This afternoon, YOUR Milwaukee Brewers make the 90-ish mile jaunt to the North side of Chicago to renew their animosities with the Cubs, who might have the most inaccurate nickname of any team (at least for this year): with eight starters age 30 or older, and five 32 or older, these guys are anything but young pups.
Let's look at the numbers, then have a little fun:
2009 record vs. Cubs: 7-10; 80 runs scored, 93 runs allowed
Current three-game series:
- Monday, April 12, 2010 @ 1:20 CDT. TV: FS Wisconsin (and WGN) Radio: 620 WTMJ
- Wednesday, April 14, 2010 @ 1:20 CDT. TV: FS Wisconsin Radio: 620 WTMJ
- Thursday, April 15, 2010 @ 1:20 CDT. TV: FS Wisconsin Radio: 620 WTMJ
Cubs Probable Starters (in order):
- Ryan Dempster (2009 splits vs. Brewers: 4 GS, 3-1, 3.67 ERA, 28 K, 9 BB, 5 HR allowed)
- Randy Wells (2009 splits vs. Brewers: 3 GS, 1-1, 3.60 ERA, 14 K, 7 BB, 2 HR allowed)
- Carlos Zambrano (2009 splits vs. Brewers: 3 GS, 0-0, 4.50 ERA, 19 K, 10 BB, 1 HR allowed)
Brewers Probable Starters (in order):
- Doug Davis (2009 splits vs. Cubs: 2 GS, 2-0, 1.20 ERA, 12 K, 5 BB, 1 HR allowed)
- Dave Bush (2009 splits vs. Cubs: 4 GS, 1-1, 6.20 ERA, 15K, 7 BB, 2 HR allowed)
- Jeff Suppan (2009 splits vs. Cubs: 4 GS, 0-3, 3.80 ERA, 10 K, 14 BB, 3 HR allowed)
In the interest of not giving even the slightest bit of Aid and Comfort to the Enemy (U.S. Const., Art. III, s. 3), we're not going to do a Q&A with a blogger from the opposition. Instead, I asked five members of Brew Crew Ball Nation (selected semi-randomly) to tell me why, exactly, they hate the Baby Bears.
Sadly, only two of those BCBers responded to my email. Those of you who didn't answer know who you are, and you'll have to live with that shame for a long, long minute or so. Anyway, thanks to drezdn and BrewHaHeather for chiming in. I also lifted a thought from kirbir and included one of my own. Their answers and more, after the jump.
Leading off is drezdn:
Here are some of the reasons why I hate the Cubs.
1) Luck: It seems like they are able to trade their worthless players for pieces they need. When that doesn't work, they pick up someone like Reed Johnson off the waiver wire, who proceeds to play out of his mind. Then, there's Ramirez's walkoff in 2007. It still burns.
2) Reed Johnson: Sure, he's not with them anymore but his bunt robbed YoGa of a season of play, and he robbed Prince of a grand slam.
3) Some of their fans: From the "Wrigley Field North" thing to their trolling of message boards, they just seem to be the most annoying fans in sports. It's annoying to go to a Brewers game at Miller Park, and have a Cubs fan act-like-a-fool whenever the other (non-Cubs) team gets a run. Plus, a significant portion of their fandom seems to be made up of people who don't follow baseball, but think they're rooting for the underdogs because of the Cubs lack of World Series success.
4) Payroll: They're basically the Red Sox or Mets without the rings.
5) The "away" game against the Astros in Miller Park. It just felt like someone else sleeping with your girlfriend.
And here's BrewHaHeather:
Like most will say, I don't hate the Cubs, I hate their fans. Their fans are douchebags and they're cocky. They come to Miller Park and are disrespectful, much more than Cardinals fans. They beat up out fans, vandalize our park, and are generally just loud, annoying [word that rhymes with "bassmoles"]. It annoys me that that invade Miller Park, but they do have every right to be there. What really bugs me is how awesome they think they are. Reading over the thread over at the evil BCB about why everyone hates the Cubs, the most common answer was (to paraphrase): "They're all just jealous of us and our huge, loyal fan base." Or all the "Miller Park would be empty without all the Cubs fans that come to Milwaukee" comments that I read in the Cubs blogs. Or when they talk about how Wrigley Field is always sold out, when half the fans there aren't even paying attention to the game. I was watching one of those Samantha Brown shows on the Travel Channel and she was in Chicago on one of the rooftop seats. She asked all the Cubs fans what the score was and no one knew. Then she asked who the Cubs were playing and still no one knew.
Now obviously, I know not all Cubs fans are oblivious douchebags, but they do seem to have a much higher concentration of them than most other teams.
For some levity, we turn to kirbir:
Cubs grow into bears, and anyone who pays attention to Stephen Colbert knows that bears are the number one threat to the nation. They trick you into thinking they're all cute and fluffy when they're young, and the BAM - they're all up in your campsite, stealing all your marshmallows.
And, to round it out, here's a thought that I borrowed stole from an old post at the Buffet:
The whole "loveable losers" crap: You know who's a loveable loser? A four-year-old playing his first tee-ball game who steps up to the plate, with the visor of the helmet tipped down over his eyes, and takes a mighty cut, only to miss the ball, spin around, and end up on his toochus. That makes you say, "Aww, li'l buddy, you tried so hard. Good for you. Have some fruit snacks and a Capri Sun." You know who's not a loveable loser? A group of stumblebums who haven't won the World Series in 100 years.
Feel free to jump in with your thoughts below, but don't burn all of your A material: I might be coming to you for the next Cubs preview.