Chicago Cubs Fans Are Taking It One Game at a Time

Since the first pitch in March, I have done one thing this year: take each Cub game one game at a time.

Now, of course, this mantra was tested when the Cubs struggled in the first couple weeks of the season. But it's a long season, and as a Cubs fan, I have learned to accept that we will never go through a season without a freak injury. Or we will never go into the ninth knowing that a two-run lead in a game or even a five-run lead is ever safe.

Because for Cubs fans nothing comes easy.

I have read numerous analysis and "experts" predict my Cubbie's will win the whole thing. And while I would love to say it's a done deal, and deep in my bones with this team it truly is a possibility, I have seen, heard and said this before, only to watch my championship dreams fade like the summer sun and end all too quickly.

Yes, there is something about this current Cubs team that has no comparison to the  past playoff teams, including last year, the very team I  pronounced would win it all. And instead we were swept out of the playoffs like a cold winter wind.

I know of all the curses and all the stories. They are just that stories. I wrote a paper in my college class on my ever-cursed Cubbie's and in all my researching, one thing was the constant: After those fateful days in October, the teams fell apart and not by some curse, but by their own doing.

I had my moments this year when I wished the season was shorter and the days when  we were hot, winning 14 games in a row. I wish would have clinched the season there.

Other times, I was happy to see a sixth-month season, when my Cubbie's were down 9-1 late in a game against the Rockies and then went on to mount a turning-point comeback and beat those Rockies by one.

After every frustrating loss, or tough loss, I have to tell my self there's always tomorrow. There always gonna be another game.

But with the playoffs, you're on a short leash. Your lifespan can be cut short with a swing of a bat, or you can live a long life and be the last one standing come late October.

I never made any predictions this year on whether or not we could win our division. Because according to those analyst, it was expected. Anything short would be a letdown.

One thing is for sure: There is nothing like a cold, October evening at Wrigley Field. The atmosphere will be electric; every fan will be bustling with hope. Hope that this is the year. Hope that this is the year that they can tell their grandchildren about. "I was there the year the lovable losers became  World Champions...I was there."

We carry this hope from the first pitch to the last pitch...Through every at-bat and every strike. Reassuring ourselves that this is the year. Maybe so. 100 years ago, those players never thought that their team wouldn't see a championship again. In 1945, who would have thought that the next generation would still be waiting.

There are seven other teams, including another Chicago team who has this same hope, and have the same shot at winning it all, just like us. But what makes the Cubs so special?

Is it because "Kid K" is back and no longer a kid, but a man that has fought through  injuries and never gave up on a hope that he would be pitching again for his Cubs and now is handed the ball in ninth to close out what could be a historic season.

Is it because we have a manager that has won before as a player and as a manager. But he himself has admitted that this team has something special to offer. Or is it because of the 3.3 million fans that come to Wrigley and stand at every pitch and live and die with our Cubbie's?

I am the last one to say I know what it is, but what I do know is that I will be listening, watching, and hanging onto every pitch, even though I know there might not be more tomorrow.

Go Cub's Go!!!