Imrem: For Chicago Cubs fans, flying the W a winning ritual

A digital information sign overhangs the Kennedy Expressway on the way toward Wrigley Field.

Thursday afternoon the message read, “Fly the W but keep your eyes on the road.”

The W.

It's everywhere.

A W — though not THE W — was on the Wrigley Field turf on this day in the first letter of the “World Series” logo.

Game 3 will be played there Friday night … so how about a loud WoW for that?

Some sports symbols and rituals are good and some stink.

The Steelers' terrible towel is good. The Angels' rally monkey stinks.

The Cubs' blue W on a white flag … good!

Perhaps surprisingly.

Trust me, I'm not a fan of the W flag only because if you turn it upside down it's an M for Mike.

However, while the Cubs own the copyright on W, I am consulting with lawyers to see whether it's possible to copyright M for when I become as wildly successful and popular as they are.

(Stifle those snickers, please.)

Most Cubs fans know that the W for Win and L for Loss began flying on the center-field scoreboard in the late 1930s.

The ritual was instituted to inform passers-by heading home on foot or on the “L” — for elevated train — could see whether the Cubs won or lost.

Sounds absurd now with all the newfangled ways that a baseball fan can find out how his or her team fared.

Heck, doesn't it seem that if you hit the correct key on your smartphone it'll tell you the outcome of a game before it starts?

Hit the result button.

“Cubs beat Indians.”

Hit the “how” button for details.

“Rizzo blasts 3 homers.”

Hit the “schedule” button for when.

“Two hours, 28 minutes, 37 seconds in the future.”

Yet, as hard as it is to comprehend today, back in the day one of the fastest ways to learn the outcome of the Cubs game was to check the flags for a W or L.

(By the way, nobody can remember the Cubs flying a T for Tie, R for Rainout or YWBWJCDT for You Wouldn't Believe What Jose Cardenal Did Today!

Don't ask me why the W — let's call it the CubDub — is fine with me when, say, Clark the Cubs mascot seems like the waste of fur.

(Actually, I might be on board with the Cubby creature if he, she or it were named W … W the mascot … has a ring to it.)

The W is prominent if you drove east on Irving Park Road and then around the ballpark.

There it was on the walls of the Tapestry Fellowship building across from Independence Park; then on a little square in the lower middle of the back window of the Ford directly up ahead; then hanging high up on lamp posts ….

Wait, there are even red Ws on so many buildings on so many street corners? … Oh, they're on Walgreens stores.

Never mind.

My favorite came last week as I turned from Irving Park onto Clark Street, where a W flag flew on the back of a police motorcycle.

You won't see as many Ws on the South Side, and please don't take that as another barb at the White Sox's won-loss record.

Maybe the W is cool because it's so simple. Just a letter — just one letter — the meaning of which just about everyone knows by now.

(By the way, did you see the Indians fan raise an L flag after beating the Cubs in Game 1 at Cleveland?)

The W for Win is so much better than that darn rally monkey … though not nearly as neat as upside down it's an M for Mike.

mimrem@dailyherald.com