Here's to you, Steve Goodman!

Today's win against the Astros not only completed a sweep, it was a heart-stopping, come-from-behind affair. Since I'm sure Heaven has a satellite dish, I know Steve Goodman saw it, so I salute him with his ode to his team:

Hey, Chicago, what do you say?
The Cubs are gonna win today.
They're singing ...
Go, Cubs, go!
Go, Cubs, go!

It's such a kick to hear thousands of fans singing this as they file out of the park after a win. And I know that every time he hears it from above, Goodman gets a kick out of it, too.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Steve, he was an extraordinary Cub fan and much more. He wrote the famous "City of New Orleans" (Good night, America, how are you? Don't you know me, I'm your native son ...), recorded by Arlo Guthrie. A local hero, he wrote "The Lincoln Park Pirates" about the infamous towing company that still strikes fear in our hearts.

He suffered from leukemia, but that didn't keep him away from Wrigley Field. He called himself "Cool Hand Leuk" and got to see the fabulous 1984 season (when he wrote the above song for WGN radio). He died before he could see his team play in the postseason, though. Before that historic game, the first time the Cubs had been in the playoffs in decades, Jimmy Buffett sang in his honor. Steve Goodman's ashes were buried in Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.