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Is the Cubs winning the World series such a great thing? |
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Head of Scouting
Gjallarhorn Master
529 posts
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Fu: 99.57 |
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Posted - 11/3/2016 9:04:44 PM |
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Is the Cubs winning the World series such a great thing?
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As some of you know, (at least Kent and Eric) I write a weekly piece much like Kent's over on the OFF page. Also like Kent, I have issues with losing said article to the black hole of the web as I try to publish it. So, unlike Kent I started pre-writing and saving them on google docs. I wrote this for this weekends post.
So it only took 108 years for the Cub’s to win the world series Oh, those lovable losers finally did it. That old billy goat curse is over. Ok! So what, now what? The fans get their party, the parade down grand avenue, and a trip to the White House. Who will they become? For at least one year they will be known as world champs….and then? For over a century they have been known as Chicago’s cursed, the Flubs, or as I stated earlier those lovable losers, These terms no longer apply. Next year unless the Cubs win the series again they will be a team with no identity. They will be lost in a mish mash of teams that won it back then but, what have you done for me lately? They will be like the Red Sox, they too had long drought without a championship. Now they are known as a big market team that year in and out that buys an all star lineup to reclaim the big prize. Like the sox before them they will lose their mysteek, the nostalgia gone, and all of those fans who stuck with you when times were bad, will speak ill words when you drop a game to their rival. Now they are just another team. |
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Posted - 11/4/2016 10:53:11 AM |
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Yes. The Cubs winning is a great thing.
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I'm a Cubs fan, born from having a diehard Grandmother just outside Chicago who would take me to Wrigley as a kid. I was hooked. She passed away when I was in college, but was the first person I thought of when the final out was recorded early Thursday morning. I wish she could've seen it happen.
Over the years, I--like most of America, apparently--saw my interest in baseball wane. It is still "America's Pastime," but that has taken on a new definition: the sport is past its time. The season is too long, games are too long, players are paid too much, and there's far too much down time during a game to hold one's attention (just for starters).
I stopped following regular season baseball years ago--partly because of the above reasons, and partly because the Cubs consistently stunk. Last season, I only started following it in September as the divisional races wound down, and I didn't feel like I'd missed anything.
This season I started tuning in even later, as the Cubs had locked up the NL Central seemingly months ago. But I did manage to watch a significant amount of their series against the Giants and Dodgers, and then just about every minute of the World Series.
As a Cubs fan, you get used to the idea of your team not being relevant, and as such you focus more on the experience than the results. The "Lovable Losers" moniker was born from this philosophy. Of course, that philosophy was formed out of necessity rather than preference--what else do you do if your team sucks so badly every season?
This explains--at least, partially--why this World Series was so riveting, anxiety-inducing, and so goddamned gratifying when the Cubs won. I was surprised I cared so much, but as that glorious Game 7 unfolded, with all its dramatic twists and turns, I can't remember being that nervous as a sports fan in a long time.
Will the Cubs' victory change their reputation, behavior, and perception? Almost certainly, though the degree to which these things will change remains to be seen. While the Cubs are a big market team, they won this World Series largely with homegrown talent, developed through the draft (the Theo Epstein effect). The Cubs ranked 14th in MLB in team payroll. And their team is comprised mostly of young, likable players.
I don't expect the world to turn on the Cubs overnight, but sustained success--as the Cubs appear well-positioned to experience--will certainly lead to a continued shift in goodwill. And as a Cubs fan--I'm fine with that.
Fly the W. |
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Aebleskiver
Cleats
259 posts
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Fu: 100.48 |
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Posted - 11/4/2016 12:59:53 PM |
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Very nice Sean.
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| Well said, but now I feel hollow inside. Going to buy some Machu Pichu Blast gear and get on the next big loveable loser bandwagon. Hopefully it last for at least 108 years. Go Blast! |
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