Cubs Fans vs. Sox "fans"

So what is the difference between Cubs fans and Sox fans? In my experience, it's all about the focus between the two fans. Cubs fans really only keep track of the Cubs with an outside interest in the Sox. Sox fans seem to have MUCH more interest and derive much more excitement from Cubs' losses with a little more than secondary interest in the Sox. I have had conversations with supposed Sox fans that don't even know all five if the Sox starters. Really? But you know what made it worse...they knew the Cubs rotation including the order they pitch. Regardless, there is definitely a rivalry between the two ball clubs, but I think the rivalry between the fans is even more intense.

This whole cross-town rivalry thing for me dates back to 7th grade. I took a bus to my new Catholic school in 7th grade where I met several new kids. One of them lived in a different subdivision and it turns out he was a Sox fan while all of my friends all cheered for the Cubs so this was the first time I ever had to deal with someone like that. I was picked up before he was so I was on the bus when we picked him up. I took great pleasure letting him know that the Cubs won their game the day before and he did the same when the Sox won. I would have the whole bus yelling "Cubs WON!" and he was primarily on his own countering us. Even when the Cubs lost, it was nearly as fun if the Sox lost as we would all yell "Sox LOST!" and doubly fun when both happened. I still remember his name...weird.

As I increased my base of friends, I expanded to know more Sox fans. When I was in high school, my best friend had another friend that was a Sox fan. The year was 1983 and if you know much Chicago baseball, you know the Sox crushed the competition on their way to a 20-game division victory over the Royals. At the same time, the Cubs were scuffling along to "just miss" the playoffs by 19 games. That was a long summer at my friend's house. I remember this particular kid was pretty handy (actually worked at Handy Andy - remember that store?) and he had built himself a light kind of in the shape of a wagon wheel. In each of the spaces between the spokes (there were 20), he had different White Sox pennants. It was pretty cool even though they were Sox pennants.

In high school I befriended a guy who turned out to be a Padres fan. Really? A Padres fan in the NW Chicago burbs...how does that even happen. Well, the year was 1984 which ended up not being a good time to have a friend who was a fan of the Padres. The night Sutcliffe struck out Joe Orsulak and the Cubs clinched their first playoff berth in 39 years, I wrote the names of all the Cubs' players, numbers, and a Cubs logo in permanent marker on my Levis for school the next day - I didn't care if I got a detention (which I didn't). Our Homecoming Dance was Saturday night during Game 4 of that fateful playoff series. I spent more time walking out to my car checking the score (no internet cell phones back then!) on the radio than I did with my date (don't remember her name - must not have been a baseball fan).

In college, I again expanded my friend base and ended up becoming friends with more Sox fans. They weren't fanatical and they also didn't despise the Cubs so it wasn't much of a problem. I did get to know even more Cubs fans in college too and they were fanatical - I remember their names. When the Cubs clinched the division in 1989, I remember all of us were dialing the phones like crazy trying to get tickets not that we had the money to pay for them, but what's a couple days worth of food compared to a Cubs playoff game? I picked up my girlfriend (now my wife) at the Amtrak station at school. There was a whole bank of pay phones and the TicketMaster number was toll-free so I had two phones going at the same time. No luck however and neither did my friends.

Now I get to deal with my adult friends and neighbors and their kids. Just as I was brought up as a Cubs fan thanks to my father, my friends' kids are growing up as Sox fans based on their own father. Nothing wrong with that I guess. But here's the question...how did these guys end up as Sox fans instead of Cubs fans to start with? A couple of the guys I know that are Sox fans grew up on the north side which would logically mean they "should" be Cubs fans so what happened? Either they switch alliances just to be different or they had some other reason. I have heard Sox fans argue that most of the people attending Cubs' games are not true Cubs fans...rather they are only interested in the exerience. While I agree there are plenty of people there to get the experience...particularly the Friendly Confines which many people refer to as the biggest beer garden in the US. That may be true, but most of the people in the stands do pay attention to the game as you can tell by watching the game - they know when there is a big spot in the game; when to stand up and cheer. The Cubs continue to draw more and more people each year, but where are the Sox fans? Even in their World Series season, they still hardly drew more than average and couldn't even sell out their final regular season homestand. Does anyone think that could have happened with the Cubs at Wrigley? Didn't think so.

So what about Wrigley Field? I have been visiting ballparks throughout the country over the last few years with my family. All 5 of us are headed to the Midwest ballparks this August for our 3rd annual baseball vacation. Two years ago, we visited Detroit, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. Last year, we saw the end of Shea and Yankee Stadium as well as Philadelphia and Boston. So we saw some old and saw some new parks. I know it might be blasphemy and before my visits to the new "old school" parks I would have agreed, but I think it may be time to knock down the Friendly Confines and build us a new old school park similar to those in Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. We haven't made it to Baltimore yet, but we will eventually and I know Camden Yards is where it all started back on the right track after all the lousy cookie-cutter artificial turf stadiums built in the 70s. I've also been to Turner Field in Atlanta which I also really liked. Tough to beat the locationin Wrigleyville so they'd have to tear it down and put the new park up in its place. I'd be willing to sacrifice a season of playing ball at The Cell on the southside; heck, maybe two seasons. THEN we could put to rest all the talk about how the Cubs only draw more fans than the Sox because of Wrigley. Would anyone like to make that bet if both teams played at The Cell? Didn't think so. Did you see how many butts were in the seats for that make-up game against Houston last year that was held in Miller Park in Milwaukee? The Cubs drew 25,000 there with 24-hour notice. Not bad, huh? Those are Cubs fans my friend.

Bandwagon Jumpers

So what about all these bandwagon jumpers for the Hawks and the Bulls? Obviously both teams have increased in popularity over the last 12 months. The Bulls were supposed to compete for the Eastern Conference championship last season but had a supremely disappointing season leading to the firing of the coach that helped bring them back into relevance with three straight playoff appearances. Some serious luck came their way when they surprisingly won the coveted NBA Draft Lottery and made the RIGHT choice bringing Derrick Rose into the mix. Derrick helped lead the Bulls to an 8-game turnaround getting them back in the playoffs as the #7 seed.

The Bulls' epic playoff series with the defending champ Boston Celtics will go down in history as the best first-round (if not THE best) playoff series ever. All the experts say that just having that playoff experience will help the young Bulls develop as a perennial contender for years to come. They were a couple of shots or a couple of referee calls away from upsetting the #2 Celtics and moving on to face the very beatable Orlando Magic. But the extra media attention and being in the limelight for an extra month brought along what most call bandwagon jumpers. "True" or "die hard" fans tend to despise these people as they only come along when the team has success, but aren't there when the team really needs them to get over the hump. To me, the more people at the games means more noise at the UC which only helps out the home team and that's what I want. Eventually (I hope) the Bulls will start to get some actual calls especially at home...that's what all the experts are saying about Derrick Rose. Can you imagine what this kid would have done with 5-6 more FTs per game? I'm looking forward to that time.

The Hawks saw an absolutely INCREDIBLE transformation this year. It "helped" that they haven't been relevant since 2002's playoff appearance. They made HUGE strides last year thanks to their two AMAZING rookies (Kane and Towes), but floundered a bit down the stretch and missed the "cut" for the playoffs. They did NOT falter this season though, did they? The transformation started when Dale Tallon moved from the radio booth to the front office as GM in 2005. He then picked up Towes (#3 overall) and Kane (#1 overall) in the first round in 2006 and 2007 and the Hawks were on their way. With the death of their long-time and ultra-cheap, stubborn, and arrogant owner "Dollar" Bill Wirtz and the ownership change to son Rocky Wirtz along with the hiring of ex-Cubs President John McDonough, the franchise transmformation was complete. But wait, who doesn't love Savoir Faire? When the Hawks decided to fire him only 4 games into the season this year, I was scratching my head. Well, what do I know? Joel Quenneville was the final piece so he actually completed the transformation.

Getting the home games back on TV helped build a more consistent following. This was THE BIG decision behind getting this team the support they needed to get them over the hump. You can literally watch every single Hawks game on TV and nearly all in HD (that helps too - NHL in HD is the BEST). How did this not make sense to Dollar Bill?

The home attendance and revenue numbers for this season have been ASTRONOMICAL. What a perfect storm to redevelop a fan base. With that totally nuts Game 6 at the UC, the Hawks exceeded 1 million fans and that does NOT count the Winter Classic at the Frozen Confines. The Hawks set an NHL club record by attracting an average of 21,783 to their 40 home dates at United Center (not including the 40,818 who filled Wrigley Field for the Winter Classic) this season. Chicago is averaging 22,578 fans per game through their first five home contests of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs. How can that be with all the fans they should have lost with everyone staying home to watch the home games? Ya...nice logic there Dollar Bill.

So where did all these people come from? This goes back to my original point. Are all these people coming out of the woodwork only here because the team has been so successful? Or were they always there keeping an eye on the team to see when the franchise cared as much as they did? Speaking for myself, I'm going with the latter. I've always followed the Hawks but not as closely as I have these last two years. It REALLY helps me since I don't have season tickets and only get to a couple games a year to have the games on TV. Having THE BEST announcers on the planet doing the games, REALLY helps too. Eddie O and Pat Foley are simply amazing. Eddie O's analysis of Kane's 3rd and pretty much game and series clinching goal on Mon night was so insightful. Amazing! And that's why people like to watch. I can't find any current revenue numbers for this season, but last year's merchandise revenues were up 175% so this year should be right in that same area. Season ticket sales increased 300% from last year to this year too.

So I say WELCOME BACK fans...WELCOME BACK!