Chicago Cubs: Are Fans Getting Delusional About Their Fandom?

The Chicago Cubs winning the World Series has brought out some delusional, over-the-top bias and presumptuous opinions about winning, dedication, loyalty, expectations, and entitlement.

The comments from before, during and after the World Series have brought about some statements that seem to have been made by fans that don’t generally watch sports or dedicated fans that have gotten over-the-top involved.

Even more troubling than fans’ comments on social media are the sheer amount of stories about how the Chicago Cubs fan base deserved to win, how they were cursed (do we really believe curses are real?), how it relates to religion, and that their fan base had somehow suffered more because it had been 108 years.

That sports fandom is somehow connected to religion is one of the most troubling whether or not you are devout toward any religion. Most fans have prayed for something good to happen to their team at some point in their life. As I got older I had an epiphany as to how ridiculous this is. There is just as likely to be a fan of another team praying for their team to do well.

Who wins in that scenario? Does it give an edge to teams like the Yankees and Cubs because they have a bigger fan base? The Jewish site OY Chicago published a post “Seven Reasons Jews Make for Good Cubs Fans” on November 2, the day of Game Seven.

The Chicago Tribune had their own take – “For Cubs’ faithful, baseball and religion often overlap” – published on October 10, the same day as Game Four of the NLDS.