Some Clarification

(This piece is slightly tongue in cheek. SLIGHTLY.)

Well the news on Derrek Lee was announced yesterday, and it isn't good. He's going to be out around 8-10 weeks.

Personally I think that's optimistic.

He'll have to be in a cast for at least 6 weeks, and in that time he's gonna lose a lot of strength in his wrist. So whereas he may be able to play in 8-10 weeks, I don't think he's gonna be Derrek Lee til next season at the earliest.

Along with yesterday's post though, I got a few questions from some of my friends.

"What do you mean it's Cub fans that catch your ire? What's wrong with them?"

Well that's a tricky question actually. I used a bad choice of words. I don't hate Cub fans. The problem is the majority of people that go to Wrigley Field aren't Cub fans. They are Wrigley fans, or just yuppies with an afternoon to kill.

See Wrigley Field is a very nice place to see a ball game. Most games are played during the day, and as a result there is usually an abundance of scantily clad, good looking women in the crowd. As a result a lot of people go to Cubs games for nothing more than the park, and the surrounding neighborhood. These people call themselves Cub fans, but in reality they aren't. I could probably name more players on the current Cubs' roster, and some past ones, then these people can.

My friend Panger, a Chicago native and lifelong Cub fan who lives in Malibu, often complains about the fans of Southern California.

"They show up (at Dodger games) in the 4th inning, and leave after the 6th. They aren't there for baseball, it's just a cool place to go before heading out to the trendiest night club."

LA fans have long gotten this rap. A lot of people don't realize that Wrigley fans are the exact same way as these LA fans.

The only difference is they have the courtesy to show up on time, and "watch" the entire game. Wrigley fans aren't there to watch or support the Cubs, they're there to hang out with friends. If you watch a Cubs game, watch the crowd. They will stand up and cheer for a home run, and a strikeout, but they miss the little things.

Like when someone bunts a runner into scoring position with 1 out. You will see a few people stand up and clap for this, these people are the actual Cub fans. The ones who know about baseball, and are actually there for baseball.

Here is a list of the Cub fans I know that I truly respect as Cub/baseball fans:

• Silvio-The most knowledgable Cub fan I know. When he goes to a Cubs game (and he goes to a lot) he goes for the Cubs first, fun second. He is exempt from any taunting on my part about the White Sox winning the World Series cuz I respect him. Hell after the Sox did win, I told him I hope the Cubs win one someday just so he could experience it. Screw the rest of Cubs Nation.
• Sai-Sai was the first real Cub fan that I knew growing up. He's not as avid now as he used to be, but it's hard to get to as many games when you live in Switzerland. To his credit though, he is known for getting up at 3AM to watch Cubs games on the internet
• My sister-She's my sister. I gotta respect her, even if she is throwing her life away rooting for the Cubs. She has changed my opinion though, at first I labeled her as nothing more than a bandwagoneer cuz her boyfriend (now her fiance) was a Cubs fan. Over time though the woman has shown passable knowledge, and even agrees with my assessment of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior.
• BillyB-Billy was iffy. He's knows baseball, that's not in question. I just question his "intensity." Billy roots for the Cubs, but I get the feeling that they don't matter as much to him as much as he just enjoys watching and playing baseball. As a result he's the one who catches the most crap from me when something goes wrong. I know it will just roll off his back. If I started making fun of Derrek Lee's injury in front of Silvio, he might just punch me in the face. Billy would just laugh and tell me to F off.

And that's it. Only 4 people, and only 2 of those 4 are locks. Now I'm not saying that there aren't that many real Cub fans, it's just I don't acquaint myself with them. The stench of expensive cologne, mixed with stale beer and a whiff of failure on most of them just turns me off.

The main thing is I feel there has to be a Civil War amongst Cub fans if they ever want to break this "curse." The Cub fans must revolt against the Wrigley fans. See the Tribune company gets a lot of grief from Chicagoans for not always putting the best possible product on the field. People view it as they don't care about winning.

Hey look! There's a game going on!

Well the Tribune company is precisely that, a company. They're biggest concern is the bottom line, and the Cubs are a cash cow. Why should they spend more money when they can make larger profits for less?

It's those damn Wrigley fans who keep showing up regardless of what's happening that are the problem.

As the Tribune company keeps raising ticket prices year after year, despite lack of success, it's Wrigley fans who keep showing up. This as a result keeps a lot of the true fans at home. They can't get tickets if they want to, and even if some were available they may not be able to afford them. I mean keep in mind the Cubs scalp tickets to their own games, it's not cheap.

Cub fans must fight off the Wrigley fans for the sake of the franchise. Cub fans could then take the route of White Sox fans, and tell the Tribune "If you want our money, make us happy and put a good team out there."

Yes this would lead to some empty seats in the stands, but so what? This issue is the one that used to piss me off the most when Cub fans threw it out there.

When there would only be 16,000 people at US Cellular, and Cub fans would be like "You guys can't even get people to watch you."

So? I'd rather be in a stadium with 16,000 people who actually care than with 40,000 people more concerned with the conversation on their cell phone. And look what happened!!!

Sox owner saw that the only way he could make money with the White Sox was to put a good product out there. So he allowed the team to start spending money, and holy crap they won a World Series!!! Now just 3 weeks into this new season and the Sox ALREADY HAVE THE 4 LARGEST PAID ATTENDANCE for a season in the teams history.

"You're only fairweather fans," they say.

That's crap. All Sox fans are watching at home if they aren't at the game. They just don't want to fork over cash that could be used to feed their kids to watch a bad team. (There has never been a study, but I'm guessing if you took the average income for a Cub fan vs. a Sox fan, the Cub fans would be higher.)

Remember, it's the fans who hold all the power. We seem to forget that these days. If we don't go to their games, these leagues have no income.

Destroy the Wrigley fans, Cub fans. Take back the Cubs, and Wrigley Field. Get them to fire Andy MacPhailure. All the talk is about Hendry and Baker, but what in the hell has MacPhailure done in his 10+ years with the team? Why is he exempt?

I can't promise all this will keep Kerry Wood, or Mark Prior off the DL. It won't make Derrek Lee's wrist heal quicker.

What it will do is give you your team back. You cannot complain about ownership and management, and then proceed to do absolutely nothing about it. I mean this entire country was formed as a result of protest, why should our sports teams be treated any different?

Show them who's boss.