Sport-Blog.com

Even though the Chicago Cubs' season has realistically been over since August, fans still have had plenty of reasons to cheer. No, the Cubs haven't showcasing an exciting rookie pitching prospect or anything like that. Instead, Cubs fans have found reason to smile at the scare that the White Sox late-season slide has been putting into fans over on the South Side.

The White Sox, who had a 15-game lead in the American League Central Division at the beginning of August, have watched in horror as that lead has slowly shrunk down to a too-close-for-comfort 2.5 games over the surging Cleveland Indians. The Indians have won 17 of their last 20 games, while the White Sox had lost 10 of 14 before winning their last three. There are now just 7 games left in the regular season, all on the road. The Sox will visit Detroit for a four-game set before heading to Cleveland for a three-game series that will almost certainly decide the divisional championship (provided that the Sox don't wrap the title up before that).

Sox fans have barely been able to watch their team fall so fast in the last two months. Some Chicago baseball columnists, who apparently don't have very much faith in the team, have been calling this one of the biggest collapses in baseball history. I guess one thing that Sox fans can take comfort in is the fact that it's not over yet. Nobody will care how many games they end up winning the division by, as long as they do win it.

As a lifelong Cubs fan, I can say without a doubt that I've thoroughly been enjoying these last two months. Some people think that since I'm from Chicago I would want the Sox to win because they do, after all, represent this city. No, sorry, it doesn't work that way at all. Do you think Mets fans are happy that the Yankees are now tied with Boston for the division lead after trailing the Red Sox for most of the season? This sort of thing is certainly not limited to teams in the same city. It can extend to teams in the same state, too. For example, do you think anyone in Pittsburgh is losing sleep over whether or not the Phillies make it into the playoffs? There seems to be an unwritten rule in sports that you have to choose one team in your city or state and stick with them through thick and thin. You can't really be fans of both!

For me, the most fun part of the White Sox breakdown is that has happened on all levels. They haven't been hitting the ball, their pitchers haven't had good stuff, they've been making errors out on the field, and they've been making base-running mistakes. It really has been quite a spectacle to see in the "highlights" on the evening news every night.

So while I have a feeling that the White Sox will pull it off in the end, I want to thank them for giving Cubs fans a reason to smile as we again wait 'til next year!