A Chicago Cubs Title Is Well Worth the Wait

The emotion rushes over you as soon as the final out is called. It can only be described as sadness, disbelief, and even anger. You want to cry, but you are too shocked to do so. You begin to question, “How can it happen again and again?”  

You can’t believe that all of the hopes and dreams you had throughout the summer have been crushed in one moment. Then you realize you’re a Cubs fan, and you begin to endure.

It would be easy if you’re a Yankees, Cardinals, or even a Rays fan (because they may end up getting a ring before we do). But that doesn’t matter, because that is your fate as a Cubs fan.

No, you didn’t think that it could happen, that the drought could last for over a 100 years. But it did and therefore, as fans, we have the responsibility to wait and endure all the pain that comes with being a Cubs fan.

We have experienced it all: the goat, the cat, the meltdown vs. the Mets, Bartman, and now a losing streak of nine postseason games. We don’t know why it happens, it just does, and we can take it.

The Red Sox and their fans talked as if they knew what we go through, but they have no idea. They never had an idea. It’s a feeling that one cannot experience unless you are a Cubs fan. I am sorry—because I usually find this obnoxious—but being a Cubs fan is truly a unique experience, unlike anything in sports.

The connection between the players and the fans creates the magical atmosphere that Wrigley and the Cubs are known for. We win and we suffer together.

If you ever wanted an example of this, go look at Game Two of the NLDS and the team had just made several key errors to open the game up. Suddenly, and almost unexpectedly, fans began to stand and clap almost as to signal to the team that we are in this together. We will fight 'til the end, and we have come too far to let it end here.

It didn’t end there; it ended two nights later in L.A. To say that we fell apart in the end is completely wrong. You have to show up to fall apart. This Cubs team wasn’t a 97-win team. It wasn’t a team that had one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. It wasn’t a team that had endless depth, and it most certainly was not a team that had clutch hitting.

For this series, the Cubs might as well have been the Pirates, because just by simple luck, they could have scored more runs.

So where do we go from here? There was so much invested this year. If you weren’t in the city of Chicago, you probably don’t know, but there was magic in the air. We had never seen a team look so good, have so few weaknesses, and it seemed like regardless of the score, we could win.

If any team was going to end the drought, it was this one. The shirts were made, and the countdown had begun.

But there will be no celebration in Chicago (because even the White Sox look doomed in this postseason). We will be more lost than ever, searching for answers. Many will even consider that if THIS team couldn’t even win a game in the postseason, how are we ever going to win a World Series? But perhaps that question will even make us stronger. Perhaps the fact that we began to assume we would win made us weaker.

Whatever answers we may look for, it really doesn’t matter, because we as the fans must accept the card we have been dealt. We will be back; we have to be back. Maybe we will dominate again and be prepared for the playoffs, or maybe we will just sneak up on everybody or win.

But we cannot lose faith; it is what makes us who we are. It makes the ivy grow in Wrigley; it’s what makes a Wednesday at Wrigley feel like a playoff game. It’s in our blood. Though the faces and cast of characters may change, the name on the front of the jersey will always be the same.

I believe that every sports fan has a day; a moment where everything seems perfect in the world of sports. Cubs' fans will wait for their day. We will wait. We must wait, because the day that we do win, it will make it even more special.

We will wait for the teams of the past, for the fans that came before, for the ghost of Wrigley Field, and even for good ol' HC.

The Yankees may have 26 World Series Championships, but I promise you this Cubs fans: Every Yankee fan will wish that one of those championships could be as special as ours one day.

So why do we endure? Why do we suffer and than just move on? Because deep down, every Cubs fan knows that it all will be well worth the wait.