Bringing America Together

In the spirit of bringing this country together, I'm going to do something that I never imagined doing in my lifetime. I'm going to vote for a Chicago White Sox fan to become the President of the United States, and I urge my fellow Cubs fans to do the same.


On the other hand, I'm not counting on that happening. This is an e-mail from reader DS. He writes:

I can't vote for Obama. His entire platform is designed to help Sox fans. His tax plan allows people to declare mullets as dependents. He is encouraging the freedom to choose a single or double-wide trailer, and strongly supports veterans, giving tax breaks to teams that carry 3 designated hitters making an average of 12 million per year. Plus, in his health care plan, he's specifically offering comprehensive dental coverage. He's even soft on immigration and won't go after certain Venezuelans, no matter how obscene their press conferences become. That's not change we can believe in.

RIP Studs Terkel

This is the way I'll always remember Studs Terkel who died today at the age of 96. In this 1984 video clip he talks about the Cubs, and how he wishes they would return to their losing ways because it's much more interesting than winning. Studs got 96 years of interesting. RIP to a great Chicagoan.

Smiling, but crying

She's smiling because the team with the most losses in history, and the most ex-Cubs on their roster (Jamie Moyer, Scott Eyre, and Matt Stairs, and heck first base coach Davey Lopes), won the World Series tonight. Her shirt is crying because there's another team that had gone far far longer without a championship.

Sigh.

But doesn't that shirt look good? Where on earth can you get one of those? Oh wait a minute...are they available here? Why yes they are...along with those cool Crying Cub hats that are flying off our shelves.

By the way, I know this shows what a complete and utter geek I am, but when Eric Hinske came to the plate I said to my boys: "He's going to make the last out. He's a former Cubs draft choice" (17th round in 1998...traded to the A's for Miguel Cairo). Sure enough. Strike one. Strike two. Strike three.

The (Ex) Cubs are winning the World Series!

Mike Royko always said that no team with 3 or more ex-Cubs could ever win a World Series. That was true until 2001, when the Diamondbacks won it all with Mark Grace, Luis Gonzales, and Miguel Batista on the roster.

It may be happening again this year. Look at what happened in Game 3.




This old guy (even older than me!) pitched 6 1/3 innings, gave up only 3 runs, and left with the lead.






This guy (Scott Eyre) came in to the game to relieve Moyer, and closed the door on the explosive Tampa Bay lineup the rest of that 7th inning.






The only thing that was missing was a pinch hit home run by this guy (Matt Stairs).








This is why I'm rooting for the Phillies in the World Series. It may be as close as we can get.

The merchandise is in the mail

We got so many orders in the JOBC Souvenir Stand over the last few weeks that we temporarily ran out of stock. Never fear! The new shipment is in, and we sent out all the back-ordered t-shirts on Thursday. The hat orders go out on Friday.

Plus, our stock is now completely replenished, so if you've been waiting to place your order, now is the time to do it...



Whether you want our very popular "Crying Cub" shirt










Or our unbelievably popular Crying Cub hat











Or our signature "JOBC Logo" shirt












Or our "Losing is sooo last century" shirt











Or our "Great-Great Grandfather shirt" (Note: The model for this shirt is not related to the other models.)






We've got 'em in stock, so order away. Here's a link to the Souvenir Stand.

E-mails, we get e-mails...

I've gotten quite a few touching e-mails since the season ended. Here are three of my favorites...


This one is from Reed...

There have long been T-shirts reading, "Baseball is life. The rest is just details." I think baseball was first with this often-copied refrain, and there is reason for it. Other sports are posers. Baseball is a metaphor for life, and it's why the game has such a strong hold on so many of us. You are teaching your kids well by helping them to love the game. (Rick's note: Reed is referring to my piece about raising my boys to be Cubs fans.)

Baseball starts in the spring, our world's time of new growth, hope, and a full future. It is a grind, played day after day, like life itself. There are good days and bad. For six months every year, it is always there, a friend ready to engage us. It teaches loyalty. It rewards perseverence. It is unchanging, a link to our past, which has been lost in so many other ways.

Then, like life, it ends. For most of us, it ends in resignation that those dreams were never close to coming true. For some, it ends in heartbreak. Only a few reach the mountaintop, but even for them, it ends. The flowers fade. The leaves fall. Your friend, so omipresent for so long, has gone. The winter is cold, dark, and empty.

That's when only our belief that spring will come again carries us forward. That the world will bloom again, that the days will be warm, that there is promise in next season.

I believe that it's not whether you win or lose. It's that you played.

This one is from Andy...

I surrender. I give up. My white flag is flying. I now concede that the Cubs will never win a championship in my lifetime. Game 2's second inning summed it all up for me, and made it clear. No matter how good a team they are, they will never be able to put it all together. My beloved Cubbies will never "drink from the chalice of champions."

And there's no Bartman to blame this year. No black cat. No Leon Durham or Steve Garvey. And really, no billy goat. They just stare in the face of 100 years of futility and play not to lose, rather than to win, and that is a recipe for disaster.

Don't get me wrong, I still love them. And I won't be getting rid of my Cubs gear, taking down the pictures of Wrigley in my office, renaming my dog or taking a piece of sandpaper to my shoulder. I'll still root for them. And next March I'll think, somewhere in my head, "maybe THIS is the year." But deep down I'll know.

This is from Gary...

So, here we go again:

It's deathly quiet in Cubbyville, USA. The air is thick with gloom and doom. Brush in hand, the Joker with his satanic Jack Nicholson smile is painting the town --- Black. And Batman, like Cubs hitters, is nowhere in sight.

True Cubs fans know about "The Curse." But during the regular season they were prone not to mention it for fear of it continuing. But just before the NLCS Cubs management made a bold move to address the issue without using the word "Curse". A Priest was brought to Wrigley. He blessed the stadium and sprinkled holy water throughout the Cubs dugout.

But, to no avail. "The Curse" continues.

But by next April this will have dimmed and the die-hards will be telling anyone who will listen: "Hey, any team can have a bad millennium."

Kevin Foster dies

Such a sad story. He was only 39 years old when he succumbed to cancer Saturday. The Tribune has the details.