In 20 years I'd like to come back and discuss how the area surrounding Petco in SD is better and more well-known than Wrigley. Cause they got a thing going there.....

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Doesnt Boston have the same thing?


Let me ask you this, because I think its being underrepresented in this thread.

Sammy Sosa is on the Cubs list, right?

Because he is and so is Ernie, and the choke job happened on the field.


Thats 3 on the field ones right there and I cant see taking any of them off.

I'm no expert but why do things that define the Cubs need to be on the field things? I think the Cubs and their meaning to the team are much more important than a simple short sited "on field" experience.

What are the top things that define the Cubs? Here's mine:

Our Old Heros. Sadly, they were referred to in a previous post as "honoring those who lost less than others" but I like to call them the heros I watched as a child. Ryne Sandberg never won a world series but he was a larger than life to me as a child, making me want to go outside and play baseball and pretend I was Ryne Sandberg, and my father before me Ernie Banks, and his father before him who dreamed of being Phil Cavarretta. All teams have players that mean everything to their city, from Minnie Minoso to Frank Thomas. Those players should be honored and remembered. It's one reason why we watch the games.

Wrigley Field. Yes, the stadium certainly is important to the Chicago Cubs, and their home is part of what defines them. It's been a part of their story for over 80 years. Thousands of big things have happened there. Many of our Grandparents have beautiful memories of watching baseball in the sun in the same seats you can sit in today. Wrigley is iconic. She is old, we know, and she's not in the best shape of her life but she's still an absolute stunner. As a Cubs fan, I do take pride in our home and I do belive that it's part of what defines the Cubs. Being in that park is about more than just the baseball game in front of you. Our Grandfathers had fond memories of baseball games in the sun and we can still sit in his favorite seats today 80 years later.

140 years of history. The Chicago Cubs in one form or another have been playing baseball since Grant was the President of the United States and we had 37 stars on the flag. I know that the jokes are soon to follow, we know any team can have a bad century or two, but the Cubs have generations of history, and that is something that plenty of teams don't have and never can compete with.

Fanbase Dedication. Earlier it was called "accepting losing" but really what that is is dedication of their fans. The Cubs fan will get burned but they're not accepting of the losing, they are instead focused on the future, as their old mantra "Wait Til Next Year" testifies. I don't doubt that the Cubs fans sell more tickets than any other team does in a visiting city. Sorry Sox fans, the Cubs fans are more likely to take over another venue. Their fans are Nationwide.

The Cubs Place In MLB. There are only a small handful of marquee teams in any league. The Yankees. The Red Sox. The Cubs. They've been here since the beginning, they've added an incredible storyline to the history of the MLB over the last 140 years, some of the most colorful stories of baseball are the "Curse", the "called shot", the "hundred year drought"... all fantastic threads in the fabric of the history of the game itself.

These are just a couple things that I think are moreso what a Cubs fan might think of as things that define the organization. I don't believe that it needs to be onfield things each and every year. I think that is a more shortsighted, quickie and dirty way of looking at this team and at baseball.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I can't create a list without:
Harry Caray
Wrigley Field/Wrigleyville
Curses/bad luck/Bartman

That's being kind in combining Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville too, because they could easily be two separate things.

I don't think Sammy Sosa makes the list.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Do the Cubs have more fanbase dedication than other teams? I guess you guys are special after all!

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Isn't that something that non cubs fans use to pick on cubs fans? How we still love our losers and we're always saying "next year"?
And it's not MORE dedication, it just dedication.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

The 2007 championship was kind of joyless and methodical, but you're selling the 2004 championship run waaaaay short. What a great season that was.

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And stupidity

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Then why mention it at all? It seems like Cub fans want to say they and their team are special without admitting that's what you think. I'm sure you understood the point of the thread. I know Bryan did. Is my point not being made?

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

No, you failed to comprehend what I was saying.

In 1999 if you went to a Cub game, you couldnt escape Harry references.

That has been lessened significantly. Eventually, they wont talk about him at all. Will he still be the defining figure?

I think as the perona fades around the park he becomes less of a defining figure.



Disco Demolition night is mentioned quite a bit, and its probably the second most famous thing about the White Sox (Blacksox being first)

I don't think so. I think the point is all fans feel that way about their team. Look at the discussion about the Sox in this thread.

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But no Sox fan has mentioned dedication as a defining trait. Are Cub fans more dedicated or not?

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Not really

Well, then you are insane.

How is Frank Thomas on the Sox list and Sosa not on the Cubs?

Frank....

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Trying to play peacemaker here, I'd say that being a fan of any Chicago sports team is in some way a little more special than the average fandom. We're just really good at liking sports. So, um, suck it, Denver.

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I'd say no. No Cub fan has mentioned it either.

I'm not sure how "more dedicated" for any team's fan base is measured or proven.

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The only thing that might take Sammy off the list is how he left and the cheating. I agree though that he belongs on the list.

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Yeah maybe. Denver is a bad example.

Jump in lake, Atlanta!!
Bite me, Phoenix!!

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How he left is almost forgotten already.

But we are talking about "what they're known for" right?


Sosa is on the list.

The Cubs are special in that they've got a lot that other teams in the league don't. It happens in all sports JORR. Don't hockey fans get more amped for Original Six matchups? Those Old Timey matchups like GB and Chi? That's because Green Bay and Tampa Bay and say the Ducks and the Hawks doesn't have, amirite?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I bet Juggs is a Cubs fan.

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That's all unfortunately part of it.

The dedication point is impossible to quantify. Sure, the past 10-15 years has seen really great attendance in spite of rarely having a decent team. That could be attributed to a lot of different factors, dedication is certainly a part of it all though

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Team Cutler.

What do you mean Rarely?

Made the playoffs in '98, '03, '07, and '08. For Chicago baseball, that is a goddam good stretch.

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Yeah, thats true

In my lifetime of 31+ years its been...

84
89
98
03
07
08


Once every five years. Nothing to brag about. Just average.

Petco is my least favorite stadium of the 15 or so I have been to. The inside is a weird a maze. I found it to be very sterile. It is a nice setting because San Diego is a great city, but the nightlife around it was weak. We ended up at Tilted Kilt after the game.

There is no comparison.......IMHO.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

That's fair. Poor choice of words on my part. I meant that in the lean years, 00', 02' '06 etc the place was still packed drawing well over 2mil per year. I'm not saying that's because the Cubs fan is more dedicated than team x fan. Might be just because there are more Cubs fans as a result of WGN etc so more people need to be disenfranchised.

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Team Cutler.

I think the dedicated tag gets applied to

any old school team

any team with a significant title drought


Its meaningless announcer drivel

Dedicated gets applied to teams that have great attendance and "travel well" regardless of on-field success or failure:

Cubs
Red Sox
Cards
Yankees
Packers
Steelers
Cowboys
Bears
Eagles
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

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I disagree on Bosox, cards, yanks, steelers, cowboys on the grounds that dedication whilst winning multiple titles isn't really dedication.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Top 5 dedicated music fanbases
Sonic Youth
Pavement
Wilco
The Replacements
Phish