Singing at Wrigley is Bielema's favorite non-football sports memory

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema walks the sideline on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, against TCU at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema walks the sideline on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, against TCU at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.

— Bret Bielema’s father, Arnie, is a St. Louis Cardinals fan.

“So what’s that make you? An automatic Cubs fan,” Bielema said Monday. “I kind of was (a Cubs fan). I loved the environment at Wrigley. … I have a lot of buddies who are Cubbies fans, so it’s fun to watch that stuff.”

Bielema was a part of that atmosphere on July 30, 2007, months after Bielema’s Wisconsin team beat Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl, when he earned the prestigious honor of singing “Take Me out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“My best non-football sports memory,” Bielema said. “… I rocked it, man. Yelled, ‘Hey, Philly fans, sit down. Cubs fans, let me hear you. They booed me at first because they said the whole Wisco thing (and) you’re in Chicago. But then they came alive and I got a pretty good standing O, so it was a fun time.”

The experience was also a bit of a daredevil moment for Bielema.

“I’m scared to death of heights,” Bielema said. “They wheel you out on that platform and there’s no rail and you’re up eight floors. The guy’s handing me cue cards to sing along. I said, ‘Buddy, I’ve been singing this since I was 5. I’m all right with the words. I’m not all right with the railing not being here.’”

The Cubs currently trail the Cleveland Indians 3-2 in their first World Series appearance in more than 70 years. But Bielema isn’t necessarily a lock to be tuning in to Game 6 or a potential Game 7.

“I’m not a huge baseball guy,” Bielema said. “In gym class, I was usually near the top of picking order in every sport other than baseball. I couldn’t hit a ball. That little white thing came at me pretty fast, so I stuck to wrestling and football.”

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