...and I kind of wish I was going too.
I've never been a real big fan of watching sports, and honestly, since I stopped playing hockey when I was in high school, I haven't been that big a fan of playing them, either. I don't watch baseball or football or whatever on TV, I am annoyed by the waste of University resources blown on the DIA that could be going to other departments on campus that are actual academic institutions, and I think I can count on one hand the number of college or professional-level sports events I've been to in my life -- with the exception of Cubs games.
My dad comes from Chicago, and his dad comes from Chicago, and of course, he's a Cubs fan. I can remember when my grandfather lived in Chicago on Ashland Avenue, not that far from Wrigley, and my dad and I would go up there pretty frequently and we'd go watch games. I can remember my mom waking me up for the last game of that 1984 playoff series (because my dad was on a business trip) and how crappy it was when they lost. After my grandfather moved out to Montana, we didn't do it as much, but the whole family goes up there for a game every couple years even now. And I still go, even though I'm not really into baseball and honestly, I can think of better things to blow a whole day on for the trip up there and back. Why?
There's a kind of emotional energy when I go to Cubs games that's just really hard to describe. I know it's not just me either; I've seen documentaries (like Wait Till Next Year) where they talk to Cubs fans and they feel the same way. When you are up there at Wrigley, you feel part of a strange collective, even if you're just on the fringe of Cubs fandom. Add to that the fact that it's one of those few things that I really keep close to my heart from my childhood, that really bonds me to my dad, and it's not just a game. The Cubs could win or lose, and it really wouldn't matter. It's really most pronounced at Wrigley, but you can feel it even on the road.
I'm sure it's not restricted to the Cubs either, but I definitely think the fact that they are one of the oldest teams in the game, in a park that hasn't lost any of the charm it had when it was first built in the early 1900s, and that you can't really just be a fair-weather fan really intensifies things. Even I get pretty excited when the Cubs are doing as well as they are this year. I'm not a baseball expert by any sense of the word, and I admit I don't really know much about the subtleties of the game, but I check to see how they're doing, I listen to games on the radio or watch them on TV (usually only when I'm visiting my folks, I admit, but doing it at all is more than I usually do), and I have the same getting my hopes up that happens to a lot of (less embittered) Cubs fans when they're doing well this close to the end of the year. It's a very strange feeling for me.
I don't know that I'll be watching the Cubs' games when they go into the playoffs (as I was writing this, the Brewers lost to the Padres and the Cubs clinched the pennant), but I will be paying attention to what happens, and wishing I could be there, at the park, for those games. I'll never be a big sports fan, but thanks to my dad, I think I'm always going to be a Cubs fan.
I've never been a real big fan of watching sports, and honestly, since I stopped playing hockey when I was in high school, I haven't been that big a fan of playing them, either. I don't watch baseball or football or whatever on TV, I am annoyed by the waste of University resources blown on the DIA that could be going to other departments on campus that are actual academic institutions, and I think I can count on one hand the number of college or professional-level sports events I've been to in my life -- with the exception of Cubs games.
My dad comes from Chicago, and his dad comes from Chicago, and of course, he's a Cubs fan. I can remember when my grandfather lived in Chicago on Ashland Avenue, not that far from Wrigley, and my dad and I would go up there pretty frequently and we'd go watch games. I can remember my mom waking me up for the last game of that 1984 playoff series (because my dad was on a business trip) and how crappy it was when they lost. After my grandfather moved out to Montana, we didn't do it as much, but the whole family goes up there for a game every couple years even now. And I still go, even though I'm not really into baseball and honestly, I can think of better things to blow a whole day on for the trip up there and back. Why?
There's a kind of emotional energy when I go to Cubs games that's just really hard to describe. I know it's not just me either; I've seen documentaries (like Wait Till Next Year) where they talk to Cubs fans and they feel the same way. When you are up there at Wrigley, you feel part of a strange collective, even if you're just on the fringe of Cubs fandom. Add to that the fact that it's one of those few things that I really keep close to my heart from my childhood, that really bonds me to my dad, and it's not just a game. The Cubs could win or lose, and it really wouldn't matter. It's really most pronounced at Wrigley, but you can feel it even on the road.
I'm sure it's not restricted to the Cubs either, but I definitely think the fact that they are one of the oldest teams in the game, in a park that hasn't lost any of the charm it had when it was first built in the early 1900s, and that you can't really just be a fair-weather fan really intensifies things. Even I get pretty excited when the Cubs are doing as well as they are this year. I'm not a baseball expert by any sense of the word, and I admit I don't really know much about the subtleties of the game, but I check to see how they're doing, I listen to games on the radio or watch them on TV (usually only when I'm visiting my folks, I admit, but doing it at all is more than I usually do), and I have the same getting my hopes up that happens to a lot of (less embittered) Cubs fans when they're doing well this close to the end of the year. It's a very strange feeling for me.
I don't know that I'll be watching the Cubs' games when they go into the playoffs (as I was writing this, the Brewers lost to the Padres and the Cubs clinched the pennant), but I will be paying attention to what happens, and wishing I could be there, at the park, for those games. I'll never be a big sports fan, but thanks to my dad, I think I'm always going to be a Cubs fan.
*Sigh* Another Cubs fan. Man you people are EVERYWHERE.
What, are you a Sox fan? ,)