I'll Wave As The Bandwagon Rolls By

Usually by the end of September, baseball is a thing of the past in Chicago. Two years ago, The team from the South Side, the White Sox, stretched the season all the way and came home with the World Series trophy. This year, the "Boys in Blue" from the North Side are trying to do the same thing.

The Cubs are leading their division by two games (at press time. I like to imagine I'm writing for some big daily. That justifies the battered fedora and cigar stub clenched in my teeth.) Most of the city is in hysterics over what could be and also cautious because of what has been. I am indifferent. This isn't sitting well with some of my friends and co-workers. It seems like all of a sudden, everyone is a Cubs fan. I know they have the "lovable loser" market cornered, and there is some perverse joy that people take in rooting for a team with an almost century long losing streak, but that's not for me. I don't like to spend my life in a constant state of hope, frustration and disappointment. That's why I got married, so I didn't have to go through the emotional roller coaster every weekend. That however is another story. My team of choice, the White Sox, has fallen from grace faster than the box office receipts for the last Lindsey Lohan movie, but at least I can hold onto the recent past.

Working at the "Voice of the Cubs" presents it's own set of pressures. While I am not the kind of fan that actively wishes others ill, I can't pretend to be what I'm not. I don't wish anything bad for the Cubs. They aren't playing the Sox, so it doesn't really matter to me. The only time I hope for a billy goat or some sort of ivy fungus is during the "Crosstown Classic". I am constantly barraged by endless talk of the Cubs and expected to join in the revelry. Isn't it enough that I wish the team well? I even went to the game Sunday. (I won the tickets, but for the record I passed up selling them at a grossly inflated price. That should be some good karma.) Just don't expect me to jump on the bandwagon. I'll shake your hand and watch as you and your ilk ride away, but I can't climb on board and ride with you, just like I didn't ask you to ride with me when my personal bandwagon was careening out of control two years ago.

I hope things go well for the Cubs, that way my friends can quit whining and move on. Maybe a World Series will force the Cubs to fix that wreck of a ballpark they play in. I enjoy looking up at the netting that keeps concrete chunks from falling on my head and going to the bathroom in a trough. No, seriously it's quaint. Scoreboards with electricity are highly overrated. Before you Cubs fans get your pin striped panties in a bunch, consider this, I may be a good luck charm. I went to two games at your beloved Wrigley this year and the Cubs won both, the first one even snapped a long losing streak. Maybe the baseball gods will smile on you this year just to spite me. I'd be good with that. Later...Brian