At Last!

Julie Andrews once said, "Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th."
For the Chicago Cubs however, the stats are much higher. For the Cubs it was failing 107 years and succeeding the 108th time, but's who's counting?!

When the Chicago Cubs finally delivered by winning the World Series and ending the longest drought in sports history, it reminded me of the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox and what happened after they finally won.

The Boston Red Sox were wrapped up in a losing tradition that lasted 86 years, second only to the Cubs, and they carried with them a slew of Red Sox Nation (die-hard fans). If you are an avid baseball fan then you know all about the rich history of the Red Sox and Cubs and the so called curse they each carried.

The Red Sox curse was known as Curse of the Bambino stemming from the team trading away the great Babe Ruth and then proceeding to lose for the next 86 years.

The Chicago Cubs curse involved a billy goat. When Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis tried bringing a goat into the 1945 World Series at Wrigley Field and would eventually get kicked out of the stadium, he put a hex on the Cubs exclaiming, "The Cubs will never get back into the World Series. Ever."

I guess this would be a good place as any to add the disclaimer that I do not believe in curses.

As for those Red Sox, their fan base is just like the Cubs, it's a generational fan base handed down from generation to generation or simply put, you were born into a family that followed these two historic franchises.

 In 2004 when the Red Sox finally ended the Curse of the Bambino and won the World Series something very strange happened in the city of Boston the next few days. The most loyal elderly Red Sox fan base, the 97- 103 year-olds began to die of natural causes soon after the Red Sox victory. Medical staff and family members suggested that it was as if these folks had hung on just long enough to see their beloved Red Sox win it all and then could finally die in peace.

Today I carry with me that same kind of peace. Now, I am nowhere near that elderly stage, but after watching my beloved Cubs finally win it all after 108 years, I can relate to what those elderly Red Sox  fans may have felt. An overwhelming sense of peace. A certain peace that can only be described as a loyal die-hard fan peace.

Someone once said, "Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time", and oh what a journey us loyal Cubs fans have been on. Cannot wait for the next journey and where it may lead.


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