CHICAGO -- Anthony Rizzo caught the ball for the final out and Wrigley Field erupted.Im sleeping with this thing tonight, the Chicago Cubs first baseman told the pulsating crowd moments later, kissing the prized souvenir. Are you kidding me? Were going to the World Series.Cubs ... World Series? Yes, the Cubbies!Next up, Game 1 in Cleveland.With fans chanting, singing and waving those Ws, shaking the century-old ballpark and jamming the streets of Wrigleyville, the Cubs celebrated a moment many of their faithful wondered whether they would ever see.Kyle Hendricks outpitched Clayton Kershaw, Rizzo and Willson Contreras homered early and the Cubs took their first pennant since 1945, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 Saturday night to win the NL Championship Series in six games.Listen to them. Outside before the game was crazy. Inside the game was crazy, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester said.These guys have done nothing but support us from Day One. Its been unbelievable to be here and be part of this. Words cant really describe where Im at right now, he said.Cursed by a Billy Goat, bedeviled by Bartman and crushed by decades of disappointment, those Lovable Losers now have a chance to win it all.Trying to win their first crown since 1908, manager Joe Maddons team opens the World Series against Cleveland on Tuesday night.The Indians havent won it all since 1948 -- Cleveland and Cubs have the two longest title waits in the majors.This city deserves it so much, Rizzo said. We got four more big ones to go, but were going to enjoy this. Were going to the World Series. I cant even believe that.All-everything Javier Baez and Lester shared the NLCS MVP. Baez hit .318, drove in five runs and made several sharp plays at second base. Lester, a former World Series champion in Boston, was 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers.The drought ended when Aroldis Chapman got Yasiel Puig to ground into a double play , setting off a wild celebration. And if they bring home the elusive championship?I may make the `W a tattoo, said chairman Tom Ricketts , who once lived across the street and met his wife in the bleachers.Deemed World Series favorites since opening day, the Cubs topped the majors with 103 wins to win the NL Central, then beat the Giants and Dodgers in the playoffs.The Cubs overcame a 2-1 deficit against the Dodgers and won their 17th pennant. They had not earned a World Series trip since winning a doubleheader opener 4-3 at Pittsburgh on Sept. 29, 1945, to clinch the pennant on the next-to-last day of the season.The eternal wait till next year is over. No more dwelling on a history of failure -- the future is now.Were too young. We dont care about it, star slugger Kris Bryant said. We dont look into it. This is a new team, this is a completely different time of our lives. Were enjoying it and our works just getting started.Hendricks pitched two-hit ball for 7 1/3 innings . Chapman took over and closed with hitless relief, then threw both arms in the air as he was mobbed by teammates and coaches.The Dodgers sent the minimum 27 batters to the plate and no one got past first base.The Cubs shook off back-to-back shutout losses earlier in this series by pounding the Dodgers for 23 runs to win the final three games.And they were in no way overwhelmed by the moment on Saturday, putting aside previous frustration.In the 1945 Series, the Billy Goat Curse supposedly began when a tavern owner wasnt allowed to bring his goat to Wrigley. In 2003, the Cubs lost the final three games of the NLCS to Florida, punctuated with a Game 6 defeat when fan Steve Bartman deflected a foul ball.Even as recently as 2012, the Cubs lost 101 times.This time, no such ill luck.Bryant had an RBI single and scored in a two-run first . Dexter Fowler added two hits, drove in a run and scored one.Contreras led off the fourth with a homer.Rizzo continued his resurgence with a solo drive in the fifth.That was plenty for Hendricks, the major league ERA leader.Hendricks left to a standing ovation after Josh Reddick singled with one out in the eighth. The only other hit Hendricks allowed was a single by Andrew Toles on the games first pitch.Kershaw, dominant in Game 2, gave up five runs and seven hits before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth. He fell to 4-7 in the postseason.This day is never fun, the ending of a season, Kershaw said.The Dodgers havent been to the World Series since winning in 1988.Pitching on five days rest, Kershaw needed 30 pitches to get through the first. Fowler led off with a double against the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner, and Bryants single had the crowd shaking the 102-year-old ballpark.Fans had more to cheer when left fielder Andrew Toles dropped Rizzos fly, putting runners on second and third, and Ben Zobrist made it 2-0 a sacrifice fly.The Cubs added a run in the second when Addison Russell doubled to deep left and scored on a two-out single by Fowler.LINEUP SHUFFLEMaddon benched slumping right fielder Jason Heyward in favor of Albert Almora Jr.Kershaws pitching, so I wanted to get one more right-handed bat in the lineup, and also with Albert I dont feel like were losing anything on defense, Maddon said. I know Jasons a Gold Glover, but I think Albert, given an opportunity to play often enough would be considered a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder, too.Heyward was 2 for 28 in the playoffs -- 1 for 16 in the NLCS.SEENKerry Wood, wearing a Ron Santo jersey, threw out the first pitch and actor Jim Belushi delivered the Play Ball! call before the game. Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder and actor John Cusack were also in attendance. And Bulls great Scottie Pippen led the seventh-inning stretch. Wholesale College Jerseys Authentic . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Stitched College Jerseys . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. http://www.collegewholesalejerseys.com/ . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Cheap College Jerseys . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. College Jerseys From China .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. Vince Carter is no longer the NBAs highest flyer, though hes certainly not ready to be grounded.Once one of basketballs most ferocious dunkers who put opponents on posters long before there were internet Vines, he can no longer rely just on his athleticism. Nearing 40 years old, the guy who famously put his arm through the rim while winning a dunk contest now often plays below it.Like everyone who wants to keep playing toward middle age, its about the mind now as much as the legs.Thats how I was able to stay around this long, is just, I learned the game, Carter said. Not being able to play. Everybody can play basketball, but learning the ins and outs of the game is what has kept me around.Same with Manu Ginobili in San Antonio, Jason Terry in Milwaukee, Paul Pierce in Los Angeles and Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas, who follow Carter as the oldest players in the NBA this season.Basketball is a game a lot of people dont understand, Terry said. When you are not as athletically gifted, you still have your brain. I learned from none other than Jason Kidd.Terry plays for Kidd now, but they were teammates in Dallas when the Mavericks won the 2011 NBA title. Kidd by then was well past his dynamic days as a nightly triple-double threat, a guy who burst into the league with everything but a reliable jumper and left it at 40 ranked third in career 3-pointers.As I got older, the speed limit started coming into effect. Instead of going 55, I could only go 45, Kidd said. But, you know, when things started to go a little bit slower, you got to see things a lot better. For me, things were a lot clearer. As you get older, thats the best time to get better at the game. You can always learn, you can always do something different. For me it was shooting the ball. If I wanted to play for a while I needed to make an outside shot.Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant made similar transitions, outworking and outsmarting opponents when they could no longer just outplay them. Now Carter, who will turn 40 on Jan. 26 and ranks in the top 25 in career points and games played, does the same in Memphis -- where he surpassed Jordan this season as the oldest player to score 20 points off the bench.Like Jordan, he played at North Carolina for the mastermind, Dean Smith, as Carter called him, where even as a teenager he was being prepared for how he would need to play 20 years later.So he taught us how to learn the game, how to take your abilities and dominate to the best of your ability, Carter said. And with that being said, as Ive gotten older, just the little things that we tend to not want to do as a young guy stuck with me, as far as just the little thiings that we say a lot of guys make mistakes on.ddddddddddddCarter acknowledges tiring of the endless play the right way mantra preached at Chapel Hill, but now he lives it. He cant just jump over players like he did to Frederic Weis in the 2000 Olympics , though he quickly earned the trust of first-time coach David Fizdale, who had Carter on the floor defending 21-year-old Andrew Wiggins to spark the Grizzlies comeback victory over Minnesota in their season opener.Again, Ive said this before, I dont put limitations on anyone because of age, whether its youth or because theyre one of the elder statesman, Fizdale said. Vince Carter, hes a veteran, hes a professional, he stays in shape. I always remind people he was the best athlete in the NBA, so his falloff athletically isnt the same as an average athletes falloff.Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said the key for players who are effective into their mid-to-late 30s is their work ethic, and he marvels at what the 38-year-old Nowitzki puts himself through to keep playing on legs that support his 7-foot frame, particularly in this season when hes battled an injured Achilles tendon.Medical enhancements have helped, with teams providing such improvements for their players that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes young players entering the league now should be able to play into their 40s if they have the talent.When I first got to the NBA, taking care of your health meant not eating Twinkies before a game, Cuban said. Guys would smoke cigarettes, theyd drink, there would be beer -- people sometimes would have a beer at halftime. There literally were bars in locker rooms. Things have changed.The things that we let players do 15 years ago that created inflammation and created orthopedic issues in their bodies, we know not to do as much anymore.Carter has prolonged his career by becoming a reserve for the last five seasons, and by resisting the urge to create the spectacular highlights that made him the leading vote-getter to the All-Star Game four times. The Grizzlies say hes questionable to play Wednesday in Toronto, his first NBA home, after hurting his hip Monday.He still gets the internet buzzing -- and occasionally surprises himself -- with some vintage Vinsanity, but mostly skips the unnecessary risks to preserve his body to get through the long NBA season.And how many more after this?I dont know yet, he said. Im still flying. Its not time yet.---AP freelance writers Joe DiGiovanni and Andrew Gruman in Milwaukee contributed to this report. 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