4th
Chicago gets painted black
The Columbia Chronicle - link
Originally published: October 24, 2005
A prediction made not so long ago was that the city of Houston could soon eclipse Chicago as the third-most populated city in the U.S., but few people could have predicted what we experienced this past weekend.
Indeed, the Chicago White Sox hosted their first World Series contest in 46 years, with the American League champions competing against a Houston Astros team that represents the franchise’s first fall classic appearance in its 44-year history. Here’s to hoping that size—be it population or the length of suffering—really does matter.
Despite the number of televisions that will undoubtedly be tuned in throughout Chicago and Houston this week, we doubt that network executives and their advertisers are salivating over the two markets involved in this year’s October baseball. Their loss.
While recent years have made it seem as though the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is the only matchup worthy of nationwide attention, it’s about time two other cities basked in the spotlight. For us here in Chicago, this past weekend was one to savor and one we’d like to partake in every year.
No longer do we need to speak in hushed tones about our interest in the post-season, as we are finally a part of it. One does not need to have been raised in the Windy City to understand its history of meltdowns, letdowns and altogether embarrassing outcomes for our professional sports franchises. And it’s with that in mind that the accomplishments of this year’s White Sox are all the more reason to feel invigorated.
The increasing amount of black ball caps among our pedestrians, the street vendors offering championship merchandise on the corners and the signs proclaiming “Go Sox!” in the windows of businesses throughout Chicago offer us a sense of excitement we wish the city could experience year-round.
Not since we were spoiled with the Bulls’ dynasty of the 1990s has Chicago had this sort of adrenaline rush.
We had grown so accustomed to expecting the very least from our North Side Cubs and South Side Sox that the very notion of hosting the fall classic became nothing short of purely hypothetical. At long last, the idea of a team from Chicago winning a league pennant has become a reality.
It’s wonderful to not only be able to witness a World Series, but to finally feel that we are a part of it as well. The talk at local establishments no longer needs to be limited to cursing billy goats or Black Sox, just as we imagine Texans this week will not have to remind themselves of their own heartbreaking, extra-inning opportunities that got away in 1980 and 1986.
Perhaps no city has better shared our pain than Houston, and it only seems fitting that they share our joy. Battling it out with a team whose fans have been waiting nearly as long as the White Sox faithful provides the perfect way to settle who gets baseball’s ultimate prize.
How long Chicago remains bigger is a debate for another day, but all we really want right now is just to show that we’re better.
