Chicalorado

My friend Steve Lippo once told me a story. A few years back he was substitute teaching in the Chicagoland area. One February morning, one of the bright-eyed youngsters asked him, “Mr. Lippo, do you know what tomorrow is?”

Confused yet intrigued, Steve searched the archives of his brain to find the significance of this random February day. Then it hit him. “Yes, pitchers and catchers report for spring training.”

Equally as confused, the youngster replied, “No, it’s Valentine’s Day!”

Steve’s response shouldn’t surprise anybody who knows him (he’s a producer for WGN Sports now). The funny thing is, that ever since I heard this story, Valentine’s Day has taken on a completely different meaning for me. I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s not a real holiday. It was created by the corporations (namely Hallmark) as a way to sell more cards, candy, stuffed animals, flowers, and otherwise useless crap. I don’t need a corporation to tell me when and how to be nice to my wife, I’ll decide on my own. That way, it’s actually special and not forced. Anyway, time to get off my soapbox.

Valentine’s Day, for me, marks the unofficial start to the baseball season. It a time for boundless optimism, position battle debates, amateur prognosticating, and endless hope. Cubs fans know all about optimism. Every year when spring rolls around, we get excited about our new free agent signing, or the new rookie with great potential, or simply just the hope of another season. Traditionally, we’ve been tragically disappointed (2003) at the seasons end. Then when spring comes again, we try to protect ourselves from becoming too involved and attached, as to prevent repeated heartbreak. But we don’t allow ourselves to become too disconnected. We can’t. As the Cubs faithful, we can only suppress our pessimism for so long before it erupts and the excitement overtakes us. We’re tired of “waiting ’til next year.” Next year is here, and we’ve spend a TON of money (over $300 million if I’m not mistaken). Money doesn’t always translate directly into the white “W” flag flying more frequently, but after a 96 loss season, you figure the only way to go is up. Warranted or not, optimism is in the air.

I should have put this link up on Valentine’s Day, but I didn’t get around to it. My good friend Dave Ide sent me this article writen by ESPN’s Jim Caple about spring training and his love for baseball. It’s a good read.

I’ll be putting in my two cents regarding the Cubs and spring training periodically, so check in from time to time. How do you think the Cubbies are going to fare this year? What do you think of new Skipper Lou Piniella? Will Prior and Wood be healthy this year? Leave me some feedback, and maybe we can get some type of interactive discussion going here.

Cubs in ‘07!