Chicago goes mad
Print Edition
BILL Murray cried for joy. Fans dangled out of car windows and high-fived strangers. Endless renditions of “Go Cubs Go” rang out into the night.
After waiting 108 years, Chicago erupted in noisy and euphoric celebration early yesterday following the Cubs’ historic win in the World Series over the Cleveland Indians.
Thousands gathered in the streets outside the Cubs’ home stadium Wrigley Field. They were somber as the game being played in Cleveland was tied, then ebullient as the city’s beloved baseball team won a much longed-for victory.
“People have been waiting for this for a long time,” said Stephen Hill, 64, owner of Brendan’s Pub which was filled to capacity with fans glued to the tense game that ended with an 8-7 Cubs win in 10 innings.
Jubilant fans poured into the streets, jumping, crying and singing “Go Cubs Go.”
Car horns blared for hours. Some revelers climbed light poles and television news vans, causing damage, but celebrations were mostly peaceful and authorities did not report any major incidents.
The Cubs hadn’t appeared in the World Series since 1945 and last won the championship in 1908 — when Theodore Roosevelt was president.
Local lore blamed the Cubs’ losing streak on the “Curse of the Billy Goat,” allegedly placed on the team by a vexed Billy Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, after being thrown out of a game in 1945 due to a foul-smelling pet goat.
Notable Chicagoans were also caught up in the excitement.
Actor Murray captured the mood of the entire city, crying on the field after the win, then dousing Cubs baseball operations president Theo Epstein with champagne.
Even presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — a Chicagoan and a Cubs fan — paused on the campaign trail on Wednesday to root for her home team.
The Democrat watched the final minutes of the game on an iPad following a rally in Arizona, her campaign said.
President Barack Obama, who is also a Chicagoan but a fan of the city’s rival South side White Sox, nevertheless offered his congratulations via Twitter. “That’s change even this South Sider can believe in. Want to come to the White House before I leave?” Obama wrote.
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