The Cubs World Series Victory Finally Completes This Awesome Chicago Man Cave

I started writing for Sports Mockery a little over a year ago and had no idea what to expect. I don't have a journalism degree from some prestigious school and prior to Sports Mockery, I had zero writing experience. The owners took a chance on me, because despite the fact I'm not formally trained in sports writing, there are very few things that I'm more passionate about then Chicago sports. And since SM is a site "for the fan, by the fan", it was a match made in heaven (plus I'd like to think I know a thing or two about sports and am not your traditional "meatball" fan). However, I'm a tad different then the traditional Chicago sports fan because I was born and raised in the great state of Iowa. People always ask me why I'm so obsessed with Chicago sports since I'm from Iowa and the answer is actually quite simple. We don't have any professional sports teams to cheer for in Iowa. So, since Chicago is only about two hours from my hometown, the Chicago teams were the ones that I grew up following. Scratch that -- obsessively following.

Where It All Began

I was three-years-old when the Bears won Super Bowl XX in 1986 and although I don't remember watching the game, I was raised to believe that the best running back in NFL history was Walter Payton and there was no other defense besides that of the '85 Bears. My first year living in Chicago was the same year the Bears made it to the Superbowl before being beat by the Indianapolis Colts (f*cking Rex Grossman.) I was a pre-teen during the first of the Bulls three-peats and vividly remember watching all the championship celebrations at Grant Park. Watching Michael Jordan in his prime is something I didn't appreciate at the time, but looking at the current state of the NBA, I wish this generation of kids today could watch Mike play to see what real basketball looks like (not the "pussified version they know.) I was only in Chicago four years before the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010. Full disclosure -- I never grew up watching hockey in Iowa. We didn't play it, watch it, or care about it so when I got to Chicago in 2006, Blackhawks hockey was something new to me. Little did I know that the same year I moved to Chicago, the Blackhawks would draft their future captain, Jonathan Toews and by 2010, they were a well-oiled machine. The 2010 team solidified my love for the Blackhawks... and I haven't stopped watching since. So, when I was hired by Sports Mockery on March 31, 2016, I started writing about as many different things as I could. I dabbled in the Bears, touched on the Blackhawks and even wrote a few things on the Bulls. I quickly realized that although I love all of those teams, my strength was writing about the Chicago team that I'm most passionate about -- the Chicago Cubs.

My Grandpa Gus is the reason why I love the Cubs more than most human beings love anything.

He would watch every game religiously and since he lived right down the street from me, I'd walk to his house and watch the games with him. He'd give me his "unofficial" scouting report on every player and for the early part of my life I thought the Cubs shortstop was named "Goddamn Shawon Dunston." The 1989 Cubs were the first team I remember religiously following so when they lost the 1989 NLCS to the San Francisco Giants, my relationship with the Cubs was fully forged. To this day, I STILL hate Will Clark for what he did to my '89 Cubs. Seriously, I do. From the age of 5 to 18, my Dad and I would drive into Chicago one time each summer and watch a Cubs game. I'll never forget the two and half hour drive from Iowa to Wrigley Field and how excited I would get when I started to see "tall buildings" coming in off I-88. Once I got to Wrigley for the first time, I fell in love. If you're not a Cubs fan, it's hard to explain the level of love that most fans have for the team. They're generational in a sense and you become so invested in them that when things go wrong, you literally get emotional about it. To this day, I still can't watch what happens after Steve Bartman touches the ball in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. I know Alex Gonzalez boots a sure fire double-play ball and the floodgates opened for the Marlins after that, but I physically can't sit down to watch the end of that game. Hell, I still struggle watching Rajai Davis hit that home run even knowing the Cubs would comeback and win an unforgettable Game 7 of the World Series. My Grandpa didn't warn me about things like this. He shared the countless tales of the team and always reassured me that one day they'd win it but never warned me that the team would become a part of me. He's the reason why I tattooed them on my body, spent thousands of dollars to watch them play, and collected every single piece of Cubs memorabilia that I could get my hands on. Memorabilia that now hangs on the walls of my basement...

CONTINUE TO SEE MY MECCA OF CHICAGO SPORTS

More Than A Man Cave

Over the past three years, my basement has turned into somewhat of a "mecca of Chicago sports," with a very strong Cubs focus.  I've never been a fan of the term "man cave," but essentially that's what it is. Most of the stuff that hangs on my walls are newspapers or magazines that document some historic event in Chicago sports history: a no-hitter, series clinching win, career milestone, etc. I'm a huge history nerd so I love witnessing historic events on TV and then buying and framing the newspaper/magazine/article that documents it. Some people collect coins, I collect Chicago periodicals. As I started to hang the hundreds of framed pictures on my walls of my basement, I noticed something that was worrisome. I had at least one piece of "championship" memorabilia from each of my favorite Chicago teams: Bulls, Bears and Blackhawks. The one piece of missing championship memorabilia was, of course, from the Chicago Cubs. Thankfully, last year that problem was resolved. I honestly believe it was some divine intervention that I got the Sports Mockery job writing about the Cubs right before the 2016 season. I applied not really expecting anything but when they called back and asked if I could write about my favorite team on Earth, it was a no-brainer. I collected a few pieces of Cubs stuff from the 2016 regular season (Arrieta's no-no, KB's huge game in Cincinnati, and the division clincher) but it was the journey through the 2016 postseason that allowed me to pick up some pretty cool things before the team sealed the deal. I scooped up a playoff towel from Game 2 of the NLDS against the Giants, a "Make Someday Today" towel from Game 1 of the NLCS, and an autographed Kris Bryant baseball from the World Series. The ball was actually a gift from Bryant's high school coach, Derek Stafford, who I've gotten a chance to know pretty well. Stafford and another one of Bryant's former assistant coaches, Matt Estrada, flew into Chicago from Las Vegas for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the World Series and as a thank you for letting them crash at my house, they came bearing gifts.

A Celebration Worth Remembering

After an emotionally draining World Series and the celebration that ensued, I was able to get my hands on a ton of pretty cool newspapers to document the Cubs historic win, which FINALLY allowed me to hang up something with "Cubs" and "Championship" in the same sentence. Anything that documented the Cubs win was probably purchased by yours truly. So much so, I had to reorganize my basement to dedicate an entire wall to the historic 2016 Chicago Cubs. (You can't see it, but there's confetti from the championship parade inside one of the pictures.) The championship memorabilia also includes an Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant bobblehead, an official World Series patch, bottles of championship booze (some drank already) and about 10 t-shirts that are not included in the picture. As any Cubs fan will tell you, it was a long and stressful journey to get to 2016. I still have the ticket stubs from when the Cubs clinched the division in both 2003 and 2008 and swore to myself both times that those years would be the year that the Cubs broke the "curse." The tickets are joined by an article that I cut from the Chicago Tribune during the 2003 NLCS (The Bartman series). I read it at the time and it explained how I watch Cubs games perfectly.

When things go bad, walk away.

Expect the worst.

Drink.

Don't get too emotional.

All of which still apply to how I watch Cubs games to this day.

Final Piece To The Puzzle

The biggest change as a result of the Cubs championship was an addition to my framed jersey collection. Well, more so an addition by subtraction type of thing which I'll explain later. I've always been a jersey snob since as far back as I can remember. There's no real reason why I love buying jerseys besides the fact I really like the way they look. However, as I got older and my closet started to look like a damn locker room, I began selling my jersey's online. At my peak, I owned 33 different Cubs, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks jerseys, which is pretty ridiculous when you think about it. Today, I'm happy to say I've trimmed that number down to 12 (which is still pretty ridiculous when you think about it). Of the 12 jersey's, I have six framed in my basement. These are six guys who I respect and were/are a huge fan of at one point in my life. The six were: Ryne Sandberg, Patrick Kane, Sammy Sosa, Jonathan Toews, Walter Payton and Michael Jordan. The Cubs winning the championship forced me to alter my collection. As much as I loved Sammy Sosa growing up, he was never able to do what the 2016 Cubs did, therefore, his jersey had to come down. (Yes, I understand Sandberg never won it all either, but he's my all-time favorite Cub, OK?) As soon as I saw the beautiful "golden" Cubs jersey that the team would wear on their home opener and during their ring ceremony, I knew that was the jersey that had to go in the frame. And in my opinion, there's one guy who exudes what it means to be a Chicago Cub. Kris Bryant. And before you ask....yes that's replica ivy across the top of my basement. Here's a couple other shots. [caption width="337" id="attachment_86084" align="aligncenter"] World Series Champion hat with a Bonanza High School hat (Kris Bryant's high school)[/caption] [caption width="627" id="attachment_86085" align="aligncenter"] W flag that flew all of 2016. 3 commemorative Stanley Cup champion pucks.[/caption] [caption width="627" id="attachment_86086" align="aligncenter"] West wall.[/caption] Now that I'm officially out of wall space in my basement, I'm not sure what I'll do if another Chicago team wins a championship. Maybe I'll ask my wife if I can extend my memorabilia into our spare bedroom. Nevermind, I'll probably just have to re-arrange again.