Its Opening Day

Hello
There is an article in this weeks 3/31 issue of the Sporting News (these guys are great baseball writers) The L word it is an article on losing. The second page of the article is an expose on the Cubs and their Fans, it talks of the clinical psyche of losing, and the attraction that people have with losing, kind of like that whole Freudian pap, about being attracted to that which can do us most harm. The article sites all these songs about the Cubs lament, and the epic errors that cost the cubs opportunities to get into the series, or the ex-factor (when ex Cubs go on to post season success against their former team).Then there is the talk of that stupid goat curse, drawing from an instance that wasn’t suppose to have taken place until the mid 40`s? The real curse is having to listen to the inane rationalizations of people that are on the outside looking in. One of my favorite Cubs fans Brendan Behan once wrote "Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves."

I have had to sit and listen over the past few years as people spoke about the obnoxious Red Sox curse and How long it had been since they had won a series, then the stupid White Sox and their drought, I didn’t care before they won a series, and I don’t care now!, hell! There are 8 teams that have never won a series! Red Sox Nation My @$$!!

But I digress… okay, In the article Joe Montegne states that he doesn’t understand why cubs fans were so angry with Steve Bartman? we all knew that moment was about to happen and Buttman was just a manifestation of all of our underlying fears. I completely understand. I am not saying the moment was willed in some cosmic sense, I am saying that as a Cub fan we share a common bond like the survivors of a shipwreck. Hell! Buttman had the best seats in the frickin house to one of the most important games in recent memory!! Recently I attended the funeral of a dear friend and I stated that “We shared a passion for the Cubs, he loved the underdog no matter what the cost” for me the Cubs epitomize that underdog not just in baseball but in all of us.

Last year in an interview Soriano was asked about a fight that had taken place between the Cubs and the Padres, he was asked if it may have been the result of a celebrational step that he took as he rounded the bases on a prior home run, Soriano replied; ‘That he was an emotional player, but he would not disrespect himself, the game, or his family’. Who says things like that anymore?! In a world where we applaud the, blind siding ‘cheap shot’ artists of the NHL and NFL players cant stay out of jail long enough to make it onto the field, and once they do make it to the field they cant help but embarrass themselves with how much more idiotic they can be, than the last guy that scored a touchdown.

I know! I know! I have sat in the Wrigley outfield with ‘The Bleacher Bums’ having beer splashed on me like the cheap Aqua Velva that those Guido’s seem to love so much. You get those jerks anywhere, how many times have I attended a Super Bowl Party, having to explain to some, half drunk, O-face, corporate peon, fully adorned in his teams favorite jersey, the ‘pass interference’ rule, what defines ‘possession’ or, what ‘breaking the plane’ means in Football. I am talking about the team, Hell I am talking about the game!!
To me no other group of athletes continue to nurture a respect for a game that has provided so much for them, and the Cubs symbolize to me all the things that are still good about the best game ever! As the great Ernie Banks was known to epitomize in a remark of simple humility, gratitude, and enthusiasm “let’s play two”

-The Jaywalker