For all White sox and cub fans...

[Good Men wear Black and White]

who do you honestly think is a better team this year, the sox or the cubs?

[Chisox]

I'm not sure this is the right place for this, but Sox by default. (I don't get the hype surrounding the Cubs.)

EDIT: Just moved to Current Events from Stats.

[Sweet Lou]

By default, yes, the Sox. The Sox have mostly the same team from last year, and although the Cubs have improved, they still lack pitching depth, and have a lot to prove.

[ndistops]

This isn't even a question. The Cubs were worse to begin with and have had a worse offseason. The Sox are much better and have to be considered the favorites to repeat this season.

[StanTheMan]

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Imagine if the Cubs had just won the World Series, and Sox fans, after a middle of division finish, asked if their team was better than the defending World Champion Cubs.......

The Cub fans would go absolutely berzerk. Although the Cub fans incessant ability to come close to capacity in their little ballpark game after game is a wonderful trait, (due more to the fact that WGN reaches tons of housholds rather than the passion of Chicago based Cub fans, in my opinion) their growing optimism in their team every winter and spring, coupled with the non-stop "this may be the year" attitude is really amazing.

The Cardinals and Astros are better than the Cubs for sure, and the Brewers are not far behind. The Cubs could conceivably finish fourth in the division if they get one key injury. They will not win the Central.

The Cardinals lose Rolen for most of the year, all of the starting outfielders miss time, have a new double play tandem last year, and still win the division.

Thinking the Cubs could be good this year, or even entertaining the idea that they might be better than the defending World Champions is completely laughable..... but then again this is from a fan base who thinks a fan cost them them pennant on a foul ball, completely oblivious to the fact that the opposition scored EIGHT RUNS after the foul ball play. We are lucky to have witnessed the only foul ball, and missed out, in the history of baseball which was worth 8 runs.....

Go Cubs!!!! Right to third or fourth place where they belong.....

[ndistops]

Stan, WGN broadcasts White Sox games too, so the whole "WGN makes Cubs fans" argument is not holding water. WGN made Cubs fans back when there weren't as many networks, but now only current Cub fans watch.

[trosmok]

The long anticipated "El" Series is coming!!!

No one, well, almost no one, except maybe Chisox and Ozzie G. thought the White Sox would be the better Chicago team in '05, and even fewer folks gave them much of a chance to be World Champs. All the hype seems to always be if this is the Cubs year, again, and even though I'm still a die hard, I die a little harder when the expectations are so unrealistically high. I wouldn't be surprised if the Southsiders become the first team to repeat since the you-know-who's did in the last century. It has become the most difficult thing in MLB lately, and nothing would thrill me more than to see my little bears from the north leapfrog the 'Stros and Cards, win the division and the NL. Realistically, in a rebuilding year, it ain't happening in '06. Good luck to the World Champion Chicago White Sox; it still has a very peculiar ring to it though, doesn't it?

[StanTheMan]

Stan, WGN broadcasts White Sox games too, so the whole "WGN makes Cubs fans" argument is not holding water. WGN made Cubs fans back when there weren't as many networks, but now only current Cub fans watch.

Ah yes.... BSU. Grad in 93.....

To my knowledge, WGN has not shown tons of SOX games (or at least 95% of them) as WGN did for the Cubs for years and years in the 80. 90's and into 2000 and beyond. I went to school with dozens of Cub fans (once I moved to Indy from St. Louis) who had never been to Wrigley, but were as big a fan as any due to WGN. Those people are now my age and have families..... who are growing up Cub fans. The argument ABSOLUTELY holds water. Unless you are a professor at BSU, you are probably 19-23 years old, and were not watching much baseball (unless there was a TV in the womb) when WGN and cable TV really started taking hold in the midwest.

My post had little to do with the current state of Chicago, which still has more Cub fans than Sox fans, but has more to do with how WGN helped grow the Cubs fanbase across the midwest in decades gone by. Same with TBS in Atlanta. They have tons of fans along the gulf coast, into Virginia and into Florida. Having all your games on TV sure helps the situation. The internet, satellite MLB Packages, and the increasing availability of baseball information has dampened the effect of the WGN's and TBS's of the world, but back in the day, they played a big role in increasing fan base.

The Cardinals prefer to do so by winning more World Series than any other National League City... fine with me.

I spent a weekend in Chicago about a month ago and saw FAR more Cubs hats than Sox hats, and never made it out of downtown, or came anywhere close to Wrigleyville...... I found that to be very curious. The few shops along Michigan avenue who sell hats (like the one in Water Tower Place) had just as many Cub hats as Sox hats. ???

Have fun in Muncie......

[ndistops]

Stan, it's interesting that you see more Cub hats in Chi-town, because here at BSU, I've seen many more Sox hats since last October. Maybe the diehard fan base doesn't extend out here enough.

[Cubsfan97]

This is a question they put on IQ tests to confirm that people who score 40 are retarded.

No that question is "Who has the better fans?"

[StanTheMan]

Stan, it's interesting that you see more Cub hats in Chi-town, because here at BSU, I've seen many more Sox hats since last October. Maybe the diehard fan base doesn't extend out here enough.

Indiana sports fans are VERY fickle..... Not that every student in Muncie is from Indiana, but I imagine most (70%?) are. Even here in Indy the interest in the Pacers is stagnant (they are hovering around .500 and Reggie Miller is gone) and before Peyton Manning, the Colts fans were often drowned out by the opposition fans, at least when Chicago or Cleveland or the Bengals came to town. I remember seeing one lady actually KNITTING during a Colts-Browns game in the late 90's. That's all changed now, but when it comes to baseball, with no real allegiance to any one team, there are probably many bandwagon jumpers on campus.

The same thing happens with every championship team to a certain extent, I suppose.

But, back on topic, the Cardinals have the best fans.... at least according to the PLAYERS currently in Major League baseball in an article published last year..... followed by the Yankees and Red Sox I think. I'll take the players word for it, they would know better than you and I.

And the White Sox are miles better than the Cubs.

[Lipsander]

Just remember, I don't recall too many people picking the White Sox to win jack last spring, so don't bash the Cubs until they fall on their own...........which I've seen 1 million times.

[Williamsburg2599]

Imagine if the Cubs had just won the World Series,....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA oops sorry.

[AYEKAYE47]

No that question is "Who has the better fans?"

People who show up for a ball game or people who show up to get drunk...

good one, not.

[ndistops]

People who show up for a ball game or people who show up to get drunk...

good one, not.

Not quite sure what you mean, here...I know a first-base coach and a first-base ump that will tell you that White Sox fans are probably just as or more drunk during games than Cubs fans are.

Fact is, Cubs outdraw the Sox by horrendous margins, and not even the Sox' inevitable bandwagon increase in attendance will change that.

But way to play into an already tired and false stereotype.