We stayed at a friend's house on the Fox River enjoying all of the amenities of waterfront living. Boating, wave-running, girls, boating, girls, wave-running, girls. You get the point. This weekend, wives/girlfriends were welcome to join and I must say they made it more enjoyable and in some cases, they are more fun than their significant other. However, in a bit of a tangent, I must say that my experience between 2 am and 5 am on Saturday night/Sunday morning was that of the highest comedy ever experienced. That is all I will say, but I laughed so hard for an extended period of time, my stomach felt as if I had done sit-ups for two hours.

Back to the point at hand, Wisconsinites hate everything 'Chicago.' They hate the sports teams, the people and most importantly the fact that all of the "rich business folk" come up here and "steal our land." By steal, they mean lawfully purchase an available piece of property or pre-existing home.... I know, but why mess with linguistics, right?

My buddy who lives in Green Bay was stunned that the Brewers made the front page of the sports section on Sunday morning. Remember, this is a city where 63,000 people showed up for a Green Bay Packers PRACTICE last weekend. (Yes, I said that just like Allen Iverson says "PRACTICE") He said he cannot remember any point in time where people in Wisconsin cared about baseball. "It's pretty cool," he said. Though I must say that their new found love of America's pastime is right below their hatred of the Cubs. At this point it seems as if Brewers' fans would be okay if the Cardinals came all the way back, even if that meant their own beloved Brew-Crew missed the playoffs. But if the Cubs did that, stop all cheese and beer production now; it would be a state-wide week of mourning.

This brings me to an interesting juncture. Brewers' fans think this is a heated rivalry. They think this is the creme de la creme of baseball hatred. I can tell you this, I hate Jim Edmonds a lot more than, um, who plays center for the Brewers, whether it is Hall or Hart, I hate Edmonds a lot more. What Brewers fans do not understand is that I would be cheering against whoever was in first place right now. I would hate the Pirates or the Reds if I had to, but I will always hate the Cardinals.

This is like the time when a girl really likes you and you barely know her. (Trust me, this has actually happened to me before and no, she was not from Niagra Falls). Anyway, you see my point; Brewers fans are concocting this burning hatred of a team, a franchise and the millions of Faithful. Meanwhile, Cubs fans just hope that the Brewers find a way to lose a few more games than we do before the season is over. When December rolls around, I do not plan to put a mental hex on Prince Fielder. But you better believe I will be calling up Shaun's new best friend the witch so she can put a spell on Albert Pujols.

A whole city despises the Cubs, and fans in Chicago barely recognize their existence. While we move around on our inflated egos and sausage loving pride, I just hope that we do not learn the lesson the hard way, you know, the maybe we should have hated them more or paid more attention to them thing.

It is a hard lesson to learn; especially when you run into the girl you blew off a few years back and realize what a bad mistake you made.

Though it may be a hard lesson to learn, we will always have next year, the next beer and the next mistake.

Feel free to contact me at brian@chicagocubsonline.com, and until next time....

Stay Classy Cubs Fans!