Bill Murray is legendary for his surprise appearances and his longtime support of the Chicago Cubs. So it makes sense that he combined the two at an impromptu press conference at the White House yesterday.
NBC News reports that Murray is in Washington D.C. to collect the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday, but first he stopped by the White House to meet with President Obama. Because he’s Bill Murray, he decided to use the opportunity to surprise unsuspecting reporters with a press conference to make some predictions about his Cubs, who are playing game six of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday night.
“Mr. President, do you think the Cubs will win?” one reporter asked him.
“I feel very confident that Clayton Kershaw will be a great, great pitcher,” Murray responded. “But [the Cubs] have too many sticks…You also get a little bit of arbor there. You don’t get that in Los Angeles. The trees just die in Los Angeles. In Illinois, they flourish.”
Murray will face an tough decision if the Cubs don’t win Saturday. If the Cubs lose, they’ll have to play a pivotal Game 7 Sunday night, when the Caddyshack star is supposed to be receiving his Twain award. For now, it appears as though he’s sticking with the award, though we wouldn’t be surprised if he sneaks a portable TV or radio into the ceremony.
“As of today,” the Kennedy Center told the Chicago Tribune, “(there has been) no discussion about special provisions for Cubs playoffs game watching or monitoring during Mark Twain.”
Watch the press conference below, and then check out a video of Murray singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at Wrigley Field in 2004.
Bill Murray crashed the White House press briefing to talk up the Chicago cubs https://t.co/QXzSJ8JS01 pic.twitter.com/aWGu9JEE5W
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 21, 2016
