The effects of "Cubs Culture"

[Fotop]

Hey there everyone, as some of you have noticed I haven't been posting much this month and for good reason. Most of my weekends in July are devoted to trips to various MLB parks, 5 in one month to say the least about it all. So far this month I've traveled to USCF, Wrigley, Petco, and Busch, with the last weekend of the month devoted to Citzens' Bank Park in Philly. All in all, it's been a blast and I've been able to see some great baseball.

 

This past Saturday (7/10) I was at the Cards/Cubs game at Busch Stadium. First and foremost let me say that this rivalry is rather heated, more heated than Sox/Cubs IMO. When you think about it, it makes sense because these guys play in the same division. Anyways, there was a lot of tension/playoff like atmosphere.

 

I was fortnate enough to have some pretty damn good seats (first row in LF), and as with any ballpark trip I take with my family we were rooting for the home team. Naturally I had my Sox hat on, like I would anywhere else and it's the "vintage style" hat but it's green and the logo is the 1983 logo and it's green as well. My brother had a red soccer jersey on and bought a red cards hat and he was sitting next to me. Our row was basically all Cards fans, with a few Cubs fans sitting behind us.

 

So with all that established the game started at high noon (12:20 to be exact) and it was hotter than hell. I saw three people taken away because of heat stroke. The beer was flowing, in fact I saw two dumpsters full of beer cans being carted off in the 5th inning (The odd thing about Busch is that they sell 24oz beers...not exactly great for a Cubs crowd). So basically, everyone was liquored up pretty well, combine that with the heat and you've got a rowdy crowd.

 

Anyways, the first inning rolls along with the Cards grabbing three runs and I make a comment along the lines of "you guys better pack it in, you can't score more than two" to Alou who's pretty much standing right below us. We were giving Alou a hard time during a couple of innings, mostly about peeing on his hands/his inability to knock in the tying run during the game. No profainty or vulgar language was used at all and no one around us was upset with us or asked us to stop. It really wasn't enough heckling even to cite it as annoyance, we really didn't say all that much.

 

The game keeps rolling, and as I predicted, the Cubs can't score more than two runs. Fast forward to the bottom of the eighth when the Cards score a coule insurance runs to make it 5-2. We were all cheering and the place was really rocking and finally the Cubs got the last out (Isringhausen). At this point I was getting tired and the father and son next to me had already left so there were two open seats next to me. So I put my arm up on the back of the seat, as most people do when they're relaxing in their seat. Now this may all seem like useless information up to this point, but this is when everything changed...after about a minute with my arm up a man behind me kicks the back of my arm off the chair with full force.

 

I'm stunned. So I turn around to see who it is, and of course it's a Cubs fan...angry at the outcome of the game and me for some reason. The sad fact is that it's a father, who's with his son...kicking a college student in front of him. I'm not saying I can't defend myself, I'm twenty...however this guy had no clue who I was, nor how old I was (I defintely look younger than I am). And to do this in front of your kid is pretty awful in my mind. So I turn around and say "I'm really glad that violence is your way to take out your frustration. I mean that's a quality solution." This was obviously said with an immense amount of sarcasm, and the guy quit giving me a hardass look and sat quiet the rest of the game.

 

However, no matter how small the incident I found this to be a despicable act for a man who is taking his kid to the ballgame. I didn't provoke him at all, yet he still decided to do this in front of his kid. Pretty bad example if you ask me.

 

Combine this small experience with the loads of drunken Cub fans puking in the tunnels (I saw about 5 personally), along with the blind belief and ignorant comments that ensued after their team was downright beat makes me despise Cubs culture that much more.

 

It's sad really that the rest of the country feels sympathetic towards these people because they haven't won a World Series in so long. The fact of the matter is that they probably are the last to deserve it when the act like the way they do.

 

All in all, a quick summary for those that don't want to read the filler. I was kicked by a Cubs fan behind me who was attending the game with his son all because the Cubs were losing and I was the closest non-Cubs fan to him. Busch Stadium was overflowing with drunken/rowdy Cubs fans who won't believe their team isn't destined to win it all this year until they're mathmatically out of it.

 

In the end, this all has just fueled my dislike of everything that is Cubs. May their fans get what they truly deserve: nothing.

[bmags]

huh...

 

can i ask if busch stadium was fun? I hear its a great place to see a game.

[southsider2k5]

huh...

 

can i ask if busch stadium was fun? I hear its a great place to see a game.

IMO the fans were nice enought and knowledgible, the Cards fans that is. The park was crappy. It was a cookie cutter with a few improvements.

[bmags]

interesting.

[Fotop]

The park itself is nothing to write home about. Straight out of the cookie-cutter boom, Busch is essentially just another cookie cutter as ss2k has said. Their fans are great though...can't say much about the opposing team's fans however.

[Queen Prawn]

IMO the fans were nice enought and knowledgible, the Cards fans that is.  The park was crappy.  It was a cookie cutter with a few improvements.

I went there for last Sunday's Mariners-Cards game. For the most part I agree with ss2k4's assesment. It isn't a terrible place to see a game, but it isn't great either. The prices really surprised me though. I refused to buy any concessions. Brian broke down and bought a coke - he said it definitely wasn't worth the cost. :puke

[Dan Pasqua's FedEx Driver]

I was at Busch with Ribbie/Rhubarb during the Cub/Card series previous to the one you were at.

 

Cardinal fans are the class of the National League, they tolerate the Cub filth with maturity and they take it in stride. I liked Busch Stadium a lot, there's a lot of history and baseball lore packed in there. I took the tour and saw plans for the new stadium; it looks phenomenal.

 

After the Cub loss, two drunken Cub people were sitting in front of us, just staring at the field. They were good-natured about it, though; Cardinal fans were dancing artound them, posing for pictures with them, they were either to stunned or too drunk to do anything about it.

 

One thing I thought was great about the telecast Sunday; ESPN had absolutely no qualms about showing a pathetic drunken Cub maggot standing up in the middle of Busch taunting Cardinal fans. WGN would never, ever show anyone blatantly embarassing and humiliating Lemming Nation.

 

Cardinal fans are taking more s*** from Cub people than Sox fans have; they're lucky, they haven't played any good teams yet, they have no pitching, they're old, they're going to self-destruct in the second half, they're playing way over their heads, blah, blah, blah. If and when the Cub are mathematically eliminated this year, their board is going to crash from overload; they will reap what they sow.

 

Here's the Prior\Wood boys from Busch. Enjoy.

[RibbieRubarb]

We did have have a great time in ole St Louie.

The Stadium is a just a cookie cutter but the fans are...well...Fanatical. It was a sea of red, not just in the stadium, but on the street at restaurants, in our hotel.

It's game day against the Cubs, they said. It's a city -wide celebration.

 

BTW,

 

I recommend Carmine's Steak House just a couple blocks down the street from the Stadium for a pre-game Steak.

Order the Rib-eye, with the Garlic butter sauce...

PHENOMENAL!