Wrigley's Opening Day weather can't faze vet who is 'living my dream'

The cold, miserable rain whipping off the lake forces poncho-clad Cubs fans to huddle under wind-ravaged umbrellas as they wait for the Opening Day game Monday at Wrigley Field. But the barrage of icy droplets can't wipe the smile of the face of rookie usher David Dulen, 40, who grew up in Carpentersville and is stationed in the left-field bleachers.

Dulen's last job had assignments with worse working conditions.

"I've been colder in Iraq than here," says Dulen, who spent two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan with the Army infantry. "Everybody talks about the heat (in Iraq), but it can be cold like this, too."

A master sergeant who spent 22 years circling the globe in the Army, Dulen retired and found his new gig as a Cubs crowd management employee during a job fair in February.

"I'm living my dream," Dulen says, as rain bounces off his white, plastic poncho and Cubs cap.

It's been 17 years since he heard The Star-Spangled Banner sung at Wrigley Field. But he plans to hear it for 81 regular-season games this year, and then at some playoff and World Series games.

"I think of these guys in Iraq watching this game," Dulen says, explaining how soldiers watch whatever baseball games they can on TV at whatever hour they can.

"When the Sox won the World Series (in 2005), we were watching in a tent," Dulen says. "Course, as a Cubs fan, I was rooting against them. Nah. I wanted them to win."

Dulen will spend his summer and fall in the bleachers of the Friendly Confines, but he'll do more than just think about his buddies still fighting our wars. He's putting his $8-an-hour salary where his beaming smile is.

"I'm putting all my winnings -- that's what I call them (paychecks) -- into Wounded Warriors," Dulen says, explaining how he plans to donate his entire Cubs salary to woundedwarriorsproject.org, a charity that supports wounded veterans and their families.

Dulen says he had good days, as well as bad, in Iraq and Afghanistan. He figures he'll be able to handle whatever security challenges the bleacher creatures create, even on a rowdy day. He just won't have all that peacekeeping gear he used to wear.

"I've got a fanny pack on," Dulen says, chuckling at himself. "And I'm glad to have a fanny pack on. I'm living my dream."

The dream for 13-year-old Kevin Riemer of Wheaton is a World Series championship for his Cubs.

"They've got more lefty hitting and they have more power this year," says Kevin, who has a tradition of skipping school to attend the Opening Day game with his former nanny, Debra Hruby, as he explains why this prediction should carry more weight than the identical one he gave last year, or the year before.

Hruby, who is attending her 25th Opening Day at Wrigley, watches Cubs starter Ted Lilly take a no-hitter into the seventh inning. She understands how seductive the Cubs can be.

"Our first granddaughter (Adelaide Hruby) was born Saturday, and we left Sunday so we could be here in time for Opening Day," says Hruby, who came back from Wisconsin on Sunday night.

The good news is that Hruby, unlike in most years, could bring her hubby, Mike, this year. The bad news is that he could make it only because he lost his job in February.

"I'm a fair-weather fan," quips Mike Hruby from under rain gear that apparently keeps even his wit dry. A land surveyor, he knows how to dress for lousy weather.

The lousy economy also allows recently unemployed graphic artist Katy Hornbeck, 27, to come to the game with her longtime friend Jennifer Bamonte, 28, a teacher who had the day off from school.

"Normally, I'm sad and depressed, but I'm enjoying this non-working day," Hornbeck says, as she stands with her fiancee Mike Hazell, 31, who moved here from the East Coast.

"I like cheering for the Cubs, because they are what the Red Sox used to be," Hazell says. Bamonte and Hornbeck, who grew up in Naperville and were all-conference softball teammates in high school, say this is the year for their Cubs.

"Last year, I had hope," Hornbeck says with sort of a dismissive tone for the word hope. "This year, they've got to win."

Adds Bamonte: "Every year is 'the year,' but we've been in the playoffs two years in a row. I know we haven't won a playoff game yet, but... this is the year."

If it is, Monday's 4-0 victory on a cold, wet and windy day might be a good warmup for Cubs fans. The seventh game of the World Series is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 1.