On November 6, 2016 I wrote a lengthy blog thanking the Chicago Cubs. I thanked them for my childhood, my happy memories at Wrigley Field, getting me through the good and bad times. They had just won the World Series for the first time in 108 years and I was riding the parade high. Even though it was a miserable experience, I felt on top of the world.
The Cubs have had some problems and 2016 was when they started to really surface.
In late July the Cubs acquired Aroldis Chapman. As an advocate against domestic abuse, I had issues. Chapman was accused of strangling his 22-year-old girlfriend and firing eight gunshots in the garage of his home. Prosecutors decided not to prosecute, citing conflicting accounts and insufficient evidence that would have made a conviction unlikely. I did not cheer for him and vocalized my disgust with this move. I even donated to domestic violence foundations when he (rarely) did something good during a game.
I also started really noticing the changes around the ballpark. It was not Wrigley anymore and the Ricketts family started doing everything to could to change it. As ticket prices started to skyrocket, the ballpark got a facelift. But not a good one. Everything that made Wrigleyville well, Wrigleyville was gone or on the way out. The happy memories of getting a disgusting bacon egg and cheese biscuit prior to a Sunday afternoon game was gone when they took McDonald’s out. Sure, it looks nice… but it’s not the lovable dump that is Wrigley.
Then June of 2017 (when nothing was done initially) and again in September of 2018, Addison Russell abuse allegations start floating around. Addison is accused of physically and mentally abusing his wife Melisa. He has been suspended for 40 games as of October 3, 2018 and just now decided to speak about it during a press conference at the beginning of spring training. This is shifting into my breaking point.
Flash forward a little to August of 2018, the Cubs acquire Daniel Murphy, a player that disagrees with the LGBT lifestyle apparently. *Insert fumes at this point.*
I still spent my wedding night at the Cubs vs. White Sox game. This was my team. They have been my team since I could walk and talk. Thirty plus years of Cubs. I named my daughter Addison (after the street) and my dog Wrigley. I spent years defending this team and years waiting for the moment I could hear the announcement that the Cubs won the World Series. But something was off.
I don’t agree with their owners politically. And usually morally. (They should’ve dropped the dead weight that is Addison Russell.) But the constant PAC donations and support of the GOP has always bothered me. Is my money going into Trump’s pockets via the owners? I tried to let it slide. Then they allowed a very controversial right-wing company televise their games, costing their fans and pulling it from WGN. The Cubs — no longer on WGN. You can no longer catch it all on WGN. Again, fuming. But then I hear about the racist emails from Joe Ricketts and my blood boils.
I can’t call myself a good person and still cheer for this team. I can’t be a feminist, a humanitarian, an advocate for promoting healthy relationships, etc. if I still cheer for this problematic team.
Then it hit me. They gas-light, they change, they do something that makes you proud and happy but then they just hurt you at your core. I’m breaking free. I will miss them. I will miss the players I love.
But they are not lovable anymore. They have alienated so many fans and they just double down on the bad. Maybe I’ll love them again one day, but they need to gut everything and start fresh. Until then, I’ll just cheer for some other teams. I have a Blue Jays shirt, the Pirates are cool and I just bought a Phillies shirt because I will follow Andrew McCutchen wherever he goes.
I’m sad, I truly am. My heart is broken over this. But I just can’t support a team that has lost their moral compass. It hasn’t been the same since the Tribune Company sold the team. I will always hold on to my happy memories there. Watching Ryne as a kid, the games I went to, the joy that team brought me for so many years. But for now, I’m done.