Living the Dream: An Inside Account of the 2008 Cubs Season

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Legendary broadcaster Jack Brickhouse once said "any team can have a bad century." He was joking, of course, but the Chicago Cubs franchise, whose games he worked for decades, entered 2008 on the brink of making his words come painfully true. A number of expansion teams in the four major sports never have won a World Series, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, or NBA title in their brief histories. But no team ever has gone 100 years without winning a championship.

 

Following the Cubs' quest to avert that infamous distinction is the backdrop for Living The Dream, which, for author Jim McArdle, it truly was. McArdle, a former Cubs employee as editor of the official team magazine Vine Line, quit his job to devote himself completely to the 2008 Cubs' season. Thanks to clubhouse access generously offered by the team and an apartment located just beyond Wrigley's left-field fence, McArdle was uniquely positioned to compile this fascinating story.

 

CELEBRATE A CENTURY OF WRIGLEYVILLE
Join us for the official book release celebration of Living the Dream: An Inside Account of the 2008 Cubs Season by Jim McArdle at Harry Caray’s – Wrigleyville on Thursday, April 9 @ 6 pm. Releasing this month, Living the Dream follows the Cubs through their 100th attempt at winning that next world championship. McArdle, the former editor of Vine Line, the Cubs' official monthly magazine, lived in the shadows of Wrigley Field for five seasons, including 2008. He tells the story of Wrigleyville and its fans like never done before in a season in which the Cubs posted the best record in the National League and advanced to postseason play for consecutive seasons for the first time in 100 years. There is more information on Living The Dream's official page.

Living the Dream

LIVING THE DREAM

AN INSIDE ACCOUNT OF THE 2008 CUBS SEASON
 
It has been 100 years (and counting) since the last World Series victory for the Chicago Cubs. So how come their fans haven't given up on them? Who are these people and what are they thinking? It sounds more like a nightmare than a dream, but former Vine Line editor Jim McArdle has a much different story to tell.
 
Living the Dream: An Inside Account of the 2008 Cubs Season by Jim McArdle (Forewords by Ron Santo and Len Kasper) is a compelling story of a team and its incredibly loyal and relentlessly passionate fans as they trekked together through the ups and downs of a baseball season. McArdle put everything on the line for his beloved Cubbies by quitting his job and setting up shop in one of the rooftop apartments overlooking Wrigley Field to chronicle the 2008 season from the inside out, day-after-day. In Living the Dream fans will find out:
  Insights from retired greats Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and many others on what it means to be a Cub and what would happen if they ever won the World Series
Who are the characters in and around Wrigley Field that help make the ballpark the Disneyworld of baseball?
How did visionary owners of buildings across the street on Waveland and Sheffield avenues grow new businesses into a unique community where thousands of fans watch Cubs baseball daily from rooftop perches?
Why does a fan base for a team like the Chicago Cubs continue to grow?
Who are these relentless fans and what is it that keeps them coming back for more?
Cubs fans are a resilient, loyal breed who have been left broken-hearted by the Cubbies season-after-season. Yet what McArdle discovered is despite the heartbreak, fans bleed Cubbie blue and refuse to turn their backs on a team in which they've invested so much time, energy and emotion. Living the Dream explores the unique camaraderie Cubs fans have built with one another and their team over the years.
 
While the championship drought continues into 2009, fans are back and ready for more because it's not just about that ultimate destination of winning a championship. It's also about the unique journey of being a Cubs fan and knowing that heart-wrenching wait eventually will come to an end. So jump aboard, enjoy the ride and continue Living the Dream.

 
About the Author:
Jim McArdle is a Chicago-area native who graduated from Columbia College in the South Loop and began a career in sports journalism in 1987. Following nine years covering community sports for suburban weekly newspaper chains, he joined the Chicago Cubs' publications department in 1996. Ascending to manager of the department in 2000, he helped make Vine Line, the ballclub's monthly magazine, one of the most respected publications in professional sports and covered the team's playoff runs in 1998, 2003, and 2007. In early 2008, he left his job with the Cubs and spent the baseball season writing this memoir. Jim can be contacted at jim.mcardle@yahoo.com.
 
CONTACT: Natalie King, Triumph Books, 312.252.1252, n.king@triumphbooks.com