Cubs, White Sox, or Cardinals? (Chicago, Peoria: work, home, college)

[skyeINIL]

2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox. That is all.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by skye1974

2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox. That is all.

LOL

Youre right, that was all.

*sniff, sniff*

I smell bandwagoners. Someone kill the lights, please! Theyre back again!

[skyeINIL]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

LOL

Youre right, that was all.

*sniff, sniff*

I smell bandwagoners. Someone kill the lights, please! Theyre back again!

So are all Sox fans bandwagoners? Is there some code that true Sox fans should say so that you will know who's real and who's not?

And I smell a jealous, bitter Cubs fan. One who is angry, not at his loser team and organization, but at the team that has actually won something. :-)

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by skye1974

So are all Sox fans bandwagoners? Is there some code that true Sox fans should say so that you will know who's real and who's not?

Of course not all Sux fans are bandwagoners, but I can sure tell you that Sux fans' numbers mysteriously quadrupled after they won the WS. All of a sudden, literally overnight, flags started flying in peoples' front yards, cars were festooned with flags, bumper stickers, license plate frames, etc. Nice, shiny new Sux jackets were seen everywhere, as well as shiny white Sux hats. Made (er, makes) me wanna puke. Whats even worse is that one of said people flying a Sux flag was a guy in my neighborhood who, prior to their WS win, didnt own a single piece of Sux paraphenalia to the best of my knowledge. Next thing you know, Im awakened one Saturday morning to him erecting a flagpole and guess what went up it? Not to mention his Saturn was also now equipped with a HUGE Sux decal on the back window (which had to have been illegal--it was that huge). You can tell the true Sux fans from all the newbies out here in the burbs and elsewhere.

GAG!

[WildWestDude]

South side FTW

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

Here's my take (and I'm saying all this as a Sox fan that takes a perverse joy in seeing the Cubs reach 100 years without a World Series championship): I definitely believe that Cubs fans outnumber Sox fans in terms of people who GREW UP in the Chicago area, but I think it's more of 60-40 split there as opposed to the 85-15 figure suggested. The difference is that the Cubs have a huge adoptability factor among transplants that only a few other teams in all of sports can match (probably only the Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers and Cowboys can compare) - basically, unless you grew up as a Cardinals or White Sox fan, it seems as though every person that moves into Chicago from outside of the area ends up adopting the Cubs as their baseball team. We can argue all day as to why that has happened, but it is what it is (and keeps Wrigley Field completely sold out even in sub-.500 seasons). Even though the Bears are the #1 team in Chicago overall, most transplants seem to keep their original NFL teams with only a passing interest in the Bears. On the other hand, I can't tell you how many Wisconsin natives that I've met that have moved to Chicago and ended up with a love of both the Packers (which means an obvious hatred for the Bears) and the Cubs. This is the same thing for people that move in from other places (i.e. the Cowboys/Cubs fan, the Lions/Cubs fan, the Browns/Cubs fan - I've seen them all). Taking into account the newer residents, it probably jumps up to 70-30 in favor of the Cubs.

There's another factor at play. Growing up in SC, we didn't have a 'home team'. However, my family had a little house on Lake Marion, and growing up, we used to spend most of the summer there.

Our neighbor had basic cable, and split it and ran it over to our place. (Illegal? Sure. Still. We were four boys with no TV all summer, otherwise. We watched the same 5 videos over and over when it was dark out and we didn't feel like playing cards anymore.)

After the basic cable, we got TBS and WGN. TBS showed the Braves games. WGN showed the Cubs. Everybody else in our hometown loved the Braves, and what can I say? We were natural contrarians. We got into the Cubs big-time. I was a fan from then until adulthood. Now I live on the North side and it's a thrill. I go to a dozen games a year.

For some transplants, their love for the Cubs wasn't born here. Especially with WGN bringing the games to people across the country who have no team, otherwise.

[Chiguy1957]

Steve-o, like most early maps, this one most definitely reflects the biases of the cartographer who created the piece.

Starting in the 50s and continuing through the 80s, the South Side of Chicago underwent dramatic changes resulting in a diaspora of Sox fans to places far and wide. The 94 strike nearly killed the team and fan base, and it took a World Series Championship to finally bring back some of the disenfranchised who stayed away in droves. I still contend that there are a lot more of us out there than thought.

Anyway, 2005 is ancient history, but it was oh-so-sweet. It seems to me that many Cub fans are still choking on their sour grapes, (Sux fans? Like we've not heard that before) but nothing you or they say will ever tarnish those memories for me. Nothing. Ever.

Even as Bridgeport quietly reinvents itself, I don't see it becoming an entertainment destination like Lakeview any time soon. The Cubs' fortunes really started to change when Harry Caray defected to the North Side. Back then Lakeview was in the infant stages of regentrification. Gays pioneered the Halsted strip, then came the "Chads and Trixies" who thought they were so edgy-cool for livning in a gay neighborhood, then came all of the newly arrived "Big 10 transplants" as Frank the Tank suggested. The neighborhood then became something of an urban theme park with the "Wrigleyville" designation. Talk about the perfect storm from which the Cubs have greatly prospered. The Sox have had no such advantages.

WGN and the Trib have also played a huge part in romaticizing the Cubs, promoting Wrigley Field, and turning the Cubs into one of MLB's A-list franchises. Kudos and enjoy it while you can. I've wandered this patch of earth called Chicago for many years and have seen the pendulum swing back and forth as far as baseball love.

[mdz]

WGN and the Trib have also played a huge part in romaticizing the Cubs, promoting Wrigley Field, and turning the Cubs into one of MLB's A-list franchises.

They sure did. Look up attendance figures for Wrigley around 1980-1982. No one was at those games. Wonderful advertising job, getting Harry really helped out a lot, and that 1984 season was magic for the Cubs. But having the two teams in the city is a lot of fun, as a Sox fan I don't begrudge them anything, especially as they reach the century mark this year from their last world series victory. Unbelievable it's been that long.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by mdz

They sure did. Look up attendance figures for Wrigley around 1980-1982. No one was at those games

I was. Been going to games since 82. Havent been to a game now in several years though.

[j33]

I grew up in the south suburbs and my first baseball game ever was a Sox game ... so there you have it.