Kids skip school for Cubs home opener, run into school-missing principal at ballpark

EAST MOLINE, Ill. — Two boys from Illinois did what almost any diehard Cubs fan would do: They skipped school to get to the home opener this week.

Tucker and Gunner Speckman tempted fate with a sign that caught a lot of attention, WQAD reported. It said "Skipping school. S-h-h-h, don't tell Principal Versluis." The sign was intended to get them on television. It did its job and got the attention of the MLB, which posted it to its Twitter account.

But Tucker and Gunner weren’t alone at the game Tuesday . Little did they know Principal Patrick Versluis, the same principal on the sign, also skipped school. He actually called off sick so he could take his son to the first home game of the season.

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As much as the boys probably didn’t want to see the administrator, he didn’t want to see his students either.

"I saw him and I was kind of ducking down," Versluis told the Chicago Sun Times. "I didn't want him to see me either. I'm here with my son, Aiden, who's in the fifth grade and I called out sick for the day."

Versluis is part of a group of guys who share season tickets. This year he was the lucky one to get the opening day game. He said that while school and learning are important, so are some experiences that you can’t pass up.

"Attendance is important. But, we also learn from these experiences in life. Who's giving up opening day? Come on," Versluis told WQAD.

The boys are apparently good students, too. WQAD said they were given the tickets by their parents for straight A's.

Tucker and Gunner did meet up with Versluis and snapped a photo of the trio of skippers.

The Cubs fell to the Pirates 8-5.