Let the Sharknado Descend!

Thanks to the rainy conditions in Washington, D.C. over the past weekend, the Chicago Cubs sat through multiple rain delays and were forced to postpone Friday’s game to a Saturday double-header after an aborted start that did not last long enough to become an official game. The Cubs were swept in the double-header, going 1-2 over the weekend after the Sunday matchup was rescheduled for this afternoon at 4:05 PM ET, forcing the Northsiders to play a grueling stretch of 30 games in 30 days. This allowed the second-place Milwaukee Brewers to gain ground in the division after their sweep of the San Francisco Giants. After losing 2 of 3 to the Brewers at Wrigley Field to begin the week, the Cubs are flying to DC in the middle of a homestand to make up Sunday’s game when Hurricane Florence is about to make landfall on the East Coast. The team had requested MLB either move the game to an alternate site or reschedule it for October 1st, but MLB refused to honor either request, defying common sense and logic given that the mayor of DC has declared a state of emergency in light of the expected “torrential rain.” It is highly likely that the game will be rained out anyway, which will waste the time and energy of both teams, as Washington is currently in the middle of a road trip.

This insistence on playing in the middle of catastrophic weather conditions reminds me of the plot of one of the installments in my favorite cheesy film franchise, Sharknado. In Sharknado 2, a hurricane causes sharknados to form over New York City, forcing the deadly sharks into the East River which eventually descend on Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, during the middle of a ballgame. Character actor Richard Kind stars as (fictional) Mets legend Harland “The Blaster” McGuinness, who provides another legendary moment at Citi Field by hitting a shark home run (1:00 below).

SHARKNADO 2 – The Super Death Cut from Vashi Nedomansky on Vimeo.

The Cubs’ lackluster performance over the past week and MLB’s insistence on rescheduling a game during the middle of a hurricane make this afternoon’s matchup the perfect moment for the catharsis that would be provided by a sharknado descending on Nationals Park. It could also be the final blow to the Nats owners’ hopes for success in DC, forcing the franchise to return to Montreal, ending the Curse of Youppi!