Amy Bass, a professor of history at the College of New Rochelle , is the author of » Not the Triumph but the Struggle: The 1968 Olympics and the Making of the Black Athlete. » As supervisor of NBC’s Olympic Research Room, she is a veteran of eight Olympics, with an Emmy win in 2012. Follow her on Twitter @bassab1. The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers.
(CNN) Sometimes a game just needs to be a game. The Chicago Cubs made that clear to Americans last fall, giving the country respite from a divisive, profane presidential election season. When the Cubs overcame a 3-1 deficit to take the World Series in Game 7, Americans took a breather from politics to cheer the momentous victory, grateful that sometimes a hard-fought battle on a seemingly level playing field just felt good.
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Amy Bass, a professor of history at the College of New Rochelle , is the author of » Not the Triumph but the Struggle: The 1968 Olympics and the Making of the Black Athlete. » As supervisor of NBC’s Olympic Research Room, she is a veteran of eight Olympics, with an Emmy win in 2012. Follow her on Twitter @bassab1. The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers. 
