How Being a Cubs Fan is Good for Your Health

This is Great Papa, with Sam. Great Papa is almost 100 years old. In his lifetime, the Cubs have never won a World Series.

Despite this, Wrigley Field is packed out every sunny summer day. Cubs fans have cornered the market on loyalty (and consumption of Old Style, but that's a topic for a different blog).

So for those of you that have been crossing your fingers and rubbing your lucky rabbit's foot every summer, in hopes that this year, finally, will be THE YEAR THE CURSE IS BROKEN ... it's not gonna happen in 2011. But, at least you can know this: there's a benefit to your decades of loyalty.

Long-term commitment in relationships is tied to a greater sense of life satisfaction, happiness and a host of practical benefits ... People with strong social support or social engagement have been found to have lower risk of diabetes, hypertension and heart attacks. One study of 4,000 men over a 22-year period found that married men in their 50s, 60s and 70s lived significantly longer than those of the same age who were never married or who were divorced or widowed, according to research by the RAND Center for the Study of Aging. - From a WSJ article, click here.

Research has also shown that loyalty pays off at work. People with five or more years of work experience with a single employer typically got 8% increases in compensation a year, compared with about 5% for people with a history of job hopping.

The same is true for professional football players: switch teams and you may see a brief uptick in performance or pay, but players who have long term allegiance to their team tend to end their careers with better stats than their team-hopping peers.

And one more loyalty benefit: researchers think people who move to a new city but cheer for the team from their hometown adjust to their new lives faster, perhaps because of a consistent view of their personal identities. (For more on all this research, see the WSJ article mentioned above.)

So Cubs fans, raise another flimsy plastic cup of Old Style for the health benefits of team loyalty. It may be the only thing you're toasting this season.

***Side note - Live out your loyalty at the game this Tuesday. We have 3 tickets for sale. Send me a message.***