By: Chris Andrews ’18

I am a loyal fan to my favorite teams in each sport. The seasons when my team is out of the playoffs, I often find myself rooting for the underdog.  For example, when the Chicago Cubs made it the World Series this year, it brought new life to baseball. For me, it brought special excitement to the game. And when the Cubs won in Game 7, it was a thrilling victory not only for the team, but for the sport as well.

There were many great stories of devoted Cubs fans that have rooted for the team their entire lifetime. Young and old shared the thrill they felt when their team made it to the Series and moreso when the Cubs pulled through. Fans celebrated all night in the streets of Chicago as the Cubs lifted the the trophy for the first time in 108 years. Those rooting for this long-time underdog went beyond the city of Chicago. Even Pope Francis has a Cubs hat from the Chicago Archbishop.

As a sports fanatic, I catch a lot of games. I didn’t see as many baseball games this year, but I couldn’t miss an inning of the playoff games once the long cursed Cubs entered the ring. Personally, I think the reason is that I like to see that the world is fair, and that everyone has a shot.

Psychology researchers say that there is a science behind why we root for the underdog. One study showed that it was commonly accepted that underdogs put in a higher amount of effort, so people liked them more because they thought they worked harder. Another theory is that we take pleasure in the misfortune of others and we resent the powerhouse teams that win each year, so we root for them to lose. Other theories say that  people just like to see a team beat the odds.

Whatever the reason, it’s nice to see fans coming out in large numbers to support their favorite teams. It would be great to see this kind of enthusiasm across the country for more sports, like ice hockey. I’m looking forward to this sports season to cheer for my unfortunately underdog team, the New York Islanders , and I hope others will jump on the bandwagon as well.