Cubs fan CM Punk has high hopes for club come fall

CM Punk, the former WWE star who has turned his muscular talent to Mixed Martial Arts, is a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan. For years he's been a Wrigley Field regular, most often watching the lovable Cubbies lose.

So now that the Cubs are streaking and bearing down on a playoff berth, Punk must be a happy man making the trek to Wrigley these days.

"I haven't been to a single game this year," Punk told the Chicago Tribune's Luis Gomez. The fighter has been living in Milwaukee to train, so he's been relegated to following his beloved team on Twitter, he said.

Gomez caught up with Punk at Cubs pitcher Jon Lester's NVRQT Night benefit, which benefits the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation's NVRQT campaign.

Lester, who joined the Cubs this season after winning two World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox, was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer in 2006, and has fully recovered.

"I don't know what's cooler, two rings or the fact that he beat cancer," Punk said about Lester while speaking to media at the event. "Probably beating cancer, I'd imagine. But being a Cubs fan, those two rings look pretty nice. Hopefully we can bring one here too."

Suddenly the Cubs look like they can accomplish just about anything while on a tremendous tear that started at the end of July and has vaulted them into wild-card position.

"I'm excited about (the Cubs). It's the first time in a while," Punk said. "It sounds almost insulting when I talk about them, because I get excited when they do things like pick guys off base and steal bases. I feel like when they sac fly, they do it on purpose now. It's like they're playing baseball. And it's a bunch of young kids and it's cool to watch them having fun playing baseball."

(h/t Chicago Tribune)