This is my first attempt to write a blog on a subject that is not about A.) My fiancé B.) Any recent travels I may have been on, or C.) My emotions. I found out very quickly that I am not the deep, emo blogger type. I am on the other hand a student of history who wants to work in a museum and happens to have a very intense, and still growing, passion for sports. This is my attempt to join the sports writer blogosphere. I do not make any apologizes, I just ask you to keep this fact in mind.
Where to start for my first time out? Do I play it safe by sticking to what is being reported on ESPN and just simply weigh in? Do I lay out my love for a particular team or particular sport? I feel that it might be best to simply jump right in to the whirlpool that is controversy.
I would like to address the ongoing drama and controversy that is the sports rivalry. To be more specific, the baseball rivalry. Over the years, I have developed some questions regarding these feuds and a few thoughts have begun to surface again now that Spring Training is starting up.
#1. The Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox.
This rivalry has not really been a rivalry in my opinion until 2005 when the White Sox won the World Series over the Houston Astros. Few fans of the Cubbies cared about what was going on south of Wrigley Field and only gave a hoot when they actually played each other. For most of the fans of either team, both clubs have ranged from horrible to okay. Only a few times was either group able to catch any glimpse of success or talent. If you asked any White Sox fan they would say that the Cubs are their biggest rivals. A team not in their division, not in their league, and that they play only six times a season. But it is their biggest rival nonetheless. Ask any good Cubs fan and they are going to say (at least most of them would say) their biggest rival is the St. Louis Cardinals. Why the difference in answers? Because until the White Sox championship run, the Chicago Cubs were the unrivaled darlings of Chicago baseball. They got the most coverage, the most fans, and the most money. It is understandable for White Sox fans to be upset over having to be second-class sports citizens for so long. But this is where I stop understanding. It has become that a White Sox fan is defined by their hatred for the Chicago Cubs. It goes hand in hand with Comisky Park, Carlton Fisk, and the homerun fireworks. Why? Why can't the fans leave the Cubs alone? Why not focus on all the things they love about the Sox and not all the things they hate about the North Side? I have a very intelligent friend, with a brain full of sports knowledge that happens to be a White Sox fan. On Facebook, he has posted pictures from his trip to Dodgers Stadium. Under every picture he mentions that Dodger Stadium is why he hates Wrigley Field. Why take the shot at the Wrigley Field? Why not just leave Wrigley alone and talk about Dodger Stadium in relation to U.S. Cellular Field? Also on Facebook, there are a few groups devoted to the White Sox and a bunch of them spend a lot of their time making fun of the Cubs. I think that a real fan would only focus on the rival if they were playing each other or if they stood in the way of the World Series trophy. A real fan should not be defined by who he hates.
#2. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox
What would be a rant about baseball rivalries if it didn't include the Red Sox and the Yanks? Unfortunately these two teams are seen as one of the most intense rivalries in all of sports, but there is a bit of a problem. The rivalry is dead! Ever since the Red Sox broke the curse in 2004, the intensity has been gone. Before 2004 it was a great rivalry. The Yankees were the Evil Empire, having won the big one 26 times and the Red Sox being the constantly denied underdogs made for good T.V. The Red Sox making that historic comeback was exciting to watch. But because of the East Coast bias that exists in most major sports outlets, people are humping this rivalry for all it is worth, even though nothing worth mentioning has gone town between these two teams in a few seasons. Also, the Yanks and Sox aren't even the top of the AL anymore. The AL Central is the most exciting division in the American League and it still receives less coverage. Of course, the fact the fact that "the Yankees might not make the playoffs" is a PTI and Around the Horn worthy topic is something I will leave for a later rant. I'm not saying that the rivalry is completely gone. Of course it will never go away. Both sets of fans need to realize that it is not what it used to be. Until the next fight, or the next time one boots the other out of the playoffs, it is not the premiere rivalry in sports or even baseball for that matter.
#3. The Los Angeles Dodgers and The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
This one is just plain lame. An entire rivalry bases on a name. There is little to no actual history here. It all has to do with the Angels including Los Angeles in their name and the Dodgers taking offense. Although the Angels full name is not really all that attractive and rather annoying to write out or say, the Dodgers and their fans need to calm down. What is in a name? Hell, the Dodgers aren't even from Los Angeles (Brooklyn for those not in the know), they don't have rights to the city.
As one might notice, I have written more about the Chicago Cubs and White Sox rivalry because I admittedly know more about that. I'm a Midwest kid and I promise to fight my "no coast bias" as much as possible. I know that just because a rivalry has cooled that it does not disappear. At any moment, it could reignite to an intensity that is unrivaled. Fans and the media just need to realize when something is not what it used to be and stop humping at its memory.
Next week.... College basketball maybe?
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