This One's For You Chicago

The Chicago Cubs are the 2016 World Series Champions

    Legendary Cubs broadcaster Harry Carey once said, "Sure as God made green apples, the Cubs are going to be in the World Series...". Well, Harry was right. The Cubs made it, and I'm sure all of the baseball world wishes Harry himself was around to see it.

    The Chicago Cubs not only made it to the World Series, but in the early morning hours of November 3, 2016, the Chicago Cubs recorded the final out in Game 7 of the World Series, ending their 108-year title drought. Cubs fans were littered throughout the stadium in Game 7 despite the game taking place in Cleveland. Fan-made signs, such as "No More Wait Until Next Year" and "Now I Can Die Happy" took center stage as the celebration was on. The day Cubs fans worried would never come, the day Cubs fans of the past never got to see, was finally here.

The Cubs have won their first title since 1908 (108 years)

    Never before have we seen a team begin the World Series with this much pressure weighing on them. Ever since the Cubs hired Theo Epstein in 2012-the same man who ended the Boston Red Sox 86-year title drought in 2004-Cubs fans had been holding their breath. Each time Theo made a move from then on-trading for Anthony Rizzo, hiring Joe Maddon, drafting Kris Bryant, signing Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist....and the list goes on-the feeling got stronger that something incredible was about to happen.

   
    And after a 103 win regular season, a strong postseason run, and an amazing 7 games against a very talented Cleveland Indians team, something incredible did happen. In Chicago, with their team on the road, Cubs fans filled the street in front of an empty Wrigley Field and, in the shadow of Harry Carey's statue and other Cubs legends that couldn't be there, they just watched the scoreboard. For the first time in our lifetime, America woke up this morning with the Chicago Cubs as World Series Champions.

Cubs fans gathered outside Wrigley Field just to watch
the iconic scoreboard

   
    As a baseball fan, watching that game, I can say I have never experienced anything like it. This is what sports are all about, moments bigger than themselves. 108 years of curses, losing seasons, "Wait 'Til Next Years", Billy goats, black cats and Steve Bartmans. 108 years of waiting, hoping, dreaming, and unrewarded loyalty is over. Many sports analysts, included myself wondered during the course of the series, if maybe the Cubs losing this series and extending the drought to 109 was the best thing for the sport of baseball, but if you were watching last night, you will never forget where you were when that final out was made, and THAT is the best thing for baseball.

    The next generation of Cubs fans will never have to worry about "Next Year", they won't have to suffer the thought of their beloved team being cursed. There is no more curse. The goat is dead, the black cat has been scared away, Steve Bartman is a shut-in, and the Chicago Cubs are finally on top of the baseball world. Everyone one is a Cubs fan today. Will Ferris Bueller take another day off to celebrate this championship? Will the cast of According to Jim reunite to sing "Go Cubs Go?" Will NBC's Chicago Fire, Med, and PD tip their caps to the North Siders in future episodes? Who knows, but Cubs baseball has been a part of Chicago pop culture, real-life and fictional for generations, usually as the punch line of countless jokes, but finally, on the afternoon of November 3, 2016, Cubs fans are the ones laughing.

This flag has been flown after every home
win since the 1940s. #FlytheW

    Chicago: Remember those who couldn't be around to celebrate this with you and hold their memory a little closer today. It is finally time to Fly the Ultimate W and let it fly all winter, because the wait is over. This one's for you Chicago! As Harry Carey also said, "The impossible is possible." The Chicago Cubs are the 2016 World Series champions!