As a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan, I am devastated about this baseball season. With a disabled list a mile long and a number of other factors, the Cards didn't make it into the postseason this year. We couldn't pull off the Cardinal Miracle — doing mediocre all season then somehow miraculously making it into postseason and sometimes the World Series. Our past years in baseball have given us a complex when it comes to winning — we expect the best and when we don't win it's like our world has fallen apart. This high expectation comes from years of winning and in more recent years, making to World Series several times, even if we don't win it.
This year, the one and only Chicago Cubs — the Cards arch nemesis when it comes to the division — have somehow managed to make their way into the World Series. This entire season for them was a miracle. They haven't won a Series since 1908, and haven't even been in the Series since 1945. With the great players they added and the new team dynamic, the team has flown through the season with ease. Now they are facing the Cleveland Indians in that much-coveted trophy that has eluded them for the past 108 years.
Due to my love for all things Cards, it's hard to put the bitterness of loss and rivalry for the Cubs aside to actually congratulate the team for making it to the World Series, but it's something all us Cardinal fans must do. For us, making it to the postseason is a common occurrence, something we expect from our home team, but for the Cubs, this is literally a history in the making. They have worked hard for this and while we've been winning, they've been disappointed again and again. No matter what happens this series, we have to give congratulations to the Cubs on having such a stellar season. They won their division almost 20 games ahead of us and they won the most games in both the American and National Leagues. They deserve this way more than we did.
As part of the National Leagues' Central division, we should cheer on our fellow team. We, as grown adults and human beings, should not allow our prejudices for the Cubs blind us to the fact that they have the best chance at winning this series. We should support a team who has put in the effort, time and loyalty to become the best they can be, which happens to be the best in the league. Even if the Cubs don't win this series, they will go into next season stronger and more confident in their ability to win.
We need to remember that while we bleed Cardinal red, we can still bleed a little blue now and then in the spirit of good sportsmanship. And, hey, we always have next season.
