 |
| Sox fans line up outside ESPN's headquarters. |
As a matter of fact, some Cubs fans seem to be getting "salty"about Sox fans refusing to join their bandwagon, and it is true that a majority of Sox fans have declared their support for the AL Central rival Cleveland Indians in the upcoming World Series -- a declaration that would have been previously unthinkable until this week.
I know from experience a Sox fan can never win a public relations war with the Cubs and their fans. They are the majority party around here, and that's just how it is. But it's always been somewhat baffling to me that nobody other than Sox fans understands why we don't cheer for the Cubs. It's really plainly obvious to anyone who is paying attention.
The reason is this: When the Cubs are successful, people go out of their way to chastise White Sox fans and denigrate or willfully ignore the history of the White Sox organization and its accomplishments. They also make sure Sox fans are positioned as "other." Turn on the local news, and you'll see alleged "journalists" dressed in Cubs jerseys and Cubs hats. They'll refer to "our Cubbies" or call the Cubs "we."
What they fail to understand is that about 43 percent of the baseball-consuming public in Chicago is made up of Sox fans, and for us, the Cubs are not a "we" but a "them." Cubs fans will complain and moan to the all ends of the earth about Ken Harrelson referring to the Sox as "we," but they don't even notice the folks in town who refer to the Cubs as "we." Somewhat hysterically, Ken Williams' wife, Zoraida Sambolin of NBC 5, is among the media members who have been guilty of this. Not sure what to make of that.
And it's not only the local press. It's the national media too. This awesome article from SBNation scolds the national press for its willful ignorance of the White Sox. On Monday, three different national media outlets -- ESPN, CBS This Morning and The Washington Post -- somehow managed to gloss over the Sox's 2005 World Series victory over the Houston Astros.
CBS This Morning claimed this year's World Series will be the first in Chicago in 71 years, which, of course, is false. Sox fans assailed them on Twitter, forcing them to tweet a correction, which also was incorrect. They failed to note the White Sox made the World Series in 1959, as well.
This national baseball writer from The Washington Post foolishly tweeted that the 2004 Boston Red Sox would be the only group of people to know what the Cubs or Indians will mean to their city. Sox fans responded by tweeting pictures of our World Series parade (intentional use of the word "our") in 2005. Hey, why don't you read a book for a change? The White Sox broke a championship drought that was two years longer than Boston's.
And then, there was this from ESPN, a graphic comparing sports championships of Chicago to those of Cleveland since 1965. The graphic includes the six Bulls championships from the 1990s, the three recent Blackhawks Stanley Cups, and the 1985 Bears. Noticeably absent? Oh, yeah, the White Sox won the World Series in 2005. That was after 1965, right?
I guess the guys at ESPN are still pissed off about the White Sox destroying their beloved Red Sox in three straight games in the 2005 ALDS. ESPN thinks its the worldwide leader in sports? LOL.
Salty? Yeah, I'm salty. And I'll make no apology for it. I'm tired of being told that a sports team that I love dearly and a 2005 World Series championship that meant everything to me, my family and my friends is irrelevant and meaningless. And I'm certainly not going to cheer for a team whose fans seem to delight in telling me how irrelevant and meaningless they think it is.
Some might be interested to know that I'm already well aware that the 2005 World Series meant nothing to Cubs fans. And that's fine. I never expected it to mean anything to them. Likewise, if the Cubs win this year, it will mean nothing to me. White Sox-Cubs is a rivarly. The two sides don't like each other. They don't cheer for each other. I don't know why this is so hard to figure out.
As my sister said: It's not a baseball thing; hardly anyone who lives on the North Side acknowledges ANYTHING on the South Side except gun violence and maybe UofC - mostly to feign knowledge of black people. They don't know what "IIT" is, and they can't name any south suburbs other than Orland Park and Joliet. They are surprised to hear there are numbered streets in the 100's. (And you should see their reaction to Avenue O!) They think the Robert Taylor Homes still exist. They think all the Metra trains stop at Union Station. They think the Chicago Defender was an indoor football team.
ReplyDelete