As I See It: "Burying The Hatchet," Making Peace With The White Sox.....

1919 "Black Sox" logo

  My hatred for the White Sox runs deep, dating back to the late 80's where I wasn't allowed into a game at Comiskey Park. I then went to Wrigley Field and watched an exciting matchup between the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants. The Cubs did not win that game. I am also saddened to inform you that I have never witnessed a Cubs win at Wrigley in 25 years of living on this planet. I feel as though I am a jinx, but I guess there have been many more before me.. Which brings me to my crossroads..

  As I mature into a fully blossomed adult, I ponder the things I once impassioned as a adolescent. My hatred for the White Sox topping the list next to dentist visits, and vegetables. The Green Bay Packers also made an appearance on a list or two, but with the White Sox, living in Illinois you had to choose sides. You couldn't be on the fence, because then you were just being a wuss and trying to please everyone, or you just didn't know or follow baseball. So choose a side and be willing to bleed for it. Last time I cut myself, it was red and science says my blood is blue until oxygen hits it. The theory is simple, and factual.

  I am a Cubby, a Northsider. I have cried the tears of disappointment, and jubilant in the cheers of victory. Unfortunately, I have not experienced the joy of a World Series victory. When I think about what I love about the Chicago Cubs, I think of loyalty and Ron Santo, I think of the desire of team play and Ryen Sandberg, I think of Ernie Banks and I also think of Old Style and Harry Carey.

Bartman...

  Recently, the alcmosphere of Wrigley Field brings the breed of beer guzzling time wasters that look at a game at Wrigley as an expensive frat party, that has a baseball game playing in the background instead of Jack Johnson....Sorry to let that one slip, but the reality is that before the Dusty Baker years, the Cubs' were not expected to win. They were actually marketed to lose. You remember, the 'loveable losers'. Made me want to vomit. I blamed Bartman for a about 6 hours on Oct. 14th, then I realized that the play wasn't the game winning home run, or even the game scoring play period. Instead, the Cubs go to pieces. Rather than closing the game out they produce a comedy of errors and slide to an 8-3 defeat with six of the runs being unearned. They eventually go on to lose the series and not reach the World Series.. I play that scene out with every mediocre season and early playoff exit. So to say the least I am a Chicago Cubs fan

  For almost 25 years the Chicago White Sox have never interested me. Believe me when I tell you that the sight of the logo to the pinstriped jerseys destested me. Micheal Jordan even lost cool points when he bore the jersey of my most hated team, but recently something has started to change. Maybe it is my love for Chicago. All things Chicago. For so many years I have went out of my way to neglect a team that has brought the city just as much glory and pride and actually not as much shame ( Well let's not forget the Black Sox. Also I never got why they had to call it "Black Sox" anyway...)  only a few hiccups. We have alot in common, the Sox, and Cubs. We have had our share of curses, our share of embarassing moments, and our pride of Chicago.

"WTF"-List Inductee

  They won the 2005 World Series, contend for their division, and make offseason splashes annually and bring big named free agents to Chicago. The Cubs' Teflon really was cracked in '93 with Bo Jackson, "Black Jack" McDowell, and Tim Raines. Bo Jackson was among all other things, my favorite athlete growing up. Starting the "wtf" list, later to be joined by Micheal Jordan, Ron Santo, Barack Obama, and Sammy Sosa. As much as I disliked the "White Sox" image, I was secretly in love with the teams. They were in fact not the 'good guys', but the bad boys from the southside. They were the all black wearing, cigarette smoking, neighborhood you don't want to get lost in team in Chicago. The opposite of the Cubs.

  So today I say that I respect the White Sox, I do not like the White Sox. I will not root for the White Sox. I smiled a smile of pride when they won in 2005, that was for Chicago. This is what; as a fan, keeps sports alive. The rivalry, the bitter dislike, the competition, the savors of victory and the privilege of bragging rights. We as Bears' fans lost them to Green Bay this past month. I feel a bit of the air out of the city. That is completely natural in sports, it is also neccesary. So for me to bury the hatchet is a bit of a leap, I guess I needed it to suck you in to my column! Let's say I'm digging the ditch...