Why Are You a Cubs Fan?

thanks to this game, on May 10, 2008, the first Major League Baseball game I ever attended. The Cubs won 7-2, and Kosuke Fukudome hit his second HR as a Cub. From that moment on, the Cubs were my team and Kosuke was my player. Not even two later trips to Busch Stadium (a more logical choice geographically) could sway me from that point on.

… I point everyone to this post I made in 2005, not long after BCB started, which I recently reopened to comments.

But I’m glad I am because THIS IS THE YEAR!

I was a child. Six or seven, maybe. Certainly not in double figures.

Got me early, they did…

I was one of those kids who got hooked with the after-school broadcasts on WGN; most of my friends were Cub fans, too. And the whole ’69 season, when I was an impressionable lad, really was an exciting experience.

I should note that I also followed and rooted for the White Sox back then; my memory is sketchy and I wasn’t old enough to be aware of all the social dynamics, but I don’t recall there being as much friction between the fan bases back then.

We moved away from Chicago when I was 12, and I formed allegiances with a couple of AL teams, but the Cubs have always had first place in my heart. There’s just something eternal about them, something that seems to speak to that summertime feeling that Goodie1969 described so well. And yes, Wrigley itself is a big part of this – it felt so good to see a game there in ’08, even if we did get shellacked by the (#*# Nationals.

I tend to be a pretty rational guy, and I think maintaining this attachment to a sports team is one way of keeping the other parts of my brain fresh…..it doesn’t stand up to analysis or logic, but it’s just such a self-evidently fun thing that I’ve never been able to let go.

but there is something very special about being at Wrigley, which is a part of being a Cubs fan. Not many places left where I can sit in a seat, and in that same seat (not seat itself, but seat location) my dad, grandfather, great grandfater, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, uncle, etc and future generations can/could sit in that exact same seat. It is an extension to our family history, and i am sure that rings true for the vast majority of long term, multi generational Cub fans.

I went to my first game before I was 1 year old, dad and uncle broke me in early. My father loves to tell me stories of being a young kid going to the bars with him around Wrigley, where I would pretend to hit a ball, run a circle, and slide into home. He loves to explain that before you knew it, many of the people at the bar would start calling me out or safe based on the calliber of my slide, and the bartenders were always fast to keep me hydrated with a kiddie cocktail during this.

My father never left a game early, and we would always go to the players parking lot after a game while waiting for the crowd to lessen (my father usually took one of us at a time for a special day, but sometimes it would be my dad, uncle and three kids).

I learned how to do math using box scores or verbal math problems from my father (tim, if Ryno hits 2 Hrs, a single, and three doubles today, while Jody has three singles and two strike outs, what is their batting averages, how much better was Sandberg’s and how many total bases did they have together, for example).

I guess, for me and I am sure others, it is not just the Cubs, and their history, but how our family history is linked to so many parts of their history. In 1945 my grandfather cried, in 69 my dad, uncle and grandfather cried, and in 84, 89, 98, 03, 07, and 08 more Coyle’s cried as the family.

The Cubs are not just a bseball team that we cheer for, they are not just something we enjoy for the summer and then tuck away for the off season (BCB’s daily hit count I would believe alone proves this lol) but the Chicago Cubs National League Baseball Club is an extension to the family tree, and my two month old neice has her Cubs onsies ready for opening day to continue on with this tradition.

 I really didn’t know anything about the game, especially being from Brazil where soccer dominates the sports world there.(I’m still a huge soccer fan). My parents know nothing really of baseball or other sports here in the US and when I moved here, I didn’t get whats the point of the pitcher or the batter. I didn’t understand the game. I began to understand whenever WGN telivised the games.
  
 In 07, I didn’t really follow them. I didn’t care about them, I didn’t even catch games on TV and I didn’t even care if they won or lost. When they missed the playoffs, I didn’t really care.
 
 In 08, I remember seeing the season opener and Fukudome’s three run homer and well, that got me started. I still missed a lot of games ( we don’t have comcast) but I watched more of the sports news and see how they were doing. I didn’t know that you could listen to games on the radio so I followed them on the computer. (It sucked) I remember once when they played the Marlins when and when Daryle Ward hit a game winning home run against the Marlins (against Gregg, by the way). I saw the live up dates on the computer when the Cubs faced the Dodgers in the playoffs and I remember when James Loney (was it him?) hit that grand-slam and I just stared at the computer screen in disbelief. I caught the last game when my travel soccer team went to Milwaukee for a tournament and I just watched sadly as the Cubs failed to produce any scoring sort of scoring chance as the season ended right there.
 
 In 09, my dad got me a Walkman to listen to the games and I listened to all of them, even when they sucked and were out of the playoffs. I slammed on the couch when ever Gregg blew a save (especially against Detroit) or when they failed to get that clutch hit to send the game to extra innings. I really feel now that I understand the game ever since I started to follow the Cubs and I expect them to do well this year.
 

Then I simply “BLou” myself and never answer it.

I became a Cub fan — I had family in Chicago and my grandfather and I would always watch the daily Cubs afternoon games (on WGN) because I started fall in love with the sport.

I feel in love shortly thereafter with the players, organization, colors, stadium, and feeling of cheering for the Cubs. I loved them to death and even though I might of watched the game earlier in the day I would love to sit and watch highlights of the game because I couldn’t get enough.

I’ve been a huge Cub fan since those moments and I will always be one.

I never had a choice in the matter. My entire family are Cubs fans. I was almost a White Sox fan. My 1st grade park district baseball team was the White Sox. I began to follow them but my dad quickly stopped me. Within a week, he made sure I went to a Cubs game so I would be a Cubs fan. It worked and I’m sure glad I did.

I lived next door to 4 cousins, all boys….and they loved the Cubs. Everyone in our family were Cub fans. It was a given. I always thought they were the only baseball team in Chicago for the longest time. hehe :)

of attaching myself to lost causes, and why change now?

but noone in my family watched/cared for baseball. It was the summer of my graduation, so I didn’t really have anything to do, except work and get ready for college. My girlfriend would watch cubs games while I was at her place, and it got me into baseball. I chose the Cubs: a) because she was a Cubs fan, B) I don’t like the Brewers because like everyone from my town/school/college like the Brewers and they just aren’t as appealing to me.

I’m a glutton for punishment.

My dad took my brother and me to Cubs games once a year from when i was 5-12?

Games on WGN when we stayed home during the summer.

Watching Kid K’s 20 strikeout game.

Falling away from baseball for hockey (cause we played) and then coming back to it in the 2003 season. After having my heart broken and then coming back the next year ready to go! I still haven’t taken off my ‘Believe’ braclet.

Going to Wrigley for the first time as an ‘adult’, coming up the stairs, seeing the friendly confines and feeling like this is the closest to heaven you could have on earth.

Left Field Bleachers

Blue is my favorite color.

St. Louis….sucks….

Nuff said

I’m a third generation Cubs fan, although I am the first member of my family to live in Chicago. I grew up two hours south of Chicago, and went to my first game at Wrigley in 1984 at the age of seven, and just fell in love with everything. The team, the ballpark, Ryne Sandberg and Jody Davis and Harry Caray and Steve Stone, the whole thing. And the Cubs were winning. Yes, my first experience with the Cubs was winning. When they lost the NLCS in 1984, my father was distraught, but I was naive and thought, “Well, surely they will win next year.” I found out the following year that not every team makes the playoffs every year, but I quickly became a WGN devotee. On a summer afternoon, it could be bright sunshine outside, but even my best friends quickly learned not to bother asking me to come outside or go to the pool until the Cubs game was over. They could come in and watch with me, of course, but otherwise, come back after about 4:00. I learned all of my baseball from three people: my father, Harry Caray, and Steve Stone.

I can’t really say why I became a fan, other than it was just in me. I was exposed to it, and I loved it from day one. The Cubs, and baseball in general, are a very important part of my life. It’s part of who I am. Every job I have ever had I am identified as the Cubs nut. People seek me out at work to get my reaction after a big win, a tough loss, or any big Cubs news. When the Cubs lost in the 2003 NLCS, I got phone calls from friends and family, former co-workers, and two ex-girlfriends, literally from all over the country, as if a family member had died. Some of the same in 2008, but nothing like ‘03. I guess it’s silly, but I pity people who do not have something in their life that they are passionate about. I love Lou Holtz’s quote, “Everyone needs something to love, someone to love, something to hope for, and something to believe in.” With the Cubs, I have all four. (Fortunately, I also have someone to love, and she tolerates my Cubs addiction with a sense of wonder and bewilderment. And I love her for it.)

It is not a question of why one is a Cubs fan, but if you like baseball and grow up on the north side of town, how could you be anything but a Cubs fan. And once the seeds are sown, how could you not remain a Cubs fan. There is little or no choice involved. It is more a question of fate, than a question of will.

My Grandmother got me hooked young. The woman would NOT miss a game, didn’t matter how late at night, how many extra innings or where she was! She even made my brother-in-law drive her home one day because “you people aren’t watching the Cubs game and I want to watch – take Grandma home!”

No team in Milwaukee at the time. So that’s what was on TV when I was a kid.

Thank God. Otherwise, I could have ended up a bitter, militant, xenophobic Brewers fan. Not that they are all like that, just a VERY vocal minority.

I became a Cub fan when I experienced both joy and heartbreak during 2003. I think I continue to be a fan because I’m still searching for that ultimate feeling of elation when the finally win the WS. What happens after that? Man, I’d like to find out.

They enrolled me in the Iowa Cubs Knothole Gang when i was a kid, and afternoons spent at their house were with my grandfather, who tuned in to WGN to see the “Big Cubs”.

- I was born in 1984.
- I faintly remember Sec Taylor opening in Des Moines in April 1992.
- I went to many games during the 1993 American Association title run with Grandpa.
- I had a Mark Grace baseball card that i kept in the front of my collection, even though it was of little worth compared to some others i owned.
- 1998 (i was 14) was the first time i really nerded out to baseball beyond my family’s influence, as i cheered on Sammy in the home run race and watched the “Big Cubs” make the playoffs.
- I remember being horrified in 2003 as i watched the game in my college dorm with some buddies from Chicago (everyone at the University of Iowa is from Chicago).
- I was home from college and got to be there in June of 2005 when a crowd of 13,000 plus watched Kerry Wood in a rehab assignment start and a post-game fireworks show.
- I moved to Chicago days after graduating college, and got to see my first game at Wrigley only a week later, a 2-1 win over the Astros. Z pitched. I was hooked, and have invested a good deal of my expendable time and money on the team since.

To tie it all together, i was lucky to get four great tickets from my employer to a game the last time my father and grandparents were in town. Grandpa had never been to Wrigley after rooting for the team for all of those years. He could barely make the stairs, and you could tell the day really exhausted him, but it was worth it. Fun times.

in my little town Navojoa, Sonora Mexico.. home of the great pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, in 1985 when i was 6 years old.. every day when i got home from school i turned on TV and then the magic showed.. 12:30 pm (local time) WGN TV was there in channel 8.. “JUMP” the Van Halen hit makes the intro every broadcasting game.. and that was my first love sight to CUBS team.

I had always loved Wrigley Field but thought of the Cubs a s losers. My whole family were Dodgers fans. One day I no longer recognized the Dodgers roster and felt betrayed by them. We had just gotten cable and I discovered WGN. Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, Rick Sutcliffe, Jay Johnstone hey, I know these guys then some guy named Sandberg hit a game winning HR.

 Listening to Harry & Steve on a daily basisand the playofff run got me hooked, couple of years later I had a car and and some money and became a fixture at spring training. Caught the Cubs when I could as visitors in Arizona, Colorado and LA it was something stepping back into Dodger Stadium cheering for the visitors after starting out on their band wagon. Finally got to Wrigley in 2007 and felt like Moses entering the Promised Land. I have been to Wrigley 5 times now and got to sing Go Cubs Go on 3 of them.