A Non-Starry Night At Wrigley Field

In the jubilant aftermath of this Cubs team run for the pennant, we are seeing all sorts of glorious sights. Out on the streets around Wrigley Field, and, in the streets locally, there are banners waving, fans wearing the Cubs shirts, and endless optimism about this team and its chances. But, like any good thing, there is the backside. The dark cloud that hangs over the joy of winning. Yes, Cubs fans , we have a Jim Belushi and John Cusack sighting in the house....... Yes, now is the time for C-Level celebrities to claim their Cubs allegiance, now that they are winning. Strange, how I never saw them at the games when the Cubs were stinking up the National League these past seasons. But, when the winning starts, so, does the star fucking. I suppose this is the famous version of ''jumping on the bandwagon.'' To be fair, who wants to follow a losing team when you can be making bad movies in Tinselton? And, also being fair, Jim Belushi is a Cubs fan. As is Eddie Vetter. So, I will throw them a bone and say that they paid their dues. John Cusack has not. Many of us recall him famously switching sides in 2005 when the White Sox won it all. There he was, front and center, wearing his Sox garb and proclaiming to all that would listen that he was REALLY a Sox fan and dislikes the North Siders. I remember sports radio was alive with comments from both sides of town calling on Cusack's loyalty. How he was trying to jump start his stalled career [which is still stalled] by grabbing some free publicity of a team in the limelight. It was laughable, which mirrored his attempts at acting, to see him sputter himself into telling his yarns. In the years between 2005 and now, Cusack was MIA at the ballparks in town. But, he was spotted wearing Dodgers and Yankees shirts and hats. Well, they were good these last years. He must have not had a chance to buy Red Sox attire...... We get short-changed in this town with celebrities. In Los Angeles, they have the cream of the crop. Nicholson haunts the sidelines of Lakers games, grinning behind his shades, most likely stoned on ingredients both legal and illegal. Denzel is also there, along with the increasingly Vulcan looking Dyan Cannon. In New York, well, you get the rich and famous like Spike Lee and Billy Crystal. Don't ever attempt to top Crystal with Yankees information. The man, along with Bob Costas, is not afraid to whip out the Mickey Mantle stories at the drop of a hat. I believe that if you tell a story about the Yankees, you must pay a royalty to both Crystal and Costas, for they hold the rights to Yankees memories......... In Chicago, we get Ronnie ''Woo Woo'', some inbred, afterbirth streetperson, who walks around saying ''Cubs! Woo! Cubs! Woo!'' And, some nobody from a radio station or far suburban school who sings the 7th Inning stretch. Who are these people? You might as well have the cadaver of Ernie Banks up there or the guy who served me my breakfast from McDonalds today [''Number 12'' Egg bagel with cheese and bacon with a hash brown and coffee! Very tasty!].........We do hold an ace, though, here in Cub land. His name is Bill Murray. Bill is, from head-to-toe, a die-hard Cubs supporter. It goes back to when he grew up in Wilmette. Bill has been at Wrigley for ages, haunting the Friendly Confines in a charming manner. At times, he will mosey up to the broadcast booth and comic genius will come roaring out. But, for the most part, he stays quiet, never calling attention to himself. Bill seems to know his place, which is out of the way of the players. He doesn't go about looking for the cameras and he doesn't play Cub groupie. He goes to games and does what we all do: sitting quietly, having some hot dogs and suds to drink, and shouting his lungs out when things go good. When he is in the mood, he will go along with the Cubs organization's constant request to be ''Bill Murray'' for them. but, on his terms. You gotta admire Bill. He is secure in his fame and, most importantly, his self-confidence, to not seek public approval like a Cusack and Jim Belushi........ We do have other famous folk who are Cub fans: Jimmy Buffet, Lee Trevino, Dennis Franz and William Peterson and Gary Sinise [all three did the play about the Cubs, ''Bleacher Bums'' back when they were unknowns] Billy Corgan, Vince Vaughn.........The real stars, apart from the ballplayers, has to be the fans. No other organization in sports history has tested the patience of their fans like the Chicago Cubs. and, the club has been rewarded with a fan base that is unrivaled anyway. Instead of some half-assed celebrity singing the 7th Inning stretch, I would like to see one of the faithful, one of ''us'', who has been mired in the trenches with this team, year after year, decade after decade, lifetime after lifetime. I'm not saying we would have the golden vocal tones to bring about a perfect rendition. But, we would have the right feeling, the feeling of passion for our Boys Of Summer. The passion and the loyalty in our real fans far outshines a Hollywood yokel celebrity trying to grab some personal gratification....... Unless, Bill Murray wants to sing. He can take my place at the microphone........