MCDONOUGH ON CUBS: IT’S GONNA HAPPEN
Blackhawks boss and ex-Cubs president says ‘destiny had this in mind.’
Go Cubs!
His heart never left Wrigleyville. Blackhawks president John McDonough, who has led his hockey team into NHL stratosphere with three Stanley Cup wins in the past six years, knows the team once tagged the ‘lovable losers’ is heading for the promised land.
“The Cubs aremy almamater; I spent 24memorable years there and spent my last year as Cubs president,” he told Sneed.
“I know what a drought looks like,” said McDonough, who left the Cubs in 2007.
“The Blackhawks hadn’t won a Stanley Cup in 49 years when I got there— andmy first season with the Cubs back in 1984 they were one game away from the World Series.
“I thought we’d be back,” he said. “But it didn’t happen.”
“When we won the Stanley Cup, it passed through my mind what it would have been like if the Cubs had won the World Series back then.
“It gave me the insight as to what the Cubs are going to experience when they bask in glory. I want to see this be part of their history. I want this to go their way.
“I truly believe that destiny had this inmind. That this was how this was supposed to unfold. Nobody expected this, and it caught everybody by surprise.
“I believe this is going to be the final chapter.
“They have no idea how glorious that final out is going to be!”
McDonough said one of the big reasons the Cubs are winning is because manager Joe Maddon has created a healthy culture. From the standpoint of spirit and enthusiasm, they remindme of a high-octane college team!
“I’ve not had the pleasure to meet Maddon, but I have been to his restaurant in Tampa. He came in with the right formula to lead this team. Theo [Epstein] did a great job putting the talent together— and then handed it off to Maddon to run the ship, who is a brilliant leader.
“The team has a collegiate feel to it. They are having a ball,” he added.
“It’s amazing to see what happened in Wrigleyville. I was there when the gentrification was just beginning. To see this go to another level and to see what they’ve created, why they are galvanizing the entire world.
“Everybody has always been interested in the Cubs, a great natural interest in the Cubs. But when they win, the interest goes to a seismic level.
“I don’t believe interest in any team in baseball could ever compare if they had a chance to win the World Series. The Cubs even have the rooting interest of the indifferent fan!
“Everyone wants to see the underdog succeed!
“Go Cubs!”
The wager room . . .
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., whose congressional district includes Wrigley Field, tells Sneed he has a wager with Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., whose district includes Citi Field, where the Cubs and the New York Mets will butt heads.
To wit: Quigley wagered Lou Malnati’s Pizza and Eli’s Cheesecake. Crowley wagered Rosa’s Pizza and lemon ice fromthe Ice King of Corona.
Backing up the boys!
Mayor Rahm Emanuel tells Sneed St. Louis’ Mayor Francis Slay may have declined to take him up on a bet on the Cubs/Cardinals series, but that’s not preventing him from placing a wager with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
This time he is putting his own checkbook on the line.
“I know Bill de Blasio, and I know his passion for the children of New York,” he said. “So here’s the bet. If the Cubs beat the Mets and give them a little payback for 1969, I’m asking Mayor de Blasio to make a contribution of his choice to be split between After School Matters and our Becoming A Man (BAM) program.
“And if for some reason our guys don’t come out on top, I will make a contribution to a New York-based organization of his choice. And I suppose we can sweeten the pot a bit with a case of Lagunitas and some real pizza from Giordano’s, but I’mnot too worried about that outcome.”
Star gazing . . .
Inbound bounty? The controversial Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which just got a green light from the Chicago Plan Commission, will undoubtedly attract star power to Chicago, which hasn’t been a celeb hub since the 1950s— and the absence of Oprah’s TV guests before she left town.
To wit: George Lucas and wife, Mellody Hobson, of Ariel Investments, invited their friends— artist Jeff Koons, Francis Ford Coppola, artist Theaster Gates, actor Samuel L. Jackson and singer Janelle Monae (who sang at their wedding)— to participate in a panel at the recent opening of the Gordon Parks Art Center, the only building at the University of Chicago named after an African-American. Their unannounced arrival stunned the audience.
Sneedlings . . .
Saturday’s birthdays: George Wendt, 67; Jimmy Breslin, 85, and Eminem, 43 . . . Sunday’s birthdays: Mike Ditka, 76; Chuck Berry, 89, and Judge Michael Ian Bender, 50.