An Open Letter To Cubs Fans From The Best Fans In Baseball

An Open Letter To Cubs Fans From The Best Fans In Baseball

Even a World Series win would not make up for your ugly past.
Christina Silies
Christina Silies Oct 10, 2016
1047
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Cubs fans,

First of all, congrats on a great season. You won over one hundred games for the first time in over a hundred years. Your team deserved to win the central division, and they deserve to be in the playoffs. Honestly, they deserve to win the whole thing. Before you go on a spree of bashing the Cardinals, though, we have some things to say to you.

You do not have the best fan base in baseball. The Royals tried to pull this with us last year when they were good, too. Where are they now? Gone. I was so blessed to grow up in St. Louis, so I got to experience how amazing and dedicated Cardinal Nation really is. Now, I go to school in Illinois, so I deal with a lot of Cubs fans. People have actually said to me that the Cubs have the best fanbase, ever. Although the Cubs have a very big fan base compared to the biggest bandwagon team in baseball (The Royals) it was not because of baseball. Before the Cubs were good, the fans were there to party and get drunk on a summer night. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but let me compare that to Cardinal Nation. When you walk into Busch, the people there are there for the Cardinals. Our hearts break for them when they lose, and we are filled with happiness when they win. We can name our players from previous teams years back, and when I asked you all to name players from years back you all said, "Umm...Sammy Sosa?" We all remember the rally squirrel, when David Freese saved Game 6 for us, when Wainwright threw the final pitch in the 2006 World Series and jumped into Yadier Molina's arms. We also remember in 2004 when our amazing team got beat in the World Series by the Boston Red Sox. We are second in World Series Championships behind the amazing New York Yankees. In October, people only wear red. You go to Walmart on a day that the Cardinals are playing? At least 75 percent of people will be wearing red. We love our old players and will almost always offer them a standing ovation when they come back on other teams to play against us. There is a reason Albert Pujols talked about missing his "home" is St. Louis when he left. There is a reason why players like Jim Edmonds and Willie McGee consider St. Louis the best place in the world. There is a reason why opposing players say, "I'm sick of the hype too, but it really is just different there." We stick to our team no matter what. With them having the worst season that they had in a long time, we were still standing in our seats until the very end.

We don't care if you win the World Series. Yes, you're obviously not our team of choice that we want to win, just like the St. Louis Blues probably weren't your pick for the Stanley Cup. It won't affect how St. Louis feels about the Cardinals. We aren't going anywhere and we will be back next year. One of you guys told me, "Cardinals' fans will shut up if the Cub's win, they will have nothing to say." That isn't true. We might not make Titanic jokes anymore, but we still have eleven rings. We still are a threat to you next year, with a healthy Lance Lynn coming back and younger players coming up. Having a good, young team might make you the best team in baseball, but it doesn't mean you're going to win the World Series every year from here on out. Trust me, ask our 2004 Cardinals, so quit acting like you've already caught us in championships. If you win or lose this year, we will still make fun of you

This is not the best team to have ever existed in baseball.

This one is funny. The Cubs are very good, there's no question there. They are not the best team to have ever existed, though. All year long I had Cubs fans saying "The Cardinals' are so bad." "The Cardinals suck this year." "The Cardinals are the worst team in baseball." Here's the funny thing, when the Cardinals were great the Cubs were not even on our radar. We didn't care. Also, the Cardinals may not have had the greatest year compared to previous seasons, but be careful when you say that they suck. The Cardinals were one game out of making the playoffs. If one of the worst years they have had in the past decade in being a game out of the playoffs, they really cannot be that bad. Also, the Cubs played the Cardinals 19 times this year. In those 19 games, the Cubs won ten of them and the Cardinals won nine. The Cubs may have been really good this year, but you cannot say that the Cardinals would not have been a threat to them if they would have gotten the chance to meet in the playoffs. Another thing to point out is when you think of a best team in history, do you really think that it is a team that went against "horrible" teams? Or do you consider it a team that went against teams with deadly lineups such as the Killer Bees from the Houston Astros, or facing an incredible player like Barry Bonds knowing he was probably going to hit a home run when he stepped up to the plate? The best teams in baseball are not the teams what walked all over the weak ones.

Moral of the story, celebrate this year, but don't have this chip on your shoulder that you're the best organization in baseball history because you're just not. Also, learn to care about the actual Cubs winning instead of just beating the Cardinals.

Sincerely,

Cardinal Nation

Cover Image Credit: Keyword Suggestions
Christina Silies
Christina Silies Oct 10, 2016
At Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

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It's Time We Gave Collegiate Bands The Same Respect As The Football Team

Collegiate bands are unfortunately overlooked and under-budgeted by their universities. They receive little appreciation, despite being such an important aspect of a college community.

mackenzienagel
mackenzienagel Nov 14, 2018
1809
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It's a beautiful day in the middle of October, and you're at a college football game. You see the sun shining down on a sea of fans, everyone wearing the home team's colors. The smell of hot dogs, pretzels, and other greasy food drifts through the air, as a cool wind blows against the back of your neck. But what is it that you hear? Overpowering every other sound in the stadium, the band is blaring their brass horns and beating their drums. Invisible but everywhere, the music fills the stadium when the team scores, excites the crowd when the game intensifies and provides the soundtrack to your favorite college traditions.

Now, imagine that game without the band. No one is there to play the fight song when a touchdown is scored, or play a victory tune when your team wins. Yes, there would still be music, but it would only be generic pop stuff playing over the speakers. It wouldn't be the same, because you don't get to experience that special kind of energy that comes from live music. Unfortunately, the band does not get enough credit for what they do. Compared to an athletic team, the band is typically overlooked and under-budgeted — especially by the universities themselves.

While the university is busy pouring all money and attention to athletics, the band is left to scavenge for support. Athletic teams receive millions upon millions of dollars, while the band gets next to nothing. My university's band has resorted to requiring each member to raise money on their own and selling $1 chocolate bars, because they receive so little funding. Just a small cut from the athletic budget would make such a vast difference in the lives of the band members. And it's not like the band doesn't deserve it - they most certainly do, with how much they add to a college community. A college without a band is like a belt with no buckle. With no band, you'd be missing a key piece of unity during a game.

The band and athletic teams work just as hard as the other, and both spend so much of their lives committed to their craft. Just like a football team, the band devotes several hours of their day to practicing. Similar to a basketball team, being apart of the band requires precise coordination. Like a soccer team, it is necessary for the band to have high endurance. And as it is with any type of athlete, it is obligatory for each member of the band to value hard work and determination. And must we not forget, the band is at nearly every sporting event, plus more. Unlike several sports, band is a year-round activity — there is no "off-season."

So you might ask yourself, with such similar characteristics to an athletic team, shouldn't the band receive at least some benefits? But here we are, athletic teams receiving all the money and perks, and the band seeing none of that.

The band is such an important aspect of sporting events and pep rallies and is greatly responsible for the fans' emotions and entertainment throughout a game. Unfortunately, most universities fail to see this and don't appreciate how much a band adds to the atmosphere and energy of a college community. Instead, the band continues to be brushed aside, no matter how talented or entertaining they are. I can only hope that in this day and age, with fine arts starting to gain more recognition, that the band will finally receive the respect they deserve.

mackenzienagel
mackenzienagel Nov 14, 2018
At Kansas State University

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This Isn't Target Practice, This Is College Football, So Stop Aiming For Alabama's Star Players

Aiming for someone's achilles heel is just wrong in any sport especially SEC football.

Lauren Sexton
Lauren Sexton Nov 21, 2018
43
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You would have to be blind not to see that beloved quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is currently the target of any team the Crimson Tide plays. Being a frontrunner for the Heisman is undoubtedly the biggest honor any college football player could have, that along with having not one, but two National Championship rings in two years. But all that could be lost if the elephant in the room is not addressed, and I am not talking about Big Al.

It has been ongoing in the issue since Tua first sprained his knee a few games ago. However, in recent games against LSU at Baton Rouge and Mississippi State at Bryant-Denny, it became clear that Tua is the bright crimson target, so fans wonder if maybe Tua should keep playing when he isn't needed as much. In a recent interview, Saban addressed the concerns and said that Tua is fine, and we all get it because he has the rings, and we don't. Still could playing Tua against a team like Citadel still be fatal. Maybe letting Tua join Jalen Hurts on the bench might be the safe bet.

Tua deserves the Heisman (sorry to my Buckeye dad). Having his name along past winners like Herschel Walker and Barry Sanders would be huge. In the entirety of the Heisman, only two players from Alabama have won. Tua deserves this. I might seem like a broken record, but he does. He plays with heart and with determination. Without him, who knows what the outcome of the last National Championship would have been or what this season would look like (probably still pretty great, it is Alabama). But other teams and their fans sure would like to see Tua incapacitated.

LSU fan Darriel from Columbus, Georgia called the "Paul Finebaum Show" and said he believed the secret in beating the Crimson Tide is to, "take out Tua's knee." He went on to say, "Who cares about a headshot? Take out a knee and you got them beat." Finebaum found this as despicable as any sensible and moral person would. Finebaum responded by saying, "Anyone that would call into this program or put on Twitter a suggestion in doing serious injury to a college football player is disgusting. It may be legal, but it's despicable.

I can't believe you would even write that down." The problem is that Darriel the LSU fan isn't alone in his opinion. There are obviously other people who are so green with envy and so twisted in their own fanaticism in supporting their team that they don't see the harm in this. Anyone who would even consider or encourage harming another human being for something as frivolous as a football game is not sane. Look at the repercussions and consequences of the actions of the two LSU fans who killed the Alabama fan. What is this world coming to?

I have no doubt that Alabama is going to succeed in the playoffs and in the potential National Championship. But an injured Tua and an injured Jalen could create mass hysteria especially if they are the targets of a violent football conspiracy. Alabama fans are tried and true, and we will support our team and our coaches regardless.

Alabama's football team is the pinnacle of the football universe. They're good, we know they're good, and they do it with grace and with the love of their fans. However, if the situation presents itself and if needed, it is clear that freshman quarterback Mac Jones can hold his own on the field until Tua and Jalen get back, after all, they are a team of many. Let's just hope we don't need to find out.

Lauren Sexton
Lauren Sexton Nov 21, 2018
At The University of Alabama

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