Newswriting 301, Spring 2006

By Penny-Frances Lau
penny-frances-lau@northwestern.edu

In a bar right across Wrigley Field, a Sox fan and a Cubs fan once again started the classic baseball fan argument.

"Cubs fans are obnoxious and Sox fans are classier," Sox fan Alicia Porters said.

"Sox fans are arrogant and Cubs fans are 'in the right'," Cubs fan Richard Olivo said.

Chicago's baseball fans love rivalries. Though Wrigley and U.S. Cellular baseball fields are just eight miles apart, the cross-town rivalry has lasted for more than a century. The rivalry is getting even hotter after the Sox won the World Series last year. It's the fun of being a fan, and being a rival fan--people just love to fight.

But whose fans love the rivalry more?

"Sox fans are more likely to hate the Cubs than Cubs hating the Sox," sports sociologist Neal Pease said.

Pease, who teaches a class "Baseball in American History" at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said the rivalry makes life in Chicago interesting to fans.

"If you root for one team, you'll hate the other. It's the spice of it," Pease said.

Sox fans are more proactive in the rivalry

But Sox fans and Cubs fans don't seem to have the same passion for the rivalry.

"Sox fans are probably tougher people but many seem extremely bitter and mad at the world. Cubs fans are happier," said Dave Zeman, author of "The Baseball Rookies Encyclopedia."

Zeman said Sox fans think Cubs fans are yuppies while they are the strong, South Side Irish salt of the earth.

Shawn Cummings, a Sox fan who once got into a fight with a Cubs fan who kept ragging on him, said Cubs fans are more uppity.

"They think they're better than everybody else," Cummings said.

And Sox fans aren't only irritated by Cubs fans' pretentiousness, but also their ignorance.

Zeman said Sox fans think Cubs fans don't know much about baseball. They think Cubs fans go to Wrigley Field only to be seen there, to party and to check out beautiful women.

Sox fan Tom Mayer said Cubs fans enjoy the experience of baseball but not really knowing who's pitching and who's hitting.

"If you talk to a White Sox fan, you can talk baseball all day long. You'll know right away if you're talking to a Cubs fan if they don't even understand the game. They're drinkers, partiers and socialites," Mayer said.

Facing intense hatred from Sox fans, Cubs fans keep their cool. They care less about the resentment from the Sox fans as they march into Wrigley Field.

"We try not even to put the Sox in our vocabulary," said Cubs fan George Field. He said he boycotted the World Series last year when the Sox won the world championship.

"I wasn't gonna cross over. I just stay true to the Cubs," Field said. "Go get a cup of beer and get it off your mind and don't pay attention."

Cubs fan Andy Mielke turned off the lights and went to bed when people were celebrating the Sox's championship last year.

"I'm not one of those people who's just gonna hate them because they're the White Sox, but I'm also not gonna cheer for them either," Mielke said.

Fans' behavior reflects self-image

Pease said differences in the fans backgrounds and self-images cause Sox fans' bitterness and Cubs fans' coolness. He said while South Side Sox fans are mostly ethnic, Catholic and working class, the North Side Cubs fans are mostly Anglo, Protestant and better off.

"The Sox fan sees himself as a backer of the team. of the real, genuine, workaday, gritty Chicago, and the Cubs as the darlings of the Starbucks set," Pease said.

But because the Cubs are owned by the Tribune Company which also owns the Chicago Tribune, Sox fans resent the idea that the Cubs can monopolize media attention. Chicago Tribune Associate Managing Sports Editor Dan McGrath said Sox fans think the Cubs get attention by money, not actual strength.

"White Sox fans refer to us as the Cubune. We try to neutralize that perception by our world champion coverage," McGrath said.

McGrath said that the Cubs are regarded as the elite team because they are from the North Side, but he said this is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

While Sox fans despise the Cubs for their business background, the Cubs fans see themselves as the natural winners. Pease said Cubs fans think of themselves as the Chicago team and can just ignore the White Sox. They think Wrigley Field is the place to be and the Sox are beneath them.

"Cubs fans go to the game. Sox fans have to be bribed to go to the games. We're far more respectful and tolerant." Cubs fan Larry Hippert said.

So when everyone talks about how cute Wrigley Field is, how ugly U.S. Cellular Field is, how the Cubs are in the media spotlight and how the Sox have a less colorful history and don't have the same sexy quality that the Cubs do--all these get under Sox fans' skin.

"Sox fans are really conscious of being the lower guy. They get more pleasure out of seeing the Cubs lose than from seeing the Sox win," Pease said. "This sense of being Chicago's other team continues to rankle even though the Sox are currently world champs--they're still only number two in Chicago."