Anyone that knows me knows that I am a HUGE sports fan. I played sports my entire life and they have played such an important role in shaping me into the woman I have become. I am a firm believer that playing sports teach a young person so many key skills in becoming a successful, independent adult. However, if someone didn't play sports, watching them can be impactful as well. Watching sports is full of inspiration, belief, teamwork, and pride, and that is something that everyone can use in their life. Sports can unite people (even an entire city) and give hope to those that have lost it. It's the real deal folks.
I was just a baby when the Chicago Bears won their title (Super Bowl Shuffle anyone?) but I grew up in the era of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls two three-peat championship runs. I knew how amazing those were, but I was young. Even though I still remember watching all those Bulls playoff games with my family and going crazy every time, I didn't truly understand the impact it had on the city itself. I just knew it was an awesome time to be sports fan in Chicago and Michael Jordan was the motherfucking man (and still is). After their last title though, there was a long drought of championships here. I grew up and moved to New York and missed three Blackhawks championships and one Chicago White Sox 'chip. I lived in New York for some Yankee and Giants championships but felt no connection to them and I didn't get caught up in any of it. Additionally, in all the years I lived in NYC, I held my Chicago sports allegiances through and through. Sure I'd root for some NYC teams here and there if I was at a game and if it didn't affect any Chicago teams, but other than that, I still always cheered on the Bulls, Bears, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, and of course my Fighting Illini. (I still remember sitting in my NYC apartment in 2005 crying when the Illini lost in the National Championship game. That one still hurts.)
I am three months back in Chicago and although the first two months were filled with beaches and running and exploring and even a marathon, this last month was filled with Cubs Fever everywhere you go. It seems everyone is walking around in Cubbie blue, every store and apartment is Flying the W, office building have their lights on with different cheers for the cubs, and the excitement is just in the air everywhere you go. This was something I had never seen in NYC during all those Yankee and Giant championships and don't remember from the Bulls days as champs. It has proven to me even more what a proud and passionate sports town Chicago is. I also think the history of the Cubs plays a role and intensifies how emotional this whole ride has been. The city was 100% behind the team and coming together with one common goal. A positive buzz was in the air and Chicago was uniting over one team. This is what sports do.
Admittedly, I have never been a huge baseball fan. It was always a little too slow for me and not enough contact. I enjoy watching the game when I'm at the ballpark and will occasionally watch a Cubs game on TV, but it's not something I'm super passionate about compared to basketball and football. I have always been a Cubs fan (versus being a Sox fan), but nothing too excessive. My passion for them was nothing like it is for the Bulls, Bears, or Illini. But although I rarely watch any Cubs games during the regular season (same goes with Blackhawks), I do follow along with their progress. I like to be in the know with my teams and keep tabs on them. Once I knew I was moving back to Chicago, I started to pay a little more attention to the Cubs because this year was maybe "the year;" the year the curse might finally be broken. Once the playoffs started, I watched every single Cubs game from start to finish; most of them alone on my couch in sweatpants. I was actually enjoying watching baseball. The games were intense, the players were so fun to watch (not to mention so so cute), and the possibility of a title was getting more and more real. The light at the end of an 108 year tunnel was getting brighter and brighter. People were hyped. The city was hyped. I was hyped. I would get anxious and nervous before a game, as if I were the one playing. I became more invested in the team and also the spirit of Chicago. Being back in the city after 12 years away reignited the strong love that I already had for this city. If possible, it made me even more proud to be from here because of the pride around the city and how they got behind this team and believed so hard.
Being in the city this past week and seeing the support everywhere was totally unreal. Coming back from a 3-1 Cleveland lead was unreal. The ending of Game 7 was unreal. The Cubs winning the World Series was...wait for it...unreal. It may be an overused adjective, but that's exactly how it was. Totally unreal. Like did this actually happen? I had to pinch myself a few times leading up to Game 7 and then after. I had to pinch myself walking around the city, especially Wrigleyville, and seeing all the support on storefronts, windows, and walls. I had goosebumps (and tears) when I went to see the Wrigley Field marquee the day after they won. I had more tears streaming down my face when I was reading all the heartfelt messages written in chalk along the wall at Wrigley that people left for the Cubs or in memory of those who would have loved to have seen this happen. I had a perma-smile on my face when I watched them dye the Chicago River blue the day after the win. And then goosebumps and tears again when I watched my first ever ticker tape parade live and in person. (I never got to go to any of the Bulls parades because I was too young to go alone and my parents didn't want to deal with those crowds which I don't blame them for though). I also couldn't get enough of the montages of the playoff run and the stories behind the team and the fans of the team, each one more awesome than the next. Lots of happy tears were being shed. (Lets just say I went through a lot of Kleenex the last few days.) I mean, c'mon, the stories of the grandparents who have waited their whole lives to see a Cubs World Series win are beyond heartwarming. And OMG, the old man who listened to the game on his smartphone at his fathers grave. Brb, sobbing again. And beyond those stories, the ones of the brotherhood and closeness of the team was just incredible. This is what sports are about. This is why people get invested in them. They give hope. They inspire. They teach perseverance. And they make you believe that "Someday can be today." That all happened this Cubs season. One team did that for millions of people and that is special.
There are many Cubs fans out there who weren't lucky enough to live to see the Cubs as World Champs and I feel so lucky to have witnessed it AND to have been a part of it here in Chicago. This World Series was a national phenomena because of it's historic meaning and to me, it once again proves that sports are bigger than us. They bring everyone together and can unite so many different people. And this championship did that for Chicago. I couldn't imagine not being here for it. It was the most perfect welcome home present for me and something I will never ever forget. Thank you Cubs for those memories. Thank you for reminding me how much I love sports and how powerful they can be. And thank you to the city of Chicago for just being the most awesome sports town around and reminding me how lucky I am to be be back home.
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