Brooks is a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan. You will often see him wearing the same Cubs hat until the structure of the brim breaks down, and he is forced to buy a new one. Such is the life of the Chicago Cubs.
In a way, Brooks is an individual facsimile for the Cubs. Both start out very likable, and filled with promise. In the end both always finish disastrously, making us scratch our heads wondering why we bought into the hype to being with.
The Cubs have been playing at the ivy-covered mecca known as Wrigley Field for 102 years. Their last world championship was four years before they moved in.
Names like Maddux (twice), Sandberg, and Banks all called Chicago home in the past 50 years. I might even listen to the argument for a steroid-infused Sosa for the way he and McGwire resurrected interest in baseball nationwide in 1998. Yet all Chicago fans seem to care about is their championship drought.
Excuse me?! There's a championship drought in Chicago?
Thirteen metropolitan cities have at least one team in each of the Big Four leagues. Since the Super Bowl era began with the AFL/NFL merger in 1966, only three can lay claim to at least one championship in each sport...Boston, Chicago, and New York. In case you forgot:
- Michael's Bulls have six;
- The Bears sported the greatest defense in NFL history en route to the "Super Bowl Shuffle;"
- The Blackhawk bandwagon is so large after their three Stanley Cup Championships this decade that the NHL has been kind enough to reinforce the axles;
- Even the White Sox got a party in just over a decade ago.
Do the Mets' fans take New York pride when the Yankees buy a championship every few years? Did the Los Angeles Rams fans attend the parade for John Madden's Raiders after their Super Bowl XV victory in 1976, while sharing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum? What about the Clippers watching the Lakers doing the same at Staples Center for most of the last two decades?
According to Patrick Salem, Chicago native, and my former editor-in-chief at the Cleveland State University Cauldron, civic pride is certainly not on the menu when it comes to a cross-town rival.
"It's a little more complicated than just hoping the other team doesn't do well. The media in Chicago are Cubs first. The White Sox are an afterthought. Cubs fans see this town as being all about them, which naturally creates a chip on the should of Sox fans."
But why would Chicago not revel in bringing home any World Series championship? Salem continued:
"When the White Sox won the World Series in 2005 it didn't get as much attention as the 2003 Cubs playoff series, (referring to the infamous "Steve Bartman" incident). (Moises) Alou wanted to blame (Bartman) for interfering, when there wasn't any interference at all. So the 'South Siders' resentment of the Cubs is about more than just baseball."
Salem does have a very valid point. The White Sox had an American League-best 23-10 record through the first month of this season. It took them just over another month to fall below to .500. The only White Sox news fans are talking about lately is pitcher Chris Sale disagreeing with the team's choice in throwback jerseys. Yet, the Cubs highlights are always in the first segment on both ESPN and Fox Sports 1 every night, because THIS could finally be the year they break the drought! Why would it not be? After throwing out $32 and $184 million to John Lester and Jason Heyward respectively this offseason, and $155 million to Jon Lester last year, the Cubs have established they are willing to stoop as low as the Yankees and Red Sox in their efforts to buy a championship.
With the Bulls on the verge of joining the Bears and White Sox in mediocrity, and the Blackhawks bowing out of the Stanley Cup playoffs before the Western Conference Finals for the first time in three years, it's up to the Cubs to pick up lowly Chicago's sports dreams.
I never realized the hardships Chicago fans endure when there isn't a parade to celebrate a Cubs championship. If only there was a way for them to celebrate something in their city that happened to a Big Four franchise...
-JC24