Pick the playoffs now.

[1908]

Perhaps my post was poorly worded. It seems alot of people think part of being a Cub fans is automatically hating the Sox and Cards, without question. I think those from Chicagoland have a bit more perspective, and realize these franchises need each other more than the other would like to admit.

If you're suggesting that sports without rivalries wouldn't be much fun, I agree. If you're suggesting there's something wrong with Cubs fans rooting against their rival teams, you've lost me.

[leatherguts]

Perhaps my post was poorly worded. It seems alot of people think part of being a Cub fans is automatically hating the Sox and Cards, without question. I think those from Chicagoland have a bit more perspective, and realize these franchises need each other more than the other would like to admit.

If you're suggesting that sports without rivalries wouldn't be much fun, I agree. If you're suggesting there's something wrong with Cubs fans rooting against their rival teams, you've lost me.

 

Of course it's cool to root against the Sox. I don't think the Cubs, Cards, or even the Sox would be the same without the rivalry. I was just trying to give posters here (who I think are mostly very knowledgeable) credit for seeing the long-term effects.

 

I have no respect for the Tribune as a baseball fan. If they knew the Cubs were the only game in town, Christ only knows what type of fan extortion BS we'd be likely to see. I just hope that this season's failure puts an end to their reprehensible ticket scalping operation.

[gflore34]

NL

C - STL

E - ATL

W - SD

WC - HOU

 

AL

C - CHWS

E - BOS

W- LAA

WC - CLE

 

WS

LAA over ATL

[gus_dog]

Perhaps my post was poorly worded. It seems alot of people think part of being a Cub fans is automatically hating the Sox and Cards, without question. I think those from Chicagoland have a bit more perspective, and realize these franchises need each other more than the other would like to admit.

If you're suggesting that sports without rivalries wouldn't be much fun, I agree. If you're suggesting there's something wrong with Cubs fans rooting against their rival teams, you've lost me.

 

Of course it's cool to root against the Sox. I don't think the Cubs, Cards, or even the Sox would be the same without the rivalry. I was just trying to give posters here (who I think are mostly very knowledgeable) credit for seeing the long-term effects.

 

I have no respect for the Tribune as a baseball fan. If they knew the Cubs were the only game in town, Christ only knows what type of fan extortion BS we'd be likely to see. I just hope that this season's failure puts an end to their reprehensible ticket scalping operation.

 

The White Sox are hated because they hate us, and vice-versa.

 

Intracity rivalries are great.

 

I have a buddy who is from NY. He is a Jets fan, and a Yank-mes fan. He hates the Mets and the Giants. Same thing.

 

These teams in Chicago really do need each other, but I think the Sox utilize the rivalry thing alot more in their marketing (and therefore, I think they need it more). The largest crowds at The Cell are usually for games involving the Cubs (I think the Twins might be in the record book for a game too). The Cubs seem indifferent to it. The Cubs are a marketing behemoth unto themselves, and have beome an enormous profit centre for the Trib. They run it like a business - focused on financial success. That doesn't always translate into success on the field since they are mutually exclusive events - at least as far as the Cubs are concerned.

[TheDude]

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Central: Cleveland Indians

AL West: LAA Angels

 

AL Wildcard: Chicago Whitesox

NL Wildcard: Houston Astros

[erik316wttn]

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Central: Cleveland Indians

AL West: LAA Angels

 

AL Wildcard: Chicago Whitesox

NL Wildcard: Houston Astros

 

I hope you're right, at least to the extent of the Yankees getting shut out of the playoffs. I really don't care who wins the Central. I just want the WC to come out of that division and the Red Sox to win the East.

[kroth1342]

These teams in Chicago really do need each other, but I think the Sox utilize the rivalry thing alot more in their marketing (and therefore, I think they need it more).

 

I disagree. In my opinion, the Cubs world is completely different from the Sox world. The Cubs are able to focus on selling out Wrigley and continuing to have amicable relations with the Lakeview neighborhood, while at the same time not having to focus as much on putting a championship contender on the field - not to say that people in the organization aren't trying, Hendry certainly is.

 

On the other hand, the team that the White Sox put on the field has a much stronger influence on their organization (payroll, public perception, popularity, etc.). Not to say Cubs fans don't care, but I think we can all agree there is a certain population of fans/Wrigley-goers that is there for the atmosphere - I'm more than happy to take their money and re-invest it in the club.

 

Longwinded post aside, the White Sox are more heavily dependent on the Cubs, especially the interleague games at the Cell. One of the primary unifying characteristics of Sox fans (or at least as their PR is trying to make it look) is an intense Cubs hatred. The Cubs do not, and will not for the foreseeable future, have to use White Sox animosity as a selling point.

 

Finally, although Chicago is a large media market, it is not Los Angeles or New York, where payrolls can be ratched up as part of an intra-city rivalry. It just isn't.