Is "Next Year" finally here?

America's favorite past time is finally upon us once again, and as most of you know I am a die hard Cubs fan.

Before I go into detail with the column I will share with you all some memories that I have experienced rooting year in and year out for the team that hails on the north side of the windy city.

I attended my first Cubs game at the age of 8 with my father in St. Louis. My first time experiencing the friendly confines of Wrigley Field did not come until 10 years later in 1998.

After Ryne Sandberg retired, Sammy Sosa quickly became my favorite Cub to root for. For anyone that follows this great game, you know that the summer of '98 marked the great home run chase by Mark McGwire and Sosa.

I was enrolled at Eastern Illinois University at the time, and wrestling practice had just begun. I had not made it to a game all summer, and it was the middle of September. Also going on was the McGwire-Sosa pursuit of breaking Roger Maris' mark of 61 home runs in a season and Sosa and the Cubs were in the middle of the National League Wild Card hunt.

The last home stand of the season was against the Cincinnati Reds September 19-21. With the final home game the Cubs organization was set to recognize Sammy for his great season and name it "Sammy Sosa Day." This was too much for me not to be there. So after my morning workout for wrestling practice I made the two and a half hour trip from Charleston to Chicago.

Being a college student, I did not have a great deal of money laying around, so for Friday and Saturday's game I purchased standing room only tickets, for $15 each.

After Saturday's game I made my way down closer to the field and waited for players to come out and sign autographs and mingle with the fans. Much to my surprise, Sosa came out right before I was ready to pack it in and try to sneak into the Cubby Bear for......a sandwich.

I ended up getting some pretty amazing photos and also my first Sosa autograph. With my autographed baseball the man himself shook my hand and I felt like I was on top of the world.

After I left the ballpark, still in awe, I made my way to the Cubby Bear, and ran into a person who was selling tickets for Sunday's home finale. I purchased one upper deck ticket (for an undisclosed amount). Wanting to be closer to the field, I later sold my ticket for a small profit and purchased a ticket on the lower level.

I once again had some amazing photos at the game on Sunday and of course of the pre-game ceremony of Sammy and his family. The Cubs ended up losing all three games of the series as Sosa was held hitless. I think the Reds pitching staff walked Sosa a dozen times in the series.

Some other memorable games includes Game 5 of the 2003 NLDS in Atlanta in which Kerry Wood pitched and picked up the win and had the game-winning RBI in that game.

I also attended the infamous last three games of 2004 when Sammy Sosa was benched by current Reds Manager Dusty Baker against the Atlanta Braves, then left the game early, which ended up being his game appearance in Cubs' uniform.

This year marked the first year that I have not been able to attend an opening day at either Wrigley or on the road, since 2002. Yes my heart was broken, when my six-year string of opening days came to an end this season, but the season is only three games old and there will be plenty of games for me to attend.

Now for those of you who are still awake, I will get on with the main point of this story, is "Next year" finally here?"

At the start of last season with the addition of Alfonzo Soriano and new skipper "Sweet" Lou Piniella, I made the prediction that the Cubs would win back-to-back titles last season and this season, just as they had did 100 years prior in 1907-08. But the Baby Backs of Arizona had other plans and once again left the Cub Nation saying the all too familiar phrase, "wait till next year".

So now with Piniella having one year under his belt, and the addition to Kosuke Fukodome, this year has to be the year, right?

So just for the record, I will make the GUARANTEE that the 2008 Chicago Cubs will make all of us die hard fans ecstatic and end the title drought! Along with that prediction I will also go on record to say that "Big Z" Carlos Zambrano will finally win the NL Cy Young, and Fukodome will take home Rookie of the Year honors.

And when all of this madness takes place I will be in Wrigleyville soaking in all the jubilation with 40,000 fans and in a city that will be turned upside down, even if I have to take out a loan for the World Series tickets.

With that being said, here's to an exciting season. GO CUBBIES!!!

Travis David is a Sports Writer at the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached at (812) 847-4487, ext. 20 or at tdavid@gcdailyworld.com.