by LambeauLeap on Jul 22, 2008 11:03 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I've met "Good" Cubs fans...
But they’re all senior citizens.
Steve
http://nohuddleoffense.blogspot.com
by stigmo on Jul 22, 2008 11:42 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'll assume that by your sig, you're the same person as the original poster.
Just using a different name. And if that’s the case, I’ve got to ask, why did you recommend your own fanpost? Weak.
And it’s pretty clear your opinion isn’t going to change, I just thought I’d put it out there that not all Cub fans are as bad as you claim they are. And I’d also suggest that there are plenty of idiot Brewer fans as well. I think as a general rule, most fans of most teams are pretty stupid, and maybe 10% or so of each fanbase is intelligent in regards to baseball.
by LambeauLeap on Jul 22, 2008 11:48 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
When I was at the Giants/Brewers game
at PacBell no SBC no AT&T park
The drunk idiots (that gave my wife fits) in the row behind us didn’t know a lick about baseball.
The first debate happened in about the 4th inning: What’s the “L” on the scoreboard near “R H E.” A legit question, considering that’s not normally on scoreboards or prominantely featured on the box score (and not under the single letter L in any case). When I informed them that “L” = Left on Base, it took them 4 more innings to come to that realization themselves. In all the interviening innings they had discussions like “It hasn’t gone up in a while” “hey wait, when did that change?” “hey, maybe it changed after the inning” “maybe it’s runners left” “but when?” It took them about 3 innings to reach the general level of grasping the concept that it was LOB, then another inning to discover it was only the runners stranded at the end of the inning. This wouldn’t have been so bad if someone from the row ahead of them hadn’t TOLD them the info 4 innings before, but the timecourse seemed a bit slow to me also;)
Then…there was ERA (discussion in the 7th inning).
Guy A: “Look at how the pitcher’s ERA went from 0.00 to 3.21 this inning.”
Guy B: “What’s ERA?”
Guy A: “I think it’s runs scored per inning that he pitches”
Guy B: “How can it be ‘point’ anything?”
Apparently they didn’t consider that this would be a ludicrous amount of runs per game, nor did they consider the “E” part of ERA…which ya know, if the dude is 0-1 coming into the game and an ERA of 0….
by PagsBrewCrew on Jul 22, 2008 12:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
at this point, I buried my head in shame.
but then remembered they weren’t my team’s fans.
by PagsBrewCrew on Jul 22, 2008 12:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Alrighty...
Two answers:
1. Yeah, it is me. I use this name at work. And I rec’d because I had just read a thread about people creating duplicate names to rec their own stuff, and I wanted to see if it would block IP address or something. I was going to remove it but then I got distracted by actually doing work at work. It’s off now, sorry about that.
As far as my antipathy toward Chicago and Cubs fans, it’s largely tongue-in-cheek. I worked on the Magnificent Mile and dealt with some of the richest, most arrogant people in the city. The job was terrible, and the people I worked with were worse. So I developed an irrational hatred of the city. (Also doesn’t help trying to commute by train with dozens of sweaty Cub fans smashed up against you.)
Anyway, I know there are some good folks in Chicago, and I’m sure you’re one of them. But I hated my time in the Second City so much that I have to vent my rage somehow.
Plus my wife and all my in-laws are from Chicago. And my son was born there. (It just means I’ll love him a little less than my future offspring that will be born in Wisconsin.) So don’t take my ranting too seriously.
Steve
http://nohuddleoffense.blogspot.com
by stigmo on Jul 22, 2008 12:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Fair enough, and I do understand your complaints.
All the drunken idiots, the yuppies who know squat about baseball, etc. It really drives me nuts. Just wanted to be a voice for all the real Cub fans out there, and show that we do exist. TO be honest, I feel like I relate to the Brewer fanbase much moreso than the Wrigley crowd, but the Cubs are my team, and always will be.
by LambeauLeap on Jul 22, 2008 2:04 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I grew up rooting for both teams
For a lot of the same reasons the Brewers were never on tv the Cubs were on GN almost every day and during the day back in the early 80’s. Since the two teams were in different leagues it did not feel wrong plus my family did not have the extra money for trips down to Wrigley(we were lucky to see a game from the cheap seats at County Stadium a couple times a year) I grew up hating the White Soxs because they were rivals to both of my “teams’
Then I got lucky and married a woman who understood and loved baseball almost as much as I did. We would do day night double headers Wrigley during the day then haul ass up to County for a night Brewers game.(good times man changing shirts in the car in the parking lot)
I always wondered who would I would root for if they every met in the World Series but come on it was the Crew and the Cubs that was not a big worry.
Then the switch to the One True Baseball League happen in Milwaukee and I had to make a choice and it was not a hard one the Brewers were my one true team. And after going to Brewers Cubs games at both Wrigley and Miller Park I know I choose the right side. I do have more respect for the White Sox fans I brawled with when I was a young buck than the Yuppie Cubs fans you have to deal with now. It kills me when they take over Miller Park but I think that problem will only get better and better as the Brewers keep improving. Like Steve I gave away all my Cubs gear and over time I have learned to hate the Cubs and their fans with a fire I never thought was possible.
I am sure there are a lot of reformed/former Cubs fans in my generation of Brewers fans It was amazing the first time I went down to Wrigley as a Brewers fan and actually took a moment to look around the place and it struck that I had been a sucker just like all those saps from Iowa ;)
Cub free since 1998 ;)
Its all about the Bullpen this season that is the key.
by WSB Chris on Jul 22, 2008 1:36 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I hear ya
I think alot of people around here are like that, the Cubs where my favorite NL team. When the Cew moved to the NL though I just decided to root for the team that sucked and had no money and therefore an excuse to suck.
I am glad I did this because honestly I think I hate Cub fans more than Viking fans and that is saying alot.
by nezy37 on Jul 23, 2008 2:04 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Chicago sucks.
That is all.
Lordz Of Vengeance....If I'm not drunk, I'm at work.
I am anti-Cameron.
by Dikembe Meiztombo on Jul 23, 2008 12:02 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
The difference between good and bad Cubs fans:
Bad Cubs fans: think of Harry Caray as the quintessential Cubs announcer.
Good Cubs fans: remember Harry Caray as a Cardinals announcer.
That pretty much sums it up in my eyes.
"My thing is that you guys eat meat all day and you can't hit a ball. That's my thing." - P. Fielder
by SRB on Jul 23, 2008 1:46 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Ueker
certainly had nothing nice to say about the man in his autobiography.
by Braunstalker on Jul 24, 2008 5:27 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm unaware
What did he say??
Steve
http://nohuddleoffense.blogspot.com
by stigmo on Jul 24, 2008 7:40 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis
|
91 | 71 | .561 | 0 | Lost 6 |
|
Chicago
|
83 | 78 | .515 | 7.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Milwaukee
|
80 | 82 | .493 | 11 | Won 3 |
|
Cincinnati
|
78 | 84 | .481 | 13 | Won 2 |
|
Houston
|
74 | 88 | .456 | 17 | Lost 3 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
62 | 99 | .385 | 28.5 | Lost 2 |
(updated 2.10.2010 at 4:46 AM CST)
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