Cubs, White Sox, or Cardinals? (Chicago: work, sick, house)

[PaalRobes]

Cubs!!!!!
Bears!!!!!!!!!!
Blackhawks!!!!!!!!!
Bulls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[soxpacker]

The Brewers also have season-ticket holders in Lake County, IL, where I live, so you might want to make this poll a four-some but you've definitely got the main three for IL.

My mom's from the South SIde and my dad grew up a Cards fan in Iowa. White Sox all the way for me, just a great team, passionate fans. The Cards were always fun to root for in the 80s when the Sox were out of it. I wish the Cards and Brew Crew luck as far as the National League goes.

I wish nothing but losses for the Cubs, sorry. Not saying all their fans are bad people or anything, I know they're not as I'm friends with many...but I do find them very arrogant and I'll always feel that way. Read that one guy's post about "bandwagon Sux fans." Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm talking about.

And to that guy who said it's 85-15 Cubs north of I-80, are you insane? Try 60-40. Obviously, you've never spent any time up here and probably got your opinion from watching the WGN Cubs publicity-machine on cable in some faraway place.

[thePR]

I'm surprised the White Sox are winning.

White Sox
Bulls
Bears
Blackhawks

[AaronK]

White Sox all the way. I was never a baseball fan as a child, and only supported the Houston Astros because I lived in Houston. But I moved to Chicagoland in 2003, and in 2005 I went to my first baseball games with some friends because the Sox were doing real good. I enjoyed my time watching the game, and liked the players. I especially liked the coach, who I think is hilarious despite being immature.

The Sox are the team that got me interested in a sport that I would have otherwise payed no attention to.

The Cubs are located in gay territory, and have a fan of solid bandwagon followers. The Sox is where true baseball fans go to in Chicago.

[Drover]

It always amuses me to hear Sox fans call Cubs fans "bandwagon" fans, especially one who said he started following the Sox because they "were doing real good." Yeah, you and everyone else who suddenly noticed in September of 2005 that there was another baseball team in town, many of whom have since lost interest.

And of course no Sox fandom explanation would be complete without taking a dig at the Cubs, Cubs fans, and/or Wrigley Field, as if any of these things have anything to do with whether or not the Sox are worth your attention. Throwing in the nice homophobic twist that seems depressingly common among Sox fans is a nice touch.

It seems half of being a Sox fan is hating the Cubs, whereas Cub fans are mostly indifferent about the Sox. Most of us don't mind the Sox, but cannot stand their fans. The above a great illustration of why.

[thePR]

Originally Posted by Drover

It always amuses me to hear Sox fans call Cubs fans "bandwagon" fans, especially one who said he started following the Sox because they "were doing real good." Yeah, you and everyone else who suddenly noticed in September of 2005 that there was another baseball team in town, many of whom have since lost interest.

And of course no Sox fandom explanation would be complete without taking a dig at the Cubs, Cubs fans, and/or Wrigley Field, as if any of these things have anything to do with whether or not the Sox are worth your attention. Throwing in the nice homophobic twist that seems depressingly common among Sox fans is a nice touch.

It seems half of being a Sox fan is hating the Cubs, whereas Cub fans are mostly indifferent about the Sox. Most of us don't mind the Sox, but cannot stand their fans. The above a great illustration of why.

It's funny because most of the time, being a Sox fan up north, I consistently hear crap for being a Sox fan from all of those Cub fans. It is true that Cubs fans take more jabs at their cross town rivals. Cubs fans have been called the worst fans in baseball by many players and managers of opposing teams because of their crude behavior towards the visiting teams.

And The White Sox have a loyal fan base. You hear them say that they go to the game to see the team play. Cubs fans however say that they go for the atmosphere and Wrigley. The bandwagon fans are the previously mentioned Cubs fans, you don't have a Cubs world series for you to say that about Sox fans.

[Irishtom29]

Sox.

It's my experience that more people actually from Chicago, the city, are Sox fans. And I've met many more Sox fans in Uptown and Edgewater than Cubs fans in Mt. Greenwood.

Some of this has to do with social class and self identity too. Many who see themselves as regular guys will gravitate to the Sox while those who follow the chattering classes and social tastemakers and gatekeepers will gravitate to the Cubs. These are just general observations however, I note that downstate Cubs fans are more blue-collar and "regular" than those around Chicago.

But I gotta say that the cynical "*********, gimme somethin' for my money" attitude of many Sox fans is more real old-school Chicago than the naive fratboy enthusiasm of many Cubs fans.

[nJohn]

I'm indifferent. I just go to either of the team's home games for a good time. So you say we're going to a Sox game? I'll put on my black. Cubs game today, okay, I'll meet you there. Sportin' the blue. But then again I'm not a baseball fan.

Dear old grandpa would be shaking his head at me right now.

Edit: After reading some posts from both fan bases, I'm somewhat glad I'm indifferent.

[soxpacker]

Any Cubs fan who tries to say the White Sox were discovered, or noticed for the first time, in September 2005 is just showing they know nothing about the history of baseball in Chicago. I could just as easily say the Cubs were discovered in 2003. Did the Cubs ever average 35,000-plus in any season before '03? No, they did not. The Sox first did it in 1991 (the Cardinals first did it in 1987).

The Sox outdrew the Cubs in both the early 90s and early 80s, 1977, 1974. What about the Go-Go Sox, back when my mom was growing up? From 1951-1967, the White Sox finished with a winning record EVERY YEAR and BADLY outdrew the Cubs EVERY one of those 17 years except 1958. Can you imagine -- 17 straight winning seasons? Until about five years ago, the Cubs went 30 YEARS without having as many as TWO consecutive winning seasons.

I've written letters to the editor in The Chicago Cubune that, yeah, they might get printed but the good stuff is always removed. The 30 inept years for the Cubs, the 17 great years (and great attendance years) for the Sox...they don't want people to know that it ever happened. Well, it did happen and it doesn't matter how badly they bias their coverage...the real fans know it. In fact, in the 28 seasons dating back to 1980, the Sox finished with a better record than the Cubs in 19 of those 28 years.

But the Sox, they're a joke right? They just got lucky in '05 somehow. Go pop in a tape of Sammy hitting another juiced-up homer. You people are an embarrassment to Chicago.

[Drover]

Another fine example of why I just can't hold my nose hard enough to go to a Sox game.