Bianca Voss and Willa Nagy If any of you have good taste in movies, you’ve seen the 1985 classic Back to the Future.  The movie predicted the Chicago Cubs would win the 2015 World Series and fans were on the edge of their seats wondering if the prediction would become a reality until the Cubs tragically lost to the New York Mets in a 4-0 sweep.   Advancing to the NLDS, Chicago felt an energy that had not been there in almost a decade since their last postseason appearance. When I attended the winning game against the Cardinals, the rush of adrenaline and proudness of being a Cubs fan had never felt more real. Sitting on the edge of my seat, waving my rally towel in the air, I could not describe a better moment to be a Cubs fan. The roaring of the crowd as Stephen Piscotty awaited a pitch sending the Cubs to victory was an indescribable sight and sound. It was a sea of rally towels, faces painted red and blue, and eyes filled with pure bliss as fans watched their team clinch the series and advance to the NLCS. Watching the game was an amazing opportunity for the lucky few, however the majority of students around Chicago didn’t get the glory of watching their team advance due to homework and tests. The majority of student Cubs fans were swamped in tests and seemingly endless homework, unable to watch the postseason games. Unfortunately, the majority of teachers at Latin were not so understanding and generous with the deadlines of major papers, homework assignments, and tests. Some teachers had tests planned for the days after the games and any Cubs fans in their classes had to choose between watching the Cubs’ nail-biting, breathtaking comeback series games, or finishing last minute assignments.   One particularly enthusiastic 9th grade cubs fan, John Reum, shared his experience of having to miss parts of the playoff games due to tests planned for the following school day. John told us, “We were supposed to have a test on one of the days after the game, but our teacher would not allow the test to be postponed another day.  It was annoying because I am a loyal Cubs fan, but this test determined my grade.” Many other students at Latin also needed to make the hard decision of Chicago baseball vs. school.  While it may seem as an easy choice for some, the temptation to watch the game instead of doing schoolwork was immense. Another student, Mackenzie Guynn, also had a test after one of the playoff games. Mackenzie shared, “I was sad to not watch their final game since they hadn’t made it this far in so long, but glad to not have to watch them being crushed by the New York Mets.” The Cubs fans in the Latin School community empathized with Mackenzie and for many it was hard to watch their team come so far and lose. Cubs fans around Chicago and within the Latin community were devastated with the loss against the New York Mets, but with a young, strong team, the rarity of the Chicago Cubs post season appearances will change, and we can take October in the many years to come. As Cubs fans have been saying for the past 100 years, there’s always next season, but this time, next year may actually be the year that we fly the W!]]>