1908. 102 years ago. Years before any of my grandparents were born. Nine years before the United States entered WWI. A good twenty-five to thirty years before the average American household had electricity. The last year in which my beloved Chicago Cubs won the World Series.
I have never lived in the city of Chicago. Pops grew up there and Mom lived there for a bit, but I never did.
I was born in Grand Rapids, MI. I could be a Tigers fan. They were the American League Champions in 2006 although they did end up losing the World Series to the Cardinals.
My family moved to Cincinnati when I was about a year old. The Reds had great teams at the time. They swept the A's in the 1990 World Series. This year they are in the hunt to win the NL Central.
My family then moved to Rochester, NY. This was the early 90's when the Toronto Blue Jays won back to back World Series. Many non-NYC New Yorkers loved the Jays, especially where we lived, relatively close to the Canadian border. Those that didn't rooted for the Yankees, a team that has enjoyed success that no other team has even come close to since the Jays power years ended and before that as well. I could be a Yankees fan.
My family moved back to Ohio, this time to Dayton, in 1998. This was a year after the Indians had been in the World Series, although unfortunately losing. I also had another chance to root for the Reds in Cincinnati who were only about an hour away.
Last summer I visited family in Denver where we went to see the Rockies who were in the midst of a ten game winning streak and who went on to the playoffs. I could have jumped on that bandwagon easily enough.
I visited a buddy in Boston last summer as well, where the Red Sox play. I could have used that as my reason to join the "Red Sox Nation," right?
I went with my family to Chicago for a long weekend one time, and went to a White Sox game because the Cubs were out of town. The White Sox won the World Series in 2005 and look to be headed to the postseason this year as well. No reason not to root for the White Sox.
I don't like Whoppers, I like Big Macs. That's why I'll pick McDonalds over Burger King every time. If a pair of Reeboks are uncomfortable I'll go to the store and pick out a brand new pair of Nikes. I like seeing my favorite team win, so why am I a Cubs fan? Patient, loyal readers...I am thinking about jumping ship.
Rooting for the Cubs is like waiting around on the government to do something right. The government continues to run inept, expensive, and lackadaisical agencies such as the DMV or post office, takes their sweet time when working on roads or bridges, is full of men and women in office who don't pay their taxes, ruins military operations when they don't allow the men in uniform to run things, and all the while never hesitates to demand money from you while coming up with catchy slogans like "hope and change."
Sounds a lot like the Cubs to me. Year after year they get me excited in the winter and the spring, only to me disappoint by late summer and the fall. They have on average, the most expensive tickets in baseball, talk about things like "tradition" and "legacy" and come up with catchy slogans, like "it's a way of life."
Just like I'm voting against the Democrat here in November, I'm thinking about abandoning my allegiance to the Chicago Cubs. After all, why should I settle for a mediocre product?
