This is a picture of me from October 1984. Notice something odd? Obscured by the pillow I'm holding is a NL Eastern Division Champion Chicago Cubs shirt. So, yes, there is thirty-two year old proof that I can enjoy the Cubs too and I do wish them well. I just prefer the White Sox.

Let this be a congratulations off to the Cubs and their fan base. We White Sox fans know about long suffering World Series droughts. Ours lasted eighty-eight years. Only one score off of the Cubs. "Score" being a term that means twenty years, that was more common closer to the last time that the Cubs won a World Series.

I have lots of friends and family who are die hard Cubs fans, including my beautiful wife. I enjoy the Cubs as I enjoy all of baseball. There is no hatred there. Only admiration and respect.

The only problem I have with the Cubs is not their team or their park. I don't even have a problem with most of their fans. I do have a problem with about .01% of the Cubs fans. I also have problem with .01% of White Sox fans. It the obnoxious fans that go to extremes that really cause the division in among fans. Cubs fans are portrayed as beer swilling, bandwagon party yuppies who don't pay attention to the game and just show up to the park to say they've been there. White Sox fans are portrayed as drunk suburban trash, who storm the field, the few times that they actually show up to the park. I'm here to tell you that neither of these portrayals represent 99.99% of each team's fans. The bad acts of the few should not represent the majority.

I can still cheer on the Cubs and not have to turn my White Sox card in. And the same is true for the Cubs fans. We all love the game of baseball. Shouldn't that be enough? It is in my book. Most fans just want to see a good game and if their team wins that game, it just makes it better.

So cherish this special team Cubs fans. It can be done. This team has proven it. From this moment forward, there will be no more excuses. No goats. No black cats. No Gatorade. No more "lovable losers". You guys are winners. It may require a completely different mindset for some of you, but know it's true.

If you would have asked me back in October 1984, if I would see a Chicago championship in my lifetime, I might have been optimistic, but I would probably have said no. Since that picture was taken, I have seen championships by the Bears, the Bulls, the White Sox, the Blackhawks and now the Cubs. I am simply amazed! It can be done.

Enjoy this moment Cubs fans. Cherish it. Relish in it. You deserve it. May you not have to wait another 108 years for another championship... unless you're playing the White Sox in that championship game, then, I'm sorry, I have to go with the White Sox. It's nothing personal and I hope we can still watch the game together.

The Cubs may not be my favorite team in the MLB, but you guys are from my hometown, so good luck in the playoffs.

Sincerely,
White Sox Cards

A Wheaton, Illinois native and current Minneapolis, Minnesota resident, Scot Moore, tried to sell his team loyalty on eBay. Like the Cubs season in October, that didn't get very far either.

Scot had offered his team loyalty to the highest bidder, all in the name of charity. Moore had planned to donate his winnings would go to two Minneapolis theater companies that perform for low-income audiences. Despite both companies being backed by Springboard for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Scot did not have the proper documentation. So, eBay pulled the listing, citing that it violated policies.

The highest bidder when it was shut down? $7,100, from a White Sox fan. There were no discernible bids from any Cubs fans.

This is troubling on many levels. Do Cubs fans not care that one of their own is losing his faith enough to auction it off? Does a fan of another baseball team care that much about converting someone? Can loyalty be bought off, even for a good cause? All are reasonable questions that I don't have an immediate answer to.

If the charity angle wasn't used, how many bids would Scot have actually gotten? Maybe most of those bids were for the charity part. We'll never really know the intentions of the bidders.

Take away the important part of the auction, which is the charity donation, and this is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen on eBay. One can't simply switch team loyalties because someone pays him enough money. The heart wants what the heart wants. It is not swayed easily by large sums of cash.

Are Cubs fans that fickle? Your team breaks your heart over and over again and you simply give up? That's not the definition of a fan, to me. You stick with the team you chose through good and bad. It makes those winning years even sweeter, when they happen.

Are White Sox fans the desperate to convert Cubs fans? I would hope not, but there's always a few wackos in every crowd. I'm giving the benefit of the doubt that the main motivation on everybody's end is the charity, but who knows. Every team has their "interesting" fans and misinformed fans. They will do stupid and pointless things and try to convert the masses in ridiculous ways.

I disagree with eBay about pulling this one. Let's skip the charity part. If someone is stupid enough to auction their loyalty off, let them. If someone is stupid enough to actually pay thousands of dollars to purchase that one person's loyalty, let them. Each of them deserve their own special place in commerce hell.

Scot did say that if the White Sox fan did win and he was forced to root for the White Sox, that he would become a fan of A.J. Pierzynski. He likes his spirit. My question... if Scot likes Pierzynski's spirit, why isn't he already a fan? Officer Barbrady, I call shenanigans!

After seeing the "ace" of the White Sox staff give up seven runs in one inning, I had to do some serious soul searching. What has become of this team that I've loved for 26 years? How can they be so far removed from their World Series year?

There have been no easy answers. With the White Sox spinning their wheels this year, I've decided to jump on the Cubs bandwagon. Yes, the die hard White Sox fan has finally relaxed and accepted the inevitable. Chicago is a Cubs town and there is no room for a second team that performs badly.

This was not a decision taken lightly. The loss of Jon Garland has impacted me in ways that I never would have thought possible. I now know what the Cubs fans felt like when they got a poor relief pitcher for their own ace in the making, Jon Garland. The payment of $4.5MM to Juan Uribe made more sense before the addition of the hole in the glove wonder that is Orlando Cabrera.

The Sox even found a malnourished kid to play in center field on Opening Day. While I think it's admirable that the Sox are willing to sponsor a starving child, I don't think it's wise to let him play professional baseball. I'm waiting for a gust of wind to blow this kid onto the Dan Ryan.

The Cubs have a better plan. They are playing with a chip on their shoulder. 100 years without a World Championship is a huge chip. They have a bullpen that gets it done and the starters don't give up seven runs in an inning. The offense has captured the minds of every Chicagoan and human being alike. It's just that good!

The Cubs even have a more sensible manager. Sweet Lou would never let those three calls go the opponents way. It's a thing of beauty to watch Lou work an umpire over and get his way. Ozzie can never do that gracefully enough to succeed. Ozzie will swear up a storm and get tossed. That's not any way to inspire your club to victory.

I'm not the only one who feels this way. Other teams have let other people down as well. The addition of Johan Santana has got dayf giving the Mets a shot, since the Braves Opening Day loss to the Nationals. Jose Canseco's recent book has got Mario looking into the merits of a healthy Alex Rodriguez obsession. Even Tatiana has grown weary of Derek Jeter's smug attitude and has thrown her support onto Orlando Hernandez.

Jumping on the bandwagon is easy, once you do it. Believing a word that's written in this post is a bit hard to swallow. If you were gullible enough to be duped by this post, then you are truly an April fool. I do have some cheap land along the Sea of Tranquility that I will sell by the acre. Any takers?

I'm off for the weekend with my fiancee to see my future sister-in-law in Atlanta, third home of the Braves. Maybe I'll run into a card shop where I can find some good deals on White Sox cards. It could happen, since the Sox are a non-regional team in that area. You never know what one might find, if one looks hard enough.

It's a shame baseball season is over for this year. I would've loved to see a Braves game. Hopefully someday I'll see a game in Atlanta. It would be a bonus if the Braves would be beating the tar out of a certain Chicago North Side team. Like they say on the North Side, maybe next year.