Jackie McNett has been a St. Louis Cardinals fan for as long as she can remember. Growing up, her family named their canine member Wrigley, because, as she put it, “at the time, the Chicago Cubs were the dogs of the National League.”
Then, in 2008, as a student at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Jackie met Bob. Spotting a Cubs poster in his dorm room, Jackie called it “disgusting.” But that didn’t stop her from wanting to get to know him better.
“I thought he was cute,” Jackie said in a telephone interview Friday. “So we kept talking.”
As the friendship developed into a relationship, the two agreed they would never let their love for rival baseball teams come between them.
“I promised that I would not rub it in his face when the Cardinals were winning. He agreed that it wouldn’t be a big deal,” Jackie said.
When the couple decided to get married, friends asked her why.
“I said, ‘well, look at the qualities that a Cubs fan possesses: They’re loyal, they stick around when times are bad, and my fella happened to look really good in blue.’ “
At their 2013 wedding, Jackie and Bob featured their favorite teams.
“The girls carried red bouquets and the boys wore blue vests with boutonnieres,” she said. The table numbers were for important players: Table 6 for Cardinal legend Stan Musial, Table 14 for famous Cubs player Ernie Banks.
Now, as the Cardinals and Cubs are facing each other in the National League Division Series, Jackie and Bob are facing their first big test.
Bob says he’s just happy to see the Cubs playing in the postseason.
“It’s great to be in the playoffs,” he said. The long-standing rivalry “makes this a good series to watch.”
The couple plans to watch the games from their home in south St. Louis County with baby Marian, who was born on Aug. 4. Until the best-of-five-game series is over, she’ll be wearing a custom-made onesie honoring both teams. As she grows up, Bob says he and Jackie plan to leave it to Marian to choose a favorite of her own.
Focusing on the present, Bob said, “If the Cards lose, it will be disappointing,” to Jackie. If the Cubs lose — well, “I’m used to stuff like that.”
Regardless of which team ends up winning, “I think we’ll be alright,” Bob said.
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