Sport-Blog.com

One thing that a baseball fan living in Chicago learns early on in life is that he or she must choose to root for either the Cubs or the White Sox. There's no middle ground, and there's definitely no way to back both teams. The baseball team that we choose to root for helps people determine our personalities, or so they think. For example, Cubs fans are stereotyped as being beer-guzzling yuppies who only go to Wrigley Field for the atmosphere and don't really care about the game. In fact, one common joke is that Cubs fans never even know the score at any given point in the game. White Sox, on the other hand, are stereotyped as taking the game more seriously. They are more likely to be the blue-collar type, and care more about any particular game's outcome rather than a Cubs fan would.

Of course those stereotypes aren't 100% accurate, and of course there are some people in Chicago who go to both Cubs and White Sox games indiscriminately. However, I'm not one of them. I have been a Cubs fan ever since I can remember, probably because my parents were Cubs fans. Sure, I have been to White Sox games -- but only when the tickets were free. Don't get me wrong: although there is a heated rivalry between the North Side (Cubs) and the South Side (White Sox), it's nowhere as bitter as the rivalry between, say the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. I don't actively hate White Sox fans. But I do begrudge them their team's success.

That brings me to the dilemma faced by some Chicago baseball fans this year. There's no doubt that this city is starved for a World Series title. The Cubs haven't won one since 1908 and the White Sox haven't won since 1917. So is the allure of a World Series title enough to make Cubs fans cross over to the dark side? I don't think so.

You see, as much as I want the Cubs to win a World Series, I don't want the White Sox to win one. The taunts and jeers from Sox fans would be unbearable, especially since the Cubs were supposed to have the better team these last few years. No one picked the White Sox to come out strong this season, especially with the departure of Magglio Ordonez and with Frank Thomas' persistent injuries. The dynamic pitching duo in the Windy City was supposed to be Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, not Jon Garland and Mark Buerhle.

But the White Sox have the best record in the majors, at 56-26, and a comfortable 9.5 game lead in their division, while the Cubs are two games under the .500 mark and are 12.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. If the White Sox keep up their strong play in the second half of the season, they will be favorites to make it to the World Series.

Even if they do, I will be rooting against them, as I am sure my fellow North Siders will too. Go Cubs!