Growing up I had two favorite NFL teams, the Packers and the Bears. I liked the Packers a lot more (my great-grandfather was one of the founders of the Packers) but I liked the Bears because mainly I was a little kid and really liked the animal. That changed the day I went to Soldier Field to see the Packers play the Bears. My dad, brother, uncles, and cousins were all walking in the game when a kid my age (about five or six) yelled, "Go Packers, we're gonna beat the Bears!". A huge portly Bears fan ran up to the kid and spit in his face. Needless to say he was immediately arrested. I was terrified the rest of the day in Chicago. Go figure that I now hate the Bears...
Why can't Chicago fans accept two teams?
This ties into both Iowa and Illinois people. Hawkeye fans hate the Cyclones. Cyclone fans hate the Hawkeyes. Cub fans hate the White Sox. White Sox fans hate the Cubs. Marquette fans like Wisconsin, Wisconsin in return likes Marquette- which is how it should be. My cousin, Mark, from Milwaukee once asked me, "why do Iowa and Iowa State fans hate each other? They both represent the state." I started thinking about it and can't answer that question. Obviously you are going to have more ties with one school than the other and you will cheer for that team when they play each other. But, how Iowa and Iowa State do, in a way, reflects the state of Iowa either way. So, why have such a bitter rivalry? I cheer for the three other big-four schools in Iowa- ISU, Drake and UNI and want them all to do well. The state of Iowa has no professional teams and rarely gets press especially with sports, so why would we want one of the big-four schools to do bad? Someone has to represent the state. I gave the Iowa example because I really don't know a whole lot on the White Sox/ Cubs rivalry, but I do know it is bitter. But, they aren't even in the same league, so who says you can't cheer for both teams except when they play each other?
Let's go back to da' Bears. Chicago fans can be very obnoxious.
Last season, the NFL Network hosted the Green Bay-Dallas game. It was a huge game with both teams running away with their respective divisions. I went to enjoy a fun night of drinking with my friends and watching my favorite team on the big screen. Except the whole bar was full of jerks. I had my Packers hat on and drunken Bears fans kept coming up to me and giving me crap about how much they hated the Packers. Every time Dallas made a good play, the bar erupted with clapping and screaming. The Packers were going to easily win the division (which they did and Bears were in third place) and they ruined the night. Bears fans kept making fun of the Packers that they just lost to the Cowboys and giving me crap (which I responded; guy, your in third place and the season is coming to an end, give it up). They were screaming nonsense the entire night and it was over the top and completely annoying.
Chicago fans are loyal but bad winners and even worse losers.
If my team (the Brewers, Packers, Bucks, Hawkeyes, Badgers, Marquette) doesn't make the postseason, I normally cheer for whoever is in their conference. When Kerry Wood and Mark Prior were in their primes, I enjoyed watching the Cubs. I am from Des Moines where the Triple A Iowa Cubs are located. I had nothing against the Cubs at that point. When they made the playoffs I rooted hard for them because they are in the Central Division with the Brew Crew. When I came to the University of Iowa, that changed my mind in ever cheering for any Chicago teams again. Last year was a case in point; Cubs ran away with the division. Brewers picked up the Wild Card birth. Cubs fans that knew I am such a big Brewers fan text me to tell me how much the Brewers would stink it up in the postseason. Experts all year had picked the Cubs to win the World Series which I made fun of all year. Cubs aren't that good of a team. I lost all respect for ESPN's John Kruk who continually pegged the Cubs to win the WS and one of his only reasons for it was because it was the 100th year since the Cubs had won a WS. I had said all year that the Cubs won't survive out of the first round and even if they make it to the WS, they will get crushed by an AL team. Cubs fans were grinning like idiots all year and trash talking me. I am not a trash talker but if someone is going to be a jerk about something I am not afraid to argue with them. There is no sense in arguing because you aren't going to change how they feel. I got a bunch of texts from friends saying how the Brewers lost the first round and they'll never be in it again. Then the Cubs got swept by the Dodgers and every Cubs fan in the world was silent and depressed. That was a glorious day! I text my friends back and had a few things to say to them. Cubs were swept two seasons in a row while the Crew lost to the eventual World Series Champions, Phillies, 3-1. Oh and the Cubs had home field advantage. So many Cubs fans I talked to said that they were done cheering for the Cubs, they're never going to win it. The Brewers had just lost at that point and it may be a while before they get back in the playoffs but I was just thrilled that we made it there. The fact that people were saying they were giving up on the Cubs was incredibly fair-weathered. I even told them there's next year, which most likely Cubs should win the division again this year. Just incredibly fair-weathered.
The Steve Bartman fiasco.
Cubs fans blamed not making it to the World Series because a guy caught a foul ball that Moises Alou may have been able to catch. That is when my hate for the Cubs was at an all-time high. Put yourself in Bartman's shoes- a ball is coming towards you- you reach out for it and grab it. It is just reflex to do that. They pinned that entire series on Bartman even though the Cubs made some errors and just couldn't get it done. He had to change his identity from that point on. I have never felt so bad for anybody in my entire life. Simply pathetic!
Everyone's a Chicago fan in the state of Iowa.
Okay well there is good reason for that. There's the Iowa Cubs and Chicago is relatively close. But, I can't stand seeing and hearing so much about the Cubs. Aren't there any White Sox fans out there? Because if there are, I don't see them. I have met more Brewers fans than White Sox at the UI. The main reason that there are so many Cubs fans here is because of WGN. But, I have to say I am a fan of WGN because I get to see at least a few Brewers games a year. I can't escape the Cubs either, even when I walk into the mall looking for Brewers stuff, all I see is mounds of Cubs merchandise in the baseball section with three crappy Brewers shirts (for good reason, I may be there only buyer in Iowa City or Des Moines). Why can't we be a little more diverse and cheer for teams like the Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, White Sox etc. All of these cities are pretty close to the state of Iowa... But, I guess people just don't like to go against the curve with baseball. I see plenty of Packers, Vikings, and Chiefs fans around Iowa.
I don't hate Chicago people. In fact, I really like them. I have family from there, my brother lived there for awhile and overall I think they are good people. My girlfriend of three years is a huge Cubs fan and I have tried to like them because of her and she has also taken a liking to the Brewers (even went to the home opener last year with me). But, it's hard when they are in a pennant race together. I ran the past Chicago Marathon and the people there were so nice and really rooted me on the whole way. I think it is great the amount of people that go cheer on runners every year. I don't by any means think that Chicago fans are bad fans. They are extremely loyal- I should know they have Wrigley North in Miller Park. They still love the Cubs even after 100 years of losing. But, I think they are very arrogant and can trash talk a little bit too much. This is just a generalization. I have talked with other sports fans and all of them agreed with the stuff I said. Don't take it personally, it is just a generalization and not true with everyone.
I am a Hawkeye, Marquette, Cubs, and Bears fan. I went to Marquette for undergrad, Iowa for grad school, and live in Chicago.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I do not sense a deep hatred for the other teams in Iowa coming from Hawkeye fans at all. Iowa football fans are great.
Now, onto the Marquette-UW comments you made. I would have to completely disagree on the way fans treat each other. I know that there are Marquette fans who are obnoxious, but UW fans have been my worst experience by far in college basketball. It seems like whenever I meet someone from UW the first thing that they mention is how Marquette sucks. It's a natural rivalry because MU and UW compete for recruits and play every December, but there is no need for some of the arrogance I have seen from UW fans.
And as to the professional sports fans for the Cubs/Brewers and Bears/Packers rivalries, there is a different story. I agree with your points for the most part. The biggest point to make is that Chicago is the third biggest city in the country and its fine citizens are exposed to a lot of different people more frequently than the people in Wisconsin. People from a big city are typically louder than people from smaller population areas as well. The gist I get from Wisconsin fans is that they think fans should act in a certain way when they go to sporting events, there way. After the Brewers play the Cubs up at Miller Park there is always a blog and complaining coming out of Milwaukee that "Cubs fans drank a lot and were loud" or "Some guy with a Cub shirt swore in front of kid." After living in Chicago, Wisconsin, and Iowa, I will have to say that the fans in Wisconsin do not realize that people carry themselves differently in other places. It's a sporting event. People are going to drink and be loud. They might be louder than you are. Get over it. You caught yourself in the logical flaw of generalizing above so I don't have to get into how a few fans' behavior do not represent the whole. I have stories about Brewers, Packers, Marquette, UW, Iowa, ISU, etc. fans that I could just as easily use to make the logical flaw that you pointed out you were making. The people who go to the games, root for the Chicago teams, and generally respect everyone far outnumber the idiots. The last thing about generalizing is that there are around 9.8 million people in the Chicagoland area, making it much more likely for you to first of all encounter a Chicago fan and second of all have a bad experience every once in a while. Imagine if you had to interact with Philadelphia and New York fans?
The Cubs have had some bad seasons and yes they have been close and had some bad luck, but the fan base stays dedicated. I know people were frustrated after losing last year, but they were speaking in the moment. I really don't think you would find a fanbase to support it's team through all of the hearbreakers like Cubs fans. Granted, there is a bigger population so it is harder to judge dedication compared to the Brewers.
And as to the Brewers/Cubs rivalry, a lot more hate comes from Milwaukee. Brewer fans think it is much more of a rivalry than it actually is. I remember the newscasters in Milwaukee referring to the Cubs as the "hated Cubs." You would never get that in Chicago. The Brewers are just a team in the Cubs' division. It is no bigger than playing the Reds. The Cubs' main two rivalries are with the White Sox and the Cardinals. The games are so emotional for Brewers fans and comparatively a lot less for Cubs fans.
With the emotion and seeming hatred coming from Milwaukee, are you surprised that you might get a negative text about the Brewers in response? I really think the Brewers fanbase need to realize that they act just like they think the Cubs fans act. It's a classic case of psychological projection.
In the end, I look forward to many fun games in the future between these teams.