Born on the West Side of Chicago, my dad lived and died a sports fan. He took me to White Sox games, Cubs games, even a Blackhawks game. There wasn't a sport he didn't follow. Loudly.
We had season tickets to the Bears games, and come what may, we climbed and climbed and climbed to our seats, just under the scoreboard. My family still remembers how I -- a quiet child -- shifted into maniacal mode, screaming "Avellini sucks!" Sunday after Sunday, season after season. It was windy and wild and usually winless. Yet, I loved it.
I never expected the Bears to win. Winning was irrelevant and had nothing to do with my loyalty, or my father's, which was to the city we loved and the others who loved it just as much.
It wasn't until the Bears became Super Bowl champions (by then I was in college) that I found the courage to hope our teams would become respectable. And then came the Bulls, who gave the city a mistaken faith in the power of faith.
It was long-lived, but surely shaken, and yet stirred, now.
It's important to believe in something, and why not cultivate the resilient optimism of a Chicago sports fan with her ever-ready comeback -- "Wait Until Next Year"?
Well, in the words of Steve Goodman, a Chicago folk singer and songwriter whose "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" has been recently resurrected:
"What do you expect,
When you raise up a young boy's hopes
And then just crush 'em like so many paper beer cups."
The song's refrain echoes in the sad city today: "Do they still play the blues in Chicago when baseball season rolls around?"
For those of you who have never been to the Second City, the Blues play yearlong in Chicago. They're the city's soundtrack.
So, while next year may not come soon enough for Chicago's fans down here, heaven can wait, right Dad?
I am SO SORRY the Cubs didn't win. I really, really wanted them too. I LOVE an underdog.
I was hoping they'd play the Yankees in the series so that I could root for the Cubs, while DH rooted for them Yanks.
BTW, ya might wanna bypass my blog tonight :)
Posted by: ginabad | October 17, 2003 at 12:42 AM