The year is 1908 and the Chicago Cubs have just defeated the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series. Fast-forward to 1945 and the Cubs find them
selves once again in the World Series this time losing to the Detroit Tigers. Fast-forward one more time to present day 2016 and the Cubs have yet to make it back to the coveted World Series aptly earning them the moniker “The Lovable Losers.”
If you do the math you will find that it has been a whopping 108 years since the Cubs have won a World Series title, producing one of the longest losing streaks in professional sports history. 
However, during those 108 years the Cubs have gathered one of the most loyal fan bases in Major League Baseball. Whether they are first place in their division or sinking slowly into last place their historic baseball park, Wrigley Field, is always bustling with eager and hopeful fans yearning to see a Cubs’ victory. “This is the year!” is the devoted fans’ motto only to change mid-way through each season to something along the lines of “There is always next year!” And so it has gone for over a century.
Remember when we fast-forwarded to 2016? Well, it just so happens that this year the Chicago Cubs find themselves in a position that many thought never to be possible, they are favored to win this year’s World Series Championship. Seriously. A win this big would be more than just a title and a shiny trophy. It would represent the dedication that Chicagoans have had to this baseball franchise and prove that even if it takes over a century Cubs fans are willing to wait and wait…and wait, always cheering for their beloved team.
The Losing Streak of a Century
Contrary to popular belief the Chicago Cubs have not always been prone to losing. In fact, when they won the World Series back in 1908 it was directly following their win in 1907. Over the next 37 years the Cubs would make it to the World Series seven times in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and most recently in 1945. They lost all seven series.
Gerald “Buster” Tweed was at that last World Series appearance in 1945 and has been cheering on the Cubs for every season since. “I had just moved to Chicago from Saskatchewan, Canada and my uncle asked me if I wanted to go and see a baseball game that afternoon. I remember sitting in the last seat of the row in the upper balcony. If I had been one seat over I would have been out of Wrigley!” he says laughing. The now 92-year-old Tweed explains that when you’re a Cubs fan, you’re a Cubs fan for life. “Whether they win or lose cheering for the Cubbies is a Chicago tradition. We are not fair weather fans.” When asked if he thinks he’ll ever make it to another World Series game he answered, “Hopefully this year I can get my old seat back.”
The Curse of the Billy Goat
Ask any Cubs fan the reason for the team’s embarrassingly long losing streak and you may expect to hear about a string of bad coaches or the team not being able to afford the salaries demanded by the best of the best players. But no, most Cubs fans will tell you the blame lies with a goat. As Chicago legend has it a man bought two tickets to one of the 1945 World Series games at Wrigley Field. One ticket for him and one for his pet goat whom he believed would bring the team good luck. When he arrived at the game, goat in tow, he was admitted access but the goat was not.Furious the man cursed the Cubs for not letting his goat in saying that they would never win another World Series until the goat would be admitted access to the park. After 70 years the man and his goat have become the scapegoat-no pun intended- for the franchise’s embarrassing losing streak. But, maybe after 70 years the power of the curse is beginning to wear off. Then again just to be safe, if a man shows up with a goat they should probably let him in.
The “Warm Up” Season
The 2015 season started out like any other season for the Cubs. The usual “This is the year!” was being chanted on opening day at Wrigley Field but we will never know if they actually meant it. To the astonishment of Chicagoans, and probably the rest of Major League Baseball, the Cubs did not fall slowly into last place as the season went on…they won 97 games, made it to 2nd place, and secured themselves the Wild Card spot, meaning they made it to the World Series playoffs. The following video was shot from an apartment building one mile away from Wrigley Field the night the Cubs advanced to the World Series Playoffs. They can clearly be heard singing the Cubs’ theme song “Go Cubs Go!” by Steve Goodman.
Now, Cubs fans are known to be a little superstitious (see the Billy goat curse above). So it should come as no surprise that there was a little superstition surrounding the 2015 playoff season. In the second movie of the “Back to the Future” trilogy Marty Mcfly, played by Michael J. Fox, travels into the future to the year 2015, October 21st to be exact. He gets his hands on a sports almanac that reports that the Chicago Cubs win the World Series in 2015. Chicagoans took this scene from the movie and ran with it. Some were convinced that the team was destined to win. As fate would have it, the Cubs were playing the New York Mets to decide what team would make it to the World Series on; you guessed it, October 21, 2015. Sadly, the Cubs lost the series on “Back to the Future Day” and the Mets were advanced to the World Series. The superstitious minds of Cubs fans turned once again back to the goat. But this time there was no bitterness in the loss, in fact most fans saw it as a warm up for the 2016 season. With almost all of the 2015 team roster returning fans are eagerly waiting to see this team take the field and go farther than they did in 2015.
2016- This is the Year!
With 2016 spring training underway in Mesa, Arizona, predictions of the winner of this year’s World Series came out even before the Kansas City Royals took home the title in November of last year. When asked Sports Illustrated’s Jonah Keri vows the youth of the Cubs will work in their benefit. “Of their eight primary position players five were under 25 years old or younger. The Royals may have won the World Series, but the Cubs’ future was the envy of baseball” he is quoted saying. Popular Las Vegas oddsmaker, Bovada, has the Cubs winning the series at 10/1.
While the regular season doesn’t start for the Cubs until April 4th and these predictions may not add up to anything, the fact that predictions of this nature even exists is enough to make any Cubs fan smile.
Dedication of Cubs Fans
Like Tweed said, fans of the Chicago Cubs are not fair weather fans. Win or lose. Rain or shine. They will always show up to cheer on their team. 1962 is reported to be the wrost season in Chicago Cubs history. Their record that year was 59 wins and 103 loses. Over half a million fans still showed up to watch them play that year. Over the 108 years since their last World Series appearance fans have never lost hope. Being a Cubs fan is about loyalty. Being a Cubs fan is a culture. Being a Cubs fan is being part of a family.
Quiz: How big of Cubs fan are you?
What was the name of the goat that cursed the Cubs in 1945?
- Billy
- Tommy
- Murphy
What are the names of the two streets that Wrigley Field sits on the corner of?
- Adams and Wabash
- Clark and Addison
- Michigan Avenue and Randolph
What is the official beer of Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs?
- Bud Light
- Stella Artois
- Old Style
In the song “Go Cubs Go” what is the next line after “Hey Chicago what do you say?”
- “The Cubs are going to win today”
- “This is a beautiful day to play”
- “The White Sox are going to go away”
What type of plant grows on the walls inside of Wrigley Field?
- Ivy
- Daisies
- Grass
What is the name of the famous Cubs announcer who lead the crowd in the singing of the 7th Inning Stretch during each game?
- Ron Santo
- Sammy Sosa
- Harry Caray
When did the Cubs last win a World Series?
- 1908
- 1945
- 2015
What flag is flown after a Cubs’ victory?
- A flag with a bear cub on it
- A flag with a W on it
- A flag with a star on it
Who is the player that is often referred to as “Mr. Cub”?
- Walter Payton
- Ernie Banks
- Kerry Wood
Bleachers to watch the games can be found on what part of the apartment buildings surrounding Wrigley Field?
- The sidewalk
- The rooftop
- The balcony
Answer Key:
- 1- C
- 2- B
- 3- C
- 4- A
- 5- A
- 6- C
- 7- A
- 8- B
- 9- B
- 10-B
How many did you get right?
10-8: Fly the W flag you’re a true Cubs fan!
7-4: Not too shabby, you have a little work to do. Better grab an Old Style and start brushing up on your Cubs knowledge.
3-1: Hey that’s okay! Tune in this season and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two. This is the year!
Target Audience: The intended audience for this article are fans of the Chicago Cubs (the Quiz and the humorous memes and video are perfect for them) but more importantly people who do not know that much about the team, franchise, and culture surrounding the Cubs. This article is meant to inform these people how dedicated Chicagoans have been to the Cubs over the past century and how important a World Series win would truly be the Chicago and fans all over the world.
Social Strategy: Because of the interactive nature of this news article and the numerous multimedia content, it can easily be shared across all platforms of social media.
Facebook: The caption of the post would read “How big of a Cubs fan are you?” With a images of the “Cub fans be like…” tweet. There will then be the option to share your results on social media with all of your friends so they too will want to take the quiz and share their results.
Twitter: The tweet would read “#2016MLB season is more than just another season for #Cubs fans. Here’s why. @Cubs” with the images of the “Fool me once” meme.
Instagram: The Instagram post would read similar to the tweet: “#2016MLB season is more than just another season for #Cubs Fans. Here’s why. Link in bio. @Cubs” with the image of the “So you’re saying there’s a chance” meme.
Pinterest: Pinterest would be another great place to promote the quiz. The image would be the GIF of the team celebrating after a win. The caption would read “How big of a Cubs fan are you?”
Audrey Latimer 