The day White Sox fans have been waiting for finally arrived – Opening Day on the South Side. Droves of diehard fans camped out at The Cell hours before today’s game, grilling, chilling and just having a good time. While many folks talked about their hopes for the Sox 2009 season, there were also plenty of others doing another ritual of many Sox fans -- unprovoked, big-time bashing of the Cubs.
Hey, I understand there's a South Side–North Side rivalry that goes back generations before my birth. And here’s my take on the prevailing stereotypes of the two camps. The Cell is inhabited by the blue-collar, working-class Chicagoan who loves a good baseball game, a good dog and nice cold beer, perhaps even in that order. Wrigley Field, meanwhile, draws a mixture of white-collar folks, who are attentive and polite, and frat boys, who come to the ballpark to get drunk and party, not necessarily watch the game.
While there is some truth and fiction in these stereotypes, I think it is about time that we say to hell with them.
In the end, we are all Chicagoans and baseball lovers, right? Maybe it’s time we focus on that instead of dishing out all this hatorade for the Cubbies or the White Sox and their fans. So I say, Go Sox! Go Cubs! But not necessarily in that order.
