Josh Shelton is a sophomore journalism and telecommunications major and writes "Shelton's Picks" for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Josh at jjshelton@bsu.edu.
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What will happen to the Cubs fans if they do win? My theory is that Cubs fans are either going to be the absolute worst-behaved fans or to be so happy that all they can do is smile. Now, before the entirety of the Midwest loses their mind, give me one second. Deep breaths, Chicago, deep breaths.
First, allow me to introduce myself. I’m a baseball junkie from the capital of the United States, so baseball is relatively new to the area (considering the Washington Senators left in the 1960s before returning as the Nationals in 2005), but we have had a few heartbreaks already.
To start, when the Washington Nationals first arrived in the District of Columbia, they didn’t have a winning season for seven straight years. For perspective, when the Cubs became the Cubs in 1903, they went 12 straight seasons with a win percentage over .500 and won two World Series.
So honestly, I don’t know what the people of Chicago have to whine about. I get it; the Cubbies haven’t won a world series since 1908, despite seven appearances. There was also that rocky patch from 1952-62 where the Cubs failed to win over half their games in each of those seasons. But if facts are facts, there are eight teams that have NEVER won a World Series.
Granted, I am a little emotional right now considering my team has once again ripped my heart out in the division series. Washington as a whole is not very good at winning deciding games (0-10 in all sports as a city when it comes to deciding games in a series), so I guess I should’ve seen that coming.
But I think Cubs fans may become the worst fans to be around because of the behavior of some of the surrounding sports teams. I hadn't spent more than a week in the Midwest before I came to Ball State and those Blackhawks fans sure know how to make an impression. If I have to hear “Three Stanley Cups in six years” one more time, I might pull a Vincent Van Gogh on both ears.
I will say that Chicago fans have a lot of pride and passion in most all sports ("Da Bears!"), but that is going to be their downfall, in my mind.
I visited Chi-Town for the first time ever just two weeks ago, and I can’t remember a street corner that didn’t have a white flag with a blue ‘W’ boldly printed, waving in the Windy City. If a city with that much stake in a sports team wins a championship…that place will be unbearable.
Anything and everything will be Cubs this and Cubs that, which will be the only acceptable topic of conversation for at least a year. (Is this reminding anyone of another city that won a World Series breaking a curse?)
As a baseball nerd, I’d be wrong to say it wouldn't be awesome to see history be made, but as a resident of the Midwest for (at least) two and a half more years, I’m worried. I don't know if I could handle the constant talk of the Cubs.
But hey, I could be completely wrong. Maybe fans will just be super calm about the win, smile and go one with their days, but I doubt that.
All in all, I’m probably just super salty about my team losing, so I look to hockey for solace. Maybe hockey season won’t start until late October for the Cubs fans.
Maybe. Just maybe.
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