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As long as the Cubs keep winning, John Fitzgerald ’07 is on base to keep inserting his favorite ball team into some familiar vintage video games. Fitzgerald, who heads Coach Marketing firm in Chicago, has hit a home run with other Cubs fans by creating short videos that prominently feature his favorite players and their opponents as video game characters.

The first video he created about a year ago features the game “Duck Hunt,” with St. Louis Cardinals instead of ducks and a dog wearing a Cubs cap. He called it “Card Hunt.” Fitzgerald, who majored in marketing while at Saint Mary’s, posted the video on Reddit and received an extremely positive response.

“I just made it to see if I could,” Fitzgerald said. “People loved the video and I knew I had to keep making them.”

In his Super Mario version, the overall-wearing wonder now sports a Cubs uniform. He lowers a Giants flag, flies the “W,” and jumps his way onto Wrigley Field.

Fitzgerald’s videos have more than 145,000 collective views and have been featured on major news outlets, including USA Today, Yahoo Sports, and MSN, as well as several sports publications and local news.

“John is a creative with a business marketing mind,” said Thomas Marpe, Ed.D., dean of business and technology. “I’m not surprised that he’s found success, as he was always a ‘super fan’ of the Cubs and had the attitude and skill set to do something exceptional.”

Fitzgerald remembers bonding with other Cubs fans at Saint Mary’s. “When I was a freshman in 2003, I remember all the Chicago kids crowded into a dorm room for the Cubs versus Marlins game and everybody was yelling and so excited,” Fitzgerald said. “It was great to see the Chicago side of Saint Mary’s band together.”

This season is the best the team has played since that fated 2003 series when a fan in the stands reached for a foul ball, knocking it away from player Moises Alou and, as believed by many Cubs fans, costing the team a shot at the World Series.

As long as the Cubs are in the series, Fitzgerald plans to keep rooting for the team the best way he knows how—8 bits at a time. Watch a local news feature about Fitzgerald, who goes by Johnny Fitz on his YouTube channel.

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