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Hope springs October
9/28/2015 2:29:23 PM

By Chad Kimberley
Splash Column

My love affair with the Cubs started in 1984. 

I started watching baseball and following a plethora of players nicknamed after various animals at my local zoo: a penguin, a rhino and a bull (Ron Cey, Ryne Sandberg, Leon Durham). We made it to the playoffs and were one game from going to the World Series when they lost three straight games in San Diego and crushed my 9-year-old dreams.

In 1989, I watched a man named Wild Thing help lead us to the playoffs and skipped school, only to see the Cubs lose Game 5 of the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants and get my high school career off to a depressing start. 

I spent my college years with my roommate and fellow Cub fan Kyle skipping classes and watching Cubs losses while still believing next year would be the year. 

I started my career in 1998, when the Cubs finally made the postseason by winning a one game playoff over those dreaded Giants only to see them get swept out of the postseason in three straight games. My October joy was over before it even got started. 

Then came 2003 and the start of a new job in the Midwest. 

This was supposed to be the year to end all curses, disappointments and allow the eldest of Cub fans the opportunity to finally let go and walk through the gates of heaven with a smile on their face. 

We won the first round series and were again one game away from making a World Series appearance, when the gates of Hades poured out upon Cub Nation. It wasn't just the foul ball that wasn't caught, but the errors, failure to get key hits and a bullpen that blew up. 

My last year in the Midwest and my first year in the Pacific Northwest saw back-to-back playoff appearances along with back-to-back sweeps that sent us home early each season. 

As every crazed and committed fan understands, the love affair with a team intertwines with life. Your team can help you get through rough patches of life and at times seemingly ushers in the unexpected tough seasons we endure. 

At times we get to celebrate life's moments alongside the team. My wife and I traveled to Wrigley Field for our first date over 20 years ago. I partied with my groomsmen just above the ivy wall in the left-field bleachers on an August day before my wedding. I can clearly remember the Cubs beating the Brewers as my second daughter Rachel entered the world on a Saturday in September. 

Which is why it seems fitting that as I transition jobs this fall, I am truly looking forward to a Cubs postseason run that will end with the professionals enjoying a mosh pit on the pitcher's mound while my buddy Jay and I mosh pit in his living room. 

Because I am a crazed fan, I irrationally believe the Cubs will win the World Series this year. I am going to choose to ignore the fact that the Cubs only have one pitcher who I feel confident will get a win every time he walks to the mound, and I still believe despite the fact that my team has four rookies in the everyday lineup and unfortunately has struck out more than any other team - and by a healthy margin. Regardless of these cold, hard facts, I still believe.

The irrational belief, in fact, is what keeps all of us fans going.

It is why that despite a horrific opening week loss to Portland State, many WSU fans still have hope and belief that they can salvage their season (while other fans are building their effigy of Mike Leach to hang on the Palouse). 

It is why each March, the Gonzaga faithful live and breathe with each round of the NCAA tourney hoping, believing and even expecting the Bulldogs to break through to the Final Four and cut down the nets. 

It is why so many Seattle Supersonic fans begun to get their hopes up and thought that they would finally get a team back in the Emerald City before their dreams were dashed once again (although did you really want the Sacramento Kings). 

It is why there are as many 12th man jerseys dotting the backs of Seahawk fans who believe not only are they the loudest fans in the NFL but also the best and can personally and positively impact each and every home game with their noise (of course with the success of the team these past two seasons, maybe this irrational belief is becoming a reality).

And it is why there will be crazy celebrations all over Liberty Lake when the Supersonics finally tip off another season, the Cougars make the four team NCAA football playoff, the Zags enjoy their one shining moment and the Seahawks make it to their third straight Super Bowl. 

And it is why I will simultaneously laugh and cry while jumping up and down like a buffoon these next few weeks as my Cubs march to a World Series championship because hope springs this October. 

Chad Kimberley is a local teacher and coach. He lives with his family in Liberty Lake. 

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