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October 9, 2005

I've Finally Switched Sides - Chicago is My Kinda Town.

By: The Dude on the Right
I was going to see the movie "Waiting" today, at least to add another movie review for the weekend, but alas, the football game between the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns started, and since I did see "Two For the Money" on Saturday, I didn't feel that guilty.  But as I camped out on my couch, listening to the radio feed from WBBM and watching the TV feed on FOX (the FOX announcers were, well, not that great, and the Chicago radio crew is great), it is now official:  I've lived in Chicago long enough to switch my allegiance from my old home teams, those being based in Cleveland, to my new home teams, those being based in Chicago, although there is a slight baseball wrinkle, and that came up during the end of the baseball season when the Tribe was playing the White Sox.  There I was, on my couch, cheering on the Bears and pissed that the Browns trounced all over them.  So, and I somewhat apologize to anyone I know back in Ohio (sorry Mom), but, for football, I'm a Bears fan first and a Browns fan second.  I'll cheer on the Browns with all of my heart, unless they are playing the Bears, and I found that out today.

Now, here comes the baseball wrinkle. I've turned into a Cubs fan, which in inherently wrong, since I "grew up" in Chicago on the south side, across an expressway from the old Comiskey Park.  But, the first game I remember going to in Chicago was a Cubs game, during Rush Week at Theta Xi.  I guess that is where I started my liking the Cubs, but in those early years, I'm pretty sure I caught more beer-an-inning White Sox games than Cubs games.  And things were pretty simple, for the most part, because in my dreams, I would be a Cubs fan and an Indians fan, and only have to worry about things if they both ended up in the World Series.  Then this year came, the Cubs were sucking as usual, the Indians weren't doing much at first, and the White Sox were just unbelievable.  I found it odd, but I started cheering on the White Sox, and not caring about the Cubs and Indians.   Then the end of the season came, the Indians were unbelievable, the White Sox were average, and I have to say, I was cheering on the Indians.  It is here that I decided my baseball allegiance now goes something like this:  Chicago Cubs first; Cleveland Indians second; and Chicago White Sox third.  I suppose this allegiance will never be tested because during the regular season, if the Cubs play the Indians, I'll cheer them both on, but if, by some twist of impossible fate, the Cubs and Indians end up in the World Series, I'll finally have to make a choice.

I know what you are saying, "What about basketball?"  That, again, won't be answered until a playoff series because, well, I've grown to like the Bulls, especially during the Michael Jordan era  (although I was cheering on the Cavs until Jordan would, inevitably, crush their hopes like a bug).  And last year, I was really pulling for the Bulls, but I've also become a fan of LeBron, so that is at least keeping my interest in the Cavs on a higher level (they better never trade him, or it's over for me).

I have to say, it was almost weird cheering on the Bears, hoping somehow that Kyle Orton would pull out some dream ending to the game, but I've been living in the Chicago area some 19 years now, more years than I can remember living in the Lorain, Ohio area, so I guess it shouldn't be that weird.  I just so much wish that the Bears could have won.  Maybe next time.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:51 PM | Comments (0)