The new Old Style commercials being played during the Cubs games feature a comedian, allegedly a Cubs fan, telling jokes about Cubs and Wrigley Field, always with the tag line that it takes two things to be a true Chicago Cubs fan: a sense of humor and an Old Style beer.
I do not drink beer, so that one is tough, but I used to encourage my wife to buy Old Style whenever she bought beer for parties. And I definitely have a sense of humor, unusual though it may be.
However, that does not mean I like these commercials. Since I keep score at every Cubs game I go to (and I keep all of my old scorecards), I do not particularly appreciate the commercial making fun of Sal from Joliet for keeping score.
The worst commercial, however, by far is the one about Cubs fans doing the wave. If this comedian was as big a Cubs fan as he claims to be, he would know that Cubs fans do not do the wave. There have been a couple of times when we were totally out of it that a few people tried to start a wave, but even then it did not catch on. At the Cubs Convention once, a troupe from Second City, trying to get some audience participation into a skit, told one part of the crowd to do the wave. They asked a couple of times, but people would not do it. People were yelling out from the audience: "Cubs fans don’t do the wave."
Why don’t Cubs fans do the wave? For one, you cannot pay attention to a baseball game and do the wave. You can either do the wave or you can watch the game. You cannot do both, and Cubs fans would rather watch the game. (I suppose there are a few tourists in the bleachers who might be willing to try to do a wave, but they are usually so drunk there is no way they could stand up at the right time.)
But the main reason Cubs fans don’t do the wave is simple: San Diego, 1984. When we went out to San Diego with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, all the San Diego fans were doing the wave. The Padres won three straight, and they and their stupid wave went to the World Series. That is why Cubs fans don't do the wave!
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A trivia question for real Cubs fans: What Academy Award-winning song was once used in Old Style commercials?
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