August 28, 2008

ROOTING INTEREST

Why do we care? Why is your team, “your” team? It’s a question I’ve had the pleasure of debating many times at the bar. For those of us who “live and die” with our teams it’s usually an easy answer: “Because they’re there.” Obviously the geography of our lives has the most impact of who our “local heroes” are. Not being from Chicago, I’m constantly fascinated by the decision in this town to be a Cubs or Sox fan. When I moved here I was told that it was strictly a north-south thing. Northside = Cubs. Southside = Sox. Seems easy enough. But, how do you explain all of the people in my neighborhood wearing Cubs gear. (I live in the very, very, very Southside.) I think it’s because of poor parenting. (Just kidding, kind of.) I think that the geographic rooting lines in this city aren’t as distinct as they used to be. In the age we now live in it’s easy to root for your, or any other team you want, because you can follow them wherever you are. Every Cubs or Sox game is on TV, not to mention every other team in Major League Baseball. I love the internet and DIRECTV! (You do?!) So now you can get to “other” reasons why you follow one team or another, like where they play, their uniforms or making your father mad. (Kidding again, sort of.) I think that the Sox winning it all in 2005 enabled fans to show their “Sox Pride” without feeling public disdain. While my feeling is that before the title Chicago was split 75/25 in favor of the Cubs, and after, it seemed to be closer to 60/40. This was due to “true” fans finally being able to show their “colors” more prominently and the “obvious” new “frontrunners” who just want to follow a winner. I’d never seen so many Sox fans! Now we have a new thing going on, “Cubs Mania”. During days gone by, Northside fans wore their fandom like a badge of honor, in a fun, optimistic way. Rooting for a team that never wins is tough, believe me I know. But, they loved their team and I think that’s to be respected. True fans. But, it was never in the way I see now. This team, and what it can possibly do, is taking over the city. The reality of how good this team is has created a runaway Cubbie freight train. “Could this really be happening?” As the summer goes on, and turns to fall, there are going to be Cubs fans everywhere! And what’s wrong with that? Nothing! As long as they come in to, “you know where”, to toast “their” team, I’ll always have a cold one waiting. Everybody loves a winner! Let’s enjoy the ride.

As for me, I’ll just continue to suffer with my own fandom issues. As I often say, “You can’t help where you were born.” Being born in Philadelphia, I’ve had to suffer for a long time. Without having teams to choose between, I’ve been stuck with the Phillies. As a testament to my devotion, I’m still a die-hard even after living here for almost 14 years. This weekend Cubs fans will get to see first-hand how much my devotion has been tested this year. Nothing creates more rooting angst than a talented team that under-performs. (Remember the 2004 Cubs? That’s this years Phillies, just minus corky going hippity-hoppity in the middle of the line-up.) My Cubs fans friends, and friends of friends, are going to have a lot of enjoyment at my expense this weekend at the bar. That’s O.K. It’s nothing new to me, I can handle it. It’s the Cubs year.

Besides the Phillies haven’t won it all in 28 years, they’ve got to be due next year, right?