It’s October. The Illini football team continues to make the orange and blue proud, NFL games keep us company on Sunday afternoons, the hockey season is in full swing and news about the NBA lockout is just depressing. Something that isn’t depressing to me, however, is the fact that the St Louis Cardinals are still playing.
Okay, I know I just made a lot of enemies. We live on a campus that is heavily populated by Cubs fans mixed with Sox fans and a few of us redbird fans sprinkled in for good measure, I know I am a minority. But what about this comeback!
In September it looked like a run for the playoffs was a lost cause. We were ten games back and even my father, Busch Stadium season ticket holder that he is had counted our poor redbirds out. Then, all the sudden, we started playing great, and we kept doing it. We got a wild card spot and now we are in a pennant race and its hard not to dream about a World Series in STL.
Lately I have been noticing a lot more red shirts and hats on the quad, and at the bars you can find a solid group of guys and girls with their eyes fixed on the TV despite pounding music and dancing that surrounds them. I think it would be a stretch to say that Champaign has got cardinals fever, but I am seeing a lot of fans coming out of the woodwork, and I don’t hate it. I have somehow surrounded myself with mostly Cubs fans here on campus and so I am really enjoying all of this STL support, something we don’t get too much on campus.
When my sorority had special baseball tees made all my friends got cute cubs apparel and I was told there wasn’t enough interest to place an order. The Sox and the Cards are playing at the same time? Well the big screens at most of the campus bars will be showing the Chicago game. Heck, I am even dating a diehard Cubs fan, which goes to show that you can get used to almost anything with time. Going from a central Illinois town that overwhelmingly roots for the Cardinals to a campus town invaded by suburb kids sporting blue or black jerseys is quite the change. After four years I am used to it, but it can be rough.
As I am writing this, the series between the Cardinals and the Brewers is all tied up and it is anyone’s pennant. I know Cubs the Cards have a longstanding rivalry (Since coming to Champaign I have learned that the Chicago teams themselves have quite the history too, I also learned quickly that if you are from Chicago you pick ONE team – you can’t like both) but I feel that fellow baseball lovers can appreciate the fact that we have one in common: we love the game. Every fan wants their team to still be playing when the leaves turn, and right now that is me. So Chicago fans: I know you have moved on to cheering for the Blackhawks, and the Bears, but give us a little patience. If we are lucky enough to keep playing in a week or so, cardinals fans across campus will be going absolutely nuts after the season we’ve had. Don’t know who the rally squirrel is or what happy flight means? Just ignore us for a little bit longer and sing Chelsea Dagger over our cheering. Enjoy the end of the baseball season no matter who you cheer for and when it’s all over you go back to your “next year is our year” mantra.