I read Scoop Jackson's article today on ESPN's website about the split loyalties in Chicago for the Cubs and White Sox (and the bitterness that comes when the other team wins) and wondered why people can't root for two different teams, especially when they are in different leagues. This doubles your chance of having a team that might do well in a particular season and gives you twice the joy if they both do well. The only time you have to choose up sides is when they meet in inter-league play or if they meet in the World Series. I was a big Yankee/Mets fan back in my early teens (when Srawberry, Gooden, & Mattingly ruled NY) and had no problem with this idea. Why can't Angel fans have the Dodgers as a close second in their hearts or vice versa? It could be that because I don't come from a baseball city like Chicago or NY, I'm missing something here. Scoop tries to imply that race is involved with it in Chicago. I'm not buying that. I can understand a feeling that maybe the Cubs are your team and you just can't get into cheering for another team. That's one thing. It's the hatred, bitternes and openly rooting against the other team in your OWN city that I don't get. This post Gapers Block
by a White Sox fan is typical of this die-hard attitude. Another blog to check out that gives Cub's fan view is found at The Corner of Grace and Wayne
. With the Red Sox and Yankees you have two teams from rival cities and there is a history of playing each other and ripping each other's hearts out (mostly one sided by the Yankees). It makes sense for these fans to hate each other and each other's teams. The Astros are in the Cub's own division for pete's sake. If Cubbies want to look for a rival, they might start with the team that helped prevent them from sniffing the post-season.
3 comments:
Rooting for two teams from the same city is like sleeping with your wife and her sister at the same time.
Awesome in theory, sure. But there's just something that doesn't feel quite right about it. I mean, it's not something you couldn't get over . . . epsecially if her sister had big tits . . . but, you know what I mean.
Pretty much agree with the above poster. You can't pick and choose like that because then you're running the risk of "I'm always a winner!" itis. The most annoying people in sports were those who bought half-Giants-half-A's caps at the 1989 World Series, and those non-baseball fans in NYC in 2000 who openly supported both the Mets and Yankees. The way I see it, if you don't choose one team in a given sports as your true love, then you can't fully enjoy the high of victory. That said, I totally do not understand the sheer hatred for the other team in your area that isn't even in your league. Growing up in San Francisco, the Giants have always been my team and always will be. But, I'm also happy when the A's do well. Doesn't mean I put all my love and energy into rooting for them. It means I'm proud to have good baseball played in my area. I can be friends with my sister-in-law, right?
I don't root for Chicago, I root for the Cubs. As I said over at Grace and Wayne, if the Cubs moved to Iowa, I would root for the Cubs rather than switch over to the Sox just because they are a "Chicago Team."
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