NLCS Dread

I first moved to Chicagoland in July of 1997. At the time, I was still attending summer camp when I should have been working, I was incredibly shy and insecure, and I was about to become a junior in high school. Obviously, being the New Yorker that I am at my roots, I knew I would deal with clashes with the New York and Chicago cultures. Those clashes apply to food, accents, landmarks, and certainly sports. And in no sport is it more relevant than in baseball.

The New York Mets are my number one team; anyone who has known me more than 15 minutes knows that about me. After God, friends, and food, they're probably my next biggest passion. And out here, the Chicago Cubs are the number one baseball team and probably the second biggest sports team after the Bears. They used to play in the NL East together, and there have been several very competitive divisional races between the two clubs, most notably 1969, 1984, and 1989.

Since I have lived here, the two franchises have rarely been good at the same time. The teams fought for the 1998 wild card along with the San Francisco Giants. Of course, the Mets dropped their last five games, leaving the Cubs to beat the Giants in a one-game playoff. the only other years that really comes close is 2008, when the Mets blew the division to Philadelphia and the Cubs won their division.

So now, it is 2015. Both have young, exciting teams that made the playoffs. One won their division, one won the wild card playoff game. One is built on starting pitching, one on offense. One has ownership who spends money, one has to roll pennies to turn the lights on in the stadium. And both are leading their NLDS series 2 games to 1. By the end of this night, there may be an NLCS in place of the New York Mets vs the Chicago Cubs.

Never before has anything like this happened. The Jets and Bears won't be playing in a Super Bowl anytime soon. The Knicks and Bulls have barely had any kind of rivalry since Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing retired. But each of the least two springs, we came one game away from seeing the Rangers and Blackhawks go at it in the Stanley Cup Finals. Two years ago, the Blackhawks lost in overtime to the Kings in Game 7. This year, the Rangers screwed it up with their dismal effort in Game 7 at home when they didn't even register a shot on goal in the third period.

Now we are one game away yet again. The Cubs all but have Game 4 in the bag, as they proceed to hit one home run after another against St. Louis. The Mets can advance to the NLS if they win Game 4 tonight in New York or Game 5 in Los Angeles. I would honestly rather see the Mets blow this series against the Dodgers than lose to Chicago. Because no matter what happens, I lose. I will either be incredibly hated or incredibly bullied. I really don't even want to imagine the hell my life is about to become over the next two weeks and beyond. Because no matter what happens, the result will live on forever. It's truly scary.