Mixed Emotions When Covering Chicago Championship From The Other Side

CHICAGO, IL - This entire week has been a bit surreal for any fan of Chicago sports.

The Chicago Cubs were the favorites to win the World Series before the season started and followed up with a dominating regular season and National League playoff run.

But nothing could have prepared us for this week. For this thing so many have dreamed of for years.

This isn’t something I dreamed of for years. But it turned out to be the biggest story I’ve ever covered, and it was an honor to be a part of not only the biggest story in Chicago sports history but one of the biggest events in all of Chicago history.

I’m a fan of that other Chicago baseball team. My fascination with professional sports began in 1993 with the “Good Guys Wear Black” Chicago White Sox team that won the division and came within two wins of their first World Series appearance in 34 years. I’ve been to the ballpark on 35th Street several times since then and always enjoy the mostly friendly rivalry that exists between fans of Chicago’s two baseball teams.

But while 2016 was not a championship season for my team, it was a championship for my city. And the most significant there ever was. The 5 million tally at Friday’s parade (the 7th largest gathering in human history and the largest gathering ever in the United States) proves what any White Sox fan must admit: the Cubs simply move the needle more than our beloved South Siders.

For me, city loyalty comes before what Laurence Holmes of 670 The Score described on Facebook years ago as “Cubs-Sox stupidity,” i.e. the ribbing we give each other all year regardless of how either team is doing on the field.

It was still with mixed emotions to capture this memorable journey for Cubs fans. I was in Wrigleyville before and during Game 3 (the first World Series game on the North Side since 1945) and before, during and after the Game 7 drama that resulted in one of the biggest sports celebrations a city could have. I was also downtown Friday for the epic rally, one that dwarfed even the three recent Chicago Blackhawks championship parades.

As fun as it was, the good vibes came with the undertone of “I really wish this were the White Sox.” I’d give up my spot so close to the action to any Cubs fan I know in return to another White Sox championship in the near future.

I was jealous. Even though we had our moments 11 years ago, taking in the joy Cubs fans had this year heightened the urge to witness it again on the South Side. We can only hope the White Sox team and front office is inspired by this as well.

But at the same time, I am a fan of Chicago. Everything Chicago. And this was a big deal for Chicago, so I celebrated it as well. How can you describe celebrating the pride in your city while realizing you are at a championship rally of one of your rival teams?

My experiences of the 2005 White Sox title and 2016 Cubs are in sharp contrast. And it almost feels like they should be switched.

While I will never forget the special moment I spent with my father - a longtime White Sox fan who taught me everything about 1959, the Southside Hitmen of 1977 and memories of the Old Comiskey Park - at home when the White Sox recorded the final out in Houston on Oct. 26, 2005, I did not go out to Bridgeport that night or for the first home World Series game and was not at the parade two days after the clincher.

But this year, I was in Wrigleyville for the first World Series home game, dead center at Clark and Addison when the Cubs won Game 7 and part of a historic parade and rally.

As a proud South Sider, I will point out that there was no Game 7 in 2005 because the White Sox swept the World Series. It was the conclusion of an 11-1 postseason, which last time I checked is better than 11-6. Also, Aroldis Chapman proved he couldn’t get out of a bases loaded jam like “El Duque” and the Cubs needed to use more than just the four starters in their League Championship Series victory over Los Angeles.

So there is a sense of “been there, done that.”

But missing the 2005 White Sox parade is one of my biggest regrets. When I realized the opportunity I missed, I vowed never to miss another Chicago sports championship rally. I’ve been to all four held since then.

Chronicling the journey of the Cubs and their fans this year was awesome. Especially the fan stories. We have been fortunate to have been able to tell many of them at Patch, but no there is an endless amount of accounts that would make anyone shed a tear of joy.

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Watching the tributes, especially the one of Harry Caray calling Game 7, was emotional. How could anyone, even a White Sox fan, not feel good for the millions of people that experienced unbridled joy over this.

Yes, 2016 was expected to be the year for the Cubs from the beginning. Had they not won it all this year, it would be a surprise and a disappointment. Something that hasn’t happened in 108 we could actually see coming and enjoy it every step of the way.

But that doesn’t take away from what Game 7 brought in perfect fashion. I remember standing in the center of Clark and Addison when the Wrigley Field marquee showed a 6-3 lead in the eighth inning for the Cubs. Fans were already climbing light poles and prepping for the party of a century.

The place was electric, but it was like the volume button was turned all the way to the left when the marquee went from “6-3” to “6-6” after the Indians tied with a home run. At that point, realizing that a late-innings tied game usually benefits the home team in the playoffs, I slowly backed away from the center of the intersection. I wanted no part of what could be a crushing blow and the possible sadness and ugliness that would come with it.

But a rain delay, a players only meeting and two extra inning runs later and all was right in the center of Cubs Universe.

It was the biggest Chicago sports story of all-time, and one of the biggest stories in Chicago history, period.
The story, obviously, is the Cubs breaking a 108-year championship drought, by far the longest in major sports history.

But what gets lost in that is the impressive comeback they needed to do it. Winning a World Series after trailing 3-1 has only happened a handful of times. Much like the 2004 Boston Red Sox breaking a curse after trailing the hated New York Yankees 3-0 and the Cleveland Cavaliers ending that city’s long championship drought after coming back from a 3-1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals this year, an epic drought usually ends with an epic comeback.

The Cubs did it the hard way in 2016. And with their core of talented young players, it’s likely they will be in quite a few more World Series match-ups over the next 10-15 years.

Here’s hoping at least one will be against their crosstown rivals.