(CBS) Just days before he leaves office, President Barack Obama welcomed the Cubs at the White House on Monday to honor them breaking a 108-year championship drought.
A longtime White Sox fan, Obama and his family were nonetheless pleased to welcome another team from his hometown to the White House. First Lady Michelle Obama took the time to greet all of the Cubs, which said a lot considering she’d never been part of the ceremonies welcoming championship sports teams to the White House, Obama said.
Obama had a number of zingers, pointing out that he made a number of promises in 2008 when he took office but even he wasn’t crazy enough to suggest the Cubs would win the World Series. Obama later followed by pointing out he and newly retired Cubs catcher David Ross have a lot in common with their “year-long retirement party,” and Obama added there were a number of sick days recorded by his staffers throughout the Cubs’ playoff run in October and early November.
“It took you long enough,” Obama said with the Cubs standing behind him. “I’ve only got four days left.”
Obama had high praise for many Cubs. He called few in the sport “as cool as” manager Joe Maddon and praised president of baseball operations Theo Epstein one one of the games greatest executives, if not the best.
“Theo’s job is to quench droughts,” Obama said, pointing out the two titles Epstein also led the Red Sox to during his time in Boston.
Most all of the Cubs players from the championship team — with the notable exception of Jake Arrieta, who had a family obligation — were present. That included Dexter Fowler, who has since signed with the Cardinals. Cubs Hall of Famers Billy Williams, Ryne Sandberg and Fergie Jenkins were among those in attendance.
Speaking after Obama, Epstein joked the Cubs were offering the outgoing Obama “a midnight pardon” to forgive him for being a White Sox fan. The Cubs presented Obama with a No. 44 jersey — Anthony Rizzo’s number — that said “Obama” on the back, a tile from the historic Wrigley Field scoreboard and a lifetime pass for Obama to attend games at Wrigley Field. Lastly, the Cubs gave Obama a “W” flag signed by the entire team.
“Among Sox fans, I’m the Cubs’ No. 1 fan,” Obama said.
The Cubs won 103 games in 2016 and rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the World Series to beat the Indians. Obama called it a story that won’t soon be forgotten.
“The first thing that made this championship so special for so many is the Cubs know what it’s like to be loyal and to persevere and to hope,” Obama said. “It’s a generational thing … People all across the city remember the first time their parents took them to Wrigley or having memories of climbing on their dad’s lap to watch games on WGN.
“You could see all that love this season in the fans who traveled to their dads’ grave sites to listen to games on the radio, who wore their mom’s old jersey to games, who covered the brick walls of Wrigley with love notes in chalk to the part of the fans whose life-long faith was finally fulfilled.”
from CBS Chicago http://ift.tt/2iuKIWc
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