Miami Student

Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: OpEd Page

Every year they build up my hopes, and every year I think we have a chance. Every year my hopes are crushed, and every year I wonder why I do this to myself.

I am a Chicago Cubs fan.

Anyone who follows baseball knows the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908. But unless you are a die-hard Cubs fan like myself, you have no idea how gut-wrenching it is year after year to see your team flounder at the bottom of the National League Central.

It seems that with the beginning of each new season we have a "chance." On paper, the Cubs always look like they can be a title contender. On the field, they look like a little league team.

This off-season, the Cubs spent more than $300 million, and that hasn't translated into much in this young season. Sure it's early, but then I ask myself, "Why do I keep doing this to myself every year?"

Ever since 2003 when they were just six outs away from the World Series, the Cubs have been … well terrible. But I still watch every game, when I'm at home in Chicago and I have a free afternoon, I'm at Wrigley Field. When I'm at school and the Cubs play in Cincinnati, I'm there. Win or lose, I cheer until the final out, no matter if they are up 10 runs or down 100. I even bought MLB.tv just so I can watch every game on my computer; I actually paid extra money just to see the Cubs lose.

What's even sadder is that I'm not alone. Cub's fans are some of the most loyal fans of any sports team. Wrigley Field is constantly sold out and alive with energetic supporters of the perennial losers.

So when is our time going to come? Other teams have had great success, but it always seems to elude the Cubs.

I guess the only thing I can attribute to the Cubs being so terrible is that the Curse of the Billy Goat is real. In 1945, the last time the Cubs were in the World Series, a man named Billy Sianis came to Wrigley Field with two tickets to watch the game. He brought his pet goat along with him to watch as well.

Everyone loved the goat; he was wearing a blanket with the words, "We've got Detroit's goat" on it. Sianis and the goat were even allowed to parade around the field before the game. Things were going well.

However, during the game, team owner Philip Wrigley kicked Sianis and the goat out of the stadium because of "objectionable odor."

As Sianis left he allegedly placed a curse on the entire Cubs organization saying that the team would never win a World Series again or play a World Series game at Wrigley Field. So far he has been right.

Continued...

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