Shane M. Ruff - Capstone Final:
                           The Chicago Cubs: 108 years of frustration and curses, loyal fans
                                                          and a guy named Theo.
 

"A little bouncer slowly toward Bryant. He will glove it and throw to Rizzo. It’s in time. And the Chicago Cubs win the World Series! The Cubs come pouring out of the dugout, jumping up and down like a bunch of delirious 10-year-olds. The Cubs have done it! The longest drought in the history of American sports is over, and the celebration begins.”  
(Pat Hughes on WSCR Radio 670 The Score calling the final out)

 
(SI Photo)
Ladies and Gentlemen…the goat has left the building.
For 108 years fans of the Chicago Cubs were left using the phrase, “Wait till next year…”  over and over until it became so natural that, we as fans, started saying it as early as Spring training.
 
But then, something changed. Something in the way the Chicago National League Franchise would approach the game off the diamond that would break the longest, ‘Length between Championship seasons’ record that the Cubs currently held. Waiting for that change the Cubs not only did not lose fans…they gained them! What was it about Cub fans. Why the perpetual torment year after year, yet they remain faithful.  What lifted their faith above the curses?
 
Cub fanatics are a unique breed. They are…make that ‘were’…use to being the doormat. The team that inevitability gave out a seasonal gift of a heaping spoonful of disappointment.  Lisa Stachmus, a homemaker from Ottawa Illinois and lifetime fan, is an annual attendee of the Cub Convention. She’s a fan who named her son Ryne after Cub great Ryne Sandberg. Hope of a new season and another chance were what she looked forward to every year. Lisa wears the Cubbie Blue proudly almost everywhere she goes. A true ‘Diehard’. “ I always identified with both the Cubs and Charlie Brown (who had almost as bad of luck in baseball as the Cubs) as someone who would never get a lucky break in life. My Cubs champs t-shirt is Snoopy holding the World Series trophy.”
 
Attorney Jeff Schlapp is a season ticket holder. He jokingly remarks that he takes his kids with him to games so they can learn to deal with the disappointment at an early age to make it easier on them as adults. “This way they can wean onto the hurt…it’s expected, so it doesn’t sting as badly.”
 
Those who follow the game and know the in’s and out’s of America’s game are a savvy bunch. They can tell you pre season what to expect and when to ‘bail’. Former sports reporter Ben Ochoa has seen his share of Cubs games over the years. He is ready to defend or criticize the team at the drop of comment on a forum or social media thread. “I never bought the lovable losers . It usually came from (those) who didn't know the relationship between the Cubs and their fans very well, much less knew anything about their organization. If it (being a fan of a losing team) affected me in any way, it was in looking at other teams and why they were so successful, which made me understand MLB better.
 
 A Cat in the Stadium and a Goat left out.
 
What was it that kept the Cubs from reclaiming the glory they once had near the turn of the previous century? The Chicago franchise was, after all, back-to-back World Series Champions (1907 and 1908). In explaining the curse, USA Today’s Al Perez explained it could be “Murphy” the beloved pet goat of Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis.  After being denied entry into Wrigley field with his goat for game 4 of the Cubs previous last World Series visit versus the Detroit Tigers in 1945,” Sianis proclaimed. “You are going to lose this World Series and you are never going to win another World Series again,”. It would take the Cubs 71 years to return to Baseball’s post season big dance.