Dear Chicago; Breathe

Well I said ask me in October, and well here we are October 1, 2008. The Cubs are going to the playoffs, their first game against the Dodgers tonight- I won’t breathe for many weeks to come. The streets around Wrigley lit up the day the Cubs clinched their division, and in my opinon the city of Chicago is about to shoulder the past in order for the Cubs to secure their future.Go with me on this.

I believe in karma, and signs and things happening for a reason. Yesterday, I took the morning off work for a doctors appointment, I’m down on Clark street in the financial district when I hear somebody yelling on a megaphone through my cab windows. Now maybe it was because of my raging ear infection or the fact that I had tylenol pm’ed myself into a haze but I forgot there was a Cubs rally- and by the chance of where my doctor was located I ended up right in the middle of it.

Of course, I got out of the cab, I could self medicate anyday- I had to be invovled in this. I looked around and there was every type of person imagenable there- my favorite had to be the business men in their suties with their Cubs jersey’s over them standing next to the hot dog vendor in his hat, Harry Carey glasses and “W” shirt on. I laughed I forgot the Cubs fan does not stem from a mold.

The man on the microphone turned out to be Jim Hendry, through the course of his speech he talked about what made a true Cub’s fan and how this organization wouldn’t be anything without their family, ( I apparently I need to find out how to use my family stature to get into the Chicago Tribune will). Hendry also reminded us that Cub’s fans are different because a Cub’s fan never forgets where they came from and that we should all look around because this was Chicago and it was a part of each and every one of us.

What also was evident at the rally was that while we’ve heard a lot about this 100 year drought, the past and the franchise history would not be laid on our players this year. Cheers echoed through the crowd. The world likes to remind the Cubs that they are the orphan children of the MLB, where once they had a sibling in the Boston Red Sox, now they stand alone. That was then -this is now; it’s a new team with heavy hitters, smart coaches and loyal players- it just so happens to be the 100 year mark. Lou Pinella said it best; ''It's not fair to put all the expectations of all the past failures here and all the past successes here on the 2008 team'’.

So in the words of Heath Ledger via his creepy joker character “ and heeere we go”. Cubs start tonight, they host the Dodgers, in a twist of fate the White Sox also made the playoffs and they will be taking on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays tomorrow. It’s safe to say that the city of Chicago is breathing again, and because of this so are the Cubs ( and the Sox). It’s really a full circle event, the fans will hold onto the past failures and successes so they cubs shoulders can be free, and now we watch andwait, all while holding our breath…………….


On a side note: While I won’t declare the Cub’s victorious because that is a sacreligious jinx here are my picks:

Round 1:

NL

Cubs over Dodgers

Phillies over Brewers

AL

Angles over Red Sox

White Sox ( we gotta keep things interesting in Chicago) over Tampa Bay

Round 2:

NL

Cubs over Phillies

AL

Angles over White Sox

World Series

Cubs over Angles