Reds Mascot DeCapitated During Game

FutureGroundscrewMember — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:12:46 -0000

Losing Made Us Love

FutureGroundscrewMember — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:03:11 -0000

I originally made this as a response to Al's "What Made Us Fans" but i wandered around got carried away, so i thought i'd put it up as my own post and see what happened. The original title was, "Losing Made Us Fans" and i found it was inappropriately named, so i changed it to something i found more suitable. It's something I've thought about for a while, and maybe you think it too.

As unpleasant and daunting as it may seem, I find losing has its appeal. In movies, who do you feel for and who can you relate with? Its probably the downtrodden beat up loser who wont let go of his dream, The Pursuit of Happiness anyone? In classic books like The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye, our favorite characters were the flawed, personable and outcast characters. I used to sympathize and cheer on the "Bahstan Red Saks" but after they won the WS, wasn't it different? We weren't alike, we were no longer birds of a feather. Nope, opposites don't attract. I think, and I'm gonna get philosophical here and you probably know where I'm going, that we, as natural people, find it incredibly easy to love the cubbies because they're just like us. We could say, "Oh they're the lovable losers, so I love em" but do we love em because they lose? A cubs world series would be the end all be all for every one of us, for many the greatest october/moment of our entire lives. But would that change our draw to the North Siders? For Bleed Cubbie Blue-ers, probably not, but for many, as it did for me and Boston, the allure and intrigue of the franchise would begin to fade. We wouldn't be set apart from anyone, how unique would we be? Would we be like the Phillies, who have one only one title in the last 125 years but have no where near the fan base? Or would we be the Red Sox, going Johnny Damon on everything that the Cubs used to be, for a chance at some championships? Would I still be a fan if we won, for sure, but i don't think they'd still be my cubs. The Pirates have stunk for as long as i can remember(I'm only 18), but their losses don't bring in the fans. Same with the Nationals, Royals and a lot of other MLB franchises. So why are we different? You can blame history - '45, '84, '03. We all know where we were when these things happen, if we even were, and its a memory that lives on forever, something we can/have told our kids and grandkids. No one has failed and come up short in so many ways like the Cubs have. The franchise is basically human. So close to attaining monumental success, an then having "There's Always Next Year" to show for it. We ride fresh hope (Prior) only to let us down, and continually wait for old knowledge(Piniella, Billy Goat) to come through. Maybe its the curse that makes it easy to displace our misery, and place the blame - another thing people love to do, that brings the cubbie appeal to life. Is It the hope of next year that keeps us going? A World Series would be great- wouldn't it? Our Father's and Grandfather's made us fans sure, but what keeps us fans? Usually losing and despair drive us away, but why not with the Cubs? We're an interesting breed Cubs fans, drawn together by a century of lovable losing. Why? Who knows, I sure as heck don't, but there's something about the Wrigley faithful, and their ball squad that has got us at the heart, and whatever it is, i don't see losing that any time soon.

SB Nation Blog: FutureGroundscrewMember

Reds Mascot DeCapitated During Game

Losing Made Us Love