Chicago Cubs: Being a fan has never been more rewarding than right now

For the second-straight year, Chicago Cubs fans ranked as the best fan base in baseball. And why not? It’s never been more rewarding than right now.

The last few years have been a completely unnatural state of being for Chicago Cubs fans. After what seemed like years of chasing down the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central, the Cubs are now the kings of the division.

Not only are they the team to beat in the National League Central, but they’re annually one of the teams to beat in all of baseball. With a roster chock-full of former top prospects, the Cubs’ reign shows no signs of ending anytime soon, either.

After the Fandom 250 named the Chicago Cubs’ fanbase as the best in all of Major League Baseball, I thought back on some of my own personal favorite moments as a fan over the last few years.

I’m sure a lot of these don’t seem like big pivotal moments in life – but, to me, they mean the world.

Christmas morning with family – everything you want

Since I started dating my now-wife, Christmas has taken on an entirely new meaning for me. Growing up, I always loved the holidays. But as you get older, things change and the energy and excitement isn’t as prevalent – at least it wasn’t for me.

But like I said, Christmas is a big deal with my in-laws. And I love it. The only Cubs fan I know who’s as die-hard as I am is my brother-in-law. And each Christmas morning, our respective gifts is a barrage of Cubs-themed clothing, knick-knacks and everything in-between. I’m not joking when I say that he has chocolate bars more than a decade old – still unwrapped because they have a Cubs logo on the wrapper.

It’s impressive – I think.

Really, the Cubs have been good since my wife and I started dating. So each holiday season serves as an homage to said success – and it’s an amazing time filled with family and good memories. Not to mention, it’s a big reminder that our team is the toast of Major League Baseball – and, to be frank, I didn’t think that day would ever come growing up.

A wild ride to cap off an unforgettable 2016

When I’m 100 years old (I decided a long time ago, 100 is a nice round number), 2016 will forever be the best year of my life.

I assumed that year was locked up when I got married in September. For more than 10 years, I was best friends with my now-wife. All of the sudden, I was watching her walk down the aisle toward me – which was a pretty incredible moment. After a week in Punta Cana, we came back to the end of the regular season and the start of playoff baseball for the second-straight year.

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My brother-in-law came up from Nashville for the World Series. After watching the Cubs cruise in the deciding game of the National League Championship Series, we thought we were ready.

We were wrong. So very, very wrong.

The next seven games included a roller coaster of emotions I didn’t even experience on our wedding day. At least on that day, as emotional as it was, I felt fairly confident she wasn’t going to bail and leave me hanging.

But when Rajai Davis hit the game-tying blast off Aroldis Chapman, I can confidently say it was the single-worst moment of my life. The Cubs aren’t just a team to me. It’s an integral part of my day-to-day. I’ve got a room in my house dedicated to nothing but this team and my lifelong love affair with them. So when that liner cleared the wall, it was nothing short of heartbreaking.

The 10th inning flipped those emotions on their head, taking me from one of the lowest points of my life to the highest. Pat Hughes’ call of the final out is still one of my favorite things to listen to. My wife, my brother-in-law and I stood in our living room, anxiously awaiting that final out.

And what a moment that was.

Broken bathrooms, unfinished bleachers and the start of an era

If there’s a common theme throughout all of this, it’s family.

We’ve got a Clark & Addison sign above the door to our deck, a ‘W’ pillow on our couch and over half of my closet has the Cubs logo on it. For her birthday, I got my wife a David Ross jersey – the year after he retired. In our house, there are two seasons: holiday season and baseball season.

For Christmas three years ago, my now-wife came through big-time, getting tickets for my brother-in-law and the two of us for Opening Night 2015. It proved to be Joe Maddon‘s first game as Cubs skipper, Jon Lester‘s first start for Chicago and the bleachers at Wrigley were still under renovation.

That game didn’t play out quite how I’d hoped. The rival St. Louis Cardinals shut out the Cubs – and it was clear there was still work to be done before we were ready to contend. But, by season’s end, that same Cubs team ended the Cardinals’ run in the postseason.

There was an energy around Wrigleyville that night. An excitement I’d never felt there before – and I’ve been to plenty of Opening Days at the Confines. With Lester on the bump, it made things real. We were ready to start winning – and the pieces were all starting to fall into place.

It still ranks as probably my favorite game I’ve ever been to – simply because of what that game signified: the end of the rebuild.