Pump Up the Volume
Or "You know you're a New Yorker if..."
I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Chicago. Flew in last night, arriving at about 6:30 pm CDT. Flew back tonight, arriving at about 9:30 EDT. As an aside, one of these days I hope to actually see Chicago. This is my third business trip there, but I've never stayed for more than 24 hours.
Back to the main point, though. I was in Chicago when the White Sox won the ALCS. I even watched the last two innings of the game from my hotel room in the heart of Chicago. I'm sure you all know that this is the first time that the White Sox have been in the World Series since 1959. The Cubs haven't been since 1945. Yes, no Chicago baseball team has been in the World Series in 46 years. So I was expecting to hear the noise when the White Sox clinched a World Series berth. In New York, the minute the Yankees or Mets clinched one, you'd hear the cacophony. The horns honking. The people cheering. You don't even have to be a sports fan to know when a New York sports team has gotten into a championship.
So there I was, braced for the hoopla. But it never came. That's not to say that Chicagoans weren't celebrating. You could see on the news that they were celebrating. Just not loudly. And that was kind of weird for me. I felt kind of let down. I don't know. Maybe if the Cubs had made it instead, you'd have heard it. I know the White Sox are not Chicago's team the way the Cubs are.
So what about it, those of you familiar with Chicago. Do you feel the noise when other Chicago teams win? Even if baseball isn't Chicago's lucky sport, da Bears and da Bulls have made it often enough.
On one other note, I'm thinking of renting myself out to cities as a lucky charm. I went to London, and London got the Olympics while I was there. I went back to London, and London won the Ashes for the first time in 15 years. I go to Chicago, the White Sox get into the World Series. Do you think I have a business model?
Comments
Hey Leslie - I wish I'd known you were coming to town; I would have invited you out someploace for a beer. I have been a Sox fan since I was a kid. I used to deliver the (long defunct) "Chicago American." In the summer, when we went two weeks without a complaint (e.g. managed to fling all of our newspapers without missing a customer or hitting a window) we got free Sox tickets. So my oldest brother, who was maybe 12 or 13, would take my next older brother and I on the El and go down to Comiskey for a game. Loved it, and have been a Sox fan ever since, which has been rough in a town where the Cubs get all the attention (the fact that their parent company also owns a local TV superstation as well as a radio station and one of Chicago's last remaining newspapers probably helps).
Anyway, I think this town is afraid to jinx the Sox, although the Sox aren't cursed like the Cubs are (ask at the Billy Goat Tavern for details, but remember you'll have to settle for cheeps, no fries). When and if the Sox win the series (I'm knocking on wood as I type), we'll make it a point to whoop it up.
Next time you're in town, let me know. Peace... Rob
Posted by: Rob Ward | October 19, 2005 04:42 AM
I wish I'd known that one of you all lived in Chicago. Maybe I need to do a poll to find out where my readers live.
Posted by: Lesley | October 19, 2005 11:37 PM
Well, we just got ourselves an NBA team in Oklahoma City, at least for this season.
Renaissance Hotel okay? :)
Posted by: CGHill | October 21, 2005 04:55 PM