This fourth-grader ditched school to go to a Cubs game and ran into his principal

Chris Cwik
·Staff writer

We thought “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was a work of fiction, but now we’re not so sure. A young Chicago Cubs replicated one of the most popular scenes from the 1986 movie. Only, unlike Ferris, he got caught!

Fourth-grader Tucker Steckman decided he needed to see the Cubs’ home opener Tuesday. In order to do so, he would have to skip school to make it happen. His parents gave the OK, and they all attended the game.

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But Steckman had no plans to keep a low profile. He brought a sign to the game bragging about missing school. The sign even mentioned his principal, Pat Versluis, by name. In what had the potential to become a cruel twist of fate, Steckman got caught. But it wasn’t because his principal saw him on TV. It was because his principal had also called in sick to attend the game.

The two happened to run into each other while at Wrigley Field. When that happened, it wasn’t the student who tried to hide, it was the principal, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I saw him and I was kind of ducking down,” Versluis said with a laugh during a cell phone call from inside Wrigley Field.

“I didn’t want him to see me either,” he said. “I’m here with my son, Aiden, who’s in fifth grade and I called out sick for the day!”

With both parties caught, they had no choice but to take a picture together. Steckman, Versluis and his son Aiden all snapped a photo at the game. In the photo Steckman is holding his sign, which read, “Skipping school. Shh! Don’t tell Principal Versluis.”

Steckman may have gotten caught even if he hadn’t run into Versluis at the game. Prior to the start of the contest, the MLB Twitter account tweeted out a picture of Steckman with his sign in front of Wrigley Field. His face was covered up by a censor bar in the tweet.

Yeah, it was pretty much like the scene in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” where Ferris heads to the Cubs game while skipping school. Only Ferris’ principal, Mr. Rooney, never made it to the ballpark. Just in case you needed a reminder of what we’re talking about, here you go:

As for any potential punishment, well, that’s not going to happen. Versluis told the Sun-Times, “It’s all good.” And added that Steckman is a great student.

Plus, it wouldn’t have looked great if the principal was handing out punishment for a student skipping school when he was doing the exact same thing.

In the end, there was a happy ending for all parties involved. While Ferris and his principal becoming friends in the end wouldn’t have worked in the 1986 version of the movie, we don’t really mind it in the 2018 reboot.

A young Cubs fan who skipped school happened to run into his principal at the game. (AP Photo)
A young Cubs fan who skipped school happened to run into his principal at the game. (AP Photo)

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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