Students experienced a wide range of emotion from anxiety to excitement while watching The Chicago Cubs win its first World Series in 108 years.

This win was an important matter to many students because of its family connection.

Emmy Greifenkamp, a sophomore elementary education major, said that seeing the Cubs win is especially meaningful to her since her father and grandfather are not alive to witness the event.

Sam Fishel, a junior English education major, said his family is full of Cubs fans including his grandfather.

“For us to win, it’s an important part for our family,” Fishel said. “We talked to my grandpa last night, and he was absolutely ecstatic.”

Zack Triebe, a senior biological sciences major, said his father grew up in Chicago and he is happy he got to see the Cubs win during his lifetime.

Students said they were fearful and battled feelings of uncertainty for the Cubs throughout the series.

Kathleen Arias, a senior elementary education major, said when the Cubs were down three to one, she was not sure if they would be able to win, but she still remained hopeful.

Fishel said he had a feeling once the Cubs tied the series up they would win. “They had this drive, and turned it around,” Fishel said. “They were not scoring runs early on in the series, and once they got their offense up, they got their confidence back up, and it seemed like they were going to win.”

The last game of the series held a lot of the students in anticipation, with the last inning tied between the Cubs and Indians and a delay in the game due to weather concerns.

Arias said she and her friend were going crazy waiting for the game to get back on.

“We tried to wait it out, but it was a really nerve-wrecking time,” Arias said.

Greifenkamp said the rain delay was horrible. “It is such a Cubs move,” Greifenkamp said.

Fishel said each member, even if they did not play in every game, made significant contributions throughout the series and in the final game.

Students noticed the strong defense the players did throughout the season.

“The Cubs’ defense was some of the best I have seen in a decade; they made a really good team effort,” Triebe said.

As soon as the Cubs won, students started making plans to celebrate. Arias said she posted a Facebook status to celebrate the Cubs win with all her friends and family.

“I’m going to be back home with my family at the end of next week so we are definitely going to celebrate while we are all together,” Fishel said.

The Cubs’ win left students hopeful for next year.

“I think the Cubs are going to come back strong next year; they have been doing great things in the past couple of years, and they can only go up,” Greifenkamp said.

Fishel said the Cubs would do well next year since a lot of the players were young, and this was their first major league experience.

“I think if the Cubs can keep their core team together, they can keep this going,” Fishel said.

Triebe said the only problem he foresees with the Cubs is the possibility of the players trading teams for a better salary.

“We might lose a little bit and need time to rebuild, but I still think they will be strong for a while,” Triebe said.

Triebe said he would definitely never forget this game.

“I watched every game of the series, and I will be able to say that I watched the Cubs finally win, and witness (the) curse being broken,” he said.

Marisa Foglia can be reached at 581-2812 or mjfoglia@eiu.edu.