The History of my Chicago Cubs Fandom

As the Chicago Cubs prepare to play Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, I'd like to share my history of cheering for the "Lovable Losers."

The Chicago Cubs have been my consistent favorite sports team since 1998. I didn't suddenly become a fan after catching a glimpse of them on TV or attending a game with a relative, no, I became a fan thanks to a thrift store. When I was 11, I had just started at a new school and I wanted to fit in. Believe it or not, I haven't always been the smooth talking and hilarious individual (and most humble) that I am now. I was awkward, shy, and didn't have any friends. However, over the summer, I started getting into baseball.

After being at a new school for a couple days, I noticed people where wearing a lot of baseball hats for the team they supported. Most of them wore Cardinals hats, one person had a Diamondbacks hat, etc. At one point, I wanted this Tampa Bay Devil Rays hat because I had no taste.

I didn't care what hat it was, I just wanted a hat. Imagine my surprise when my dad picked me up from school with two snapback hats. He had stopped by a thrift store earlier for some reason and these two hats caught his eye. The hats were a Cincinnati Red hat and a Chicago Cubs hat. I chose the Cubs hat for a couple of reasons.

One of the reasons was that the home run race of 1998 was going on and Sammy Sosa of the Cubs was the underdog. I liked that he didn't have as many HR's as Mark McGwire and was going to try to come from behind. Being the new kid, I felt like that underdog so I could relate to that mentality. The home run race was definitely an exciting time because here were two athletes at the top of their game hitting home runs, trying to break a record. And they were doing it with the utmost integrity.

Just kidding, they could have been a Minute Maid with how much juice was in them. But still, it was fun to watch!

Wearing a Cubs hat was actually a bit taboo in my family as most of them are St. Louis Cardinals fans. Although, my mom goes back and forth on who she is rooting for, sometimes in the same series. It's very confusing. I guess my grandpa was a huge Cardinals fan or something. I never really saw him, though. It's very scary to think of a world where I wear the red instead of the blue.

After the home run race of 1998 and into the early 2000's, the Cubs did their thing. The Bartman incident happened in 2003 and that was pretty soul-crushing. And, if I'm being honest, I didn't follow the Cubs super close from 2004-2008. I'd check in on the occasional postseason game, usually to watch them lose. It was tough. But still, my fandom held true.

I sat through the 100 loss season a few years ago. While fans today get to watch Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo hit it out of the park, and see Jake Arrietta, Jon Lester, and Kyle Hendricks get all the K's, we had to sit through many seasons of Starlin Castro looking disinterested and Carlos Zambrano fighting his teammates. It wasn't pretty.

Being a Chicago Cubs fan isn't easy. It's really, really hard. It's sad and it's depressing and you wonder why you do it. But you keep doing it. It's weird, but whenever I meet someone new and I find out they are a Cubs fan, it's this instant connection unlike anything else. You don't bond over the good things with the team, you bond over the fun mishaps and "The Curse." Always talking about next year. The Cubs have been a consistent source of friendship for many years. When I think of the Cubs, I think about those friendships that I've built because of them and the hope the team gives me every year.

I hope that as the clock strikes midnight, the Cubs are World Champions for the first time in 108 years. It'll be weird to wake up in a world where that is a real thing that happens but I'm ready. We're all ready. And all of this emotion and investment is because my dad bought me a hat. Go Cubs Go!