When Backed Into a Corner, Always Give In To Pride

I've always loved baseball. The smells, the sounds, the stats; it's all addictive. Growing up, I was always more interested in the actual game than any specific team. I cheered for the Blue Jays because they were the "home team" and I well remember my Dad taking me to my first game. I also well remember him having to shut up some kid in front of us who thought we drove 2 hours specifically to listen to him give us a history of each player. We had great seats behind the Jays dugout and while I can't remember who they were playing, Toronto won the game and I was treated to a souvenir batting glove which was a huge deal because it was neither my birthday or Christmas. 

But it wasn't until years later while living in Indiana that I discovered what true love really felt like: gut wrenching, heart smashing anguish. The first time I walked through the tunnel and saw Wrigley Field sprawled out before me in her glorious brick and ivy robes I knew I was a goner. I ended the evening with a baseball from batting practice, a Cubs win (a Carlos Zambrano shutout against the Astros if memory serves me correctly) and a future of bitter Septembers and indifferent Octobers ahead. Thus began my downward spiral into Cubs Fandom. I survived the heartbreak of the '03 Pennant Race (I don't blame you Steve Bartman!) and have charged optimistically into the following 9 years of continued failings with the rest of the faithful.

Which brings us up to date.

I'm not sure what it is that makes us Cubs fan so self-destructive. Not only do we enthusiastically cheer for a team that hasn't won a World Series since 1908 but we even go so far as to take pride in our Lovable Losers. The kind of pride they talk about when they say "pride goeth before destruction." Because I don't just cheer them on, I actually BET on them! I bet my money and my pride!

You see, I have this rather loud mouthed cousin (certainly not a family trait) who, as an Ontarion, is justifiably an avid Blue Jays fan. And he razzes me all the time about my Cubs. (Yes, my.) So in typical self-destructive fashion, I challenged him to a bet that the Cubs would have a higher win average for the month of May than the Jays. Loser takes winner to a Jays home game AND wears an article of clothing for the team they bet against.

If I lose, I want my shirt to say "Carter" on the back. (One of my absolute favourite passages in the Baseball Bible of Moments: The Book of Joe Carter, Chapter 1993, Verse: 9th Inning - And with 2-2 the count, Carter hitteth the ball a great distance into left and over the wall. And there was much rejoicing. But in Philadelphia there was wailing and gnashing of teeth.)

If I win, his t-shirt will say "Owned."

And just for the record, we're about half way into May and the Cubs are in the lead.

Knock on wood.


*Fun History Fact For the Fans - The last Cubs appearance in a World Series was 1945 against the Detroit Tigers. It was described by author Warren Brown as the "World's Worst Series." Ouch. This was also the origin of The Curse of the Billy Goat (Game 4). Thank you Billy Sianis.