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Chicago Cubs' World Series Victory is AP's 2016 Sports Story of the Year

Started by Henry, December 27, 2016, 09:00:58 AM

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Henry

Lovable losers no more, and 108 years after their last world championship was definitely well worth it! (cue the Kelly Clarkson song A Moment Like This, followed by Go Cubs Go, which I'm still singing out loud)
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chicago-cubs-world-series-victory-is-aps-2016-sports-story-of-the-year/
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!


epzik8

My mother's family are planning a 95th birthday party for my mother's mother this coming spring, and I'm going to ask her what her thoughts are about witnessing a Cubs World Series win. It's a much bigger event for her than it is for me. She probably won't even know what I'm talking about, but I hope I can help her understand how lucky she is to have lived long enough to see the Cubs return to and win the Series.
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Max Rockatansky

Quote from: epzik8 on December 28, 2016, 11:25:20 PM
My mother's family are planning a 95th birthday party for my mother's mother this coming spring, and I'm going to ask her what her thoughts are about witnessing a Cubs World Series win. It's a much bigger event for her than it is for me. She probably won't even know what I'm talking about, but I hope I can help her understand how lucky she is to have lived long enough to see the Cubs return to and win the Series.

I guess that's really subjective.  At the end of the day will anyone really ever remember who won what sports championship in two hundred years?  I mean seriously it isn't like we are talking about some great war or historical event.  And I say that as a sports fan...so yeah, I'm not seeing this as some monster huge event of major historical significance.  But then again "subjective" is the operative word here, if the Lions ever won a Superbowl I would probably be partying for a friggin week....really I would just be happy with consistent playoff berths...including this year.

slorydn1

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 28, 2016, 11:40:44 PM
Quote from: epzik8 on December 28, 2016, 11:25:20 PM
My mother's family are planning a 95th birthday party for my mother's mother this coming spring, and I'm going to ask her what her thoughts are about witnessing a Cubs World Series win. It's a much bigger event for her than it is for me. She probably won't even know what I'm talking about, but I hope I can help her understand how lucky she is to have lived long enough to see the Cubs return to and win the Series.
I guess that's really subjective.  At the end of the day will anyone really ever remember who won what sports championship in two hundred years? I mean seriously it isn't like we are talking about some great war or historical event.  And I say that as a sports fan...so yeah, I'm not seeing this as some monster huge event of major historical significance.  But then again "subjective" is the operative word here, if the Lions ever won a Superbowl I would probably be partying for a friggin week....really I would just be happy with consistent playoff berths...including this year.


I think that's why they called it the Sports Story of the Year as opposed to more important matters like the election or Brexit (etc). As sports stories go this could be the Sports Story of the CENTURY!
I'm hoarse from singing Go Cubs Go for 2 months straight now, LOL.
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english si

Aren't AP an international organisation? Surely Leicester winning the Premier League was a bigger story of the same ilk (perennial failures win at last)?

Little Leicester won a cash-rich league with a squad cheaper than some individual players their opponents had. They spent the entire season at, or near, the top of it, despite being written off as a flash-in-the-pan week after week. Even ignoring the history, it was a massive feat to have punched so high above their weight as a club, as a team, as individual players.

Rather than National Championship competitors (so in the top 4 teams) in 2015, Leicester (newly promoted) were relegation escapees with their dramatic last ditch attempt to stay in the division succeeding (against massive odds). In a year they went from 7 points adrift at the bottom of the table, to seven points clear at the top. I don't see 5000-1 odds on the Cubs winning the World Series in 2016, because it wasn't as if the Cubs were a side hitting massively above their weight.

The history is the only thing going for the Cubs, and Leicester's weight of history is greater.

In 125 years in the Football League, Leicester's previous best was 2nd in 1929 - OK, that's more recent than the Cubs' win 108 years before, but it wasn't a win. And coming second was something that the Cubs also did in 1929. And 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945... Other than a 3rd place in 1928, Leicester's only other time in the top 5 clubs was 1963, when they came 4th. They are a team more used to coming in the teens when playing in the top flight, and more used to the second tier than playing with the big boys.

In 2007, Leicester came 22nd out of 24 in the second tier, and had to play a season in the third tier for the first time (the top tier was bigger in 1991, when they had their lowest league placement - 46th (or 22nd in the second tier), rather than 2007's 42nd or 2008's 45th (top in the third tier)) - the Cubs were never sent to the minor leagues, let alone playing there as recently as 2008 (or, if you view the second tier as minor-league, 2014!).

Yes, the breaking of a 108 year drought is an excellent story, but I don't see how it is as good as beating all the odds, all the nay sayers (including a former captain and most high-profile fan, who doubted even fairly late in the season), to win the league after 125 years as a member of it.

Rothman

Quote from: english si on December 29, 2016, 06:51:41 AM
Surely Leicester winning the Premier League was a bigger story of the same ilk (perennial failures win at last)?

No.
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hotdogPi

Quote from: Rothman on December 29, 2016, 08:46:04 AM
Quote from: english si on December 29, 2016, 06:51:41 AM
Surely Leicester winning the Premier League was a bigger story of the same ilk (perennial failures win at last)?

No.

I think it was. The Chicago Cubs had the best chance of winning the World Series throughout 2016 (even before the first game in 2016), much better than 1 in 30 (there are 30 teams). A team winning that wasn't expected to even come close to winning is much more significant.
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Max Rockatansky

Quote from: 1 on December 29, 2016, 08:50:26 AM
Quote from: Rothman on December 29, 2016, 08:46:04 AM
Quote from: english si on December 29, 2016, 06:51:41 AM
Surely Leicester winning the Premier League was a bigger story of the same ilk (perennial failures win at last)?

No.

I think it was. The Chicago Cubs had the best chance of winning the World Series throughout 2016 (even before the first game in 2016), much better than 1 in 30 (there are 30 teams). A team winning that wasn't expected to even come close to winning is much more significant.

That's exactly what I was getting with subjective.  It is arguable that more people world wide would agree a soccer related story had a bigger impact than baseball. 

Brandon

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 29, 2016, 09:42:01 AM
Quote from: 1 on December 29, 2016, 08:50:26 AM
Quote from: Rothman on December 29, 2016, 08:46:04 AM
Quote from: english si on December 29, 2016, 06:51:41 AM
Surely Leicester winning the Premier League was a bigger story of the same ilk (perennial failures win at last)?

No.

I think it was. The Chicago Cubs had the best chance of winning the World Series throughout 2016 (even before the first game in 2016), much better than 1 in 30 (there are 30 teams). A team winning that wasn't expected to even come close to winning is much more significant.

That's exactly what I was getting with subjective.  It is arguable that more people world wide would agree a soccer related story had a bigger impact than baseball. 

Only really in Latin America and Europe.  Outside of there, who really cares much about soccer?  The baseball story is more important in East Asia, North America, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.
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Max Rockatansky

Quote from: Brandon on December 29, 2016, 10:02:50 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 29, 2016, 09:42:01 AM
Quote from: 1 on December 29, 2016, 08:50:26 AM
Quote from: Rothman on December 29, 2016, 08:46:04 AM
Quote from: english si on December 29, 2016, 06:51:41 AM
Surely Leicester winning the Premier League was a bigger story of the same ilk (perennial failures win at last)?

No.

I think it was. The Chicago Cubs had the best chance of winning the World Series throughout 2016 (even before the first game in 2016), much better than 1 in 30 (there are 30 teams). A team winning that wasn't expected to even come close to winning is much more significant.

That's exactly what I was getting with subjective.  It is arguable that more people world wide would agree a soccer related story had a bigger impact than baseball. 

Only really in Latin America and Europe.  Outside of there, who really cares much about soccer?  The baseball story is more important in East Asia, North America, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

Ummm...I'd say soccer is just as big if not bigger in Latin America...no Africa either?  If you want to see something trippy go check out Orlando with the Orlando City Lions as an example on the US mainland.  Basically that IS the team in the city as far as the Dominican population (Orlando has a huge demographic making up a large segment of the population) is concerned, even the NFL is second class and the Magic are hardly in the discussion.  I'd say the biggest presence for baseball is the US, Japan, and the Caribbean....really by comparison soccer blows pretty much everyone else out of the water as far as world wide following.  Its arguable that basketball even exceeds baseball in world wide following nowadays.

english si

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 29, 2016, 09:42:01 AMThat's exactly what I was getting with subjective.  It is arguable that more people world wide would agree a soccer related story had a bigger impact than baseball.
And you'll note that I wasn't fussed in my reasoning as to what the sport was, but the things that make the Cubs winning a decent story (long wait, etc) being even more the case with Leicester.

That the Cubs became 'world champions' despite only one eligible team coming from outside a (albeit populous) single county - and in a sport that is for people who find cricket having too much action and soccer as having too high a score/hour figure - didn't even come into it ;)

Nor did the EPL being the most popular sports league in the world, whereas MLB isn't even number 1 in the USA... ;)
Quote from: Brandon on December 29, 2016, 10:02:50 AMOnly really in Latin America and Europe.  Outside of there, who really cares much about soccer?
Pretty much everyone, and while it might not be the most popular sport in places like Japan, Venezuela, Australia, India, China, etc that doesn't mean they don't care about it.

Baseball has the places you listed and that's about it. OK, Italy and the Netherlands provided a team for 4 of the 5 recent Olympics Baseball was at, Australia provided a team at 3 (though were incoming hosts and hosts at the first two, and despite medalling at the third, couldn't make up a team for the fourth despite being the most sports-crazy nation on earth) but its a sport that joins Polo on the very short list of 'sports we cared so little about we voted to remove them from the Olympics'.

But as I said, the Leicester story is simply better at the things that makes the Cubs such a good story. None of this popularity stuff matters.

CNGL-Leudimin

I really liked when Leicester won the Premier League and made bookmakers lose £25 million due to them giving 5000-to-1 odds of winning. And I held my breath as the World Series were contested, the Cubs got 1-3 behind the Indians but they overcame that and ended the Curse of the Billy Goat and a 108-year drought. Both were the sports stories of the year for me (I even celebrated the Cubs' championship).
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nexus73

The high school I am an alumnus of was founded in 1908.  This year we won our first ever football state championship.  Consider me a Cubs fan too I guess!

Rick
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Henry

Quote from: nexus73 on December 29, 2016, 07:45:58 PM
The high school I am an alumnus of was founded in 1908.  This year we won our first ever football state championship.  Consider me a Cubs fan too I guess!

Rick
What a happy coincidence, huh?
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!



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