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It Happened! Chicago Cubs Win 2016 World Series

It Happened! Chicago Cubs Win 2016 World Series

At last………

Say it with me: The Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series. A perfect way to end a magical season that still seems unreal to us lifelong diehard crazy Cubs fans who have endured heartache after heartache.

I thought this would be easy to write, but it’s not. It’s so hard to put into words how I feel or what went through me as it happened. After years of heartache and close calls, to see a team that used to be easy to pick on lift that trophy…..no words.

I penned an article about the importance of the pennant since that in chased away the curses and jinxes.

But the World Series win does mean just as much. The constant “Well, anyone can have a bad century” joke gets old after the first 200,000 times. Then the Lovable Losers tag followed us through the 90s. It was SO EASY to pick on us Cubs fans.

Goats. Black cats. BARTMAN. Ugh. All the time.

But no matter what we remained faithful and true.

The win is also bittersweet because we have lost people who wanted to see the Cubs win the World Series. Unfortunately, the number of those alive since their last appearance is dwindling, making the team’s past almost folklore or something in a baseball fairy tale.

Wayne Williams drove from North Carolina to Indiana to listen to the game with his father, who passed away in 1980:

“I talked it out with my boys forever. I let them know that I told my dad—we had a pact,” he said, per WTHR’s David MacAnally. “When the Cubs—not if, when—the Cubs got into the World Series, we would make sure we listen to the games together.”

Nothing is better than seeing the older Cubs fans celebrate victory.

Tom Johnson put a beer in his fridge 32 years ago and vowed to only drink it when the Cubs won a World Series.

Here are a few more:

https://twitter.com/raerosep/status/794185393297985536

https://twitter.com/KentMurphy/status/794148035307642880

The best part? The new and upcoming generation of Cubs fans won’t have to deal with the pain and suffering we have endured. Their friends won’t tease them about having a favorite team that can’t do anything right.

The next generation starts with a clean slate because, as I mentioned before, this was not a fluke. Baseball genius Theo Epstein has built a team that can start a dynasty. This team will not go away. For once it’s not absurd to consider the Cubs a World Series favorite for the next couple of seasons.

Fly the W, Cubs fans. Don’t take it down until Opening Day 2017.

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Comments

Thanks, that’s an apt and fitting story of our experience as Cub fans. I’ve followed the team since the 60s, and the WS victory still seems unreal. I never want to hear the phrase “lovable losers” again. There’s nothing lovable about it.

I took a half day off work tomorrow to go to the parade. Looking forward to it, a wonderful ending to an unforgettable season.

buckeyeminuteman | November 3, 2016 at 9:43 pm

Irregardless…Cleveland still rocks. OHIO!!!

    Hats off to Cleveland. One hell of a Series and had it gone the other way I’d still be proud of my team. They both played a great game and series and showed off the best of the game.

Mark Finkelstein | November 3, 2016 at 9:58 pm

Mary’s passion and knowledge about the Cubs turned me from foe to fan. I was rooting for them all the way, and am very glad for you.

So, go Cubs, and hopefully they’ll meet my Yankees in next year’s Series, where we’ll beat them in an equally dramatic 7th game!

That reminds me. There is a game I have to torrent ehhem obtain. I suggest everyone check out Bryant’s face as he is fielding the lat grounder. That’s the way all sports should be played!

    leeatmg in reply to RodFC. | November 4, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    The video they have been showing of that moment is not the good one either. The close up of Bryant fielding the last out is such fun to watch – the child-like joy he shows when he is throwing that ball (and immediately after) is the heart of what is good about sports – the deep, true joy of achievement and the fun that comes from playing a game you love.

Repost

Reminder: Cubs will win the World Series and, in exchange, President Trump will be elected 8 days later. https://t.co/lej7TXnnju

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) May 11, 2016

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/730251094614528000

Thanks for that article…people who were not born and raised as Cubs fans can’t understand this feeling. To see parents and grandparents who waited all their life (and some who were waiting in the heavens) finally get to celebrate is an amazing feeling that can’t be quantified. And that’s no slam to those who joined the bandwagon later – I’m happy to finally be rid of that black cloud that followed us around all those years.

Now that’s one curse done with, how about a true conservative President in 2020? Can that be the next curse that is lifted? (See…had to tie this back to politics somehow…)