Imrem: Will Wrigley's famous atmosphere change?
OK, Cubs fans, the next move is yours.
Your wait for a World Series title is over. Cubs players raised the championship banner before Monday night's home opener.
Fireworks were launched. The Cubs paraded on the field with the Commissioners Trophy. Members of the Ricketts family ownership group threw out ceremonial pitches.
Then the Cubs and Dodgers actually played a game.
All that's left is Wednesday night's ring ceremony … so, what are fans going to do now?
Monday wasn't a good measure: Rain and the festivities made this a unique evening.
Manager Joe Maddon calls the normal atmosphere in Wrigley Field unlike any other place in the major leagues.
The question now is how different the new different will be from the old different because it will be different one way or another now that the Cubs finally won a World Series.
Will fans feel more urgency to win a second than they did to win a first? Or will they be more relaxed with the long wait over?
The Cubs' model - as fashioned by club president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer - has been Boston.
The Red Sox went 86 years before winning a World Series in 2004 … and then along came 2005.
After losing the first two games of the playoffs to the White Sox, we arrived in Boston for Game 3 and turned on talk-radio there.
The mood was sort of resignation like, oh well, we won last year, we'll win next year, losing this year is no big deal.
Red Sox fans finally had their World Series championship like Cub fans finally have theirs.
Epstein and Hoyer were running baseball operations in Boston back then, just as they are in Chicago now.
"Yeah," Hoyer said Monday night when asked whether there was a different vibe around Boston the year after.
Even as the Red Sox qualified for the postseason again, the feeling sure seemed to be less life or death.
"Since we won (in '04)," Hoyer said, "one of the best things was (in '05) we were a normal team in the way fans looked at it."
Normal?
"I definitely don't think people reacted with less interest," Hoyer said, "but they reacted differently because they didn't expect the next shoe to drop (anymore)."
OK, so here the Cubs are, embarking on a season in which they can repeat as champions and maybe even take a step toward establishing a dynasty.
Maddon is playing mind games with his players, reminding them to not be comfortable with last season's success.
Ah, but Maddon can't circulate around the ballpark and city urging fans to maintain their competitive edge.
So, will the Wrigley Field faithful be as demanding as they have been in recent years, or more demanding, or less demanding, or what?
As Maddon says, these fans are different, but it's hard to tell yet whether their evolution will make them feel more or less urgent.
"I'm hoping it'll be more of the same," Maddon said. "I don't want them to be satisfied."
The Cubs manager hopes his hope will translate into Wrigley Field being as hungry as it was last season.
"It's hard to imagine it being any different," Maddon said. "They've been crazy. Every day driving up (to the ballpark) is like October (playoffs)."
It's your move, Cubs fans, as to how you respond to the year after the year before.
mimrem@dailyherald.com