Formation of the Cubs Fans In Recovery support group

by cubnational on Oct 6, 2008 11:52 AM CDT

Well, the Cubs Nation's hearts are once again broken and the pieces are being stomped on. Once again, it's like loving passionately for months a righteous young fox only for her to text you she'll be your BFF -- after you've seen her going off into the sunset with some scabulous runt. You feel utterly crushed, betrayed, etc. yada yada yada. Ad Infinitum added if you're a Cubs fan. Yep, it's Monday. All month.

From family desertions from Cub allegience to workplace wags waving brooms at me today, I've seen all I want to see of this familiar detour into postseason angst .. just in the past 36 hours but know it's a side trip that isn't going to get any better. Withdrawal from the heady drug of the vibe of Wrigleyville has begun and I hate the taste it leaves in mouth. I've reached more than a few times to the remote .. and realized that there are no Cubs games anymore .. ANYMORE.

Next, I think I'm going to wake up in a cold sweat .. screaming at another missed Bobby Howry pitch .. or a Soriano AB .. or a Fukudome strikeout .. or 4 infield errors .. or .. or .. or .. urk ..

I am sure that this will be a Nationwide trauma we will all likely need therapy for a while on. You can only submerge yourself in a bender induced stupor for so long. I've said I probably will log off here for a while .. but I just can't quit you, BCB familia. We all need help from a power greater than ourselves.

So, I am now going to suggest the formation of the Cubs Fans In Recovery Support Group. There's nothing like the power of group therapy commiserating with other witnesses to the Horror of October 2008 in a safe, nonjudgmental setting where refuge from retraumatization would be a priority. What's needed now is to allow Cub fans to hook up, decompress, deconstruct and devent - to squarely face the challenges presented to us in daily life by yet another Post Post Season Meltdown, version 2008, with fearless self-inventory and laughter.

We who'd be in a Cubs Fan In Recovery will come because we finally found another Cubs season imploding. We still hated to admit that we couldn't help but root safely for the Cubs during the NLCS AFTER THE GAMES ENDED the past two years running. Then we heard from other Cubs fans that we we had a problem (We thought so for years!) We found out that many people suffered from the same feelings that we did. We found out that we had these feelings because we had an addiction to the Chicago Cubs that has pretty much come to dominate our lives and we we no longer had the power to mediate that.

We decided to try and face up to what our loyalty to the Cubs had done to us. Here are some of the questions we tried to answer honestly. If we answered YES to three or more of the following questions, we could see that we're in deep trouble with our addiction to the Cubs.

See how you do:

Remember, there is no disgrace in facing up to the fact that you have a problem:

1) Do you wear something on your body that has a Cubs logo on it every day?

2) Do you have your cell phone set to receive ESPN Text Alerts on the Cubs?

3) Have you subscribed to MLB TV even though you live in Chicago?

4) Do you also keep reaching for the remote waiting to watch the updated news for the next round of the NLCS thinking the Cubs might've squeaked in?

5) Are you still going to hock your kids' college trust funds for the season ticket lottery you just won, courtesy of Cubs.com?

We'll be convening every 4th Saturday night at Gorganzola's, a little pizza joint on Clark Street about 5 blocks south of Wrigley .. far enough where the park can't be seen, to help keep any relapses of the post traumatic stress syndromes all too familiar to Cubs fans for generations. (We realize just coming up Clark Street itself may be too much, so we're suggesting meeting downtown at Jose Ole's even, just under the L tracks off State/Washington).

We'll keep you posted as to the next phase of therapy ..

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Comments

When do the meetings start? And here are the answers to your questions:

1) No
2) Yes
3) No
4) Yes
5) No

"I'll take one in the mouth over the eyes any day". - AJ Pierzynski
http://lostinthevines.blogspot.com/

by lostinthevines on Oct 6, 2008 12:00 PM CDT reply actions

I'm in.

But, please, no one bring muffins. Doing so will only remind me of the great Jim Edmonds Fan Club meetings we had this summer. It seems so long ago now. Jimbo hitting those seemingly innocuous pop flies that drifted…and drifted…and drifted…and “IT’S GONE!! ATTA BOY, JIMMY! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!” Sadly, those fly balls drifted nowhere in the playoffs but into Matt Kemp’s glove.

Now, to answer your questions:

1) No. Assuming my soul doesn’t count as part of my body.

2) No, but I do get Twitter updates from Gordon Wittenmyer. Of course, the last one I got was on Oct. 2nd – something about Dempster almost killing DLee and Blanco in the batting cage. Maybe Gordo took the rest of the playoffs off.

3) Yep. I live in the Chicago area and get mlb.tv. I love how it’s utterly useless during the playoffs.

4) Yes, well, sorta. I keep reflexively flipping to Comcast to catch Cubs highlights. Sadly, those last two words are now an oxymoron.

5) Yes. Well, that is to say, I would if I had a college trust fund for my daughter.

So this is how it ends.

by daver on Oct 6, 2008 1:01 PM CDT reply actions

I hope we can still convene those next year ..

.. but after this debacle, I think Jimmy Ballgame would prefer to run his restaurant

Well, Next Year is here .. and Jack's century's gotta end some time .. GO CUBBIES!

by cubnational on Oct 6, 2008 6:13 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, and I kinda hope he does.

I think any magic Jimbo could have brought the Cubs dissipated with the team’s failure in the playoffs. He did the best he could – and his best was pretty damn good. But it’s time to focus on daily specials and vegetable procurement.

So this is how it ends.

by daver on Oct 7, 2008 10:00 AM CDT up reply actions

Need a way to recover in Chicago?

Might I suggest adopting the Northwestern Wildcats as your fall team?

- Wear purple this Saturday v. MSU
- Help the “Purple Haze” descend upon Evanston
- Root on a 5-0 team against Michigan State
- See a Chicago team that could end up in Pasadena (we dream!) to exact some revenge on a SoCal team like USC
- Avoid playoff baseball for one day
- Tailgate in beautiful fall weather (mid 50s-mid 60s with no rain or clouds)
- Reclaim your sports fandom by watching Fitz and Northwestern win the RIGHT way — with hard work and REAL “student-athletes” (and I mean no disrespect to Michigan State by that….Northwestern, though, is well known for not compromising its academic standards AT ALL for athletes).

Kickoff is at 2:30 pm. Tickets available at www.nusports.com or by calling 847-491-CATS.

GO CATS!

by Chadnudj on Oct 6, 2008 5:30 PM CDT reply actions