I can hear the helicopters flying around outside my window already. Must be World Series time. What do you think, Chicago? Sox going to take game 1? The series? This city is going to experience something that hasn’t happened in about 50 years – World Series fever. I predict people running thru the streets, crazed and delusional. Or maybe that’s just what’ll happen if the Astros take game 1.

I’ve always wondered how the performance of a city’s professional sports teams affects the overall psychological well-being of it’s citizens. Chicago teams, with the exception of the ’85 Bears and MJ’s Bulls, really aren’t known for their winning ways. If the Sox win the Series, perhaps a bit of that depression, or stigma, will lift and the city will experience a surge of pride that will last more than just a couple of weeks. And if the Sox continue their winning ways in the years to come, maybe the city will grow and prosper more than it would have if our teams just moped along.

So go Sox. Not only do you need to win the Series to give your team a championship for the first time in a million years, but the city’s collective psychological well-being and overall happiness is riding on it. Talk about pressure.