By Anthony Giachin ’17, Sports Editor

For the first time in 108 years, the Chicago Cubs are World Series champions – and “the Curse” aside, it is not too surprising. It is no secret that the 2016 regular season belonged to the Cubs. After a soul crushing four game sweep loss to the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series in 2015, the Cubs stormed back hungry for a title. If there was ever a fan base that was in need of a title, it was the Chicago Cubs fans. Everyone has heard about the pitiful performance of Cleveland sports teams for so long (until the Cavaliers championship this year of course), but the Chicago Cubs drought put that to shame.

108. It had been 108 years since the Chicago Cubs had captured the elusive World Series title. The last time the Cubs won the World Series, there were 16 teams in the league. There are just a little bit over 100 people living on the Earth today who were alive for the Cubs championship, and they were six years old at most at the time. No one has as deep an understanding

for the agony of defeat as lifelong Cubs fans do. Last year was a tease for Cubs fans. They could almost taste the World Series, a competition in which the team hadn’t appeared in since 1945. The loss was a major disappointment. But with the core young talent returning in 2016, it looked to be the year for Cubs fans – and it was.

As the season progressed, hopes for Cubs fans couldn’t have been higher. Everything was clicking for them. Their star young talent was shining as bright as ever through third baseman Kris Bryant, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, shortstop Addison Russell, and second baseman Javier Baez. With the addition of key veteran bats, such as outfielder Ben Zobrist and outfielder Dexter Fowler, there wasn’t a way to stop the potent Cubs offense. The fearsome bats of the Cubs didn’t just talk the talk, but they walked the walk as well; five of the Cubs’ eight position players not only made the All-Star game, but they started in it. But it wasn’t just the Cubs offense getting it done in the regular season.

The pitching of the Chicago Cubs was just as lethal as their offense. Three of the Cubs’ five starting pitchers are in contention to win the Cy Young award: Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, and Kyle Hendricks, with Kyle Hendricks leading the league with the lowest earned run average of 2.13. It appeared as though the Cubs only possible weakness was their bullpen, but that question mark was silenced immediately at the trade deadline. The Cubs were able to acquire the flame throwing closer Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees, who consistently throws 102 miles per hour. With the addition of Chapman to round out the bullpen, there was no way that the Cubs could lose.

Manager Joe Maddon pushed all the right buttons during the regular season. On August 1, after the Cubs mounted a late inning comeback against the Mariners, the game went into the 12^th inning and Joe Maddon decided to pinch hit Jon Lester, a pitcher, to hit with the winning run on third. This almost unheard of move ended up paying off when Jon Lester laid down a textbook suicide squeeze bunt to win the game for the Cubs. Joe Maddon could do no wrong and after this magical game on August 1, Cubs fans found hope they were going to achieve that which has alluded them for so long.

The Cubs rolled into the postseason with 103 wins, eight more than any other team in the league. After not playing a meaningful game for almost a month, the Cubs met the San Francisco Giants in the first round of the playoffs, a team that has won three World Series titles in the past six years, quite the opposite of the Cubs. After securing the first two games of the series, the magic of the Cubs season seemed to continue in Game 4. Going into the top of the 9^th inning, the Cubs were down three runs and somehow were able to scratch across four runs to win the game and the series.

The Cubs defeated the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers in a six-game boxing match, that had a combination of phenomenal pitching and explosive hitting. This series started off on a high note for the Cubs, as Miguel Montero, a backup catcher, hit a pinch hit grand slam to win the game in the bottom of the 8^th inning. To add onto this, the Cubs were able to defeat the best pitcher in the league, Clayton Kershaw, in Game 6 to advance to the World Series. Defeating a sensational pitcher like Kershaw solidified the idea of a dream Cubs team for their fans. All signs pointed to lifting the curse for the Cubs; and for once, these.

The Cubs have been the talk of Newark Academy among all sports fans, as we are all witnesses to history being made. A lot of people, not even Cubs fans, have been pulling for the Cubs to win so they can tell their grandchildren in 2124 that they saw the last time the Cubs won a World Series. Prior to the World Series, Andrew Wyshner, a die-hard Red Sox fan, was asked whether or not he thought the Cubs were destined to win a championship this year. He said, “I think the Cubs are clearly the best team in the league and I believe that they should win the World Series, but there is a serious curse on this team, and those are hard to be broken. That is coming from a Red Sox fan who had to deal with the Curse of the Bambino. Something special has to happen for the Cubs to win, but I think they could pull it off.” Those who watched the World Series, where the Cubs took down the Indians in brilliant fashion, winning Game 7 8-7 in extra innings, can vouch for one thing: something special did happen that night in Cleveland, Ohio. After everything – the Curse of the Billy Goat, the Steve Bartman incident, and more – the Chicago Cubs can finally call themselves World Series Champions once more.