Afterglow

Afterglow

World Champion Chicago White Sox

The last time that could be said was 1917, when America was fighting World War I - the supposed 'war to end all wars.' Its been a long 88 years - generations.

2005 - this is the championship to end all championships.

Basking in the afterglow of last night's amazing Sox victory in the World Series, it still hasn't sunk in. I've been a Chicago baseball fan for over 30 years, and had just accepted losing. I was honestly uncertain that a championship would happen in my lifetime. To paraphrase Marty Burns from CNN/SI, baseball championships were something reserved for the likes of the Yankess, the Reds, the Dodgers (and their fans)... For me, the only sports championship memory that compares to the 05 Sox is the 1985 Bears victory in Super Bowl XX. And I was 16 when that occurred.

After last night's victory, I wish I could've been roaming the streets of Bridgeport, or at a bar in Beverly... but I was at home. After the many years of emotional energy spent rooting for losing teams, this was more of a private moment for me. But 'from the churches to the jails' joy - to some degree - overcame the city.

I thought about how my parents had taken me to first Sox game back in 1980, an early April affair, where it was so cold that my mom, no teetoadler, had to go down to the bar behind home plate at old Comiskey and get a shot or two of whiskey to warm up. Since 1984, the Sox have been the 2nd team in this town. Its the kind of slight that draws an international comparison to European cities with multiple football clubs - a Manchester City or Munich 1860 fan would understand. The national media was biased, and that was unbearably magnified even more so in the past year - when such a big deal was made over the Red Sox World Series victory in 2004, and the lack of attention paid to the White Sox during the 2005 regular season and, to some, degree, in the post season as well. even after leading wire-to-wire and winning 99 games, few baseball "experts" considered them a serious threat to the like of the Yankess, the Red Sox, the Angels... even the Cardinals. Now, Peter Gammons finally jumps on the bandwagon, gushing that the 05 Sox are one of the two most dominant teams of the past 25 years. Fuck you Gammons. And I still have yet to find any talking head expert who was actually crazy enough or smart enough to pick the Sox to win it all before the 2005 season began. Blog as serious media or not, I did pick the Sox to win it all in this very space back on April 3 (though I had the NL opponent wrong). But I'll admit, that was more that more crazy optimism than intelligence. Though I knew that if they had some luck go their way, the definately had the talent. Spring training made that crystal clear to me.

The White Sox victory is far more impressive and overdue than that of the Red Sox in 04. For one thing, since their WS victory in 1918, the Red Sox had been in 4 WS, and they had been a contender for as long as I can remember. For the White Sox, since 1917, just 2 WS appearances, and one of those was the scandal-tainted 1919 series. But few noticed, and the Sox toiled away on the southside in obscurity. And had it not been for Bill Veeck buying the team in 1960 (and again in 1975) and saving them from moving to Seattle, I wouldn't be writing this now - the Sox would never have even existsed in my lifetime. Nor would I be wrtitng this had then Governor Jim Thompson not stood up as the Illinois Legislative session came to a close in 1988 and worked out a 12th-hour deal to dramtically saved the Sox from moving to St. Petersburg. They had already been given up for dead when Reinsdorf and Einhorn held the city, the state and the fans hostage for a new park. Didya forget about that one? WS victory or not, those two guys are still assholes in my book for what they nearly did to us all.

And for me, the Sox WS victory was not as deep - or at least not as immediately meaningful - as the Ohio U victory over Pitt just 8 weeks ago - a victory that reduced me to a blubbering pile of goo.... for 2 days.

The truth is, I grew up a Cub fan. During the mid-1970s, coming home from kindergarten and turning on the TV, I discovered a wonderful alternative to afternoon cartoons like Woody Woodpecker and Tom & Jerry. There was beauitiful Wrigley Field in all its glory, and the soothing voices of Jack Brickhouse, Lou Boudreau and Vince Lloyd to teach me about the wonderful game. In the early 1980s, I was going to about 10-20 Cub games a year, and sitting in the bleachers. But I was also attending about 5-8 Sox games a year as well. While I was in the bleachers at Wrigley for the first real night game on 8/9/88 (the one on 8/8/88 was rained out), I've attended more important games with the White Sox, most notably the last game in old Comiskey, and the biggest one of them all - the 1983 AL West Pennant clicher. As I moved off to college, and moved away from Chicago, I started going to Wrigley Field much less. After 1984, the fan base changed dramatically, much like the once middle-class, blue collar, diverse neighborhood that surrounded it, the Cub fan base had changed. By the time the 80s were over, I was done with bleacher culture. After the 1994 strike, I didn't warm back up to any baseball until 2000. Since then, I've come back as more of a Sox fan. Its not impossible. Unlike New York, in Chicago, I really believe you can be a fan of both teams. The Sox front office would agree with me - they've always marketed themselves not to the soutside, but as the entire city's American League team. The Cubs don't have to market like that. I also became a Sox fan because tickets were simply more accessable - and less expensive. The "fan" culture that has infected Wrigley Field is one that's more about show than substance, more about who you know than what you know. To be sure, there are knowledge fans of both teams. And and equal number of drunken buffoons as well. The differences, real or perceived, exist.

And I've lived equally in both places - a few years in both Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park, and some in Back of the Yards and Hyde Park. Despite being born in the city proper, I have spent most of my life in the SW burbs. Geography is moot.

I spent a decade as a member of the Chicago media, most of that time involved with sports. Seeing the whole business from the other side really changes your perspective... and that's one reason I got out (that and the low pay). While I don't reget my time behind the mic (or the board), I'm glad I left when I did.

I'll continue to root for both. And I love baseball. It's a great sport. The numbers, the stats, they make sense, and tell a compelling story. But the stats fail to tell the whole story - they leave out the emotional element that characterizes humanity itself. The Bill Jamesians might argue that the stats actually measure the ability of that human element. But the Sox won this year, and no one number tells the story of how that happened - underdogs who were ignored by the baseball world but refused to give up.

For now, I need to take some time off from this blog, reflect, and decide if I'm going to continue it. Ending on the highest note would be sweet. Truth be told, sometime back in August, updating this blog every morning at 4 am, and all the minor league stuff that goes with it, became more of a chore than the fun exercise it was intended to be. I'd like to continue on, but not sure if its worth the time and effort in my increasingly complex life. I don't want to do it I can't do it well and offer up something the few other regular Sox blogs out there miss. Seeing my words published here, regardless of whether or not anyone bothers to read them, is satisfying enough for me.

Would anyone miss this blog if it was gone (HINT - if so, now is the time to tell me).

Until that day of reckoning comes, I'm going to let this championship victory sink in, and try to learn what it feels like to be the fan of a winning ball team. I hope to get that feeling at the parade tomorrow.