I feel about the Cubs-Sox series pretty much the way I feel about roller coasters. They're exciting. They're nerve wracking. They're rarely boring. But by the end, I kind of want to throw up. It's essentially the same feeling I get when the Cubs play the Cardinals, except there is so much less at stake . . . and so much more.With the Cards, each game is worth 2 in the standings (if the Cubs and Cardinals were to play today, a loss would send the Cubs 3 games behind St. Louis, a win would pull them within 1), so they all carry a ton of weight. But with the Sox, the competition is chiefly a battle for bragging rights, and there are a lot more Sox fans than Cards fans in my territory, so the bragging that goes on is real, prevalent, and annoying.
So here are a few of the pluses and minuses about enduring the Windy City matchups when I'm neither out of the country nor in a coma:
Love it
The intensity among the fans and the adrenaline in the players creates a playoff atmosphere.
Hate it
Have you watched the Cubs in the playoffs lately?
Love it
Ozzie and Lou are hilarious to watch and listen to, and uniting them in one building for three days makes for great TV and soundbites.
Hate it
Listening to people overreact to both of them, on the other hand, sucks rocks.
Love it
No matter how the season is going, this rivalry gives importance to at least 6 games at a time when either team might be irrelevant.
Hate it
Right now, these are two irrelevant teams.
Love it
The emotional high of seeing, say, an Aramis Ramirez walk-off homer is absolutely exquisite.
Hate it
My emotional high is on the DL.
Love it
After the World Series win in '05, Sox fans turned into a bunch of placated softies. I attended the infamous A.J./Barrett game the next year, and the crowd at the Cell was as laid back as can be.
Hate it
After the World Series win in '05, Cub fans effectively lost all bragging rights.
Love it
The series has been even, split down the middle, half Cub wins, half Cub losses.
Hate it
Those 33 losses really stunk. And I'll never forget the 2001 Sox sweep at Wrigley in '99 that effectively ended what had been a promising season. The Cubs never recovered . . . not sure I have either.
Love it
It's one of those events that get people talking about baseball again, bringing national attention to both teams, and arousing interest in people who don't usually care a lick about sports.
Hate it
At this point in my life, I just want a nice relaxing day at the park or in front of the TV or just driving easy breezy with the radio tuned to 720. Cubs + White Sox almost never = relaxing.
I'm not one of those who hates the Sox with a passion. I like quite a few Sox fans. The Cell is a nice place to go see a game. If we're honest, both teams historically stink. I'm glad for the chance to watch some meaningful baseball, but will someone please wake me when things are meaningless again?
In the meantime, let me know what you think. Do you love or hate the Cubs/White Sox series?
UPDATE: With the recent disclosure from the NY Times about Sosa's alleged 2003 positive steroid test (I'm not even going to honor that rag by linking to it), I have to say the pendulum has swung over to the Hate it side. These big moments provide the perfect occasions for pseudo-journalists to release bombshell stories with zero attribution of fact.
