In Honor of the Cubs and Sox being in first place in their divisions... (Chicago: money, parks)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Im tired of that frickin stereotype. My parents are Cubs fans, and would be the first in line to tell you Cubs fans dont always make good money. Same for my uncle. lol Anyways, I need some help on this one.... a few years back either the Trib or Sun-Times found that Sox fans actually make more money than Cubs fans. People have called BS on that and asked for proof, of which I couldnt find any. I tried dozens of internet searches, but nothing ever came of it. I DO remember reading that perfectly clear though in the newspaper. I shoulda kept it. Maybe it would finally lay that ages-old stereotype to rest.

Well there's something to be said that a lot of Cubs fans are 20- and 30-somethings who are still making their way up the income ladder.

[jdiddy]

I can tell you thing I love about Cubs games...lack of an electronic scoreboard. Since they don't use it for instant replays, its sole use is to annoy fans with running sausages and french fries, and to insult everyone's intelligence by encouraging the crowd to cheer when there's 2 outs in the 7th, no one on base, and your team is down by 5.

[Destructoman!]

Growing up from age 5-13 I was a Cubs fan. WGN was a basic channel that we received before cable television, and it of course broadcast the Cubs games. I don't remember ever seeing a Sox game on TV until the 90's. I loved watching Harry Caray and Steve Stone. It was so fun to hear Harry drunkenly slur the characters last names and tell his asides. The Cubs lost frequently but I came to love them as the lovable losers that many people love them for being. I loved going to Wrigley field to see Harry swing the microphone outside of the announcers box.

During my teenage years I got into music and art after finding out I wasn't too great at team sports and began to resent anything the slightest bit "jock". Being bullied by jock types didn't help either.

In my early 20's I got invited to a Mariners game after moving to Seattle and the experience made me realize how much I missed Baseball. Just about every summer I would visit my family in Illinois and attend Sox games, mostly because it was cheaper than going to Wrigley, and any baseball game is a good time to my father. I gradually fell in love with the Sox. I think the fact that they wore black and had fireworks really appealed to me (silly reasons I know, but hey... a lot of our attachments to our teams are rather shallow). Not to mention that after being to close to 10 Cubs games when I was young I never saw them win ONCE!!! The Sox have won 6 out of the 8 games I have attended. I just can't see how Cubs fans who truly love baseball can be so loyal to their team, I mean it would drive me to being an alchoholic! The only negative aspect I could find with the Sox is that 1) the field, although much improved in recent years, is certainly not the best field in baseball by any stretch, although I do like that they kept the pinwheels that the old Comiskey had, and 2) Some Sox fans just seem to go out of their way to hate on the Cubs and their fans, going way beyond the typical cross-town rivalry. Before the 2005 victory the Sox were the much less popular Chicago team and some of their fans in turn act like the sibling in the family that doesn't get as much parental attention.

I visited Wrigley field again recently and it just didn't have the charm it once did for me as a kid. I still love the classic old ballpark feel, the ivy, the lack of an electronic scoreboard and the urinal troughs, but I didn't like how small and cramped the seats were, how obnoxious the drunken idiots in the bleachers were, and how yuppified and gentrified the neighborhood had become. Also, alas it just wasn't the same without Harry. Every baseball fan should go to Wrigley at least once though.

So, in short...

CUBS

Pros:
Beautiful old classic ballpark/nostalgia
Neighborhoody feel
The opportunity to party in the neighborhood after the game

Cons:
Expensive
Yuppies
Drunken frat-boy types and others that are more interested in partying than the baseball game
Cramped uncomfortable seating
aging amenities
A team that frequently chokes
Harder to find parking
No electronic scoreboard
The annoying "lovable loser" Cubs cutesyness

WHITE SOX

Pros

Cheaper than the Cubs
Drunken blue-collar types (mostly harmless, but a few *******s)
Comfortable newer seating
More people truly interested in the game, not just there to party
Fireworks!!!
A consistently better team

Cons

Semi-soulless new ballpark
No neighborhoody feel, bars to go to
Stupid modern electronic scoreboard that distracts from the game

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by Destructoman!

CUBS

Pros:
Neighborhoody feel
Beautiful old classic ballpark/nostalgia

Cons:
Harder to find parking
No electronic scoreboard

If you want to preserve those pros, you've got to deal with those cons, I'm afraid. (By the way, Wrigley does HAVE electronic scoreboards. Several of them.)

[Destructoman!]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

If you want to preserve those pros, you've got to deal with those cons, I'm afraid. (By the way, Wrigley does HAVE electronic scoreboards. Several of them.)

Very true about the pros and cons yes, but while Wrigley does have electronic scoreboards they are not the large monitor kind where they have lame games such as "which car will win the race? What cap is the ball under?" and other stupid crap that basically just distracts from the game.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by Destructoman!

Very true about the pros and cons yes, but while Wrigley does have electronic scoreboards they are not the large monitor kind where they have lame games such as "which car will win the race? What cap is the ball under?" and other stupid crap that basically just distracts from the game.

That suits me just fine. I usually sit in the upper deck, but was terrace level recently and saw that sweet old scoreboard that's basically straight out of a high-school basketball gym. Nothing but the score. Just fine by me.

[Chiguy1957]

When and if they ever install a jumbotron at Wrigley, the fans will eat it up just like they did with the Harry Caray, night games, the skyboxes, the centerfield restuarant, the bleacher expansion, and the "quaint rooftops".

I remember when Harry was with the Sox, most Wrigley fans regarded him with contempt. Does anyone remember the group, CUBS (Citizens United for Baseball in Sunshine) who vehemently opposed night games?

I will say that the marketing wonks with the Cub organization have done a brilliant job of selling "the emperor's old stadium" and the whole "beautiful Wrigley Field" line that has been swallowed hook, line, and sinker.

With the perfect storm of neighborhood gentrification, an adoring superstation and newspaper conglomerate that pulls in every corn-fed casual fan from Iowa and beyond, and the popularity of the retro look in ballparks, they absolutely should have big attendance.

I'll still take the Sox any day of the week.

[user name]

I've been a life long Cubs fan but my nephew was drafted by the Sox last week so now I'm going to have to like both, I guess.
Oh well, wasn't his fault! AZ and St Louis were looking at him too so at least he's staying home.


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Originally Posted by jdiddy

Well, it should be noted, Cubs fans, like, show up, but its not necessarily due to baseball being played.

When you've got 38,000 people rewarding the Cubs management on a September game after a pathetic 2006 season, I don't consider that a positive reflection of the fanbase.

I personally enjoy US Cellular after all of the revisions, but obviously, Wrigley field is an historic ballpark that you need to experience a few times, as long as you can get past all of the Cubs fans you'll be around.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by user name

I've been a life long Cubs fan but my nephew was drafted by the Sox last week so now I'm going to have to like both, I guess.
Oh well, wasn't his fault! AZ and St Louis were looking at him too so at least he's staying home.


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Maybe someone can get the Cubs to trade for him.

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by user name

I've been a life long Cubs fan but my nephew was drafted by the Sox last week so now I'm going to have to like both, I guess.
Oh well, wasn't his fault! AZ and St Louis were looking at him too so at least he's staying home.


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So...who's your nephew?