Editorial: Cubs are not lovable losers to everyone

I usually like to think of myself as being a man who is strong enough not to hate, but I truly loathe the Chicago Cubs. I don't even watch much baseball anymore, but I still can't stand the Cubbies. I grew up as a Cardinals fan, but now I would rather see the Cards lose than the Cubs win.

I even despise players who used to play for the Cubs. Greg Maddux switched teams years ago, but I still think he sucks because he used to play for the Cubs. I never liked Bruce Sutter, and I don't like Shawn Dunston.

Lou Brock was the only former Cub I ever liked. He was okay because the Cubs lost him in one of the dumbest trades in baseball history. I admired Brock because he made the Cubs look bad.

I grew up in Metamora, Ill., which was a Cubs town. I used to work at a restaurant on the main drag owned by an alcoholic wife beater, but we got along because he hated the Cubs, too. Once he had us put a big banner on the front of the building that read "Cubs Magic Number = 911." Business went way down that month, but it was worth it.

When I was a boy, my dad and I would climb into our 1962 International pickup and he would turn on the Cubs game. We would root for whomever they were playing. My dad would chomp on a big cigar and carefully explain to me that all Cubs fans were heathens and degenerates who wore clip-on