After reading some of the threads here, as well as observations from the street... and listening to a lot of Score/1000 hosts/callers...


It was said that Sox fans are thin skinned... it seems that Chicago baseball fans (some of them) are overly sensitive about other peoples allegiances. Some of this is fanned by the local pot-stirrers like Marriotti / Nort etc. however it is a very real phenomena.

I'm not going to post up some Dr Phil-like manifesto about it, but as a fan of the game i never quite got this whole thing about if you follow one team you have to hate the other. I went to the Sox parade when they won, was a vendor @ Clark/Addison during the 2003 stretch run ( the Bartman year), been to tons of games at Wrigley, the Cell, old Comiskey. Growing up a Cardinals fan the Cubs are a natural rival, but really i enjoy the theater of the game itself and i've had plenty of civil conversations with fans, shit even Mets fans, wearing a STL ballcap. I lived out east for a while, followed the BoSox a bit, most at Fenway will not immediately spew venom at a Yanks fan in their section. Theres drunken idiots that follow any team, granted, but sometimes these fans here on both sides of the river come off like a bunch of meatballs.

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

I'm a White Sox fan, and I don't hate the Cubs.

Mariotti is basically a Chicago hater, he seems to love everything outside the city.

I'm a Cubs fan, but don't hate the Sox at all.

Have been to several games at the Cell and will root for the Sox when I am there...unless, of course, they are playing the Cubs.

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Seriously?

I know there are fans out there like this (like one team, hate the other), but I also think that radio talk show hosts like to treat this thing like the civil war.

There's definitely some meatballs out there that genuinely hate their cross-town rivals...but I'm sure they couldn't give a good reason why. Probably just a "cuz dey suk" or something.

"Journalists" and radio guys (mostly) like to stir this shit up to give them something to write/talk about and justify their jobs.
Personally, I "hate" the team the my team is playing on a given day and when the game's over I go back to my pathetic life.

i dont hate the sox, i just dont follow american league ball too much. im pretty indifferent towards them. it is two totally different types of baseball, so unless they are playing each other, it just doesnt bother me. now, if they were in the same league, in the same division, now THAT would be fun.

Apologist.. disregard Frank Costanza's posts. The rest of us for the most part are fans of our respective teams. Im a Sox fan and dont hate the Cubs, although I dont mind seeing them do poorly. I did root for them in last years playoffs and was a bit dissapointed at how short lived it was. I think the majority of fans feel the same way.

You said you lived out East for a little bit. My Uncle is a Mets fan from NY and said the Mets/Yanks is way worse than our Cubs/Sox rivalry.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Not sure even which posts you are referring to, it wasn't a reactionary response to anything in particular (which is what this whole thing is about, people being knee-jerk with little thought outside their own little world/perspective). I have been on plenty of internet forums to know that a lot of people just like their interweb personalities (as a substitute for a real persona?) and post stupid stuff just out of idiocy.

I'm quickly getting an inkling of who the non-meatheads are on here, as I am happy to see some intelligent discourse on these electronic forums; case in point being those of you who have responded in this topic.

I like seeing the Cubs do well, it makes for a better rivalry, unless of course they are playing the Cards or Chisox. I might add that I've lived in Chicago since 1985, so I have a fairly decent sample of these observations...

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

I just dont agree with you implying that this is a trait inherent to Chicago fans only. Mets fans hate the Yankees, Jets fans hate the Giants, etc. Its just how these things go. Its just one of the many irrational qualities associated with being a die hard sports fan.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I'm not implying that, just based on my limited observations because I don't live in NYC, although like you have stated anecdotally I am sure it's just as bad there. Usually it's just an extension of neighborhood/ regional rivalries, combine that with alcohol and the passion of the typical sports fan.

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

the yankees/mets rivalry doesnt have near the fire beneath it as cubs/sox. in new york, the yankees fans KNOW the yankees have the most consistent track record of winning, and that the mets can do nothing to replace all of the yankees championships. there is no argument to be had, that is a yankees city when it comes to baseball, hands down.

cubs/sox is much more heated because both teams have along history of failure (granted the sox won it all in 2005). there is not cut-and-dried "better" franchise between the two. they both have had periods of being better than the other, but neither can sustain it.

it isnt even close, cubs/sox is much more of a vocal rivalry.

oh yeah, one more point on this - the yankess only rivalry that matters is with the boston red sox, all of the fans energy is wrapped up in yankees/red sox, they have no time for yankees/mets. there are tons of red sox fans in the NYC metropoiltan area. mets/phillies just doesnt have the same fire, although it isnt a bad rivalry within division.

My baseball perspective completely changed after I realized that the liklihood of going to another game as wonderful as WS 05 Game II was unrealistic.
As such, my vitriol toward fans of my teams rivals, in all sports, has been dampened considerably and now I just enjoy the games for what they are.

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@audioidkid

One day into the season and Mac comes through like a true Sox fan and spends most of his time talking about the Cubs! Typical Sox fan. Let's go see the Sox play the Indians and cheer against the Cubs. It's like your ex-wife spending the rest of her life bitching about what a lousy husband you were. Could never figure out this inferiority complex on the southside?

Anyone compensating with an avatar like that should not be calling out others for having an inferiority complex.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

If you're gonna use a pic from that game as an avatar, find one of the ole "reach around" Aramis had pulled on him.

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We should start a new thread titled "What's wrong with Badger Vince's avatar now...."

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SideshowBob311: "Sadly enough, I think we're the "intelligent" portion of the sports radio fanbase".
"I make fun of whoever sucks, including me"- Harry 11/30/07

Hey, Good news. I found an avatar that's the size your more familiar with!

Well if it took making fun of me to change it Im glad it worked. It was annoying as hell and many people here thought so.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul