Being a Cubs fan

By LEE MONTGOMERY

There's no joy in Wrigleyville. But there is at Poppen's Auto Service in Whiting, Ind.

My Uncles Donnie and Bobby probably won't stop smiling for several days since their beloved White Sox won the World Series. And why not? The Sox haven't won since 1917, meaning celebration has been pent up for 88 years.

But on the North Side of Chicago, and in places all over the United States, there is sadness, a touch of jealousy and more frustration. Another World Series without the Chicago Cubs. Sure, the cynics will say that's nothing new, for the Cubs haven't been in a World Series since 1945 and haven't won one since 1908.

What does this have to do with racing? Not much, really, but sports in general can teach us a lot about life.

You can learn about teamwork, discipline, and sacrifice through sports. We've seen that in NASCAR time and again. The best drivers and teams have those characteristics, and the best baseball players and teams have them, too.

Sports isn't life, but we can learn about it. As fans, we follow a certain driver or team or player for myriad reasons. Why I picked the Chicago Cubs is beyond me, but here I am, frustrated again.

But the Cubs are real. Life isn't always about celebration and happiness. Life can be cruel, from losing a job to losing a loved one to - as Gulf Coast residents have learned - losing everything. Sometimes things simply don't go your way, no matter how hard you try.

But Cubs fans aren't losers. Hardly. You think Bill Murray is a loser? Or Jim Belushi? Or (gasp) Hillary Clinton? They've done fairly well in life, and, yes, they're Cubs fans. And what about a guy named Kurt Busch, the 2005 Nextel Cup champion. Cubs fan.

Go ahead, make fun of us all. That’s fine. For as Cubs fans, we have learned to live with the ridicule. Thick-skinned, stubborn, loyal. Qualities that make us Cubs fans make us tough.

You wouldn’t give up on your children if they failed at school or failed at Little League or failed at music. No, you support them, encourage them and tell them to try again. At least you should.

And you wouldn’t give up on your driver if he failed a time or two. Even the best drivers in NASCAR win less than 10 percent of the time. You stick with them, wishing for better times. So Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon didn’t make the Chase for the Nextel Cup this year? As one of their fans, are you going to give up on them?

If you do, you aren’t a fan at all. A true fan, like a true parent or a true friend, sticks with his driver or team no matter what.

That’s another thing being a Cubs fan teaches you, maybe the most important thing of all.

Hope.

There’s always next year. Now that the White Sox have won it, it’s got to be.