Come To Think of It...Not Your Typical Cubs Fan

I have been accused of not being your conventional Cubs fan.

And that's OK, I accept that title. It's been bestowed upon me by the brotherhood of Cubs Fan Nation. And in the end, we're all brothers (and sisters) anyway.

Generally, I am a positive person but when it comes to the Cubs, I have been burned too often to be anything more than a realist.

Which some Cubs fans confuse as a pessimist.  A downer. A not true and loyal fan. Not a die hard.

I will bust their balls when I think it's deserved. I will call it as I see it, and offer no apologies to eternally optimistic Cubs fans who think it is blasphemy to do anything but worship at the shrine of Wrigley Field.

Does that disqualify me from die hard status? Well, draw your own conclusions, but keep in mind that I have died harder than virtually anyone. I barely remember 1969 and I'd be lying if I said it affected me. I only remember that Billy Williams was my favorite Cubs player growing up.

But I've been through 1984.  Oh yes, I walked the plank that was the 1984 season, following the team from start to finish. Quit my job. Went to almost every game.  Remember the Van Halen song that became the Cubs theme that year, Jump!? Well, I almost did, right out the window that year.

I admit I really lost it.  I went through stages of denial, anger, frustration, sadness—all the emotions that occur when you completely give your heart to a team with not even an ounce of doubt about what the outcome was going to be.

And when that outcome failed to materialize, I swore to myself that I would never let that happen to me again.

After all, it's just a game. Right? Hah....

So when 2003 came along, I told everyone within earshot how the Cubs were going to blow it.  I even remember that before the Bartman incident I was cautioning people "here we go again, it's 1984 all over again."

And so it was.

Believe me, I received no joy from my newfound powers of prognostication.  I would have been more than happy to have been wrong. It still hurt like Hell anyway.

And so it goes...

As your Cubs community leader, I want you to know that you can be a realist and still be a good Cubs fan. They are not mutually exclusive. 

I know some of you younger guys who haven't gone through this pain and suffering think this is our year.

And maybe it is.  Wouldn't that be unbelievably great?

But excuse me if I occasionally interject some realism into the equation along the way.

And keep my day job.

You might call it being pessimistic, a downer, that I'm not being a true and loyal fan. Not a die hard.

But maybe you'll remember this article and know that I'm doing this for your own good.

Come to think of it, I'm doing this for my own good too.  It's therapeutic, brother.