This inaugural "You Decide" featuring the battle for Chicago baseball - Cubs vs. White Sox - was motivated by New Era's new ad campaign (see video below). The ads cast The Office's Craig Robinson and Parks and Recreation's Nick Offerman as stereotypical White Sox and Cubs fans, respectively, debating the merits of their teams in a sports bar. Since it's been running on MLB Network nonstop this week (and I've been consuming as much of our National Pastime as possible after a long winter of baseball hibernation), I've been thinking about the ad a lot recently. If I had to choose, would I rather become a fan of the North or South Siders?
I think everyone's gut reaction here is to pick the Cubbies. After all, the Cubs have all the history, iconic Wrigley Field and the "lovable losers" label that keep fans rolling through the turnstyles despite decade after decade of on-field failure. They're clearly the top dog in the Chicago baseball scene, just as the Lakers dominate Los Angeles basketball and the Rangers control New York hockey. Despite all of this, I find myself gravitating towards the South Siders. It might just be my contrarian nature, but I find myself strangely attracted to the White Sox's underdog vibe.
Sure, the team's stadium is named after a mobile phone company and is located just a stone's throw from I-80. Yes, they play in the AL, so you don't get to see any strategic double switches or difficult pinch hitting decisions like you do in the National League. But the White Sox have a lot going for them. First and perhaps most importantly, they got the World Series monkey off their back after taking home the title in 2005 (their previous championship was in 1917). They also have some of the most underrated uniforms in sports, in my opinion.
Everyone goes nuts about black when teams add it to their uniforms (see the Mets and Heat as examples), and the silver and black-clad Raiders get lots of uniform love. How come the bad-ass black and white Chi-Sox get no respect for their duds? I'll take the all-black Sox cap over the Cubs's extremely generic blue and red hat (see above) any day of the week. Throw in the fact that the South Siders were once owned by Bill Veeck, one of my baseball heroes and the brain behind all of the in-game promotions we take for granted today, and I'm going with the White Sox.
I'm hoping to visit both Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field this summer, so perhaps I'll have a different opinion after attending a game at each team's home park. Based on my admittedly uninformed outsider perspective, though, I'd choose the White Sox - even though I definitely prefer Ron Swanson and Parks and Recreation over Darryl Philbin and The Office. Now it's your turn; post a comment and let me know which team you prefer.
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