Last spring, following the Cubs almost-successful trip to the National League Championship Series, there were blue hats, shirts and jerseys everywhere. You couldn’t find someone on this campus who did not claim to be a Cubs fan.

Where are they this year? Sure, you see Cubs fans occasionally, but no more often than fans of St. Louis, Minnesota or Kansas City. What’s the deal? Did all the Cubs fans graduate last May, or did those half-and-half fans stop caring? You know the ones I mean — the ones who root for the “Cubbies” but can’t tell you who Kerry Wood is, or where Sammy Sosa plays now (right field, right?).

I must say that there are some truly great Cubs fans on campus, some whose faith never wavers, who could tell you the complicated payment structure set up for Nomar Garciaparra, who think that Steve Bartman deserves the chair for trying to catch a foul ball.

I applaud them; they are the fans that baseball needs. They are the fans who bring baseball along every year. They are the ones who make a day at the ballpark an All-American experience.

As for you half-and-half fans, submerge yourself into the game. Pick a team and stay with it; find someone to cheer. You’ll realize how much sweeter winning is when you lose the heartbreakers first.

Thomas A. Meierotto

Junior

Agricultural Business