Relfections: Games 4 and 5

My wife said I should do a quick blog post the day after each World Series game to kind of recap my feelings since there's no documentary crew following me around as the Cubs go for their first championship since 1908. So here we go on Game 4 and 5.

Weekends are busy, so I didn't get a chance to reflect on Games 4 and 5 until today.

Game 4:

My wife and I have been cord-cutters (cable free) for about six years. We get subsist on a television diet of Netflix, Amazon Prime, free Roku channels (thank you PBS and PBSKids), mlb.com, and, perhaps, the sharing of a cable password of my parents for things like WatchESPN and HGTV, or perhaps we don't do that, who really knows.

We also have a digital antenna in our attic to get the broadcast channels. However, there are pine trees between us and the signal, meaning we usually can't get NBC and ABC, which is fine because the World Series is on FOX.

So we planned on having some friends over on Saturday night to watch Game 4. They arrived right around first pitch and the first inning went fine. However, the signal started going in and out shortly after that. My friend and I went in to our attic to try to move the antenna around and the game came back, despite the fact it ended up in the exact same spot as it was when we got up there. After another inning or so, the signal went out again, and back up to the attic we went. I'm pretty sure I didn't do all that good a job of hiding my frustrations.

Eventually we decided to move the party to my friends' house (you know, the people we invited over) and streamed the radio broadcast of the game on the way over there.

Neither place was much luck as the Cubs lost 7-2 to put them on the brink of elimination. Other than enjoying time with my friends, I can't say I enjoyed Saturday night.

Game 5:

For whatever reason, our antenna worked fine all day and so did the Cubs. They put up three runs and managed to hang on thanks to an eight-out save by Aroldis Chapman. I have mixed feelings on Chapman. On one hand, he's one of the best pitchers in the game and routinely throws baseballs 103 MPH. On the other, more important hand, he doesn't seem to show any remorse for being a domestic abuser. Sure, he served his penalty by MLB, but the idea of punishment is to change behavior and while there haven't been any reports of additional abuse, remorse and a stated desire to change and work with victims would be a giant step towards showing he's changed, but we haven't seen any of that.

(Fans have taken to donating money to domestic violence charities for every save Chapman gets. You can read about that idea here.)

Sunday was much more fun, but still nerve-wracking knowing that one mistake could end the season that has brought me so much joy and fun.

Now I get to live on pins and needles again tonight, needing another win to force a Game 7, at which point I may just spend Wednesday night curled up in a ball of anxiety in the corner of the living room. Man I hope I get to do that, but first, the Cubs need to win Game 6 tonight.