Wrigley Time

#REALTALK.  I believe in absolutes when it comes to sports.  If you cheer for Trinity, you cannot cheer for St. X.  If you cheer for UK, you cannot cheer for UofL.  If you cheer for Xavier, there is no pulling for the Bearcats.  Yankees vs BoSox, etc.  However, since moving to Chicago, I have been trying to figure out this whole White Sox vs. Cubs thingy.  You Chicagoans are so cute, but I don't get it.  You didnt go to either school, and to me that is where all fanatical allegiance starts and stops.  I understand that I come from an area where there is no professional sports. So, I am behind the 8 ball when it comes to die hard pro sports allegiance.  Being in Chicago you almost have to pick a sides.  There is no Switzerland...or Kentucky, depending on your war preference.   Growing up in Kentucky you are pretty much equidistance from Atlanta and Chicago.  With WGN and TBS, all I watched were Braves and Cubs game.  Dale Murphy and Andre Dawson.  Therefore, I guess I had a softer spot for the Cubs.  I wanted to come at this with an open mind and try to honestly figure out why someone cheers for a particular team here.

I have concluded that if you are born and raised in Chicago, or old school Irish, or a minority of any type, or hovering around the poverty line,  chances are you are a Sox fan.  If you are a transplant to the city, college student, or of an alternative lifestyle, you are probably a Cubs fan. All of them are very strange to me because for the most part, it is pathetic baseball.  I mean seriously.  Both teams, historically, have been beyond bad.  Yet the people of Chicago LOVE their baseball, and for that, I respect them both.

My experience with the Sox game has been documented and I won't elaborate too much more.  Just picture this....when you get off of the L, its like that long tunnel going from prison to freedom that you see in the movies.  You are surrounded by both criminals and guards on both sides.  You have only one way to walk, otherwise you face certain death.  Its all very sterile and very unfriendly.  Once you walk a couple of blocks, you get to a relatively new stadium.  It has all the amenities you would want at a park, including a big portrait of Obama "throwing" out the first pitch.  Does it get any better?  You have plenty of room to stretch your legs, great food selections, a jumbotron, and partisan gang wars in the crowd that would make A West Side Story jealous.  It is an experience that you should attempt to live through once.  Making it home in one piece is exhilarating enough.  I would suggest doing it when a team like the Yankees are in town. To the Sox credit, they are actually playing some good ball now too.

Then you have Wrigley and Wrigleyville.  Its interesting because when you take the blue line to the transfer station, you go one way for the Sox, the other for the Cubs.  Its a totally different vibe when heading towards the Cubs.  It is a much lighter atmosphere and the people are much friendlier.  It is a younger crowd as well.  Perhaps one too many "dudes" wearing skinny jeans, but quite a few ladies as well.  People are talking to strangers and I suspect have been pre-gaming for a while.  Before you know it, you see the stadium off in the distance.  It looks old but it looks like tradition.  Reagan's eyes lit up when she saw it.  The L takes you right next to the stadium. When you get off, it couldn't be more opposite of U.S. Cellular Field.  It is like a giant party.  People are all over the streets, drinking, celebrating, selling stuff, and eating.  It is a full experience and the game hasn't even started.  The field is sort of wedged in a corner but it is right there.  No need to worry about getting mugged, no walking very far.  We had great seats that were a gift (free) to me, so this was a much better experience.  Reagan and I sat down and it looks like an old stadium, both good and bad.  I kept instinctively looking for a jumbotron, I still haven't found it.  Thankfully we didn't have any obstructed views either, it would suck to pay all that money to stare at a beam.  For the record, the Cubs have the most expensive non premium seats in the ML.  I guess its for the experience, because the baseball generally sucks.  Regardless, it is always packed.  So much so, that people sit on the roof tops of near by buildings as if they were actually in the stadium.  I know right, crazy?  It was neat to see the fans celebrate every foul ball caught by someone.  It was neat to see the fans throw back a home run hit by the opposing team.  Don't worry if you miss it because you will probably have a few chances to see that tradition.  It was neat to sing "take me out to the ball game" for the first time with Reagan.  It was neat to see the W flag (raised after every Cubs win...so like a total of 12 times a year) after the game.  It was neat to sing the "Go Cubs Go" song after the game too.  The L was substantially more packed after the game with a much drunker crowd.  You are worried about getting mugged on the way back from a Sox game, you are worried about getting thrown up on after a Cubs game.  Either way, it was a great time, great win for the Cubs.  All in all, it was a day with Reagan that I will always remember, I hope she does as well.  We ate, and ate, and ate, this time without a tummy ache.  She spent the latter part of the game in my lap, or playing stupid little games with me.  She kept asking if "we" won, even after the 6th inning. 

I realized that there is a celebratory feel at Wrigley because there really isn't much to celebrate.  Just the small things.  There is a reason why they are called "Lovable Losers." You can't get around it, The North Siders are losers.  But there is a great lesson to be learned in all this....it isn't always if you win or lose, but how much fun you have at/with the games. They live that, year in and year out.  They are fans the way you should be.  Wrigley really is the friendly confines.  

On the way home I asked Reagan if she had fun, which thankfully she did.  I asked if she liked the Cubs, she said she did. She has a cute Cubs shirt courtesy of her mother too.  So here it comes, the million dollar question...I asked Reagan is she liked the Sox or the Cubs better??? Reagan said "both."  Not only did the Cubs teach me a sports lesson today, Reagan sort of taught me a life lesson.  Back to being Switzerland again...or Kentucky.