disbelief, long-suffering Chicago Cubs fans are shaking off superstitions and setting their sights on the teams first World Series in 71 years.Loyal fans as far south as San Antonio, Texas, and

CHICAGO -- With a mix of euphoria, relief and disbelief, long-suffering Chicago Cubs fans are shaking off superstitions and setting their sights on the teams first World Series in 71 years.Loyal fans as far south as San Antonio, Texas, and as far west as Washington state restructured their worldviews to include the seductive possibility that they wont be disappointed again.For me, personally I had tears in my eyes. Ive seen them come close, said Chicago native Jimmy Tingas, 47, who owns Wrigleyville Grill in San Antonio where he caters to homesick former Chicagoans still craving hot dogs and Italian beef. We have one more task to do. Im confident theyre going to do it.First lady Michelle Obama joined the chorus Sunday morning, congratulating her hometown Cubs a day after the team defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicagos Wrigley Field in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.The Chicago native tweeted: Way to go Cubs!! She then recalled her father, saying: My Dad is the reason Im a true Cubs fans. Hed be so proud!Lifelong fan Marilyn Hnatusko wiped away tears after the win Saturday night, recalling other longtime Cubs fans.I thought of all my relatives who didnt see this, my dear Uncle John, and now I cant quite believe it happened, she said.Scattered across the world, Cubs fans make up their own diaspora. Blizzard-hardened folk, their befuddling loyalty encompasses decades of frustration, disillusionment and too many sigh-filled pangs for next year. Many never lived in Chicago, but grew up elsewhere in the nations heartland, listening to games on WGNs powerful AM signal, which could be heard hundreds of miles, especially at night.Theyre often pressed to explain their loyalty. Stephen Kropp, 46, of Mercer Island, Washington, grew up in Chicago and stays true to his Cubs. He and a buddy plan to attend World Series Game 2 in Cleveland dressed as the Blues Brothers.Its a huge emotional investment, Kropp said Sunday. Its dumping all these emotions into something that never gives you anything back. Hanging out at Wrigley, having a beer and knowing youll never get to the promised land. These fans have more credibility (than other teams) to say theyre the best fans in baseball.A Midwestern impulse toward redemption is welling up on social media with a ForgiveBartman hashtag campaign pulling for Steve Bartman to throw out the first pitch when the World Series returns to Wrigley Field.Kropp favors forgiving Bartman, the fan whose interference with a foul ball in the 2003 playoffs added to the sense of a hovering curse. But they should seat him five rows back or higher, just in case, Kropp said.Restaurant owner Tingas, too, is having some trouble letting go of some traditional Cubs beliefs, like the infamous billy goat curse: When we win the World Series were going to have roasted goat, Ill tell you that.Steve Zucker, whos been coming to games since the 1940s, said before Saturdays game that if the Cubs won, he would go to his fathers grave and leave a Cubs hat and T-shirt.My dad died playing cards, listening to the game on a little transistor radio, so I may bring that, too, Zucker said. Before this year, I never thought I would see this.Cubs All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo said the fans deserved to see this team make the World Series.These fans have been amazing since the time I got here, Rizzo said. We got four more big ones to go, but were going to enjoy this.Chicago faces the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday.---AP writer Don Babwin in Chicago contributed to this report. Jerseys Basketball China . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Basketball Jerseys China . Down by seven with 90 seconds left in regulation, thats where they looked comfortable. http://www.cheapjerseysnbaoutlet.com/ . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Cheap NBA Jerseys 2020 . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Cheap Basketball Hoodies . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. The fourth edition of the College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed Tuesday night (7 ET, ESPN), and there are, at most, two more opportunities for contenders to impress the 12 members of the selection committee.On Dec. 4, the committee will release its final rankings, with the top four teams meeting in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 31.There wasnt a lot of drama in Week 12, as 10 of the committees top 11 teams won, but there could be some movement, especially outside of the top four. Heres a look at the top questions facing the committee this week:1. How high can three-loss USC rise? If Colorado loses to Utah on Saturday, USC will win the Pac-12 South division and play for the conference title. If the Trojans win, would the committee consider a three-loss team that looks completely different from how it looked in September, when it lost to Alabama, Stanford and Utah -- three ranked opponents that they played either on the road or at a neutral site? Right now, USC sits at No. 13, so it has a lot of ground to make up, but with Louisville and Utah both losing, it should get at least a little boost this week. USC has improved drastically under quarterback Sam Darnold. According to ESPN Stats & Information, since the start of October, USC has the highest average game score in the country (87 out of 100). Game score accounts for quality of the opponent, location of the game, the final result and how well a team controlled the game. The Trojans have certainly impressed the five former coaches on the committee. As committee chair Kirby Hocutt said, Honestly, when you talk to the coaches that are in the selection committee room, I dont think any of them if they were coaching today would want to play that Southern California team right now.2. How will Wilton Speights injury affect Michigan? Saturdays game against Indiana was the first time the committee had a chance to evaluate Michigan with backup quarterback John OKorn, and while UM got the 20-10 win, it wasnt pretty. It was Michigans weakest passing performance in 15 years, as OKorn was 7-of-16 for 59 yards, the fewest yards passing for Michigan since 2001. Michigan ran the ball well, as DeVeon Smith had a career-high 158 yards, but the offense was one-dimensional and lacked the creativity it displayed with Speight. Because of that, its possible Michigan drops in this weeks rankings. The bigger issue will be Saturday in Columbus, where it will take more than a strong running game to beat the Buckeyes. If Michigan wins, it will clinch the Big Ten East division.3. How does Oklahoma stack up against the two-loss Big Ten teams? The Sooners earned their first win against a ranked opponent, and it came agaiinst West Virginia in Morgantown, a tough place to play.dddddddddddd They also have two decent losses: to Houston, which could be ranked this week after beating Louisville, and Ohio State. The question is whether that win at West Virginia will be enough to bump OU ahead of Wisconsin this week. If it does, that would mean its time to take OUs playoff hopes more seriously, because then the committee might take a two-loss OU ahead of a two-loss Wisconsin if they were their respective conferences champions. As long as Wisconsin and Washington are both ranked ahead of the Sooners, though, Oklahoma remains on the outside looking in and will need the Huskies to lose.4. Whats Oklahoma States record again? Mike Gundy thinks he has 10 wins. His official record -- the one the committee is using -- has his team at 9-2. In spite of Gundys protests, the Cowboys controversial loss to Central Michigan stands, and Hocutt has repeated that for two weeks now. We treat it as a loss, he said, However, the selection committee is aware of what transpired in that football game. Thats not the Cowboys problem. The bigger issue is a weak strength of schedule that includes a loss to Baylor and a one-point win against Texas Tech at home. Right now, the committee thinks there are four two-loss teams better than the Cowboys, and they all won in Week 12. A win at 5-5 TCU is unlikely to sway the committees perspective on Oklahoma State.5. Where does the Group of 5 race stand? The highest-ranked champion from a Group of 5 conference is guaranteed a spot in a New Years Six bowl, and this year it would be the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Last week, one-loss Boise State was ranked one spot ahead of undefeated Western Michigan, a decision that went back and forth in our room, according to Hocutt. In the end, No. 20 Boise States win over Washington State carried more value than any opponent No. 21 WMU had beaten. Will that philosophy still stand now that Washington State lost? The committee also will consider the impact Wyomings last-second win against San Diego State had this week on a two-point attempt that failed. If the Cowboys had lost, Boise would have been in control of the division and favored to win the Mountain West. So now what? According to ESPNs Football Power Index, Western Michigan is the only Group of 5 team currently ranked by The Associated Press that is even favored to win its conference (71 percent chance to win the MAC). Boise State (25 percent), Navy (35 percent), South Florida (5 percent) and Troy (20 percent) are all long shots, according to FPI. 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