John Paul Weier, 25, wants to be the official Cubs mascot, but when he dresses as “Billy Cub” he’s not even allowed into Wrigley Field, which has a no-costumes policy. Undeterred, he’s greeted fans outside the stadium at every home game this season. Weier is the author of a football novel, 4th & Inches; his Web site is billycub.com.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
It’s basically a full bear suit in three pieces: a huge body piece, feet, and head. And then everything I wear underneath is kind of a whole outfit in itself.
Long-sleeve body armor and a whole cooling system with ice inserts. I can be carrying around an extra 40 pounds before I even put the suit on. With the suit, you’re looking at around 45, 55 pounds of stuff that I wear.
Why do you do it?
The suit alone was $1,300, and I’ve got more than that in the cooling system. There’s probably close to $1,500 wrapped up in that. It was probably over $3,000 for the entire thing.
If you love the Cubs so much, doesn’t it bum you out that you don’t get to see any of the games?
