Holy Cow Harry, They Did It.

For so many years I have known the Chicago Cubs as the lovable losers. I remember as a kid going to Wrigley Field with my family. Sammy Sosa hit two home runs and Kerry Wood dominated pitching to each batter. Every year we as fans believe they will break the curse. This is our year. With each new season our hopes start off high but then get reminded what reality is. We will never win. It will never come. I believe that is what is special about being a Cubs fan. There is always hope and we stick with our team through those ups and downs. Who knows, maybe next year will be the year.

Then everything changed.

2016.

Game 7 in Cleveland.

The Billy Goat curse is broken.

The Chicago Cubs are World Series Champions for the first time in 108 years.

If you know about the Chicago Cubs, you may know about the famous sportscaster named Harry Caray. A man recognized by the ginormous classes he would wear but it was his passion for the team that really stood out. His dream was to see the Cubs win it at all one day. He never got that chance.

Soon after the Chicago Cubs won the title, this advertisement by Budweiser was put out.

The advertisement shows a collection of moments leading up to that final inning in Game 7. You can see real fans’ expressions of what they were experiencing in that game. Years of anguish, uncertainty, and hope all mixed in one. There was no acting in this commercial. These were real people expressing raw emotion. This is the conflict. The internal struggle of being a Cubs fan during the biggest moments of the season. That’s what makes this advertisement more special. It shows the truth how the game can influence someone’s life. You are taken through what these Cubs fans are thinking and feeling all the way until final out. From heads placed in their hands to jumping in the streets hugging one another. This is a hero’s journey that took 108 years to complete.

I still remember that night watching the Cubs play. I resonated with the fans in this ad because their emotions were mine. This portrayed what we all felt for all 10 innings of baseball. The only sign of relief was when Kris Bryant threw the ground ball to Anthony Rizzo for the final out. There was no stress. It was a celebration.

What gave me chills while watching this commercial was the fact that Harry Carey narrated the final out. Taking clips from his previous sportscasting years from the Chicago Cubs games, a dialogue was created to match the final out. If you close your eyes and listen, you would have thought he was there watching his team finally make it. You can feel the passion and love within his voice as he says Cubs Win. This hits my heart because he never truly saw it to the end. He passed away in 1998 and this was a true tribute to combine his voice to this historic Chicago Cubs win. We all knew that Harry was with us that night.

What was special was Budweiser wasn’t trying to sell their beer. They took an opportunity to make a gesture to an all-time great. Did they have to do it? No. But we as cubs fans will cherish this moment moving forward. So at the end of the day, this one’s for you Harry. They did it. The Cubs are World Series Champions once again.