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George Will, Champaign and the Cubs

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Thursday, July 24, 2008 9:06 PM

Many folks know that noted political writer George Will is a huge baseball fan. His favorite team is the Chicago Cubs, so it was with increasing relevance that he visited Bob Costas' radio show recently. Here's a portion of their chat:

Costas: As a long-suffering Cubs fan, here you sit, with the Cubs in first place, and the potential symmetry of all of this (is) not lost on you. They last won the World Series in 1908. Here it is 2008 -- what do you make of it?

Will: With metronomic regularity, the Cubs win the World Series -- once every 100 years. The Cubs actually may be the best team in the National League. And I hesitate to say that because I became a Cub fan (while) growing up in Champaign, Illinois, midway between Chicago and St. Louis. When I had to choose between being a Cub fan and Cardinal fan, all my friends became Cardinal fans and grew up cheerful liberals. And I became a gloomy conservative because in 1948, at age 7, when I plighted my troth to the Cubs, that was the year they were so bad that Phil Wrigley and the Cubs management took out ads in the Chicago papers to apologize for the team. You'd think I would have known better.

One other interesting piece from their conversation: If you have Will lined up to speak to your social organization in the month of October, don't hold your breath that he'll show up. Will said he has a "Cubs codicil" in all of his speaking engagements lined up for October. "It says, 'This contract is null and void if the Cubs are in the World Series.'"