I'm Not Crying I'm Just Listening To Eddie Vedder Sing "All The Way" Until My Ears Bleed

If you actually sit and listen to the song thoughtfully then hopefully you get a taste of the emotions flying around the Cubs right now. It's such a serious, raw, empty feeling that things are no more. That it's not about starting another chapter but about a completely new book. What makes me sick is that the only consistency will be Crane Kenney and the Ricketts family. Theo's gone but they get to stay. I'm bleeding out slowly here guys. I see a lot of 81-win baseball over the next decade that packs Wrigley but doesn't drain the budget. That's a win win for those guys and a catastrophic loss for everyone else. 

So let's talk about the song. 

Don't let anyone say that it's just a game
For I've seen other teams, and it's never the same
When you're born in Chicago, you're blessed and you're healed
The first time you walk into Wrigley Field

Our heroes with pinstripes and heroes in blue
Give us the chance to feel like heroes too
Whether we'll win and if we should lose
We know someday we'll go all the way
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way

We are one with the Cubs
With the Cubs we're in love
Hold our heads high as the underdogs
We are not fairweather, but foul weather fans
Like brothers in arms, in the streets and the stands
There's magic in the ivy and the old scoreboard
The same one I stared at as a kid keeping score
In a world full of greed, I could never want more
And someday we'll go all the way
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way
Well, someday we'll go all the way
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way

And here's to the men and the legends we've known
Teaching us faith and giving us hope
United we stand, and united we'll fall
Down to our knees the day we win it all
Yeah Ernie Banks said, "Oh, let's play two!"
I think he meant two hundred years
In the same ballpark, our diamond, our jewel
The home of our joy and our fears
Keeping traditions, and wishes made new
The place where our grandfathers' fathers they grew
The spiritual feeling if I ever knew
And if you ain't been, I am sorry for you
And when the day comes for that last winning run
And I'm crying and covered in beer
I look to the sky and know I was right today
Someday we'll go all the way
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way

Probably the hardest thing I've had to write on this blog. My favorite lines are the opening two because it perfectly captures what it's like to be a crazy baseball fan

Don't let anyone say that it's just a game
For I've seen other teams, and it's never the same

If you're a Cubs fan, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Phillies, whatever. If you're a diehard this applies. If you wake up feeling different because of your baseball team and you count down days until you can be inside the stadium and see your team in person. If a Wednesday night baseball game in the middle of July can ruin your week then this is for you. If you get anxiety thinking about your ownership group or the free agent market. If you bond with your family in baseball - maybe the emotionally hardened older men that grew up in the post-World War 2 that were very difficult to communicate with as you were growing up - baseball bridged that gap for millions. You can sit next to your granddaughter and grandfather in the same game. You can call your dad and complain for 30 fucking minutes for literally no reason - you just love your team and someone needs to hear about it. And all the while theres the world existing around you, thinking you're crazy for how much you love your baseball team. 

Fuck those people. They don't matter. You can care as much as you want about your baseball team for whatever reasons you want. 

In my case, Theo let me be truly proud about the Cubs for the 1st time in my life. He did that for all of us. We knew we weren't just one injury away from 70 wins. We knew we had depth and resources and a shot at the division every year for the last 6 seasons. You can't even begin to describe the change that's had on the fanbase. The confidence and the positive experiences and the optimism. Everything was just an idea until Theo showed up. We were a fucking singalong by Eddie Vedder and nothing more. 

Theo changed that so much that we had to shoot another music video. Personally I like this version a lot more. 

Thank you, Theo. 

We love you.