KSH<----lifelong cubs fan. Don't ask. I actually got a card from a fellow seminarian for those grieving the loss of a loved one the day after the Cubs lost to San Diego when the ball went through Bull Durham's legs in game 5 of the 1984 National League Championship Series.
Go Cubs!
Posted in * Culture-Watch, Sports
Chicago has recently become one of my favorite big cities and I have adopted the Cubs. I hope they win it all!
I wish to note here that I do not “naturally” accept ALL of Dr. Harmon’s commentary. I am not a baseball fan and I find the trivial sports mixed with the salient somewhat disturbing.
Keep up the good work, Dr. Harmon. Perhaps I need to gain an appreciation for sport.
I find it odd that conservatives need to prove that we are not robotically following our leaders when the lock-step Modern Liberals fail in any substantual debate. Yes, I know there are “lock-steppers” on both sides, I just find the best (most meaningful) debate among conservatives.
Yes DonGander you should. I think its been around 2000 years since the Cubs have clinched their division!
I am a life long Cardinals fan, but I feel the Cubbies’ pain. Currently sitting four blocks from Wrigely field, the energy is building here for a run at the World Series….
Having been born in Evanston, I grew up when the Cubs were part of the family religion.
I have since departed the obviously reappraising Cubs and joined the one, true, eternal church of the Yankees. Thus far, while there have been occasional stressful moments, I can say that I have been more than satisfied with my choice, since it proves that even when the Supreme Leader is lacking in any personally redeeming qualities, the mystical charism of his office bestows on him an infallibility in all matters of faith and morals, i.e., balls and strikes.
Cubs and Red Sox division champs in the same year?!?! Can it be?! Wow. Miracles happen! 😉
I’m a Cardinal fan so I wouldn’t mind seeing your boys go a century between titles. 🙂
I got to see the Cubs clinch the division title last Friday in Cincinnati. Beer, brauts, and shutouts- it doesn’t get much better.
Go, Cubbies!
Aw, c’mon, I thought everybody was at least a part-time Cubs fan?
#5–And I say this with the greatest of Christian love: ANYBODY but the Yankees!!!!!!!!
Yes, rooting for the Cubs here, too. That is, until they face the Rockies. We’re not a baseball town yet, but there’s a lot of excitement for tonight’s game, for which will be leaving in a few…go Rocks!
As a Braves fan, I would have preferred the Brewers. But before I can root for the Cubbies, I need to know more about their fights inside the clubhouse. If Cubbies aren’t good guys, may have to root for Rockies.
Tony Gwynn or Cal Ripken? The Times reports. You decide.
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/01/only-tony-gwynn-believes-in-the-yankees/index.html?hp
Please don’t utter words like Y…..s. I have no doubt that Schori is a fan of this “team”.
Kendall,I am a part of what is not called the Red Sox nation – have been all my life. I watched the Sox take it all from those pinstripe b……s, and I can assure the feeling was, if I may say so, divine. You have my best wishes, you and the Cubs. They cannot beat the Sox, of course,but that’s a given. Other than that, Go You Cubbies. Larry
To be a Cubs fan (as I have been since my eleventh year, 1962) is to learn the meaning of eschatological hope–the paradoxical “now and not yet.” “This year” and “next year” become indistinguishable from one another. The Cubs are God’s own team.
Just remember that great musical: Damn Yankees.
#5 Id rather not say nevertheless says:
Suddenly I gain an appreciation for those who like to cast around the word “anathema” 🙂
My preference for baseball teams is simple, but firm:
1) The Mariners (who don’t always make it easy to be a fan, but hope springs eternal…)
2) Anyone who is not the Yankees. Really, anyone. If the Yankees played a team consisting of Genghis Khan, Jack the Ripper, that sword-armed executioner guy from 300, Hannibal Lector, Lex Luthor, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, I’d be in the stands waving that big “Khan #1!” foam finger.
I am a Mets fan still in shock and mourning. But once the pain wears off a little bit I will be pulling for the Cubs. They have always been my #2 team. And I will throw out a hearty AMEN! to the comment above…
“Anybody but the Yankees!”
It is difficult to know where to place any allegiance or hope. For example a sticking point for any American league is the doctrine of “designated hitterâ€. As a result ,only the National League be viewed as conforming to traditional or “true baseball†. I feel it only fair to point out that two of the great leaders in Common Cause Partners, +Ackerman and +Duncan, are Pirates fans. Even so, some teams fall along a spectrum of orthodoxy. The Cardinals always seemed to close to papalism as do the Padres, and the Reds sound too socialist. The Braves and the Phillies can both make claims as to being “..that most ancient of teamsâ€, and the Cubs deserve notice for having stayed put. I have been mostly cheering of the Mets but than again I like staying married to my wife who was born a Mets fan.
’84 – I remember it well. Steve Goodman passed away just before the Cubs did. Here’s his song:
By the shore’s of old Lake Michigan
Where the “hawk wind” blows so cold
An old Cub fan lay dying
In his midnight hour that tolled
Round his bed, his friends had all gathered
They knew his time was short
And on his head they put this bright blue cap
From his all-time favorite sport
He told them, “Its late and its getting dark in here”
And I know its time to go
But before I leave the line-up
Boys, there’s just one thing I’d like to know
Do they still play the blues in Chicago
When baseball season rolls around
When the snow melts away,
Do the Cubbies still play
In their ivy-covered burial ground
When I was a boy they were my pride and joy
But now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave
The land of the free
And the doormat of the National League
Told his friends “You know the law of averages says:
Anything will happen that can”
That’s what it says
“But the last time the Cubs won a National League pennant
Was the year we dropped the bomb on Japan”
The Cubs made me a criminal
Sent me down a wayward path
They stole my youth from me
(that’s the truth)
I’d forsake my teachers
To go sit in the bleachers
In flagrant truancy
and then one thing led to another
and soon I’d discovered alcohol, gambling, dope
football, hockey, lacrosse, tennis
But what do you expect,
When you raise up a young boy’s hopes
And then just crush ’em like so many paper beer cups.
Year after year after year
after year, after year, after year, after year, after year
‘Til those hopes are just so much popcorn
for the pigeons beneath the ‘L’ tracks to eat
He said, “You know I’ll never see Wrigley Field, anymore before my eternal rest
So if you have your pencils and your score cards ready,
and I’ll read you my last request
He said, “Give me a double header funeral in Wrigley Field
On some sunny weekend day (no lights)
Have the organ play the “National Anthem”
and then a little ‘na, na, na, na, hey hey, hey, Goodbye’
Make six bullpen pitchers, carry my coffin
and six ground keepers clear my path
Have the umpires bark me out at every base
In all their holy wrath
Its a beautiful day for a funeral, Hey Ernie lets play two!
Somebody go get Jack Brickhouse to come back,
and conduct just one more interview
Have the Cubbies run right out into the middle of the field,
Have Keith Moreland drop a routine fly
Give everybody two bags of peanuts and a frosty malt
And I’ll be ready to die
Build a big fire on home plate out of your Louisville Sluggers baseball bats,
And toss my coffin in
Let my ashes blow in a beautiful snow
From the prevailing 30 mile an hour southwest wind
When my last remains go flying over the left-field wall
Will bid the bleacher bums ad?eu
And I will come to my final resting place, out on Waveland Avenue
The dying man’s friends told him to cut it out
They said stop it that’s an awful shame
He whispered, “Don’t Cry, we’ll meet by and by near the Heavenly Hall of Fame
He said, “I’ve got season’s tickets to watch the Angels now,
So its just what I’m going to do
He said, “but you the living, you’re stuck here with the Cubs,
So its me that feels sorry for you!”
And he said, “Ahh Play, play that lonesome losers tune,
That’s the one I like the best”
And he closed his eyes, and slipped away
What we got is the Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request
And here it is
Do they still play the blues in Chicago
When baseball season rolls around
When the snow melts away,
Do the Cubbies still play
In their ivy-covered burial ground
When I was a boy they were my pride and joy
But now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave
The land of the free
And the doormat of the National League
For example a sticking point for any American league is the doctrine of “designated hitterâ€.
That takes so much of the excruciating, er, fun out of it, doesn’t it? I was raised on the Yankees by my dad, but I just don’t like designated hitters. 😉
I have long since disassociated myself from the AL and their heresy.
Leon Durham broke my heart.
Being a Cubs fan is perfect for people who follow a guy who got hung on a cross.
We true believers in traditionalist Yankee baseball are dismayed, but not surprised, at the rantings of reappraising “fans” who do not yet recognize the divine judgment being visited on the Cubs. We comfort each other when we gather together to worship, always taking care to pray towards the Bronx. We understand, as our Worthy Opponents do not, that the Designated Hitter Rule is an obvious example of the Development of Doctrine, just like the Infield Fly Rule (first attested in 1895). And persecuted as we are by those who refuse to engage in [i]true[/i] dialogue and conversation and who insist on blindly follow their team into oblivion, we know that in the end, the Yankees will triumph, along with Truth, Justice, and the American (League) Way.
One more:
http://tinyurl.com/2mpom2
(99 Things Every True Cubs Fan Should Know)
Living here in Chicago, there’s nothing better than to turn down the sound on the TV and turn up Pat Hughes and Ron Santo on WGN Radio.
We’re still working on getting Ronnie into the Hall, but maybe we can go to the Series for him.
GO CUBS, GO!!!!!!
I saw my first Cubs game from the El platform at Addison Street waiting for a train with my dad (before they put up the barrier) at age 4. I watched WGN and listened to Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau, Steve Stone, Harry Caray, etc. The Cubs ruined my life in 1969, in 1984, and again a few years ago. While I am doing time in Purgatory ( Red Sox nation…talk about whiners!!!) my heart will always belong to the CUBS! It’s gonna happen, so listen up and rmemebr: we don’t do no wave! Our scoreboard doesn’t explode. If it came from the other team, throw it back. We don’t need to have a sign to tell us to make noise. Our curse is worse but hope springs eternal. And it’s not to early to begin worrying about next year. So shut up sit down and watch the game. And if all you can do is to remind us of how we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the past, stay home. You’re probably a White Sox fan, or even worse, a Cardinal fan! Yeah, it’s gonna happen!
I am a huge Diamondback fan, and am thrilled that my team, which was predicted to finish last in the division have finished the season with the best record in the National League! We are a team of mostly rookies, including two who came directly from Double-A ball. Our slogan “Anybody, Anytime” has certainly rung true. Go D-Backs!!!!!
PS: My wife and I were in AZ last week and saw a profile of Chad Tracy on Fox Sports AZ. A wonderful Christian man!
Things I miss since we moved from Chicagoland:
Chicago Hot Dogs
Wrigley Field
Great Museums
Great music
Great local traditions (many ethnic)
Grant Park
The Lake
Two terrific zoos
The eternal optimism of Cubs fans
Go Cubbies!!!!
And if they should meet my Yankees in the World Series, I won’t begrudge them a WS title.
IRNS, designated hitters? Development of doctrine?? I am shocked, shocked. This is what happens when the corruption of the Yankee cult enters the soul.