Year 1 for the Cubs

It is March, which means as a baseball fan, it is time for spring training and getting ready for the upcoming season. As a Chicago Cubs fan, it also means optimism and thoughts of a World Series because one game has yet to be played, which means we’re still in the hunt!

This year the Cubs are under new ownership. They are no longer owned by the Tribune Company and are now owned by the Ricketts family. And to commemorate that, they have started a marketing campaign across the City called “Year 1”.

The idea of the campaign is to let us fans know that the new ownership is focused on winning and bringing the World Series (and championship) to Wrigley Field. That, from this point forward, it is a new era.

ondeckWell, as a Cubs fan, and a marketing person, I think that it is all well and good. It is a catchy campaign. But this is the CUBS we are talking about. The lovable losers. It has been over 100 years since they have won a championship. New marketing campaigns aren’t going to win us any games.

The Cubs don’t really need to woo fans. We have Wrigley Field. The games sell out every day in the summer, regardless of how the team is doing. People go for the atmosphere. Our season ticket waiting list is like 40,000 people deep. I know. I’m like number 28,837 on the list, and I signed up over three years ago. They have continually raised ticket prices every year and yet, it doesn’t matter. They are never hurting for revenue. We are a sports town with a drinking problem!

My question is, though, what happens next year? Or what happens in Year 17? Are we going to keep this up until we win a championship? How silly are you going to look when you don’t win the World Series this year? And what about the last 100-plus years the team has been in existence? Those years, which included some great teams and Hall of Famers, mean nothing? Isn’t that a knock to the storied history of this franchise? Aren’t you basically saying that everything that happened before this year is crap?

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Nancy Kerrigan’s Father Found Dead; Brother Arrested

Nancy_KerriganThe father of former Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan has died and Kerrigan’s brother Mark has been charged with assault, according to Massachusetts police.

Daniel Kerrigan died on Sunday after what authorities are calling a “violent struggle” with his son. Many will remember Kerrigan from footage of him carrying Nancy to the locker room after she was attacked prior to her performance in the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The assault nearly derailed her Olympic chances.

Mark Kerrigan, 45, was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on an elderly person and causing serious bodily injury. He pled not guilty and his bail was set at $10,000.

According to The Boston Globe, Mark was described by his attorney as “an unemployed plumber and an Army veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who regularly receives counseling.”

Police said Mark Kerrigan appeared intoxicated when he was found on a couch in the basement of the home and was “belligerent and combative” but coherent when questioned. Officers used pepper spray to subdue him and eventually arrested him.

“He stated that he wanted to use the phone and his father would not let him. He said he struggled with his father and put his hands around his father’s neck and his father fell to the floor,” the arresting officer wrote.

NANCY KERRIGAN MODJESKA webMark Kerrigan told officers that he believed his father was “faking it,” according to the report.

Mark is no stranger to assault charges. He was recently released from prison, where he had been since May, 2006, on a separate assault charge, according to the records. And his “long criminal record – including arrests for assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, malicious destruction and violation of a restraining order” – was brought up in his arraignment when bail was determined.

An autopsy has been scheduled and results are expected to take up to two weeks. Services for Daniel Kerrigan will take place on Thursday.

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Irrational Hatred

Two weekends ago, I was out at a bar on a Saturday afternoon watching college football. A friend of mine was in town from Oregon, so we were catching up on the Oregon/Stanford game. As a fellow Pac-10 alum (Go ASU!), I didn’t mind watching with her. I take more interest in Pac-10 football than most people in Chicago do.

Stanford routed the Ducks. It wasn’t even really all that close. At the end of the game, one of the people we were with, ajim-harbaugh fellow Chicagoan, was all “I didn’t know Jim Harbaugh coached Stanford! I LOVE Jim Harbaugh.”

And then I spewed hatred. And probably a little bit of actual saliva since I was drinking. Because I? DO. NOT. LIKE. JIM. HARBAUGH.

Why, you might ask? Well, I shall tell you. It is all because he forced Jim McMahon out of Chicago.

(I’ll just pause right here to let that sink in.)

This is normal, right? To have these irrational hatreds of athletes? For no good reason? Anyone? Bueller?

I understand rivalries. I hate University of Arizona (sorry Devra) because I went to Arizona State. I hate pretty much all of the schools in the Pac-10 for this reason. I am a Cubs fan, therefore hate the St. Louis Cardinals (although I think I actually hate the Houston Astros more. Stems from a deep-seeded hatred of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.) I am a Chicago Bears fan, so I don’t like the Packers or the Vikings.

But I have other hatred of players, coaches, announcers and teams, most for no good reason. And I’m not talking people I just want to root against. It’s meaner than that. I want to see them injured/destroyed. Here is a short list (with reasons)

  • Sean Salisbury – his eyes are too close together
  • Ray Lewis – because let’s be honest, he was involved in that whole thing somehow and got off scott free
  • Derek Jeter – JUST BECAUSE! (And no, he’s not cute.)
  • Lute Olson – he is the Anti-Christ
  • Mack Brown – do I even have to LIST a reason?
  • Torry Holt – he is a whiney bitch who REFUSES to get tackled and run routes in the middle of the field
  • Kurt Warner’s wife – Hey lady! YOU ARE NOT ACTUALLY THE ONE PLAYING!
  • B.J. Armstrong – pushed out John Paxson on the Bulls in the 90s

There are so many more, but I won’t continue. Wow. I should really get some therapy.

So tell me, who are the players/coaches/owners you love to irrationally (or rationally) hate?

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