Cub Nation just has to be happier than any other

Baseball's Opening Day conjured visions of last month's "60 Minutes" segment on Cubs fans.

OK, so it wasn't really on Cub fans. But it could have been, especially during this 100th year since the franchise's most recent world championship.

Actually, the "60 Minutes" piece centered on a scientific analysis of international happiness conducted by England's Leicester University.

How interesting that Americans ranked 23rd-happiest -- almost as interesting as Danes, of all people, being No. 1.

If Cub Nation really were a nation, its citizens surely would have been ranked first.

Cubs fans have to be the happiest people on whatever planet it is they reside. What other explanation is there for them filling Wrigley Field despite nearly a century of failure?

Some years back, the Cubs must have had a Happy Gene Giveaway Day for the first three million fans entering the park.

Wrigley Field could be Denmark, and Denmark could be Wrigley Field. Cubs fans could be Danes, and Danes could be Cubs fans.

Prof. Kaare Christensen, who researched the happiness results for the University of Southern Denmark, had this to say:

"What we basically found out (was) that the Danes were very happy with their life, (but) when we looked at their expectations they were very modest."

That might seem contrary to Cubs fans who say, "This is our year" every spring and "Wait 'til next year" every autumn?

But such talk is simply bleacher bravado. These aren't Yankees fans believing the World Series is their birthright. Down deep, a Cubs fan, like a Dane, hopes for little and expects less.

As a lifelong student in Wrigley's social studies lab, I believe Cubs fans never believe their team will win anything significant during their lifetimes.

So, you ask, they're still happy? Yes, even if it's slaphappy. Collective aggravation is the cure, not the disease.

Anyway, think of Monday's unveiling of the Ernie Banks statue. Cubs fans love the man -- along with the likes of Billy Williams and Ryne Sandberg -- as well they should.

But none of those guys won a World Series. In fact, each participated in at least one classic Cubs collapse.

When the cover was removed from the Banks statue, Cubs fans should have been heartbroken that a real-life Brian Roberts didn't emerge eager to lead the Cubs to a World Series.

Seriously, for Cubs fans, common joyful suffering bonds children to parents to grandparents, generation after generation after generation.

One of the points "60 Minutes" made was that as happy as surveys say Danes are, they rarely show it. Instead, they seem in mourning as if Arizona just swept them from the playoffs.

"I wouldn't believe that Denmark was the happiest place," Danish newspaper columnist Sebastian Dorset said. "Because everybody complains all the time."

Sound familiar? I mean, isn't whining a Cubs fan's happiness? That along with a good brew, a sunny day and the overall culture of Denmark, er, Wrigleyville?

Danes themselves indicated to "60 Minutes" that they are more content than happy, which might also apply to Cubs fans.

A Danish student remarked, "If you're content, you don't have so much to worry about."

"60 Minutes" ended with another Danish student offering advice: "Don't depend too much on the American dream … you might be disappointed."

Sounds like a happy Cubs fan.

mimrem@dailyherald.com