Chicago Cubs: Previewing this weekend’s series with Reviewing the Brew

Chicago Cubs: Brewers fans ready to reclaim their home ballpark

For years, Chicago Cubs fans have flocked up I-94 to Miller Park in search of cheaper tickets and wins over the Brewers. But after the team came within one game of the World Series last year, Milwaukee faithful are ready to assert their dominance.

Q: How has the environment been different at Miller Park so far this season as opposed to years past? How did winning a division title change things for fans?

A: The environment is electric, even more so than last season. It’s almost feeling like the playoff level atmosphere we saw last October, but it’s happening now in March and April. I think we’re going to see fewer Cubs fans finding available tickets for the series at Miller Park because Brewers fans are so excited about this team and now that the rivalry is no longer seemingly one-sided, we’ll be more willing to show up.

Winning that division title has changed things so much for the fans. There was always the dread that our team could never get to the big game and win it. We’ve been let down so much in the past, we just expected it. But after last year, that whole mentality has changed. Yes, I know we didn’t win the big Game 7 of the NLCS, you don’t need to remind me of that, but the end last year didn’t feel like the end of our winning ways.

We’re optimistic for this season and the next few seasons into the future as well. We know we can compete with the large market, high payroll teams like the Cubs and the Dodgers and hold our own. And now that we know that, fans won’t back down from anyone.

Funny enough, that pretty much encapsulates how the Brewers take the field these days. They proved they belong in the conversation of the league’s best teams last fall – and now, they’re ready to take one on the chin and come back swinging harder than ever.