Goldy's Weekly Takes

In an effort to avoid thinking about the Brewers for the remainder of the week, I'll avoid my usual rundown the the past week's Brewers' accomplishments, or lack thereof. Today's leading topic will be:

Thoughts From an ex-Cubs Fan

Hi, my name is Ben and I used to be a Cubs fan. For the first 26 or so years of my life, I liked the Cubs. Now, I would use the term strong dislike. I know many people hate the Cubs like they hate the Bears and Vikings and Iowa. I hate the Cubs like I hate the Lions.

Anyhow, growing up in Racine, I found it perfectly acceptable to root for the Cubs, which, I guess is somewhat strange since I hate the Bulls, Bears and Sox. The Brewers were in the World Series when I was 5. I remember the games being on tv in front of me, but I don't remember what happened. The Brewers have always been my team. Even through the crap years, they were my team, but it was hard to get juiced about a team that you knew had no shot a week into the season. Plus, the Brewers were in the A.L., so it was fine for me to have an N.L. team.

It was the '84 Cubs that got me hooked on them. That summer I was 6 (turned 7 end of July) and can vividly remember watching games on WGN in the afternoon. My dad was a machinist and got done with work at 3. He would get home in time to watch the last few innings with me and usually watch Lee Smith nail down another save. Heck, I even remember when the games came on the air, WGN played Van Halen's "Jump". Also, the excitement of seeing if they could finish the 2:20 starts on Fridays before it got too dark. Well, we all know the Cubs blew the series against the Padres, but I had fun watching baseball all summer long with my Dad.

Now, growing up, I probably went to about 20 Brewers games a year and 5 Cubs games. I always found it to be more of a rush stepping off the train to go to a Cubs game than parking behind the big Coke ad on the back of the scoreboard at County. As the Brewers began resembling a AA team, the Cubs at least made the playoffs every few years. I subscribed to Vineline. Even went to the Cubs Convention one year. Outside of Yount, Mark Grace was my favorite player. Even when the Brewers moved to the N.L., I still liked the Cubs because the Brewers were trotting out players who didn't belong in the bigs.

What happened? Well, the rise of the Brewers to an acceptable major league team that had a glimmer of hope to make the playoffs was the big push in limiting my Cub fandom. However, the final straw was the 2003 playoffs. By this point, everyone and their mother seemed to be a Cubs fan. You had meatheads who probably never picked up a baseball in their life claiming to be the worlds biggest Cubs fan. Chicks were wearing pink Cubs' hats. Don't get me wrong, I love the ladies, but wearing a pink had with you teams logo on it is saying, "I have no clue what is going on here, but following the team is a cool thing to do, so I'm in". These people were grade A ass holes and it was pretty annoying.

Talk of the curse was annoying as well. Maybe you lost because Dusty was a horrible manager. Maybe if Alex Gonzalez can field an easy grounder, you don't lose. Maybe if Mark Prior and Kerry Wood were not little bitches, you would have had a nice run here. Plus, the players on the Cubs are generally unlikeable. Derek Lee is great. Would love to cheer for him as a Brewer. But even he wasn't on that 2003 team. Sosa will always be a douche. Alou pisses on his hands, Ramirez seems like an uninterested prick. Wood and Prior are little bitches. Zambrano is a nut job. Couldn't cheer for the players on the 2003 team can't cheer for the playes on the 2007 team.

Will I ever go back to liking the Cubs. No. If they win the World Series at some point in my lifetime will I be happy. Probably not, but I think somewhere inside of me, there may be a little bit of joy, not for the Cubs or their fans, but for the joy I felt watching that '84 Cubs team everyday with my Dad.

Some other thoughts:

• Boy, are the White Sox bad this year. That line-up is just wretched. Throw in Konerko's woes and it is down-right brutal.
• I have not watched a single minute of the NBA finals yet. This isn't some boycott of the Finals, just the pure fact that I don't give a rats ass.
• I could probably listen to the White Stripe's Icky Thuimp 26 times in any given day.
• I see CNNSI.com has a mock draft up and shoes the Bucks taking Noah. Ugh. He would instantly overtake Mench as my least favorite player on my favorite teams. KGB is also on that list.
• Having been without cable or HD TV for the past 5 months, I am finally catching up on the latest season of Entourage. Can't say I love the show, but it is one of the 2 shows I watch with any regularity. I think that part of the draw is that for a few breaks here and there, that could be some of us hanging in Dudy's crew. Anyhow, the couple episodes I have seen from the most recent run leads me to believe that the show is now catering to a more female audience. Starting to make the show borderline unwatchable. Started going downhill with the whole Mandy Moore arc.
• Hunt keeps bringing up the plight of the Bradley Center in his gibberish that he writes for the JS. Recently he stated that there is no way public financing will be used for a new arena in Milwaukee. While I don't disagree with this claim. I find it odd that no one ever brings up how the Bradley Center was given to the City of Milwaukee by the Pettits. They gave all the money for construction of the BC. I am sure the city had to pay for streets and utilities and crap like that, but the Citizens of Milwaukee have not had to pay for a new arena since the MECCA was built. I feel this should be mentioned more often.
• "She's an easy lover, she'll get a hold on you believe it"
• I have not purchased a video game in ages, but I find myself interested in purchasing NCAA 08 college football.

Til next time, "Dear Governor Axtell. I've heard that you will give 200 dollars for my head. Perhaps we should meet and talk. I am at the Juarez village at the border. Send 3 men, and instruct them not to shoot, as I am unarmed. In short, Sir; I surrender. Your obedient servant William H. Bonney. PS: I changed my mind. Kiss my ass."