Halfway between here& there, a tapestry of Cubs, Cards fans
Baseball loyalty in downstate Bloomington is like religion — or the measles: Everybody gets it from somebody.
The city lies almost exactly between Chicago and St. Louis.
Nearly everyone here can connect the dots of their allegiance to either Wrigley Field or Busch Stadium — each a two-hour car trip in opposite directions.
Schooners tavern, a friendly neighborhood joint, represents the town’s divided baseball allegiances.
Banners from each club adorn the walls — on opposite ends of the bar.
“There are some fans, one way or the other, that totally hate the other team,” said Bob Groetken, who owns the bar.
A group of Cardinals fans standing in a semicircle, with draught beers stationed chest high, ticked off names of extreme regulars who despise the Cubs: Hank, Chad, Donny, to name a few.
According to the group, one of Donny’s favorite sayings is, “The only thing dumber than a Cubs fan — is two Cubs fans.”
Thousands of Cubs fans will pass Bloomington as they travel down Interstate 55 to St. Louis in the next few days.
Groetken’s brother, Rich Groetken, an accountant, admitted his 14-year-old granddaughter was a Cubs fan— most likely because of the influence of a wayward aunt who lived in Chicago for a time.
“She’s out of the will,” came a voice from the group.
“But her 7-year-old sister — the smart one — she’s a Cardinal fan,” Rich Groet- ken added.
The bar was short on Cubs backers on Thursday.
There was the bar’s general manager, Mike Svob, 61, who grewup inOswego, and Scott Laughlin, 57, a morning radio host and thirdgeneration Cubs fan.
You won’t find Laughlin at the bar Friday nightwhen the two teams start their playoff series — the first time the rivals have met in the postseason.
“I won’t watch a game here with Cardinal fans around,” Laughlin said, jabbing his pals. “I’ll just do it at home. I’mjust superstitious. I don’t like being around Cardinal fans. I don’t need that s---.”
But Cubs fans are expected to be well represented at the bar Friday night.
One called the bar earlier this week to see if Groetken would be serving Old Style — a brand of suds with long ties to Wrigley Field — during the wild-card playoff game the Cubs won on Wednesday.
The phone call launched Groetken on a beer quest.
“You couldn’t find Old Style at any liquor store in town.” he said. “I’m serious. I looked. I went to two or three liquor stores, and they said they have never run out of Old Style before, ever.”
A strong indication of Cubs fans blanketing the area?
“A strong indication they’re a bunch of drunks,” joked Randy Crutcher, 57, an electrician.
Groetken expects a healthy amount of jabbing from opposing sides on Friday night.
But his voice won’t be among them.
“I kind of lay low in the weeds,” saidGroetken, aCardinals fan who enjoys selling beer to everyone. “As a rule, I try to play it low-key.” Who’s going to win? “I don’t know. The Cubs are good, but they lack depth on the mound,” he said, adding that only one thing is certain.
“It’s going to get heated,” he said.