Since taking over as manager of the Chicago Cubs in 2015, Cubs skipper Joe Maddon has turned into quite the pop culture icon in the city of Chicago. His laid-back style of managing and "hippie-esque" vibe is everything the young Chicago Cubs need. His outside the box style of thinking was undoubtedly one of the biggest factors in the Cubs winning their first World Series championship since 1908.
One of the things that stands out most about Maddon are his famous "Maddonisms." These "Maddonisms" are short phrases that he shares with his team throughout the course of the season that sets the tone for the clubhouse. We've heard "try not to suck" and "embrace the target" as being two of the most famous "Maddonisms" thus far but now Maddon is in the process of creating a new slogan for the 2017 team. This year's slogan will be a bit trickier because it'll have to fit a team that finds themselves in a position that few Cubs teams have been in -- defending World Series champions.
Recently, Maddon has hinted at what his message will be to his 2017 Cubs as they attempt to repeat as champions of baseball and the message revolves around one simple word.
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Jesse Rogers of ESPN wrote an article earlier today sharing Maddon's thoughts on his 2017 message. Maddon has already solidified himself as one of the greatest coaches in Chicago sports history right along with Ditka, Jackson, and Quennville. Each coach had their own way of motivating their championship clubs and all of their strategies have been attempted to be replicated in some form.
Maddon's phrases not only work on the team that he coaches, it works on other coaches team's as well. Recently it was noted that Dabo Swinney, coach of the college football national champion Clemson Tigers, visited Maddon in April 2016 and self-admittedly stole some of Maddon's famous phrases to take back to Clemson.
Swinney said he really liked the "Embrace the target" mantra but Dabo definitely left Chicago that April with more than just one "Maddonism" as proved by a tweet that his quarterback (and hopefully a future Chicago Bear) Deshaun Watson sent out immediately following their historic win over Alabama.
https://twitter.com/DeshaunWatson4/status/818891793664196608
Now that the bar has been set, Maddon is in the process of figuring out what his message to the 2017 Chicago Cubs will be. He was asked during Winter Meetings a month ago if he had any idea of what the message would be going into this season and staying true to his very unique way of thinking, Maddon responded.
Photo: Howard Bryant / Twitter[/caption]
When asked what the t-shirt slogan would be that focused on authenticity, Maddon smiled and said,
"So it's gotta be the same, but it's gotta be different in order to be the same, if that makes any sense whatsoever, " Maddon said Tuesday from the winter meetings. "That's where my mind is."No Joe. That makes absolutely no sense to me. Recently however, Maddon has narrowed his message down to one word but is still ironing out some last-minute details before he delivers one of his rare full-team speeches during Spring Training. He's already stated that he'll use all former "Maddonisms" that still apply to the 2017 team but has decided to shift the focus just a bit to keep it, as he said, different but the same. Maddon said that the 2017 message will revolve around the word 'authenticity.'
"Authenticity has a chance to repeat itself without even trying. It's part of who you are. It's not fabricated. It's real. I think one of our strongest qualities is the authentic component of our players. I'm focusing on that word right now."I'll always be a fan of "try not to suck" but I'm not so sure that message still applies to this years team. Clearly, the 2016 Cubs did not suck so now the message has to shift a bit. As stated earlier, Maddon is in uncharted territory as he embarks on a journey to do something that has RARELY happened in Chicago Cubs history -- repeat as champions. Cubs fans can expect to see a few guarantees for the 2017 team: a loose club house, a lot of wins, baseball players having a shit load of fun playing the game, and really REALLY cool t-shirts that don many of Maddon's famous quotes. [caption id="attachment_69741" align="alignnone" width="623"]
Photo: Howard Bryant / Twitter[/caption]
When asked what the t-shirt slogan would be that focused on authenticity, Maddon smiled and said,
"AUTHENTICITY happens."I may or may not own every single damn "Maddonism" shirt created so it appears I'll be donating yet another $30 in the very near future.
