Game 7 For The Ages, All The Ages

Wednesday night November 2nd 2016 has been set up to be one of the best nights in sports history. GAME SEVEN. Ask any sports fan what those two words mean and they'll tell either tell you how great it is or how devastating it can be. They can tell you stories of triumph or stories of ultimate failure.


I can easily give both without hesitation. Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against the Boston Red Sox and Aaron Boone sending a knuckleball into the Left Field seats to send the Yankees into the World Series is one of my favorite all-time memories. On the other side, Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks will forever haunt me as a Yankees fan. Up 2-1 in the Bottom of the 9th inning and the greatest closer of all-time on the mound, Mariano Rivera, the Yanks somehow lost 3-2 and lost the World Series. The World Series that saw TWO, not one, but TWO of the most dramatic endings in sports history go in the Yankees favor. Down by 2 runs in the 9th inning and 2 outs in BOTH Games 4 and 5, the Yanks hit Game-tying Home Runs to send the games into extra innings, just so they could win it minutes later. It was just 7 weeks removed from the September 11th attacks. Those games brought the city of New York together. They captivated a nation in suffering. A feel good story at the perfect moment, in the perfect city, with the perfect team. The thing is...nothing in life is perfect and the 2001 World Series HAD to go to the Yankees, but it didn't. The city needed something, anything to cheer for. They did for a couple nights, but ultimately the Yankees lost one of the most heartbreaking games in their history.


This brings me to Wednesday night. The Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs....Game Seven. All eyes in those two cities will be on them. They ALL will be watching Game Seven. Both cities might just shut down. Why? The Indians haven't won a World Series since 1948 and the Cubs haven't won since 1908. 176 years without a championship. We all aim to be the top of our profession, so could you imagine not being Employee of the Month for 68 years, how bout 108 years? Always giving it your all each and every day and never getting recognized for your hard work? We'd go crazy, we'd lose faith in ourselves at some point, we'd question why do we continue if we can't succeed. Well for these two cities, that's the feeling going around. Wednesday night, someone will finally get recognized. Someone will end years of frustration, and someone will hang their heads and go into the winter questioning everything they did for the last 8 and a half months.


Cleveland is the Cinderella team have no business being in Game Seven of th world Series. Yet here they are, in their home ballpark in front of their fans at Progressive Field. Literally steps away from The Quiken Loans Arena, where the Cleveland Cavaliers play. The same Cavaliers team that won an NBA Championship back in June when no one gave them a chance to win against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors just came off an NBA Championship last year, plus set an NBA record going 73-9 AND were up 3 games to 1. Yet the Cavs fought for respect, fought game by game and won it all. Ironically enough, the Indians found themselves up 3 games to 1 against the team with the best record in MLB but have faltered in their first two attempts to win it all and end their 68 year championship drought.


Chicago is America's feel good story. They are the underdogs. Yet they came in the favorites to win it all back in Feburary. They were the favorites after each passing month in the regular season and each passing round in the Postseason. They have been the lovable losers for well over a century and they are one win away from making history. The city of Chicago will be shut down tomorrow night. Every pair of eyes will be glued on every move these Cubs make. If you've watched them this Postseason they have been nothing short of spectacular. They've come from behind every single time you thought there was no way they could win. Yet they did and they're one win away from one of the greatest sports stories that could ever be told. That's gotta mean something, doesn't it?


As a Yankee fan, I like both teams because they both have two former Yankees on their teams that are playing huge significant roles (Andrew Miller:Indians, Aroldis Chapman:Cubs) So I love that they are performing well when the lights are shining brightest. But I will be rooting for the Cubs in Gmae Seven, like I have all Postseason long. They remind me a lot of the Yankees. And when I say that, I mean the real Yankees, the ones that played in the real Yankee Stadium. The Jeters, the Riveras, the Posadas, the Pettittes, the Williams, the O'Neil's. Those guys were good, they played with heart and they were winners. I see the same in the Cubs. I have seen America's best feel good story unfold for the last 4-5 weeks, I need to see one more good moment. I need to see the underdog win. I need to see David beat Goliath. I want a Cubs World Series win in Game Seven.


Do yourself a favor, watch Game Seven. Watch it for the reasons we love sports for. Watch the passion, watch the intensity, watch the nerves, watch the tension. Have a rooting interest. Go for the city of Cleveland who never won ANYTHING before June, now they can claim their 2nd major sports championship within a 4 month span. Go for the city of Chicago and their fans who have NEVER experienced a high in their life like the one they're on now. Watch as a Yankee fan who sees two of their best pitchers going head to head to win a World Championship. Watch because either way, one city will be so overwhelmed with joy, it'll make you wish it was you and your team winning it all for the first time or watch to see a city go in complete silence and/or destroy itself in the face of defeat. The drama is all there, it's laid out there for your viewing pleasure. We've all watched debates that will doom us all in some way or another, so why not watch a tale of two lovable losing cities and it's franchises fight over being the very best in their profession? This IS better than any debate, any reality show and any soap opera. They even have A-Rod there to cover all those genres for you. Game Seven will be a classic, it will be history....will you be apart of it?










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