March 27, 2016: 8 Days

Here we sit.  8 days until Opening Day.  Another Cubs season is about to begin.  Is your heart ready?

It’s not easy being a Cubs fan.  Yes, the decision on which team to root for is an easy one for me.  I’ve been rooting for the Cubs my whole life.  My whole life will equal 40 years later this year.  Some of us Cubs fans have been rooting for the Cubs much longer than that.  The one thing all of us have in common, is that we’ve never seen a World Series Title.  OK, maybe there IS a Cubs fan that is 108 years old, but even then… you’d have to be at least 111 years old to even have a shot at remembering the last time this occurred.

We have more than that one thing in common.  If you’re a true Cubs fan, a die hard… then we have a lot more in common.  It’s all the joy and agony that comes along with being a Cubs fan.  Yes, the agony is well publicized, but there is also plenty of joy.  Whether it be catching a Cubs game on a beautiful summer day or in early April, when only die hards are present.  Maybe it’s seeing a walk off winner, or being on the road with 1000s of other Cubs fans cheering on our boys.  Or how about just laying on your couch, feeling the breeze blow in through the windows, enjoying a nine inning affair, or even driving around listening to the Cubs on the radio, and the great Pat Hughes.  You see, it’s not ALL agony here.

However, we do know plenty about that.  The number of heartbreaks is dependant on how old you are.  For me, the first came in 1984.  The worst ones were in 2003 and 2008.  There is no need to talk in detail about these.  It’s like bringing up bad memories from your past… it serves no good, except to get all worked up again.  We will move on.

However, before we do… the agony, like the joy, is much more detailed than those “highlights”.   It’s a close called third strike that goes against us in a key moment.  It’s watching our closer blow a close game.  It’s like seeing a lead in the standings evaporate.  It’s like waiting, watching, for the next shoe to drop; what will happen THIS year?

We try to remain positive; like I said, it’s not easy.  How can you remain positive after 108… or 40 in my case, years of failure?  That’s because each year is a new year.  That’s the great thing about baseball.  Each year, hope springs eternal… in 8 days, this hope will spring again for our Cubbies.

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The Cubs will start their 2016 season as the World Series favorites.  Yes, I did not make a typo.  This spring of hope is more like a geyser… hard to keep under wraps.  I want to just burst out with joy… I see it happening… I can’t wait… yet, being a Cubs fan, I have felt like this before.  I calm myself.  I remind myself it’s those 162 games plus that will decide our fate.  I ask myself what bad thing will happen this year…

I can’t think like that, but even when you see a swarm of bees attacking one of our prized free agent acquisitions, you think… oh no… another memorable bad omen?  No.  Not this year.  Not this time.  The Sports Illustrated Jinx?  Are you kidding me?  We have the ultimate, longest running “curse” in professional sports, and you want me to buy into the SI cover jinx?  No thank you.  It’s time to move past that thinking; like I said, it’s not easy. 

It’s time to bury the past.  It’s time to not only embrace the target, but embrace the hope that this year brings.  It’s time to enjoy the ride.  Don’t get too worked up about Rondon blowing a save in April, or a Bryant 2 week slump in May.  Don’t worry about a slow start, or an early losing streak.  You know that is virtually an impossibility, right?

Kind of like thinking Jake has to preserve himself for the playoffs…  we have to preserve our emotions for the long haul.  We may be tapping into some emotions we have never felt before.  But, that doesn’t work either.  We are Cubs fans.

It’s 8 days Cubs fans.  On April 4, 2016 @ 9pm, our season will begin in Anaheim.  Just remember one thing… it’s never easy.  This year will be no different.  There will be ups… there will be downs… and they will all be magnified by the expectations of this drought ending team.  I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it, but this blog thing seems to help.  That’s why I started this whole thing in the first place… maybe I can stop come late October… or maybe I will be writing this for another year…