Steve Christilaw: Never take championships for granted

Just how long does the afterglow of the Cubs winning the World Series last?

It was great to see Bill Murray and Cubs players Anthony Rizzo, David Ross and Dexter Fowler make a surprise appearance on “Saturday Night Live” to sing the team’s favorite song – which doubles as my significant other’s ringtone.

I don’t think the grin has left Rizzo’s face and I think I spotted a tear in Murray’s eye.

The “Wait ’Til Next Year” attitude that Cubs fans borrowed from the old Brooklyn Dodgers sustained them through the years when Leo Durocher managed the team. And when Whitey Lockman managed them. And when Joey Amalfitano, Lee Elia, Charlie Fox, Jim Frey, John Vukovich, Gene Michael, Frank Lucchesi, Don Zimmer, Joe Altobelli, Jim Essian, Jim Lefebvre, Tom Trebelhorn, Jim Riggleman, Don Baylor, Rene Lachemann, Bruce Kimm, Dusty Baker, Lou Piniella, Mike Quade, Dale Sveum and Rick Renteria were at the helm.

It even sustained them when our hometown Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg was passed over from that long, long, long list of Cubs managers.

The culture of being a Cubs fan will change now. The “Lovable Losers” we all grew up with and rooted for are retired for good. The expectation, and the Las Vegas early betting line, has the Cubs favored to make it two World Series titles in a row.

Just don’t get greedy.

We thought the same thing when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. It wasn’t a one-off, we told ourselves, it was the beginning of a dynasty!

The second Super Bowl ring never made it onto a Seattle finger thanks to a bad call at the goal line.

Never take championships for granted.

West Valley reached the 1975 state championship game, where they were greeted by a downpour of rain and a dearth of scoring in an 11-0 loss to Sumner. A year later the Eagles were back, this time beating Hoquiam.

It was the first state title by a Spokane-area team since the WIAA instituted the playoff system, and the future looked bright.

The Eagles have been back to the title game a couple times since, but there are no more state championship football trophies in the school’s case.

There was a time when the future of Washington State football looked just as bright.

William “Lone Star” Dietz became the Cougars’ coach, and in 1915, the State College of Washington won the inaugural Rose Bowl game – a story well told by Central Valley graduate Darin Watkins in his book “Chance for Glory.”

When you win the first of something, you have to think there will be plenty more where that first one came from, right?

It took the Cougars 15 seasons to return to Pasadena, where they lost to Alabama 24-0 on New Year’s Day, 1931. It was another 67 years before they got another chance and lost to Michigan 21-16 on Jan. 1, 1998. On Jan. 1, 2003, Jason Gesser and the Cougars lost to Oklahoma, 34-14.

How long will the celebratory hangover last when the Cougars finally get to the Rose Bowl and (gasp) win?

We won’t even speculate on what it will be like if the Mariners win it all. It was impressive when the SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979, and the traffic jam on Interstate 5 started somewhere south of Olympia when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl.

Championships stick with you and sustain you through the bleak times. Over time they become legends, and you know what they say about legends.

In “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” Jimmy Stewart explains the real story behind the legend that sent him to Washington, D.C., as a U.S. senator. The truth is different from the legend, but the newspaperman to whom he reveals the truth will have none of it.

“No sir,” he says. “This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

Winning titles spoils you. You begin to think the winning will never end.

And then the winning passes into legend.

Gonzaga men’s basketball is on an incredible roll, and the program shows no signs of faltering. Coach Mark Few has taken that program to a new level and, knock wood, it will maintain that new tradition of excellence for years to come.

But don’t ever take it for granted.

Steve Christilaw can be reached at steve. christilaw@gmail.com.