Will Chicago Cubs Fans Riot In Case Of World Series Loss?
Could a loss in the World Series actually cause Chicago Cubs fans to riot? We are a single game away from finding out. If not a riot, it will certainly cause a hard reflection on a season that many felt could not help but end in a championship.
There is an old saying, “Twas better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.” While that is spoken like a person never to have been in love, the sports world may be consoling fans be replacing “loved” with “made it to the World Series.” The Chicago Cubs haven’t been to the World Series since 1945, and they haven’t won the series since 1908.
To put this into perspective, every single major sports franchise (Major League Baseball, National Football League, National Basketball Association, and National Hockey League) in the city of Chicago has won a championship since the Cubs last won the pennant. Their south side neighbors the White Sox won the World Series in 2005. The NHL Chicago Blackhawks took the Stanley Cup last in 2015. The Chicago Bulls dominated the NBA in the 90’s with six championships. The Chicago Bears put together one of the greatest NFL teams in history culminating in their lone Super Bowl Championship in the 1985 season.
As you can imagine, internet sites are preparing Cub fans for the worst. After a Game 4 thrashing at the hands of the Indians, sites have taken to plastering condolences and pictures of dejection across the web. The most interesting comes from NBC Chicago itself. It basically says that winning a World Series would cost fans something.
“At the same time, there is at least a little worry that winning a World Series means losing something developed for more than a century, bolstered by heartbreak, failure and, yes, resilience.”
Can you imagine winning a championship and it being a bad thing? Some citizens of the Windy City are already justifying a loss as good including clinical psychologist Dr. Stephen Schueller.
“I do think there is some concern (that) if they win it, it is going to break this story we tell ourselves as Cubs fans.”
Chicago native and Beachwood Reporter Steve Rhodes took it a step further. He has gone as far as to say it could make Cub fans tough to live with if they actually did win.
“There’s a sense that we paid our dues, we’ve watched utterly meaningless games in the dead of August… we tilted our hats in the right way, worn our lucky shirts, stared at the TV at just the right angle, sat in our lucky chair and done all of that for decades and it’s finally paying off. Fans could become unbearable.”
There is a certain sadness to the futility fans of the Cubs have had to endure for the better part of 11 decades. There is one particular statistic that really sums up just how awful being a fan has been. We mentioned that every major sports franchise that is currently in Chicago has won a championship since the Cubs. In fact, according to the Sportster, the Cubs currently have the longest drought of any professional franchise at 108 years.
The most telling of all statistics actually is the correlation between the Cubs and the team second on the list the Cardinals of the NFL. Shockingly enough, the last time the Cardinals football franchise won a title was 1947. If you guessed that the Cardinals resided in the city of Chicago, you get the bonus. Yes, even long gone professional teams have won since the Cubs.
Taking into consideration the comments fans are already making, it is safe to say that a loss will not produce a Chicago Cubs fans riot. However, it is hard to see how they can already be justifying how it could be a good thing.
[Featured Image by Nam Y. Huh/AP Images]
