This week's guest post comes from Dan Conley, a resident of Chicago and former aide to Virginia Governor Doug Wilder and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. He writes for Salon (you can check out his perceptive writing on the '08 campaign here and here). I asked him about Chicago's perception of the White Sox and whether people care about the White Sox-Royals series.
-- Chris Rasmussen
These are heady times to be a Chicagoan. For the first time in our history, a resident of our city is a major party nominee for President. The new Batman film turns our cityscape into a gothic masterpiece. A contender for best rock band on the planet – Wilco – hails from here … and if you think Radiohead or the White Stripes might be more deserving of the title, you can check out all three for yourself at the Chicago-only Lolapalooza in early August.
The Bulls just landed the most hyped point guard since Magic Johnson. And the Cubs – alone in first most of the season and sporting the best record in the NL – just traded for Rich Harden, their boldest in-season acquisition since Rick Sutcliffe.
Oh, and the White Sox are apparently in first.
Okay, maybe that off-hand treatment of the pale hose is North Side bias – I live close enough to Wrigley Field to hear the roar of the crowd before a Cubs homer clears the ivy on my digital cable TV. Barack Obama, apparently, is a Sox fan, as is Mayor Richard M. Daley and, oddly enough, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. And yes, the Sox did sweep the Cubs at home and maybe 75 percent of the US Cellular Field fans actually rooted for the South Siders.
That's redhot-flavored bubbly.
But make no mistake, this is a Cubs town. And despite their recent World Series title, Sox fans are a decidedly downbeat bunch. While Cubs fans drunkenly toast Harry with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” every 7th inning, the Sox fans spend the stretch ritually recreating their
Sox fans show their spirit.
Alright, I made that up, but it’s not far from reality. As a New Jersey transplant in Chicago, I’m constantly amazed that Cubs fans treat their stadium like the most expensive single’s bar in the world, while Sox fans burn copies of the New York Times for criticizing their ballpark food. Then they celebrate passing on poor fan behavior to a new generation. Really, it’s how they advertise the team. City bus advertisements tout the White Sox fans’ exuberant booing and heckling skills, especially from pre-teen boys.
So the White Sox are playing the Royals this week, and to answer your question, Chris, even fewer people up here care about the series than in KC.
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All I know is that if somebody doesn't get Obama to plant better on that front leg he's TJS waiting to happen.
And in all seriousness, I am someone who thinks most crude jokes about the Pope's sex life are hilarious. But FTLOG, Tom Gamboa is messed up permanently from what those those dirtbags did. Not funny.
By the way, great photo Chris. Isn't that Jose Offerman casually looking over his shoulder at his coach being thrown a beatdown? Say what you will about Brandon Berger, but he was there from RF before anybody else who were all much closer. And further, how is it that those two clowns made it off that field with so little damage to them? What perfect symbolism of how far down this team has gone. When 25 guys can't manage to permanently maim two of Chicago's finest for trying to kill their coach, that says a lot. Can you imagine the beating those two would have taken from The George Brett All-Stars? Man, this team pisses me off.
"New Jersey transplant..."
Your skewed view of how the city of Chicago views the White Sox is restricted to the 18 block swath of land that you relegate yourself to in this city...which happens NOT to be your hometown.
Media in this town are typically made up of transplants like yourself that never venture beyond the college campus-like surroundings you live in.
For your "transplant" information - Wrigleyville (actually West Lakeview) and Lincoln Park were traditionally Slovak and Latino neighborhoods that were overly gentrified over the past 25 years to attract the likes of yourself.
South Siders, i.e. actual people born/raised in Chicago (more than likely 3rd and 4th generation Chicagoans; along with West Siders) don't hold your opinion.
So when you say "Chicago doesn't care about the White Sox...," it's better said, "I, a guy that moved to Chicago because Smashing Pumpkins were my favorite band, a guy who grew up 900 miles away but grew up indoctrinated by WGN's 162 day commercial of the Cubs, a guy who has never been outside of the Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Roscoe Village and a few other newly manicured post-college havens - don't care about the White Sox."
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