Well, all of what I just said is true but that is not what this is even about. What I’m wondering is: what has happened to the fans? I suffered through the mid to late 70’s when it seemed like every year the Cubs would contend but we kind of always knew inside that they would fade at the end, didn’t we? They just didn’t have the talent, am I right? In fact, I knew that every time it was almost time to go back to school, it was also almost time for the “September slide” as I dubbed it back then. I mean how could guys like Ray Burris, Jose Cardenal, and George Mitterwald contend against teams with guys like Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, and Carl Yastrzemski? Come on, it was just a given. But you know what? We didn’t care! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that’s right, I said it, we didn’t care! Believe it or not, there was a time before lights in the stadium, before “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” was sung during the seventh inning stretch, or “Go Cubs Go” ever echoed through the neighborhoods of Wrigleyville that people just went to Wrigley Field with no fanfare, glitz, glamour, or expectations. We just went to see Wrigley Field in all of its glorious color, spend time bonding with friends and family, and, oh yeah, to watch baseball. Sure, we hoped the Cubs would win, but that was secondary to sitting in the sunshine, playing “hooky” from school or work, or spending time with our friends and family building memories that would last a lifetime. It was just a game, and you know what, it still is.

Now I know that there are some of you reading this who are going to say that changes need to be made and that this person should be fired or that person should be traded and that the new owners should make change after change after change until there is a new flag that flies over Wrigley that says World Champions and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t one of them. But in the meantime, can we all just try to exercise a little patience with the new owners? I think they would like nothing more than to see that flag flying too but we as fans must remember that they bought this team less than a year ago and that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Any successful business owner will tell you that you just don’t walk in and start putting heads on the chopping block. First you have to observe and make determinations based on what you see and hear as well as to analyze the results of the decisions and choices that are made. Then, and only then, do you begin implementing changes. Change will come, my fellow Cub fans, but it will take time and one day, in the not too distant future, I think we’ll wake up one October morning and say, “I can’t believe it! Just look at what has happened!”

Now, I’m the type of guy who would much rather focus on solutions than problems but I can’t even imagine what must be going on in the minds of the Ricketts’ family! Where do we start? It’s Cubs’ president Crane Kenney who decides whether or not to replace the GM, right? What good would that do right now though? It’s not like there are 25 free agents waiting to be signed by somebody and their phones just aren’t ringing. So it really doesn’t make any sense to get rid of Hendry six weeks into the season, does it? The problems don’t stop there though. Even if Jim Hendry were to fire Piniella right now, can a new manager inspire this team enough or make better moves than Piniella has so far? I hear a lot of clamoring for Ryne Sandberg to take over as manager. Really? He’s going to motivate this team more than Lou can? No one questions his baseball knowledge or his passion and love for the Cubs, or that he was one of the greatest second basemen to play the position. But great players do NOT automatically turn into great managers. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to come up with just ONE current manager who was also a great player (and please, save your Joe Girardi, Mike Mike Scioscia, and Dusty Baker comments, they were average players at best.) Can you?

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, this is our 2010 team whether we like it or not. I know we would all like someone to blame for the disastrous start to this season, it’s human nature. If we can just locate the problem and fix it, everything will be okay, right? Well, seeing as how we are already six weeks into the season and the fact that there aren’t any unsigned MLB All Stars, we might just have to wait this one out. I understand the Ricketts not wanting to come in with guns blazing, ready to fire everyone who has ever worked in the Cubs organization since 1908, but this is going to take time. If Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella can’t get it fixed between now and October, I’m sure that changes will be made. I think there will be accountability in the front office, in the dugout, and on the field, but in time. And that IS something that there is a lot of between now and then: time. Let’s see what happens. My advice would be to buckle your seat belts though, mayhem can often lead to a very long and bumpy ride.

Email your stories to cubs@betweenthevinesonline.com.

Thank you and Go Cubs!

This is a game of love and I just know that if you have ever been to Wrigley Field, then you most certainly know the meaning of the word love. Those are some of the stories that I hold near and dear to my heart so please, don’t think you don’t have a story! Even if you’ve never set foot inside the hallowed walls of Wrigley, if you are a Cub fan, then I just know that you have a story to tell! I want to provide you with a place to tell your stories so that now as well as years from now, others will be able to read your stories of love and know the passion within us all.

Send your stories now to cubs@betweenthevinesonline.com. Thanks for being here, thanks for supporting the greatest team on Earth, win or lose, and Go Cubs Go!

On that special day, I couldn’t keep from looking at her face as her eyes took in Wrigley Field and all of its glory for the very first time. It reminded me of how the big theme parks advertise taking your children to one of their parks and how it will be “like reliving your own first experience all over again.” This time around though, you see it through the eyes of your child. My grandfather has passed on now, but I thought about him often that day and I wished that I could have had a snapshot of his face at the very moment I saw Wrigley in person for the first time. I wondered if he was looking at my face for my reaction or whether he was seeing it again himself for the first time through my eyes.

I was working as a delivery man near Detroit for one of the big package delivery services (the one where you don’t have to wear brown all of the way down to your socks and shoes) and, since it was on short notice that I was able to get the tickets, I didn’t have time to arrange for another driver to do my route. So I worked the day of the game, drove to Chicago, was listening to the first pitch as I was driving on the Chicago Skyway, but still managed to get there for most of the game. When I got to my seat, the fans around me began saying things to me like, “Hey, you’re just getting here? What kind of fan are you?” When I told them that I had just gotten off of work and driven all the way from Detroit, I think they realized what kind of fan I was! I’m sure I didn’t buy another drink the rest of the night!

I drove back to St. Joseph, Michigan that night after the game and called to leave a message and to ask if they could please try to find me a driver for the following day. This was at around 2:30 a.m. in the morning. The next morning I woke up and listened to my voicemail, fully expecting to hear that my route had been covered but instead heard that they couldn’t find anyone else and that I would have to come back and do it myself. I got back into town, loaded my truck, and made my first delivery around 3:30 that afternoon. I was out until about 11:30 p.m. that night delivering but have always said that I wouldn’t have traded the experience of being there that night for the world.

As we stood on the sidewalk in front of the ticket window trying to decide what to do next, a limo pulls up next to the curb and out comes Harry Caray! We all went over, said “hi” to him, and shook his hand. What a happy, happy man he was and what an honor and privilege it was for me to get the chance the opportunity to meet such an iconic figure in person and to shake his hand! An unforgettable Cubs experience without ever setting foot inside of Wrigley Field that day! One which never even would have happened had there been tickets to the game that day.

Now granted, when I first started interviewing people about their experiences, I thought I was the biggest Cub fan in the world. Well, after hearing some of the stories that I’ve heard I can honestly say that I’m middle of the pack, at best. So here’s one of my stories:

When I was nine years old my grandfather took me to my very first Cubs game. I had fallen in love with the game through playing with my two uncles and watching the Cubs and Jack Brickhouse on WGN and was hooked. I used to come home from school every day and hurry down the stairs to our basement where we had an old black-and-white portable TV. I’d turn on that TV and stare at the screen trying to imagine what being there would be like. Then one day, my grandfather took me. I can remember walking up that tunnel to our seats was like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz opening the door to her house after it had landed in OZ! Everything was in color for the very first time! The thing I really remember the most though was how green the grass was! I remember that Scotts Turf Builder was one of the sponsors on WGN and, even though I was only nine years old, I distinctly remember thinking,”Wow, that stuff really works!” I really had no concept as to how much more work it took than that to keep the field looking like that all of the time!