A week ago, I posted a piece here about a radio documentary from WBEZ in Chicago about the history behind the song "Go Cubs, Go" by Steve Goodman, which he wrote in 1984 for WGN radio to play before baseball broadcasts, but which got resurrected by the team 13 years ago and fans have been singing it at Wrigley Field after every Cubs win since then, when the team flies its big blue-and-white "W" flag. This is a sort of companion to that. But even if you don't like baseball, stick with it. I think the new video here stands on its own, but it helps to have it in perspective. It's not essential -- you can skip this and jump right to the second video below -- but having a full sense of the world at the time will make it much more fun and meaningful. That "world at the time" is baseball, when in 2016 the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years. And this 3-1/2 minute gorgeous video does a really great job in re-creating that time. And while, yes, it's about baseball at heart, there's almost no sports in it. Mainly, it's wonderful home footage that people around the city took of themselves at home anticipating the moment when, hopefully, the Cubs would win -- and when hearts collapsed en masse as it looked like everything would fall apart. Watching their intense roller-coaster emotions -- from young fans to people who look like they might have lived through that entire 108 year drought -- is real-life, gripping human reactions at their most fascinating. So, while not necessary in order to enjoy the second video, it's awfully enjoyable on its own, being about people even more than sports. And this is the point of it all. The video above is about everything that happened that night on November 2, 2016. The video below comes from the next night. At the time of that Cubs World Series win, the musical Hamilton was playing in Chicago. Though the city was in mass celebration, the show must go on. And, of course, it did. This is the curtain call.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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