Today’s RedEye is shrieking about how hard World Series Tickets are to get. The headline shrieks “Thousands of frustrated Sox fans strike out when seats disappear in minutes”. One has to wonder just how naïve people are about how many tickets would be available. The Sox ballpark only holds about 40,000 people. Figure there are about 3 million people in the city (plus who knows how many more in the suburbs) and suddenly you’ve got about a one percent chance of scoring a ticket. Moreover, it’s not like people have never experienced events selling out before. We live in a society where everything sells out. Rock concerts, football games, movie-geek festivals; hell even Clay Aiken can sell out a venue in minutes.
That said, I feel that it’s required for me to discuss the whole “White Sox in the World Series” topic (and not because I have any love for the Sox, mind you). The fascinating thing about this is how it has taken over the town so fast. Even two weeks ago, this city didn’t give a whoot for the Sox. This is because by and large, Chicago is a Cubs town. And not because the Cubs are a better team, being a Cubs fan is just easier. Lots of people who move here from out of town settle on the north side (whereas the South-Siders usually have grown up here). Once moved into town, the newbies hear a lot about the Cubs, and will go to see a few games because of the atmosphere around Wrigley Field. After the game (and before the game, who are we kidding) it’s easy to hop from the Cubbie Bear to Murphy’s to all the other bars in the neighborhood enjoying the festive atmosphere. After they go to a few games, the new kids become “sorta fans”. They may have loyalty to their hometown teams, but they love going to Cubs games because it’s fun.
Meanwhile, the south-siders look up at the Cubs fans and accuse them of "not knowing anything about the game", "not being real fans", and "throwing away perfectly good homerun balls". This is because they are bitter, shriveled little creatures who are angry that they have nothing to do outside the park after the game and that they play in a boring stadium. Picture a stadium full of drunk Gollums - attacking visiting team coaches, attacking umpires, attacking disco, and opposing God's chosen team. Granted, the food is better at the Cell than at Wrigley, but it’s still “U.S. Sell-your-Soul” field. Between that stadium moniker, beating the Angels, and picking fights with anyone on the field who's not as drunk as they are - it's likely that being a Sox fan will immediately result in St. Peter (or his gang of Mormon bouncers) throwing you downstairs after you die.
Myself, I consider myself slightly more than “sorta fan” of the Cubs. My grandpa was a Cubs fan in Iowa, and when I’d go visit in the summer we’d watch games on WGN. But I was from Minnesota, so I paid more attention to Twins games. This is why I hate the Sox – not because they are the Sox, but because they were the division rivals of my hometown team. It wasn’t until I moved here that my love for the Cubs was formed, and that was because I went to a few games. Granted, I don’t know anything about team history (other than who Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, and Ron Santo are). But I don’t need to either.
So now I face the dilemma of who to root for in the World Series. I hate the Sox, but I love Chicago. Plus, the two teams vying for the NL pennant are Houston (loses points for being from Texas – all Minnesotans are required to hate Texas because they stole the North Stars, screwed us in the Herschel Walker trade, and because they claim to have more lakes than us) and St. Louis (Cubs archrival). Finally, throw in the fact that the Sox have the second-longest World Series drought in baseball I pretty much will have to root for the Sox once the Series starts.
And besides, it’s not like I stand a chance in hell of scoring Clay Aiken tickets
That said, I feel that it’s required for me to discuss the whole “White Sox in the World Series” topic (and not because I have any love for the Sox, mind you). The fascinating thing about this is how it has taken over the town so fast. Even two weeks ago, this city didn’t give a whoot for the Sox. This is because by and large, Chicago is a Cubs town. And not because the Cubs are a better team, being a Cubs fan is just easier. Lots of people who move here from out of town settle on the north side (whereas the South-Siders usually have grown up here). Once moved into town, the newbies hear a lot about the Cubs, and will go to see a few games because of the atmosphere around Wrigley Field. After the game (and before the game, who are we kidding) it’s easy to hop from the Cubbie Bear to Murphy’s to all the other bars in the neighborhood enjoying the festive atmosphere. After they go to a few games, the new kids become “sorta fans”. They may have loyalty to their hometown teams, but they love going to Cubs games because it’s fun.
Meanwhile, the south-siders look up at the Cubs fans and accuse them of "not knowing anything about the game", "not being real fans", and "throwing away perfectly good homerun balls". This is because they are bitter, shriveled little creatures who are angry that they have nothing to do outside the park after the game and that they play in a boring stadium. Picture a stadium full of drunk Gollums - attacking visiting team coaches, attacking umpires, attacking disco, and opposing God's chosen team. Granted, the food is better at the Cell than at Wrigley, but it’s still “U.S. Sell-your-Soul” field. Between that stadium moniker, beating the Angels, and picking fights with anyone on the field who's not as drunk as they are - it's likely that being a Sox fan will immediately result in St. Peter (or his gang of Mormon bouncers) throwing you downstairs after you die.
Myself, I consider myself slightly more than “sorta fan” of the Cubs. My grandpa was a Cubs fan in Iowa, and when I’d go visit in the summer we’d watch games on WGN. But I was from Minnesota, so I paid more attention to Twins games. This is why I hate the Sox – not because they are the Sox, but because they were the division rivals of my hometown team. It wasn’t until I moved here that my love for the Cubs was formed, and that was because I went to a few games. Granted, I don’t know anything about team history (other than who Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, and Ron Santo are). But I don’t need to either.
So now I face the dilemma of who to root for in the World Series. I hate the Sox, but I love Chicago. Plus, the two teams vying for the NL pennant are Houston (loses points for being from Texas – all Minnesotans are required to hate Texas because they stole the North Stars, screwed us in the Herschel Walker trade, and because they claim to have more lakes than us) and St. Louis (Cubs archrival). Finally, throw in the fact that the Sox have the second-longest World Series drought in baseball I pretty much will have to root for the Sox once the Series starts.
And besides, it’s not like I stand a chance in hell of scoring Clay Aiken tickets
Comments
First off - watch who you're calling "bitter, shriveled little creatures," or you'll have me, my husband, and Sen. Barack Obama to reckon with.
Also, for the record, Chicago was generally a Sox town until the 70s and 80s, when the team made some disastrous PR decisions - among them signing an exclusive cable-only broadcasting deal that directly resulted in Harry Cary moving over to the Cubs (yes, he was the Sox announcer first).
Besides, I'm really starting to thing that there's something to the idea that Dusty overuses the hell out of his pitchers, which is grotesque. And how can you not love Ozzie, a manager who flat-out says: we haven't won in a billion years because we sucked, not because of some stupid curse.
There really isn't any defending the stadium, but God help me I'm going to try. Well, not defend so much, but state this: There is no comparison with Wrigley. Honestly, I think Wrigley is an incalculable part of Cubs appeal, because it always feels like a baseball cathedral to me. However, having grown up watching the Twins in the even-more-godforsaken Metrodome, I have no issues with the Cell. I just get all excited that it's outside. :)
I'm no Cubs-hater, but I'll tell you one of the final things that pushed me across the "I don't care about either of these teams as much as the Twins" line: it makes a big difference when there are two teams in town, and as a student you can only afford to go see one. I love baseball, I love Wrigley, and I literally can't afford to go see the Cubs, one of the losingest teams in baseball. I could afford to go see the Sox multiple times this year.
There is no excuse for supporting the Yankees. Ever.
Here's why I'll be rooting for the Astros:
1) They have never been to a World Series.
2) I can't help but root for Biggio and see if he'll get hit by another pitch.
3) Just to root against the White Sox.
This is just silly. But it does raise a point. I'd love to attend a world series game, but I'm not going to try and get tickets for this one. My employer has season tickets to the Sox, so we've been allocated a certain number of playoff tickets (including for the world series) that there is a drawing for anyone who wants to enter. I'm not entering, specifically because I would feel guilty if I won and deprived a real Sox fan of a chance to see their dream.
Ok, also they have been fierce Sharks rivals in playoffs. Ok, also they have that pretty boy Mike Modano. Ok, also they had the obnoxious, psycho, freakily obsessive Eddie Belfour. Although now that he plays for Toronto he is OK. Man, is there ANYTHING more arbitrary than my hockey choices?