Being a Fan When Your Team Sucks
My family being originally from Chicago, has made me a supporter of all Chicago teams. Chicago, like many other cities’ teams, has its rises and falls. For example the Chicago Bulls were super popular because of the basketball God Michael Jordan. But after he retired and the rise of other teams such as the Miami Heat and the Golden State Warriors came in, the Chicago Bulls weren't as great as they once used to be. When your favorite team is doing well, it’s the best feeling to brag and take pride in your team. I know that Chicago Blackhawk fans, such as myself, have loved being able to wear our apparel and find each other in the streets and cheer. When dominating in a sport, like the Blackhawks are in hockey with their 3 Stanley cup trophies within the past few years, it makes me proud to be a fan.
I have been a Chicago Bears fan my whole life and saw them go to the Super Bowl once in 2007. Even then, they still lost. It’s hard to like a team that isn’t doing so good during their season and have a reputation of “sucking”. It’s difficult having to face the fans of an opposing team that just won the game the night before. Especially if your team is the away team during that game. I remember going to my first bears game in 2014 and they were playing the San Francisco 49ers at the old Candlestick stadium. The Bears were actually playing well that season until their quarterback got injured the previous game. I remember my excitement going to that game knowing that the Bears weren’t on a losing streak like years before. This game, was the game that both the 49ers and Bears backup quarterbacks were playing for the first time. This was actually Colin Kaepernick's first game, and that was the year Kaepernick and Harbaugh carried the the team to the Super Bowl. So to say the very least, it was not the Bear’s night for victory, but instead Colin Kaepernick's debut with a final score of 32-7.
Going to school the next day was dreadful, since I of course being a proud fan, talked s*** to my opposing teams fans and now had to face the embarrassment of a loss. In sports culture, smack talking and ridiculing an opposing team is considered normal and expected. When another fan starts shooting you with the accurate remarks of how your team sucked in the game. You feel personally attacked. Even though your team might suck, you can’t give up on them because when the time comes that your team is finally doing well, it’s nice to know that your long time support won’t be fabricated. You’ll actually experience what the team feels when they succeed.
Just like every other Chicago team, I’ve been a life time supporter of my Chicago Cubs. The Chicago Cubs are known for their longtime losing streak, and they had not won the World Championship in a 108 years (since 1908). In baseball culture they refer to this losing streak as the “Billy Goat curse”. By default, wearing a Cubs hat in a proud San Francisco Giants crowd has led to harsh comments over the years. Most of which just rubbed salt in the wound by throwing that big 108 in our faces. Even though I knew I would face jests about my team anytime I wore my Cubs hat or t-shirt on the night of a game, I was never daunted. So when the Chicago Cubs for the first time in a long time started making the news about their surprising progression in the main season in 2015, Cubs fans such as myself became excited again to watch the game and fly our flags proudly.
In 2015, I had Mr. Karas for math, a long time Giants fan and sports talk fanatic. Everyday when I walked into his class he’d always talk about the Cubs since he’d always see me sporting my gear in the hallways. It was fun being able to talk to him about something I enjoyed. As the season went on and the Cubs played better and better, the more we joked and talked about it. He’d call me “ Mrs. Schwarber” in class, after a game where Kyle Schwarber inevitably kicked a**. Even after I told him I was more of a Kris Bryant fan and didn’t like Schwarber for more than his talented contribution to the Cubs. It was still something fun to look forward to. As the Cubs came closer to the playoffs, I became more optimistic and headstrong about the idea of the Cubs finally winning it all. Even on the night when a new found hatred for the New York Mets was created when they eliminated us from progressing any farther than the NLCS games, I never lost faith in the Cubs. Instead of coming to school ashamed of people or more specifically my math teacher thinking my team sucked, I went to school hopeful and sure that the Cubs were going to make a comeback the following year.
2016 comes around and I have Mr. Karas again for math, our sports talk picked up where it left off. I’ve always been more of a baseball fan than my dad, but none the less my dad was elated that I was as passionate about a sport like how he is for football. So that year I go to go to more than one Cubs game. The Cubs started off their new season strong until one of their best players, Kyle Schwarber, busted his knee a few weeks in. I was fortunate enough to go a Cubs game a week after the accident and watch the cubs play against the Arizona Diamondbacks with my family. Unfortunately it was one of the few games we lost that season. It was easy to see that the other teams expected the Cubs and their fans morale to falter, but instead it made us just more resilient. The Cubs continued to slay their season. They were not only number one in just their American league but number one in all of the MLB. At one point they had a 10 game winning streak, their longest since 2001 when they had a 12 win streak. Fans who had never shown their support before finally joined the wagon. You can always join the bandwagon, but nothing is more rewarding than to be a loyal fan through thick and thin. In October they made it to NLCS games again and I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the second game at AT&T park against the San Francisco Giants. It was the game that went 13 innings long. The Cubs didn’t win that night but it was a night I will never forget. Even though I’ve been on this earth only 17 years, I still cried seeing the Cubs win The World Series for the very first time in my lifetime, my father’s lifetime, and even my grandfather’s lifetime. Nothing is more satisfying than being able to take with me into the real world the ability to be loyal and patient from supporting teams that have sucked for so long. No loss big enough can take that away from me.
