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By Andy Tarnoff Publisher Photography by Allen Fredrickson E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Andy Tarnoff

Published July 30, 2008 at 12:14 p.m.

Tags: cubs, chicago

Sorry I've been a little negative in the blogosphere lately. I'm really a generally happy guy, but last night's display at Miller Park put me in a surly mood.

I don't want to generalize, but I must: I really hate Cubs fans.

There's a right way and a wrong way to root for your team in an opponent's stadium. I speak from experience, having seen the Brewers play on the road several times.

The right way is to clap and cheer and be respectful. The wrong way is to heckle, insult, taunt and jeer, to act like you own the place, when you should remember that you're a welcomed guest.

When the loyal and intelligent Cardinals fans come to Milwaukee, they behave with class and grace. Happy to be here, pleasant and eager to strike up a conversation about their proud and storied franchise.

When Cubs fans show up, it's a sea of drunken douchebags, flailing around, chests puffed out, clueless about the sport and their team's dubious place in baseball history.

Of course, getting spanked by the Cubs leaves us Brewers fans little chance to retort. We can't reply with my favorite, one-word response, "Scoreboard." We can't say, "Look at the standings, FIB, now shut up and go home."

The Cubs beat the Brewers fair and square in the first two games of this series. While a Sabathia or Sheets shut out would've quieted down those soused, Sosa-supporting Chicagoans, nothing else would, and that's 100 percent our fault. The Brewers look like deer in the headlights right now, and they need to get their act together, pronto.

But in reality, the Cubs fans don't have much to be proud of. Not only have they not won anything in 100 years (we haven't won anything at all, but the franchise has only existed for a mere 38 years), they sport a $118 million payroll in 2008, compared to the Brewers' $81 million.

In short, they should be in first place.

Let me make this perfectly clear: my hatred of Cubs fans is more than just an alleged inferiority complex to Chicago. Yeah, it's fun to talk smack, but I have a great time whenever I visit the Windy City. And I don't feel this way about White Sox fans, or even Bears fans. The South Siders are a lot like us: passionate, loyal and hardworking.

I feel sorry for Sox fans, really. Even after they won the World Series, they're still second-class citizens in Chitown. Of course, maybe that's because the "Baby Bears" are owned by the Tribune (for now) and get a disproportionate amount of coverage.

Seriously, Cubs fans exude a sense of entitlement that they don't deserve.

Tell me if this profile of the "lovable loser" aficionado is off-base: 22-years-old, Fukodome jersey or popped collar Abercrombie polo, floppy hat or backwards cap, neatly-trimmed goatee, cut-off jeans or cargo shorts, flip-flops, drunk on Old Style, going nuts for every routine pop up, screaming "let's go Cubbies," interlaced with profanity, right in the face of some little kids.

Does Joe "Lincoln Park" Six-Pack know anything about the history of the franchise? Has he watched the team through thick and thin? Or does he just trek up to "Wrigley North" as an excuse to get hammered and rowdy with 30,000 of his closest friends?

I'm guessing the latter.

And no, of course I don't hate all Cubs fans. Just the ones I'm describing in the previous 500 words. I'm sure there are plenty of upstanding Chicagoans who love their team and its legacy.

But to the rest of you: Hey, thanks for coming to Milwaukee and spending your money. We appreciate it. We'll see on Sept. 16 at that run-down dump you call the "friendly confines."

You'll know who we are: we'll be the fans respectfully cheering on the Brewers and not going out of our way to ruin your good time.

77 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by mcdoogs on Aug. 20, 2008 at 9:34 p.m. (report)

To cubsrock 84, You are the typical ignorant Cubs fan who people here are talking about. You say the Brewers only sell out when the Cubs are in town? Huh?Really? Then why have their been over 34 sellouts this year at Miller Park? I suppose the Cubs four game series spilled over into 30 other games. And what about the previous two seasons of great attendance? Sabathia has only been here for a month so I'm guessing about 6 of the sellouts could be due to him? Basically, there is a TON of enthusiasm by Brewers fans, not seen since the late 80s. But you're in your own little world down there in Illinesia. If Chicago sat 60miles north of New york City, who would dominate your park? That's right. Mets fans. So let's get real. Also, your snide attitude about our ballpark is not appreciated. If you don't like it, then stop coming here. As you say, there are plenty of people to cheer your Cubs here, so go back to your urine encrusted toilet bowl, and home of the Worlds Largest Gay Beer Garden....not that there's anything wrong with that.

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Posted by mcdoogs on Aug. 20, 2008 at 9:18 p.m. (report)

Cubs fans enjoy gloating about their team as if they had a great winning tradition like the Cardinals...except that they don't have the championships to back any of it up. Cardinals fans HAVE the championships, yet they don't act like they have this smug, sense of entitlement that Cubs fans have. Also, they portray themselves as loyal?? Anyone in their mid 30s or early 40s probably remembers when Wrigley Field sat half empty in the 1960s and 1970s and even into the 80s. Check it out for yourself. Bottom line, Chicago, your metro area of 9-10 million people will always outdraw small market Milwaukee, but when you come to our place, don't act like a-holes as a group. The White Sox played here for years, and as bloddy as that rivalry was, their fans didn't act like you. You are just giving people reasons to damage your vehicles and possibly yourself. So knock it off and just cheer for your team.

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Posted by cubsrock84 on Aug. 11, 2008 at 11:03 p.m. (report)

I have seen my share of obnoxious fans over my years of visiting games in our family's season ticket seats. Sometimes they are Cubs fans, sometimes they are from the opposing team. Sometimes they are not fans of either teams, but just tourists visiting the great city who felt they needed to include a stop at the lovely historic park. I prefer to appreciate the historic aspect of the place and the tradition, rather than assuming it's a dump because it's not a cold, advertisement infested stadium with a few more ammentities. Any team has extreme fans - I have to note that the worst I've encountered was a drunken Brewers fan earlier this year, blurting obsenities as my young son looked on and standing up intentially throughout most of the game to irritate the people behind him. For the most part, the fans are friendly - passionate, but friendly - and not all 20-somthing preppies. The mix of the crowd is part of what makes it so fun - everything from babies to old men in wheelchairs with hearing aids. While it's true they haven't won a World Series in a century, they has an outstanding record early in the team's history. Most of the fans around today haven't had the chance to see their beloved Cubs in a World Series. They're anxious and enthusastic. Perhaps Milwaukee could use a little more enthusiasm. It says something when the Cubs can continually sell out games on a Tuesday afternoon, but Milwaukee sells out when the Cubs are in town.

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Posted by PKam2 on Aug. 3, 2008 at 11:48 a.m. (report)

While I am a die-hard Cubs fan, I DO feel that visiting fans need to be a little more reserved in their behavior than when they are at home. Your sweeping condemnation of Cub fans AND Wrigley Field is a bit extreme, however. Additionally, you need to check your facts: the Cubs have not won a World Series in 100 years - Milwaukee has not won a World Series in 51 years (not 38 as you stated). Perhaps you were referring to the BUCKS championship of 37 years ago. In that case you need to bring the BULLS into the conversation. Enough said. One last thought: If Brewer fans would show more support for their team by buying more game tickets and not scalping them for a dime profit, you wouldn't have to put up with very many Cub fans at your ballpark.

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Posted by bankshot55 on Aug. 1, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. (report)

I read Andy Tarnoff's article regarding Cubs fans and after going to the last two games of this series and experiencing the crowd firsthand, I felt that a little more unbiased opinion was needed. I am a huge Cubs fan and always have been, and I will agree that their are a lot of terrible Cubs fans out there that whoop and cuss and act like fools both in Wrigley and at Miller Park. The part of the article that angered me is the free pass given to Brewer fans. I saw some terrible incidents with Brewer fans over these two games, including a Brewer fan in his younger 20's and 3 of his friends threatening to beat up a 50 year old Cubs fan, and another altercation where a young Brewer's fan insulted a young lady wearing a Cubs shirt and deteriorated to the point that the usher in the area threatened the Brewer's fan with ejection from the stadium for his antics. Now that being said most of the Cubs and Brewers fans I encountered were genial; maybe they ribbed each other a bit about one team beating the other, or a certain teams knack for choking in September, but it stays above the belt. Mr. Tarnoff refers to the bandwagon fans of the Cubs, the "Joe 'Lincoln Park' Six-Pack" guys at Wrigley. Believe me, if the Brewers continue to play winning baseball, those kinda Brewers fans will pop up, and indeed already have. I wore a Cubs shirt to Summerfest a few weeks back, in fact the day the Brew-Crew traded for C.C. and the same day that Kerry Wood blew a save against the Cardinals. I was heckeled and swore at by about a half-dozen people I've never even met before and I never said anything in return. There's no point to it. Just be careful if you're going to point the finger at Cubs fans though; you may have a lot of fingers pointing back at you. See you in September. -Jim

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Show me the other 72 Talkbacks

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