Being a Cubs fan for a long time was hard.

The Cubs went 108 years without winning the ultimate World Series trophy. Cubs fans can now say they are champions, for now. Cubs fans will talk about how it was a struggle to be a Cubs fan for so long.

David Pasillas, sophomore, has been a Cubs fan since 2007. He’s happy the Cubs won the World Series.

“I remember that season (2007) because I saw Alfonso Soriano play ,and he was really good at the time. With Soriano it seemed like it was a home run or a strikeout,” said Pasillas.

Soriano in 2007 had 33 home runs with 130 strikeouts and hit .299 with the Cubbies. It was the best average he posted for the Cubs in his seven years for playing with the Cubs.

“When they went to the NLCS (last year), I was so happy, but they lost. I knew they were going to the World Series the next year after they lost. When they did I was so hype I couldn’t contain myself. That was the happiest moment in my life,” said Pasillas.

Donna Korczak, sophomore, has been a fan since 2010. In 2010, the Cubs went 75-87. It was a disappointing year for them.

All-Stars like Marlon Byrd, Kosuke Fukudome, and Soriano had subpar seasons. Their starting pitchers gave up a lot, as they gave up almost 4 runs each game. The Cubs needed consistent hitting and pitchers who didn’t give up a lot of runs.

“It was hard to support a team that couldn’t get the job done game in and game out. They were awful until 2015, when they signed Jon Lester, David Ross, and Jason Hammel during the offseason and traded for Miguel Montero and Dexter Fowler,” said Korczak.

The Cubs made a bold move by signing Theo Epstein in 2011. Epstein was the general manager for the Red Sox in 2004, as he made key trades to help the Red Sox beat the “Curse of Bambino.” 

“Despite them getting swept by the Mets, I believed they would win the World Series next year and they did,” said Korczak.

Miranda Gierman, freshman, has been a fan since 2012. That season was a tough one for Cubbie fans as they posted their worst record since 1966. This team just could not get it done on offense, as the highest average for a starter was .283 by Starlin Castro.

Soriano was a disappointment again as he hit 32 home runs while batting a mediocre .262. The highlight of that season was Anthony Rizzo as he was called up in late June. He batted .285 with 15 home runs in his rookie season, as he helped the Cubs struggling offense.

“It was hard supporting a team that constantly had losing seasons consecutively,” Gierman said.  “I still watched the Cubs but I had no faith in them until 2015 as they showed glimpse of greatness. They surprised me when they locked a Wild Card spot, as the NL Central was the toughest division that year.”

The Cubs were 73-89 in 2014, only to improve to be 97-65 in 2015 after the franchise made a lot of changes during the offseason. In 2015, they were third place in the NL Central division behind the Cardinals and Pirates.

“They beat the Pirates in a well-played game, and I was so excited, but scared as they were facing the Cardinals who had the best record in baseball, as they were 100-62. The Cubs played like they were veterans as they took the series 3-1. Then they faced the red hot Mets and they were swept. However, Daniel Murphy, on the Mets, killed the Cubs as he lead the Mets to the World Series.”

In the series, Murphy was hitting .529 with four home runs and 6 RBIs. If you saw the series, he didn’t get hits against relievers he got hits against top starters Lester, Jake Arrieta, and Jason Hammels.

“The Cubs losing wasn’t bad. They got a learning experience and it led them to breaking the Curse of the Billy Goat,” said Gierman.