By Shaquira Speaks

It’s not over until the fat lady sings. 

2016 has been a year for lessons for the sports world.  The biggest one being “a 3-1 lead is not a green light for a championship”.

On November 2, 2016, the unthinkable occurred. The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years. Their game 7 win broke their long infamous streak of the longest franchise to go without a championship.

But the keywords in that sentence is “game 7”. The Cubs were down 3-1 against the Cleveland Indians. Cleveland went into game 4 with the hot head, knowing they were going to win and putting up the plastics sheets for the champagne party. What they failed to realize was being up by two games really meant nothing until the last out was called in the bottom of the ninth.

Cubs came back to win three straight games and they left with the most coveted and sought after jewelry in sports: a championship ring. They became the sixth team to come back from a 3-1 deficit.

As the world can recall, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a great surge after being down 3-1 to the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. Despite the loss of Draymond Green, the Warriors were confident heading into game 5. Cleveland made sure to deflate it three good times to finally win a long-awaited championship and seal the Warriors fate in NBA infamy.

When will athletes and fans alike learn that a 3-1 lead is not a go-head for a championship? You must play until there are three zeros on the clock or the last out is called in the bottom of the ninth inning. Similarly, a 3-2 lead is not a championship either. You’ve got to play until the confetti flurries cloud your vision, the crowd is deafening and you see your teammates in dogpiles on the ground.

Play until you know you’ve won.

Now that the Cubs have broken their curse of the goat and have won a title, the new hex is “the 3-1 lead”. This hex is going to have teams almost scared to have. It won’t mean the upper hand anymore especially while being at home.