Last summer, one of the big Chicago papers ran this on their front page previous to the ill-fated Olympic bid:
“Only 47% of Chicagoans Back Olympic Bid”
Like many people here in the city, I was supportive of the Olympics getting here in 2016. As a Chicago Cubs fan, I thought about an alternate headline, and decided it might be better put this way:
“Only 47% of Chicagoans Back Olympic Bid”
“Four times more than back White Sox”
I must have been reading The Sun-Times that day, because The Chicago Tribune, whose parent company owns the Cubs, could have and might have run it that way. And if you were a northsider the second version would be your take on the matter. Because the only baseball that matters to you, in this town, is the baseball on your side of town.
This feature of Chicago culture is unique in the United States. In comparison, there are Yankees fans all over New York City, with plenty in Queens and Brooklyn which are both on the side of town of where the Mets play. Just the same, you don’t need to be from Manhattan to be a NY Rangers fan, but if you are die hard Islanders fan, you must have grown up when the Islanders were actually good (Note: see 1982). That said, I’ve never met an Islanders fan who admits to spending nights tossing and turning with hatred of the Rangers, even when they had Wayne Gretzky.
Then again, Chicago has its own take on a lot of things.
Food is a big one. For one, hot dogs are usually a variant of the kosher variety -which is the best in the world-- but come standard with everything except ketchup. Everything meaning: green dyed relish, mustard, fresh chopped onions, tomatoes, a jalapeño pepper, and a flimsy pickle slice. But if you want ketchup, well, you’ve gotta put that on yourself.
Likewise, thin crust pizza pies are circular but come cut, not in the shape of slices of pizza, but criss-crossed like a plate of brownies. As such, all pieces are cut in a square shape. Some call this “bar style” whether or not you’re in a bar.
“Chicago Style” pizza is deep-dished, decadent, and excellent really, but you’ll need a knife and fork if you don’t want to look like a total slob after consumption. The best Chicago Style in town (on the North Side, at least) is had at Chicago’s, which is owned and operated not by Italians but by a Mexican family.
I never said I was a huge fan on the fast food here, and lucky for me there is a guy from Philly who set up an authentic cheese steak chain called Philly’s Best. Like home, the place comes complete with every thing from Tastykakes to take-your-ass-outta-here attitude. Yet, I still get flack from my Philly pals, not only for the Cubs but believe it or not for the pizza too.
Beyond that, it’s not hard for someone like me to assimilate in Chicago, where you always feel welcome. And the sports culture helps suck you in if you let it.
It took me a couple of years of living only six blocks from Wrigley to get myself to a game. I used to moan about how awful the parking was during Cubs season, which seemed a waste since fans weren’t even seeing them win. But then I got to a game and I stopped wasting my energy moaning.
I now use terms that all northsiders know, but that when used around non-Chicagoans I find I need to explain myself. Sure, anyone who knows anything about the Cubs knows about the Curse of the Billygoat. As the legend goes, local restaurant owner couldn’t bring his smelly goat into the game and when turned away said, “Them Cubs, they aren't gonna win no more”. That was 1945, the shortly after last time the Cubs were in the World Series.
But others outside Chicago might not know the June Swoon or that “Cubs”, to some, really stands for “Completely Useless By September”.
I figured this out during a conversation with a friend back home around Thanksgiving. We were talking baseball, and I mentioned that the last time I owned a full season-ticket package was when “we were 5 outs from the World Series”. His response was something like “What? When was that?”
When? It was October 14, 2003, the same night as the The Steve Bartman Incedent. The Cubs were up 3-0 in the top of the 8th, with one out in Game 6 of the NLCS. That’s when. But who really wants to rehash this old stuff?
So it’s fair to say I’m totally immersed. Sure, you can beat me up about the Cubs. You can tell me how awful they are, that they stink, how they will never ever win the World Series. But until you’ve been to a day game at Wrigley, you have no idea what you’re missing.
Sox fans, by contrast, can point to a recent World Series Championship, back in 2005, when they swept the Houston Astros. But Sox fans still do complain about the Cubs.
One strange thing is that you never hear Sox fans complain about is media bias. And they could, given that two major media outlets, the Tribune and WGN Radio/TV are, through their corporation, aligned with the Cubs. Sox fans tend to take a more mocking tone, and like to tell you that they take delight at the opportunity to watch “minor league baseball” here in Chicago.
Most of the complaints about each other are topical though. Some Sox fans often say they like the Wrigley atmosphere and are “Wrigley fans” but not “Cub fans”. Others acknowledge the fun atmosphere but complain that Cubs fans are there only to get drunk or eat brie and not watch baseball. Note: brie is not served at Wrigley.
Likewise, Cubs fans complain that in Bridgeport there is the stadium and that’s it. There’s no fun to be had outside The Cell unless you consider it fun to wait for the Red Line train going north. Beyond that, I’ll say that the beer selection is good, the food selection is excellent for a ball park (you can get funnel cake!) yet the seats are uncomfortable and the heavy metal music that blares between batters is pretty damn annoying.
Usually the Cubs and Sox are never good at the same time. They don’t compete for anything other than temporary bragging rights, so there’s no punching and fighting, no hooliganism between fans after games. Besides, everyone knows that if you want to fist fight, that’s what the South Side Irish Parade is for.
So maybe it’s all academic. But whether it is Jay Leno ripping the Cubs, or Sox fans, or fans of other teams altogether, what you hear most of all is the sentiment “Give it up, the Cubs will never be good.” Plus there’s that superstition thing that sports fans have.
However, some think that curses have permanent effect. Goats? Curses and superstitions? Is that all you trash talkers got?
It wasn’t too long ago that The Curse of the Bambino was shattered in 2004 by the Boston Red Sox, who came back from a three game deficit to beat the Yankees and sweep the Cardinals to take the first of two World Series in three years.
This all happened not long after the laughing stock of pro football, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, won the Super Bowl. They did so in style, by stomping all over the Raiders, a bellwether NFL club who had been to their share of Super Bowls. And if you forgot about that one, just remember that another laughing stock, the Saints, formerly “The Ain’ts”, won it this year.
So keep up the trash talk about the Cubs. And don’t forget to remind me how fruitless my passion for supporting them is. Tides are turning. You just wait.
Andy Frye eats, breathes, and writes about sports and life in Chicago, and at MySportsComplex.blogspot.com. Past results do not indicate future performance…Read your prospectus.
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