Good for them.
Folks, this is what a world champion looks like.
Last Saturday, I stopped in front of Wrigley and said to it, "are you going
to do anything constructive in your life?"
I seriously did this.
Next to me was a bird.
The bird was confused.
I said, "Yes, bird. It's true. Something is different about today. A
Chicago team is in the World Series!"
The bird looked up at Wrigley.
"No, no. Not there, silly. It's NEVER going to happen there. I know, I'm
just as confused."
And then the bird walked away. A bit confused.
I'm happy for my relatives that are Sox fans. My uncle Pat in Madison. My dad's side is a south side Irish family...but he became a Cub fan at 12 when they moved to the NW burbs. I live with the thought that nothing, nothing ever good will come of this team again.
I think of our fans: worthless, rich, cell-phone talking, drunk, stupid, and ignorant.
I think of their fans: Small, yet loud. Toothless, yet grinning. Not the smartest, yet always wanting to know more.
Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen created a hunger that Wrigleyville will never provide. A necessity for a world championship that doesn't exist on Addison and Clark. They got BALLPLAYERS. Not guys with numbers, or assumed talent. It wasn't about money, but more about dirt. And in the end, the grit won. The man with the greasy shirt won. The woman who was smoking with a pregnant child won. That cabbie named Oscar who listens to Rooney on ESPN won.
The carnival that is Wrigley Field, and the parade that is the Chicago Cubs have now graduated to farce. There is not a team within 40 YEARS of the Cubs futility in mark of world championships in the history of baseball.
Some will blame it on Phillip Wrigley's insistence on not bringing in lights after World War II. Others will blame it Black Cats, goats, and an unassuming fan. Even more will blame it on the Tribune, Mr. FitzSimons, Dusty Baker, and the players of yesteryear.
But the truth is the Cubs have never gotten BALLPLAYERS. When they did, they won...but never found the right cast to bust out the ladder rounds of October. The 84, and 03 teams had the most BALLPLAYERS, but withered in the end due to a lack of mental toughness.
The excuses are there.
But the real lesson to this are the Sox fans. The ones who never really made excuses. No goats. No Black Sox curse. No real mentions of Dybzinski, or Eric Soderholm's lack of speed. Just anger. Anger at a management that wouldn't
get the job done.
That anger will never exist at Addison and Clark. As long as they sell cotton candy and little teddy bears, and kids come in their SUVs prodded along to the parade with their mommies and poppies...nothing will change.
Two years ago we were on a bus with two other guys that lived the same smacked-down embarrassing life that we had. Now, those two guys have gotten off the bus. And we have been left....thinking of when that next stop will come.
But til then, I'm taking a nap. I'm getting my rest. I'm putting my money on five Charlie Weis championship stops before my Boys in Blue do a damn thing.
So, to the doldrums.
Where the North Side has slept for now a 98th year.
I'm trying to find the bird that JD was talking to for a follow up. Maybe I'll head down to Wrigley Field and have a little conversation with her this weekend after a few cold ones.
Have a good weekend everyone. Go Badgers! Go Bears!
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