CHICAGO — It’s a miserable night here, and not just because of the dreary, cold rain drenching the city. Three hundred miles to the south in St. Louis, the Cardinals have opened the World Series against the Texas Rangers.
In Chicago, I wager most Cubs fans are trying to ignore the game. But deep inside, it’s eating them up that the Cardinals are playing. And, God forbid, if a Cubs fan is watching the game on television, he’s forced to listen to Tim McCarver, a former Cards’ catcher, and Joe Buck, son of former Cards’ broadcaster Jack Buck.
I had dinner with friends the other night, one of whose father had recently died without the Cubs having won a World Series. And my friend — like me in his mid-50s — has lived his life without watching a single Cubs’ appearance in the World Series.
I’ve never lived in Chicago, but I’ve been nearby in central Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin at a couple of points in my life. And I picked up many Cubs’ games on the radio during my Nebraska years.
I’d love to see the Cubs get to the series and win. What a party it would be here in the Loop — even if it were snowing. The way things are going tonight, that could happen tomorrow.
The Ball Caps Blog 
George Will once observed that “Central Illinois is badly infested with Cardinals fans” and he’s absolutely right about that. That explains why I had to get to Chicago as quickly as I could.