Cubs Fans Audacity of Hope
To pull from another famous Chicagoan, Barack Obama (you may have heard of him), there is a certain audacity of hope, especially when looking up at their three game deficit in the NLCS. When you look at the history of seven game series in baseball, one team, the 2004 Boston Red Sox, has ever come back being down three games to none. Across all sports only five teams have accomplished this feat; the 2014 LA Kings, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers, 2004 Boston Red Sox, 1975 New York Islanders, 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.
The mere suggestion that the Chicago Cubs can come back is audacious. But hasn’t believing in this team been audacious in itself?
The talks of goats and black cats and curses and 108 years. Cubbie occurrences, turning sure wins into losses. The weight everyone in our Cubs nation has carries on their shoulders. All of the heartache we’ve endured, but have always had that audacity to believe. To believe that this team, this organization would find a way to turn its fortunes around. The belief that one day your fandom would be rewarded through watching the Cubs raise the World Series trophy. The prayers you made proclaiming that you’d never ask for anything again if somehow the Cubs won a World Series.
That audacity paid off when Theo Epstein took over the reigns in Wrigleyville.
Theo’s audacity in his introductory press conference gave Cubs fans new cause for hope. Afterall, he ended a cursed franchise with a fan base equally audacious as Cubs fans, why wouldn’t you have hope?
Then we slowly learn, everything Theo said in his introductory presser came true. Everything. Most importantly it was his promise of sustained success.
Epstein never promised the team would be perennial champions, he knows how hard that is. But he proclaimed that this Cubs organization would become one of sustained success. That they will be competitive year in and year out. That when you are playing in the playoffs nearly every season – good things happen.
That good thing happened last Novemeber. Theo’s promise didn’t end there, no, it continued onto the 2017 season. This season saw the Cubs in the NLCS for their third consecutive season, something no other Cubs team could say before. This is a feat that only the St Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees could say within recent memory. A success which lasts a number of seasons, giving the organization a seat at the final four table the last three seasons.
There was no promise to win them all, but seeing what this team has been through, what the organization has achieved, is it that audacious to hope?
Don’t apologize if you feel this outrageous.
