Five Reasons I'm Thankful To Be A Cubs Fan

BCB's Danny Rockett gives thanks to the Cubs and fans everywhere.

The season of thanking is upon us. Now, I might find myself slightly more thankful if I was celebrating Turkey Day in Cancun at an All-Inclusive resort this year, but I'm thankful enough that when I was seven years old, my family moved to Chicago and made me a Cubs fan.

Being a Cubs Fan is a religion, a passion, an obsession, a curse, a duty, a pastime, a diversion, a burden, and a hell of a good time. Baseball fills three seasons of the year with a seven-month soap opera of hot dogs and hope. There are far more than five reasons I'm thankful to be a Cubs fan, but here are my top five on this day of Thanksgiving.

1. Wrigley Field

Picture it. It's an 82-degree sunny Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field at 1:20 p.m. You've just listened to Wayne Messmer sing a soaring rendition of the National Anthem. You sit down in your favorite seat at Wrigley Field with an icy cold beverage and you hear the iconic words "Play Ball!" Are you with me?

I cannot think of a place on earth I'd rather be than right there in that exact moment. I'd give up Thanksgiving in Cancun every year to be at that game right now.

I could go on and on about the rich history of our hallowed neighborhood ballpark. But specifically, I'm thankful for that 1:20 moment at Wrigley. That memory gets me through the long dark off-season.

2. Cubs fans are everywhere

I've written quite a few travelogues for BCB in my "Sordid Travels of a Cubs Fan" series, and the most wonderful thing about going on the road with the Cubbies, is that their fans are everywhere and I've made tons of new friends.

This year I met a guy named Michael Cotton through an impromptu Ivy Envy Podcast meet up in Denver. Not only is Michael a huge Cubs fan, but he's a socially aware military veteran who works tirelessly for an amazing organization called Voices4Peru. Currently he's growing a beard for the Movember donation drive. Heck! Even my cheap arse gave him 10 bucks!

Check out their site if you're in a position to help a fellow Cubs fan help Peruvians lift their society through education, while providing safe havens for the most vulnerable.

Even easier, if you shop on Amazon, use this link and Voices4Peru gets a kickback. It doesn't cost anything.

Michael is a guy who puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to selflessly helping others, and I'm proud to count him among my new friends. And we never would have met had it not been for the Chicago Cubs!

3. A Cubs celebration will be the Best Celebration Ever

I lived in NYC for five Yankees World Series championships, and my ex-wife, a native New Yorker, would taunt me by saying "You're never gonna do your victory dance!" I disagreed. Cubs fans will do a victory dance someday, and when we do, we'll shake the damn stars out of the sky with gyrations of jubilation!

New York hooted and hollered out tenement windows and had a parade. But when the Cubs win the World Series, Chicago is going to close down for a month and throw the best party of all time. No one's gonna celebrate like we long suffering fans are gonna celebrate! I'm thankful that I get to have the thrill of a lifetime someday when we win it all!

4. The Cubs helped save my life

I won't go into too much personal detail about this, but when my ex would kick me out, I'd always travel to watch the Cubs. The last time she kicked me out, I also lost my recording studio, a lucrative voice over contract, and my dog died. So I did what any die-hard Cubs fan would do, I moved to a mile north of Wrigley Field so I could watch hundreds of Cubs games and be near people who love me.

I was in rough shape a few years ago. So were the Cubs. But now we seem to be on a similar upswing. I will always be thankful to the Cubs for the last three atrocious seasons we suffered together. The daily distraction of a Cubs game, along with support from family and friends has helped through some truly dark days. Here's to a brighter future!

5. The Cubs remind me of my Dad

My father died 16 years ago, two days before Thanksgiving. He was the man who first brought me to Wrigley Field in 1982. My dad would bribe me with a trip to the Cubs game, so I wouldn't make a fuss about having to go to Saturday morning CCD classes (Catholic Education). I hated giving up part of my Saturday to go to religious school. I would have much rather been out playing baseball with my neighborhood friends. But Dad needed to keep Mom happy, so he bribed us. My sisters and I would suffer through bible stories told through cartoons, and then off to Wrigley we'd go! I saw dozens of Cubs games through parental bribery!

When my three-year-old little sister would get restless in the stands, we'd walk around the concourses and play a game called "Hey Bill!". The rules are simple. You walk around Wrigley and call out to strangers, "Hey Bill!" They usually get a confused look on their face because their name is not Bill, and then you can either say, "Oh! I thought you were my friend Bill!" or just laugh hysterically which is what we usually did. I still play it sometimes with my nieces.

So thanks, dad, for making me a Cubs fan who can find humor in anything. I hear you saying "Hey Bill!" every time I walk into Wrigley. Here's my favorite polaroid of him. I believe I spilled wine on the bottom of it.

Those are my five reasons I'm thankful I'm a Cubs fan this Thanksgiving.

What are yours?