That Clinches It

I can remember where I was for each of these events. It is interesting to look back and remember where I was in my life in relation to when these sporting events took place. I will post them in chronological order going backwards.

Blackhawks Stanley Cup Clincher, June 9^th 2010 – I celebrated the only Hawks Cup in my lifetime at Tom’s Place in Lemont. We chose the place because my friend Chris had won tickets to a Cubs and Sox game and had to pick them up there. So, we decided to just have everyone watch the game at the bar. Chris got there early and basically reserved the back room for us and it wound up being a pretty good time and a great place to celebrate the Cup drinking Blatz.

Cubs 2008 NL Central Clincher, September 20^th 2008 – This was an interesting one. It was my wife’s birthday the day before. So, we had already planned on meeting Joyce’s family for an early lunch at a restaurant on the north side of the city. The Cubs played a day game. I knew their magic number was one. But, I have to be at that lunch and I can’t be in a hurry to leave. So, I had my phone and kept checking the score as we ate. I saw that the Cubs had a lead. We left the restaurant in the 8^th inning. I told Joyce, I have to see them clinch this so, we headed to the nearest bar we could find which would be the Independence Tap on Irving Park. We parked the car and we headed in and got to watch the final inning while I was enjoying a pint of PBR.

Cubs 2007 NL Central Clincher September 27^th 2007 – This one was very anticlimactic. The Cubs magic number going into the evening was 2. So a Cub win and a Brewer loss meant the division was ours. The only negative to this scenario meant that the Cubs would not be able to celebrate on the field as their game started an hour earlier than the Milwaukee game. Not knowing if it would be a clincher night or not, I was at home watching the game by myself in my basement. Sure enough the Cubs took care of business. So, I sat there watching the Brewers and Padres on ESPN. The Padres held a slim one read lead heading into the 8^th but then scored two insurance runs to put it away. So, as I said it was somewhat anticlimactic.

Cubs 2003 NL Central Clincher September 27^th 2003 – This one was memorable. It was my Aunt Joanne’s 50^th Birthday. My dad was in town to help celebrate the occasion and my Aunt had rented out a hall and everything. The Cubs had been rained out on Friday and their magic number stood at 2. Because of the rainout a double header was scheduled for the 27^th with the Pirates. Game 1 Mark Prior took care of business and the magic number was dwindled down to one. I ran home and got ready for the party between games. I made it back to my Aunts house for game 2 and I sat there in my suit and got to enjoy the celebration with my Dad as the Cubs crushed the Pirates for the clincher. We got to my Aunt’s party and for the only time in my life I did a shot with my old man to celebrate the division championship.

Cubs 1998 Wild Card Clincher September 28^th 1998 – The Cubs had to play an extra game on the 28^th to break a tie with the Giants. I remember more about the day before. The Cubs needed to win on Sunday and I was at a bar on the south side with my friends. The Cubs would lose that game and there was a table of asshole Sox fans next to mine rooting very passionately against the Cubs. (I have said it once and I will say it again, if another team’s failure gives you that much joy, that is the definition of a loser.) Anyway, the loss caused that one game playoff. I was still burned by the A-Hole Sox fans from the day before so, I chose to watch the game at my apartment in Chicago Ridge. It was a long hard fought game but the Cubs pulled it out.

Bulls Clinch 6^th title June 14^th 1998 – I was in a bad place in my life at this time. I had just broken up with my crazy nut job of a girlfriend and was still living in the apartment we used to share. She had just moved out at this point but, she was still driving me nuts, calling me and finding reasons to stop by unannounced. I was miserable but I had another month and half on the lease so, I could not move out yet. So, I sat alone in that apartment in Harwood Heights trying to enjoy the game even with the chaos all around me. It was weird.

Bulls Clinch 5^th title June 13^th 1997 – I was living in Elmwood Park at the time about to make the biggest mistake of my life and move in with my nut job ex. She came over with her son to watch the game. We made some popcorn and little did I know what utter madness the woman sitting next to me was about to cause me for the next year.

Bulls Clinch 4^th title June 16^th 1996 – It was Fathers Day. For some reason my Dad was in town for the occasion. So, that evening we all settled down to watch the game at my Aunt Joanne’s house. It was odd in that I think my friends and I watched every game of that magical season together but for the clincher I was surrounded by family. It was pretty cool.

Bulls Clinch 3^rd title June 20^th 1993 – For some reason my Mom and Lou went out somewhere to watch the game so, I had a ton of friends over to my house in Willow. I was dating Jenny and I remember her helping me get the house ready for my crew. I remember everybody myself included thinking that they were going to choke it away in the 4^th quarter. Then I remember Paxson hitting that jumper to win it. The noise from my house could have been heard in Phoenix.

Bulls Clinch 2^nd title June 14^th 1992 – Watched the game with my Mom, Lou, Uncle John, Aunt Kathy and Jenny at the house in Willow. I am sure others were there but I can’t remember the entire lineup. This game was memorable as the Bulls were losing the whole game. Then the bench players came in the 4^th quarter and got the Bulls the lead and MJ and company salted it away.

Bulls Clinch 1^st title June 12^th 1991 – Celebrated this one in Bedford Park at my Uncle John and Aunt Kathy’s house where they lived at the time. My Uncle John is probably the biggest influence on me as a sports fan. He is just as passionate and live and die with the teams he loves as I am. So, when a Chicago team has a chance to win a championship there are few others I would rather celebrate it with then him. Up to that point there wasn’t a whole lot to celebrate as a fan of the teams in the Windy City. That first Bulls championship will always be my favorite.

Cubs Clinch NL East Title September 26^th 1989 – I was working at Kmart. And like most weeknights I was scheduled to work that evening. The magic number was one. It had been a fun and crazy summer as the Cubs came out of nowhere to challenge for the division. This was back before cell phones and the internet. The only way for me to get updates on the score was to actually watch the contest. So, the game was on in the break room and it was on in the appliances section on the TV’s we had there. I was not going to miss them clinch it, if it was going to happen on this night. It was a close game and all night I was walking into appliances to catch the score and watch the action all without being caught slacking off my Mr. White the Kmart manager that evening, who was a great guy but a huge Sox fan and a huge Cub hater. The Cubs got a run in the 8^th to take a 3-2 lead. I was not going to miss the bottom of the ninth. To Mr. White’s credit he saw me in the break room at the start of the ninth and he never scolded me for being there watching it. As a matter of fact he was right next to me the whole time in the break room. The Expos would getting the tying run on 3^rd against our hair on fire closer Mitch Williams. But, the Wild Thing got the last hitter to strike out to win it. Mr. White shook my hand and offered me congratulations, with the stipulation, now get back to work. It was pretty funny.

Bears win Super Bowl January 26^th 1986 – I was 16. That 85 season was magical. In all honesty there has never been anything like it in Chicago from a sports perspective. Pretty much on a yearly basis my Mom and Lou threw a Super Bowl party regardless if he Bears were in it or not. This year would be no different. So, I was at my house on Sholer in Bridgeview watching it with the family. The game was over by halftime. I remember getting a call from Uncle John from a payphone at the Superdome as he was there in person. That was a call and celebration that I will always remember.

Cubs Clinch NL East September 24^th 1984 – This was a special one. The Cubs in my young adult life had never won a thing. On this evening I was at my Aunt Kathy and Uncle John’s house in Bridgeview watching the game with family and a lot of my Uncle’s friends from the White Hen he used to run. Sutcliffe was masterful that night and the outcome was really never in question. When they won it my Uncle popped some Champaign. I was a 15 year old kid and one of my favorite memories was having a bottle passed to me by an off duty Hickory Hills cop who was a friend of my Uncle’s and him urging me to enjoy some of the bubbly. With him telling me, kid this doesn’t happen often. It would be an utter joyful evening, in contrast to a couple of weeks later when they choked away a 2-0 lead in San Diego. When Durham booted that groundball, that was the exact moment I learned what it meant to be a Cubs fan.