It's a great time to be a Chicago sports fan

by Dan McGrath

The Blackhawks and Bulls are back at it in the playoffs Monday night, the Hawks in Calgary, the Bulls in Boston.

The Cubs are off Monday, resting up for a Tuesday night reunion with Dusty Baker, after Sunday's series finale with St. Louis was washed out.

The White Sox, after flexing their muscles against Tampa Bay, are in Washington to visit the new home of an old friend.

The trip to the White House residence of First Sox Fan Barack Obama is unrelated to the small piece of history the team helped make Saturday. That history might be insignificant in the big picture, but it sure provided a feel-good moment for world-weary Chicago sports fans.

In order, the Bulls, Cubs, White Sox and Blackhawks won their Saturday games, the Bulls and Hawks in the playoffs, the Cubs and Sox over significant rivals, ancient and recent.

A lot of Chicago fans grow up believing they'll never see such a day in their lifetimes, even though it's not nearly as unusual as, say, a Chicagoan getting elected to the White House.

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Cub fans start new century by cremating their curses

By Eric Peterson

Dedicated Chicago Cubs fans will try to throw off a century of bad karma by holding the funeral at the beginning of the season this year.

Perhaps reinforcing the belief that the players themselves had nothing to do with all that losing, a "Cremating the Curse" event will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. April 5 at, yes, a funeral home - Michael's Funeral Home at 800 S. Roselle Road in Schaumburg, to be exact.

Fans are asked to bring in memorabilia from the four major curses in Cubs history to fill a logo-decorated casket. These curses are the Fred Merkle curse of 1908, the billy goat curse of 1945, the black cat curse of 1969 and the curse of Steve Bartman that haunted Wrigley Field in 2003.

The event is organized by Can't Miss Press, publishers of the recent best-seller, "Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting Till Next Year," and the emcee will be legendary Chicago comedian Tom Dreesen.

Other celebrity guests slated to appear are Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis, Ronnie "Woo Woo" Wickers, ex-Cubs outfielder Gene Hiser, former major leaguer Bob Miller and former Cubs Ball Girl Kathy Wolter.

Also there, and celebrating her birthday, will be Pat Brickhouse, widow of Cubs' longtime broadcaster Jack Brickhouse.

Tickets, available at the door, are $10, with a portion of the proceeds going to Chicago Baseball Charities.

The cremation of the cursed memorabilia will not take place that day, but will be done at the crematorium at Bohemian Cemetery in Chicago, where the ashes will be stored in a Chicago Cubs urn.

George Rawlinson, president of Can't Miss Press, said the event is a way for fans young and old to celebrate the culture that is the Cubs.

"The Cubs are a lot more than just baseball," Rawlinson said. "There's a lot of ambience at Wrigley Field."

The latter half of the five-hour event is expected to be the busier, with Dreesen arriving to oversee the proceedings at 4 p.m. Dreesen is also expected to mention the event during his March 31 appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

What more can fans do to eradicate these curses? Just wait until next year!