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CHICAGO -- Youd think that a team trailing the World Series 3 games to 1 would look to, say, George Brett for inspiration. Or Willie Stargell. Or even Don Denkinger. But that wasnt where those 2016 Chicago Cubs looked Sunday night, when the time arrived to save their season.Nope. The Cubs found their inspiration in -- who else? -- the great Rocky Balboa.The bad news was, Sylvester Stallone wasnt available for any pregame Yo Adrian speeches. The good news was, the Cubs had their own personal winner of the Rocky Balboa look-alike contest, Mr. Anthony Rizzo, available to stand in for him.So suddenly, several hours before Game 5 of the World Series, the clubhouse TVs all flashed scenes from Rocky. The theme song, Gonna Fly Now, blared through the room. And out danced Sugar Ray Rizzo, shirt off, shuffling around an imaginary boxing ring, trying to deliver an important message to a group of teammates who were pretty sure hed just lost his mind.And what, you ask, was that message?It was all about going the distance, Rizzo would reveal, many hours later, after an excruciating 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians that will allow these Cubs to box one more round. It was just to let everyone know its time to go the distance.Now they probably wouldnt appreciate it if we were to observe here that Rocky was one of the great underdogs in the history of fictional sports -- whereas the 2016 Cubs went into this postseason ranked as the very best team in their very real sport. That would be true, of course. But its the last day of October. And for these Cubs -- still down, 3 games to 2, in this World Series -- every day could still be the last day of their season.So this is no time for the analogy police to step in and tell them their little Rocky skit has been ruled by the judges to be factually inappropriate. Not that theyd give a cahoot anyway -- because for this team, all that matters right now is this:Theyre alive. Theyre breathing. Theyre going to live to play another game in this fascinating World Series and this magical season. And for this group of men, that has a meaning beyond what you would probably expect.Yes, they keep their dream alive to win this World Series. But theres also one more thing. Winning the game they played Sunday means one more plane ride together. It means at least one more game together. It means at least one more day at the ballpark, hanging out with a group of people who love being around each other and playing baseball with each other.Its that team chemistry deal, man, said Kyle Schwarber. Its such a key factor in who we are. And its been our identity pretty much the whole season.So theyll climb onto that plane to Cleveland on Monday and feel more grateful to be boarding it than youll ever know. The sign posted in their clubhouse Sunday night said: HALLOWEEN COSTUMES ENCOURAGED ON THE PLANE. So as they prepared to play another win-or-else baseball game, these men were actually joking about going shopping Monday for costumes to wear on the plane. Because of course they were.Winning postseason baseball games is always serious business. But one thing that has separated this team from almost any Cubs team that has come before it is that it never let that business get too serious.Nevertheless, if the Cubs are really going to go the distance in this World Series -- if they are going to win Game 6 in Cleveland and then win a Game 7 against the best pitcher (Corey Kluber) that any team has faced this October -- it wont take a lot of fingers for them to count the list of teams that have done what theyre aspiring to do.No team has climbed out of a 3-to-1 hole to win any World Series in more than three decades, since Bretts 1985 Royals did it against the Cardinals. But only three teams have ever won a World Series the way the Cubs are trying to win it -- by going down, 3 games to 1, winning Game 5 at home and then taking Games 6 and 7 on the road.Those three are Stargells 1979 Pirates (against the Orioles), Mickey Lolichs 1968 Tigers (against the Cardinals) and Bob Turleys 1958 Yankees (against the Braves). And thats it.So the odds against the Cubs joining that group are longer than Lake Shore Drive. But lets just say this team has noticed it has already defied 71 years worth of odds that said that Cubs teams never get to this point in the first place. So why would they not believe that these odds dont apply to them, either?Were all about writing our own history, said Kris Bryant, whose game-tying fourth-inning homer Sunday could turn out to be a Series-changing moment if the Cubs keep winning. This team is a special one. And we look at so many times throughout the year where we havent been playing good, but I feel like we turn that around.Someone told me today, Bryant went on, that 17 times this year, we lost a game and went on to win three in a row. So why cant we do that now?The way to pull off what theyre trying to accomplish, actually, is exactly how Joe Maddon keeps laying it out -- with three one-game winning streaks. And history tells us that, too.You might be amazed to know that 61 percent of all teams that trailed in a World Series, 3 games to 2, have won Game 6. And of the 37 teams to pull that off, slightly more than half (19 to be exact) have also won Game 7.So its the totality of this task that is the challenge. But with each game a team like this wins, it seems to make it more likely that it can also win the next game. So lets just say these Cubs are going with that.Were making history, Addison Russell said. So why stop? This is entertaining to us. Its fun. And we live for this. We see a lot of challenges ahead of us, and we embrace them.All around their clubhouse, you could find men who would remind you that this wasnt their first moment of truth in this postseason. They had to score four times in the ninth in San Francisco to finish off the National League Division Series. They trailed the Dodgers, 2 games to 1, in the championship series and then won three games in a row. So this wasnt the first time theyve been tested. It was merely the most pressurized.But never had they been through anything quite like this. Falling behind early, on a Jose Ramirez home run. Feeling the tension rippling through their park in 42,000-part harmony. Then spurting back to take a 3-1 lead, only to have the Indians pull within a run, get Jon Lester out of the game and force Joe Maddon to bring in Aroldis Chapman for the first eight-out save of his life.Almost no one on this roster had played in a game quite as intense as this one, with a season hanging in the balance and every pitch throbbing with intensity -- inning after inning, hour after hour. So afterward, you could sense as much relief as euphoria.That was hard, man, said catcher David Ross, as he tried to describe what it was like to watch Chapman have to throw 42 pressure-packed pitches to finish this one off. I kept running in here [to the clubhouse] in between innings and telling the security guard, My heart cant take much more of this.That was high anxiety, Rizzo said. Just every pitch. And it was here, in Chicago. You could just feel the nervous energy. [Dramatic pause.] It was awesome.Well, sure. Its awesome if you win. Its awesome if you survive. But it can only truly be awesome if your team takes something away from a game like this that shows up in the games to come. So is it possible that happened Sunday night? It is, Ross said.Its important, said their voice of veteran wisdom. You keep adding to your résumé of things youve had to deal with and mentally, what you have to go through, and how you prepare and go about your business on the field. And the more that gets put on these guys shoulders over this year, the more they just continue to answer the bell.But they still have two more bells to answer. And theyll both be sounding in Cleveland, where an entire city will be savoring a chance to watch their very own drought end on their very own field. So the biggest tests are yet to come. But for Rocky Balboa and the 2016 Cubs, theyre just grateful for every chance to fight another title bout.Ive never, said Joe Maddon, been looking forward to wanting to play the seventh game of a World Series more in my life.Lonnie Johnson Jersey .Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. Max Scharping Texans Jersey . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. http://www.texansrookiestore.com/Texans-Andre-Johnson-Jersey/ . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Tytus Howard Womens Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Max Scharping Womens Jersey . PAUL, Minn.RIO DE JANEIRO -- ?Team USA womens star Diana Taurasi was in the stands Wednesday night for the U.S. mens scare against Australia, and she is convinced the near-loss will benefit her male counterparts in their quest for gold.You know what? Taurasi said as both U.S. teams prepared to return to group play Friday. Those are the games that make you better in the long run.The men face Milos Teodosic-led Serbia on Friday night in a rematch of the 2014 FIBA World Cup final. The Mike Krzyzewski-coached Americans have won 71 games in a row internationally, including 48 in FIBA competition, but they trailed Australia by five points at halftime and didnt gain any meaningful separation until the final 30 seconds of an eventual 98-88 win.The U.S. women were watching in the crowd, just a few hours after a record-setting performance from Taurasi against Serbia stretched the ladies win streak to 35 games in official FIBA play.Its safe to say no team understands the pressure shouldered by the Team USA men better than Taurasi and her teammates, since both teams are not only expected to win every time they step onto the court, but win handily.We all have em in stretches, Taurasi said of the Australia scare. Its good that they had it early. You know they played a really good team. Australia has five [NBA] pros. They play hard. And it was all the European things that youre not used to. The calls. The flopping. The calls that in the NBA you get [but] you dont get in international play.Its just experience and you put it in the bank. And down the line theyre going to benefit from that.Taurasi added: We lost a game like that in Brazil 10 years ago where we didnt overcome that stuff and Russia beat us, and we got third place in the World Championship. Weve been in that place. Theirs happened in ppool play.dddddddddddd And they still got the win, so I think thatll help em down the line.The Americans needed a massive game from Carmelo Anthony to escape the stubborn Aussies. Anthony finished with 31 points -- including nine 3-pointers -- and combined with Kyrie Irving to score 26 of Team USAs 28 points in the fourth quarter. The U.S. defense also improved dramatically after surrendering an uncharacteristic 54 points in the first half.I think the best thing about it was, there was no panic meter, swingman Paul George?said. There was no one in the locker room nipping at each other. There was no thought of defeat.Said forward Draymond Green: I dont think there was any point that anyone felt we were gonna lose the game. But in saying that, were not saying, Oh, were invincible. ... I think it also gave us kind of a feel of what a medal-round game would be like.Friday marks the first Olympic meeting between the U.S. men and Serbia, which features only one NBA player: Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic. But Serbian center Miroslav Raduljica has played in the league, and guard Bogdan Bogdanovics rights were recently acquired by the Sacramento Kings in a draft-day trade with Phoenix.The Serbians (1-2) are coming off a one-point loss to France on a late Tony Parker basket, and they lost by 15 points to Australia after opening the Olympics with a 24-point rout of Venezuela. Team USA (3-0) won the teams last meeting in the World Cup by 37 points after falling into an early five-point deficit.As for the sky-high expectations of both USA Basketball teams, Taurasi said: Id rather be on this team than the other [team]. Thats a pressure that we relish. ' ' '