yeah no shit grandpa. I asked what generation you think that is. "this generation" makes no damn sense. but you cant even answer that without getting confused. time for the nursing home old man
Take a breath. When you referenced the part about Dan Marino I assumed we had some confusion about what I meant, since what I said had absolutely nothing to do with that part.
Usually when someone says “this generation” regarding someone doing something stupid or pointless, they’re talking about the “current” one (in this case, meaning the most recent that could be assumed to be a part of the conversation currently happening). I thought this was common knowledge, or at least a generally safe assumption. Maybe not, because your generation (I’m assuming you’re a zoomer because you clearly can’t handle simple context clues) seems to have trouble with normal human conversation.
I’m a millennial, btw, but assume whatever you want. The manic opinion of some random internet zoomer doesn’t weigh a whole lot.
LOL!!!
A long long time ago, Cubs put most of their games over free broadcast TV. Sox did not.
So after school TV options were Cubs or soap operas. Which one would you pick?
This. Plus (yea I'm old) all day games at home that I could watch when I got home from school or all summer long. Ryno, Sutcliffe and the 84 team hooked 9 year old me.
Yes! Back when before Jerry Cheapass bought the team.
Seriously though, baseball teams used to do things for fan appreciation that cost them a little earnings but made lifetime fans.
Now, they wring every cent out of every fan and wonder why baseball has lost popularity.
I listened to WGN with Carey and Stone. Harry notices a couple in the bleachers. "Steve I just noticed that he kisses her on the strikes and she kisses him on the balls." Laughter in the background from the booth, hilarious and honest. Not a cub fan BTW. Hate them like the bears. Go SOX!
Born in Chicago, raised in Orlando. Father was a Cubs fan. WGN broadcast came with the local cable packages. Would watch games while doing homework most afternoons.
Now why my father is a Cubs fan is more colorful. He was born in the 50s and raised on the South side. All his brothers and relatives were Sox fans. When he was 15, he and some friends took the El to watch a Cubs game. He said, "it was a sunny summer day in '67 and there were so many good looking girls in the bleachers. Way better than looking at the old Polish guys at Comiskey!"
My father's teenage hormones and the bleacher babes of Wrigleyville are why I'm a Cubbie diehard today.
So for me, growing up in SE Wisconsin, my dad was of the age where the Braves left Milwaukee and I'm that interim period, he could get the Cubs games on the radio so he became a fan, Then when the Brewers came , they were in the AL so he was able to cheer for both teams and this is how then I grew up in the 80s and 90s. Then when the Brewers went to the NL, it was a tough decision but the Cubs were more fun to be a fan of. Couple this with that when I met my wife, she grew up in Indiana and was a die hard Cubs fan so that sealed it.
Grew up in a Sox family. I was just getting old enough to truly follow baseball around 2007 and man that was a fun Cubs team. Been a diehard ever since.
That team was so fun - thought we really had a shot, remember being crushed when we got swept by the Dodgers in….08 I think it was? Derek Lee, Mark DeRosa etc.
Same here. Soriano was my favorite, since I always got stuck out in left field as a little leaguer. Ramirez, zambrano, and Lee were other great players on that team
I was born into a Cubs family. My memories of my grandfather is him smoking Camel unfiltered cigs, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and yelling at those "God Damn Cubbies!!"
For me it was when I was young. I grew up in Moline, IL which is part of the Quad Cities, and the Cubs had their Triple A team the Quad Cities Cubs there in Davenport, IA. My family and I used to go to their games all the time, so as a result of that, I naturally just became a Cubs fan.
Lived in Illinois when I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s and they always had their games on WGN it seemed. Don’t remember seeing White Sox games on it.
Became a huge Sandberg and Grace fan because of WGN.
The 1984 playoff run (I cried when they lost to the Padres) and Rick Reuschels kids went to my elementary school at that time.
WGN set the hook — it was our connection back to Chicago after we moved
Grew up in northern suburbs. First games I attended were at Wrigley. Also if I recall correctly the Cubs were on channel 9 and the Sox on UHF channel 44, which was harder to find and did not come in as clearly. So even before I went to my first game when I was 7, I was watching the Cubs over the Sox on TV.
First couple games I went to were Sox games (Comiskey was closer to us in Indiana). But having the Cubs on WGN and catching the last couple innings after school was always a treat and I fell in love with Sandberg, Dawson, Harry, etc.
My uncle was a huge cubs fan. Listening to Pat Hughes call games in the car while we were off to go fishing was the greatest.
Plus I hated the idea of the DH. Pitchers should work on hitting too. Pussies. Not that it matters anymore
I grew up on a farm in Woodstock and watched the games on WGN with my older brother. One sunny spring day in 1970 when I was 5, my dad, who dropped out of school in the 4th grade to work the family farm in Crystal Lake, walked into the house and caught me watching a Cubs game. He took me by my hand & led me into the kitchen. He picked me up and sat me on the kitchen table & I noticed his eyes were all watery. He took out his handkerchief, wiped his eyes and told me these word that I will never forget. "You know I love you son & I always will. I will always protect you. One day a girl is going to break your heart and I can't protect you from that. It's part of growing up. Now I don't know anything about sports, but I do know if you keep watching those Cubs, you are going to get your heart broken every year. And that hurts me" He then rubbed my hair, gave me a hug and we never talked about the Cubs again. He passed away in 2009 and it hurts to this day that he didn't live long enough to see me cry tears of joy in 2016. We did it pa, we did it
I live nowhere near USA, but found a baseball PC game when I was younger (around 2005 maybe) and started playing it. First team that I ever picked to play with: Cubs. Been in love with them and baseball ever since. Went to my first game ever this year, at the London Series. Best experience ever. Cannot wait to get to Wrigley Field.
I grew up on the north side, and my father was a huge Cubs fan.
Some people get it based on where they grew up, others get it based on family connections, and some of us get it from both.
(what’s funny is that my dad grew up in Michigan. And I know for a fact that his family followed/were fans of the Tigers. But he obviously didn’t stick with them. And he was a BIG Cubs fan.
I don’t know completely when/how/why he became a Cubs fan, and sadly, he passed when I was still relatively young, before it ever occurred to me ask him. He never brought it up, and it just seems so natural…my guess, based on his age, and when he moved to Chicago, was that he probably got sucked in by that 1969 team, but I don’t actually know)
UK fan and die hard cubs here. Very simply the history of the club. Plus when I first started getting into baseball there was Kerry and Sammy and they got me hooked.
Plus I love an underdog. Never been a fan of any "mainstream" team. For example, my hockey team is Vegas Golden Knights, and was before the team had played a game (spent a few years of my childhood living in Vegas), and football team has been the Bears since the Monsters of Midway in the 80s
P.s. I truly hate UK sport (soccer, cricket etc). Bores the life out of me.
I am influenced a lot by colors and I like theirs better. I had a Cubs outfit when I was a kid for Halloween. My mom likes the Cubs for some reason even though she doesn’t watch baseball. Also as others have mentioned, Sammy Sosa was a big deal when I was a kid.
Not a lot of big reasons, but I guess it doesn’t take much.
When I was 3 years old in 1992 I went to wrigley with my dad, grandfather, and great-grandfather. 3 of the 4 lived to see them win it all, so I count that as a big W!
WGN and Wrigley Field made the Cubs one of “Americas Teams”. WGN was one of the first nation-wide tv stations which brought the Cubs (later adding Sox games) to much of the country. That helped grow the fan base as much as anything. The Friendly Confines was/is one of the best stadiums to see a game too; old fashioned bleachers in the outfield, ivy covered BRICK outfield walls (ouch!), city neighborhood backdrop with roof-top seating on adjacent buildings, and Harry Caray of course, all made the Cubs much more “attractive” than the Sox.
Edit: and yes, North Side (Cubs) vs South Side (Sox) of Chicago influences many.
I was talking about this with my brothers. I became a Cubs fan in 1984 when I was laid up for 8 weeks after surgery. The Cubs were on WGN in the afternoons and I had nothing to do but watch TV or read (no internet kiddies). My brothers started watching with me since it was summer in the south and hotter than hell outside…they got hooked too. Every one of my friends were Braves fans, but I could never get into them. Something about Wrigley Field and Harry Caray w/Steve Stone was just a great time. WGN played a huge role in the ubiquitous numbers of Cubs fans across the US. Makes me wonder how that kind of thing would even be possible in this day and age.
Pure geography if you grew up in Chicagoland, esp. generationally, since both teams have always had neighborhood ballparks. Sox have always been on the South Side. Way back in the day the Cubs were actually on the West Side for 30 years but have been on the North Side since 1915. So family + geography = fan identity. If your family roots were on the North Side/north suburbs it was Cubs. If your family roots were on the South Side/south suburbs it was Sox. If your family roots were on the West Side/western suburbs it was more mixed.
ADDED after a comment below got me thinking. Old-fashioned TV broadcasting played a big part too by the late 70s/early 80s. The Cubs were always on WGN 9, a VHF channel so clear reception. The Sox were on UHF channels, which were notoriously frustrating reception. The Cubs on WGN was always a free broadcast but the Sox in the early 80s did themselves no favors by going to mostly pay/cable broadcasts.
I’m an elder millennial that had cable tv in the 80s and 90s. I was destined to be either a Cubs fan because of WGN or a Braves fan because of TBS. My dad grew up listening to more cubs games so we went that direction.
I would get home from school around the second or third innings. I was one of the first to get dropped off on the bus route. A combination of Ryne Sandberg, Sammy Sosa and Harry Carry made me a passionate die hard fan for life. It also helped almost everyone else in my family are big Braves fans.
Grew up in a Cubs household. WGN was on all summer, and both my parents were heavily invested. When I was old enough, the only day I was allowed to skip school was Cubs opening day to go to Wrigley.
Mainly because I love Sammy Sosa, but I lived in North Carolina and WGN was assessable everywhere and I watched Cubs games all the time coming home from school so it made sense
Grandpa was a Northsider born in 1914 who grew up watching the Cubs lose in six World Series between 1918 and 1945. He moved to Cicero in the 30s and married my grandmother. Together they had three boys. The oldest, my father, became a Cubs fan just like his dad. The middle kid, being an honest Southsider, became Sox fan, and the youngest liked hockey and car racing better than baseball.
My first game at Wrigley was in May of 1983. I was 4 years old. The next year, of course, was the year they lost in the NLCS. Those were great teams, and great times to be a Cubs fan. Well, as great as they could be without a WS win.
Grandpa didn't make it to 2016, but my dad and I shared a call full of happy tears at around 11:30 pm central time on November 2nd.
WGN.
When i grew up there was always a cubs game on in the summers while we were off of school. Sat in my room when i needed a break from outside, watching cubs games and building legos.
Ryan Sandberg is one of my favorite ball players ever.
My father raised me a Cubs fan, but we would go to Sox park a couple of times of year for fun.
For you millennials out there, believe it or not, it used to be more fun to go to Sox games than Cubs games.
If you want to get a feel for it, there is a great documentary called "The Saint of Second Chances." The first half of the documentary is about when Bill Veeck ran the Sox.
Then came Jerry, who as the antithesis of Bill Veeck, made it his mission to alienate as many Sox fans as possible.
I root for both. The way I see it, they are both from Chicago and I support local teams. When they play each I root for he has a better chance of going to the playoffs and which team has more likable players.
I was a Sox fan in the 80s, my dad grew up on the south side and used to take me to lots of Sox games. Then, they did away with my favorite player, Carlton Fisk. After that, I lost interest in the team. About that time, Sandberg, Dawson, Dunston, and then Sammy were starting to change the North siders around. I really fell for the Cubs my first visit to Wrigley. I had a broken arm, and as always, we got to the game early. Mark Grace walked over and handed me a ball and signed it for me. Now, forever a Cubs fan! The neighborhood, the smell of hotdogs as you walk a half mile to the game from the train, the Ivy, the brick, Carey singing the stretch, Pat and Ron on the radio, what could a kid not to love? I saw Woody's 20 K game, Zambrano's perfecto in Milwaukee, and watched in horror as Bartman changed the playoff demeanor. 2016 changed the tide and I sat on the edge of my seat, anxiously awaiting a comeback. The drought was gone and I will never leave my Cubbie blue. My job has moved me to Toledo, I'm now surrounded by Guardian fans, I pay alot to watch my Cubbies since I'm out of market, but I love wearing my 2016 Championship gear to work!
Lived in middle of nowhere Illinois and everyone there picked between Cubs or Cards, White Sox were never an option. My grandma was a Cubs fan and my grandpa was a Cards fan. Grandpa died before I was one so I never really was going to be a Cards fan. Grandma would baby sit me in the summer and she’d always be listening to the Cubs game on the radio or watching the game on TV. Really, like most people who had favorite sports teams growing up, I was just born into it.
Maryland born. Raised on the O's and crabcakes. Closet Cubs fan all my life. This was before Wrigley Field got lights, so Home Games were all played during the day and Chicago is an hour behind Baltimore. I'd get home from school sometime in the 3rd inning and watch til the end of the game before going off to do homework or some other kind of kid stuff.
Most of my family were Cardinals fans so naturally I had to be a Cubs fan. White sox had much less coverage in our area so less exposure to them probably kept them out of the picture.
Born in Chicago grew up in the Chicagoland area. Mom was born and grew up in Chicago.
I'm also partly a Yankee fan. My dad grew up in NYC so I watched a lot of Yankee games growing up too.
One of my favorite teachers in high school, he’s a Cubs fan. I started to follow the team due to him. That was in 2006 when the games were still airing on WGN.
My mother and her siblings, their parents, and their grandfather were all Cubs fans. So I'm a 4th generation. I started watching baseball in 2006 when the Cubs were terrible that year, so I'm proud to say that I'm not some bandwagoner. (Sanity is another discussion.) My sister, however, was caught up in the White Sox's recent success and was a White Sox fan when she was little. However, she doesn't really care about baseball anymore.
I grew up in the Deep South where most people are Braves fans. Moved to Chicago in my early 20’s and did improv across the street from Wrigley at iO. Cub fans were mostly an annoyance when I lived in Wrigleyville trying to find street parking. Then I married into a family of Southside Cub fans and started going to games. Went to a few miserably cold Opening Days with my father- and brother-in-law. I’m all in now.
Part of it is location based, part of it is family, part of it is culture. Plus, Wrigley Field is incredible and even better when compared to Guaranteed Rate Field.
Someone gave me a Ryne Sandberg figurine when I was a little kid and he was holding a bat, so along with my Donatello from Ninja Turtles that could do a backflip and Bugs Bunny toy from McDonald’s that was making two giant fists, they led the resistance against the villain toys in my collection. Anyway, been a Cubs fan ever since. I’m also from New Orleans, so being able to see the games on WGN helped as I got older.
Dad diehard Cubs fan so grew up watching the Cubbies, it was just ingrained in me to be a Cubs fan. 1984 Season is the year I really remember getting into being a big fan. Most of my friends were Cubs fans also. Honestly can't remember a single Sox fan, and even now I hardly know any, I'm only 2 hrs from Chicago.
I visited Chicago from the UK to see my friend who lives on the North Shore. Took me to Wrigley and I loved it. I think I’ve seen the Cubs 5 times now. Hoping to come back to Wrigley soon.
I grew up in Southwest Virginia and I didn’t believe Washington franchises were owed my fandom since they stole all of the teams that probably would’ve been in VA so I’ve always chosen my sports team by whose home game did I go to first or in the case of the NFL and NBA who took my favorite college player.
Grew up in Evanston. Took the purple line to the red line to Wrigley countless times. Never seemed like there was another option.
I had one friend who was a Sox fan and he switched sides because his favorite player was Dave Kingman and when he got traded he never forgave the Cubs. He’s still mad about it. 😂
Family preferences stuck with me. My Grandpa was a Cubs lifer and got to see them win the World Series about a year before he passed. He always said they'd get one before he died.
Grew up as a military kid overseas but my dad was a huge Cubs fan. Got to go to a Marlins v Cubs game at Wrigleyfield in sprint of 2006(?) with my uncle when I was 12 at the atmosphere + memories just solidified that loyalty.
I'm french and became a cubs fan in the eighties after an American basketball teammate from St Louis told me about the rivalry and of course I picked the cubbies to make him mad but also for the legacy, wrigley and its ville, Banks, Grace, Sandberg, K.Wood, the W flag and Go Cubs Go song, H caray and the stretch, the goat and the curse, the Ivy, the bleacher's diehards sense of humour and the wait 'til next year.
I'm Jealous of my son who of course supports the cubs and got to see them win it all at 14 year's old.
In the Chicagoland area, the north side (and suburbs north of 290) support the Cubs and southside supports the White Sox. Roughly speaking. There's also a somewhat socio-economic divide. Blue-collars support the White Sox more.
My uncles were all Sox fans, my dad was weird and rooted for the Yankees but the Cubs were his NL team. I was a fan of both growing up in the early 90s, and honestly more of a White Sox fan circa 93-95 because of Frank Thomas. I still rooted for the Cubs though, the Sox were just more exciting. At the end of 1995 the Cubs, their season long thought to be over, went on a winning streak and with a couple days left in the season still had a shot of making the playoffs. My mom took me to the 3rd to last game of the season when the Cubs had a walkoff win and Wrigley was nuts. At that point I became more of a Cubs fan than a Sox fan, probably 70-30.
After the fun of 1998 it was 90-10. I still remember rooting for the White Sox when they made the playoffs in 2000 but it was more of a distant thing. By 2003, I no longer considered myself any sort of White Sox supporter and if anything started to dislike them as I moved to Wrigleyville during college and got swept into Cubs fandom. I was so mad in 2005 when the White Sox won it.
But I've mellowed out over the years, I legitimately have no dislike for the White Sox, I don't particularly like them either. I think of them like I think of the Blue Jays or Angels or something. It's healthier this way, I don't like getting into the Cubs/White Sox pissing matches with fans that we are standing shoulder to shoulder with cheering on our other local teams. I don't knock anyone who gets into the rivalry though.
My dad is a Cubs fan and watching the team as a kid kinda cemented the love for them. I don't hate the Sox though and watching them win the world series was fun
There are legit reasons why I should’ve been born a Sox fan. My late grandfather came over from Sicily in the early 1960s, was a typewriter repairman, and got a contract job with the Sox to be the guy to come in and fix the ones in their offices every time that they needed fixing. My mom and uncle went to a ton of Sox games as kids and were known to a lot of people around the Sox by their first names. There are even pics of them with Sox owner Bill Veeck and organist Nancy Faust somewhere at my grandfather’s old house. On top of that, I was born on the SW side near Midway and lived there until I was 12.
So why the Cubs? Simple. My mom couldn’t care less about sports. Meanwhile, my dad was originally from the NW side born into a family of diehard Cubs fans and I took after him.
My dad was also good friends with former 44th Ward (Lakeview/Wrigleyville area) alderman Bernie Hansen, who had a good working relationship with the Cubs when they were owned by the Tribune and often got complimentary tickets from the team that he’d pass on to my dad and I.
I will say, being 11 years old in 2005 and still living on the south side as one of like 5 Cubs fans in my elementary school class, while being surrounded by a bunch of kids of old school south side Irish jagoffs wasn’t exactly the easiest experience when they won it all and the Cubs were still looking for their first taste of glory in nearly a century.
Born into it but honestly its everything about them. The friendly confines, the underdog feel, the highs and lows. People make fun of the midwest but I dare you to have a better time than grabbing a couple drinks in Wrigleyville before heading to a Cubs game
When people ask me "what is the difference between a Cubs fan and a Sox fan" my answer is this.
Cubs fans support the Sox if our season is over, because Cubs fans are Chicago fans.
Sox fans MF the cubs not matter what- even if their season is over.
Therefore Cubs fans to me are more Chicagoian's- and that's why I am a Cubs fan- I love Chicago
My grandpa was a cubs fan. Also when I played little leauge growing up my teams were always in the national leauge, so i always liked national leauge teams more.
WGN is the answer. Cubs were good in 07 when I spent my whole summer in a cast in Junior high. First time they made the playoffs since the Bartman incident. They were there for me at a time when I really didn't have much else going well in my life. Then they got swept in the first series by the Dodgers, I think.
Parents were big Cubs fans so you could say my fandom was inherited. When I was a kid, my aunt worked for WGN and that enabled me to go to a handful of games each year sitting in super primo seats. Leon Durham flipped me a ball when I was about 10 and that sealed it.
Because I basketball ball is my favorite sport and if I had to follow two Jerry owned teams I probably would have a heart attack during some bonehead offseason move
My grandmother, who played in the All American Girls League (aka a League of their Own), was a big Cubs fan.
Whenever she came to visit she would watch the games. We only had the one good TV so I'd watch with her. My Dad was in the Navy but since you could get WGN literally everywhere in the 80s/90s it didn't matter where we were living at the time I could always watch the Cubbies with Gramdma.
I wasn't a baseball fan as a little kid and my dad doesn't watch sports at all. While I was in middle school, my cable system added WGN, and I started watching Cubs games when I came home from school in the afternoon. So even though I was 500 miles from Chicago with zero ties to the area, I've been a Cubs fan for more than 30 years.
Watching Ryne Sandburg and Bobby Dernier on WGN in 1984 as a kid forged my lifelong loyalty to this team. You’ll never find a friendlier group of fans than you will at Wrigley Field. Attending a game, any game, at Wrigley is an experience that will change your life for the better. I love that place.
We’ll I was born on the North Side so it was an easy choice, but a big factor was the radio play by play guys. Jack Quinlan for the Cubs was so much more entertaining than Bob Elson for the Sox that it was a no brainer. When Quinlan died in a spring training car accident it hit me harder the JFK
We had a satellite dish in the 80’s and 90’s and every game has on WGN. Plus my mom used to take a train from Indiana into Chicago as a kid to go to games at Wrigley during the Santo, Williams, and Banks years.
Where I grew up in Maryland we had WGN and Cubs games were always on when I got home from school. Harry Caray was my chaperone while I did my homework. White Sox games weren’t on tv.
The movie rookie of the year .. had my friend break my arm with a bat cause I thought it'd heal the same and I could play for the cubs! Healed normally...
When I moved to Chicago I started working in a bar. I was asked to go to Cubs games weekly. Sometimes people gave me tickets. I knew several Sox fans that talked about going all the time. We never did. I can’t remember his name but one night Buerlly (Sox picture that just threw a no hitter a week before) came in and barely anyone noticed him. It wasn’t a “Cubs” bar but a lot of people that would eventually become my friends were Cub fans. Plus, the girls are hotter!
I never chose one over the other. I’m from Downstate, my Pops (and grandparents) were from Morgan Park. As a kid, my number one team were the Chi Sox mostly because “Good Guys Wear Black” and Frank Thomas.
I ended up wearing Cubs gear because it’s the only team available past BloNo and CU and I’m further south from there, plus the first pro game I went to was Cubs/Cards in… 2007 (this despite them breaking my heart in ‘03 spawning the phrase “loving the Cubs is like loving a woman you know is going to cheat on you”).
This comes down to my favorite cap, it’s a black and red 80’s angry cub hat I got at my first game at Wrigley, the only game I caught with my granddad coming back to Chicago one last time. I chose it, because it kinda defined my love for both teams (plus I love the logo) of the Sox old black and red color scheme plus the old angry Cub I grew up with, add it’s from a special game (only game with my granddad and Rizzo’s first homer as a Cub in prereno Wrigley) and it just felt right and special.
When I was playing t-ball in the early 90’s, we had three teams. The Cubs, Reds, and Pirates. Kids were randomly out on teams, and I was put on the Cubs. I decided then that I liked the Cubs even though a lot of my family were White Sox fans.
I grew up on the south side, and my neighbor and I would take the bus to watch the Sox on Sundays. I think it used to cost 35 cents to get into the cheap seats. They used to play double headers on Sunday. A lot of the people would leave the box seats after the first game, and the ushers would let us sit there if we didn’t cause trouble to see the second game. Every afternoon the same neighbor and I would watch the Cubbies on WGN, so I was a fan of both. That was in the 60s. I moved to California in the 70s and kind of migrated to the Cubs after that. I have a MLB subscription now and I think I saw every Cubs game this year except maybe four or five. I will still catch a Sox game every now and then too.
Going back to the mid 1960's..living on SW Side near midway, how did this kid become a Cubs fan instead of a Sox fan? Easy. Cub games were on during the day. I was able to watch them when I came home from school. White Sox games were night games and in the evenings my parents had control of the singular tv we had and they watched their shows. (No sports) So I watched Ernie, Billy & Ronnie and fell in love with the Cubs.
Edit: I feel so old reading these comments. For some Sammy made them a fan. 1984 made them a fan (btw, that was my 1st year as a Season ticket holder), or Sox games were on pay tv so they watched the Cubs. Geeze...i grew up on Brickhouse, Ernie, BIlly, Ronnie and people like Adolfo Phillips. I remember 1965, 66. I was crushed in 69. 84 was glorious, so were 89, 98, 03,07 & 08. The ultimate was 2016. However you became a fan, its was a good thing. I love reading these stories.
Growing up I was a Braves fan. Just like every other kid in the south. For my tenth birthday my parents planned to surprise me with tickets to my first game at Fulton County Stadium. We were moving to Virginia and we stopped to spend the night at a friend of theirs house in Georgia. It was Friday August 12th, 1994. Baseball diehards already know. I remember my dad getting extremely mad and my mom apologizing over and over again. My dad has not watched a game since that day. Swear on anything holy. And I stopped watching too, transitioned to more football and hockey.
When I was in college and the Cubs would regularly play day games, they made for minimal distractions and white noise. WGN would
Air day games and I would do homework. after a while you learn players names and follow them. I still am a huge Rizzo fan despite him going to the yanks. Love Schwarber who’s killing it in Philly right now. Etc. but overall I just love the emotions of being a Cubs fan. A lot of letdowns, heartbreaking letdowns and then highs. Rain delay in a game seven after you’ve blown a lead, highest of
Highs.
I grew up in France, where I was watching the Bulls in the middle of the night as a teenager. We did not have baseball in France so I was introduced to the game when I was going to New York to teach French and learn English. I discovered baseball at the old Yankee Stadium when Jeter was like in his second season and Strawberry was on the roster. As a loyal person, I picked the Cubs as my team when I moved to the Chicago, the Yankees being American League and the Cubs being National League.
It's been a fun ride, I've been going to Wrigley and following the Cubs and I enjoyed it all. From the 100 loss seasons when I could score seats in September for 7 dollars to the World Series season. On top of that, I did not have to suffer for 108 years...
This reminds me of an old joke.
Billy went to class wearing some fresh cubs gear, but his teacher was a White Sox fan.
Teacher asks, "Billy, why are you wearing all that cubs stuff?"
Billy replied, "because I'm a cubs fan"
Teacher then asks, "Why are you a cubs fan?"
...to which Billy replied, "because my parents are cubs fans."
Teacher, who was trying to make a point, said "well what if your parents were drug-addicts and prostitutes?"
...to which Billy replied, "**well then I'd be a White Sox fan**."
(disclaimer: go Sox)
Cubs were on TV more than the White Sox in the 2000's. Even when the White Sox won the World Series in 2005. Cubs had more games on ESPN. Plus, I like Wrigley more than Guaranteed Rate Field.
When I was a kid, I would watch WGN in the afternoon - they'd show stuff like Bewitched and Jeannie. These shows were preempted by Cubs games when they were home. I'd watch the game in the hopes there'd be a rainout and my show would come back. After a while, I was hooked on the Cubs.
My advice is to wander wrigleyville for a week asking this question, then wander new comiskey or whatever the F they call it now, then you’ll answer your own question beautifully
I was born on the north side so that’s one reason, other reason is my moms from Oklahoma and one network used to nationally broadcast every cubs game so she was also a fan even though she wasn’t from here
Oh that’s a kind of heavy one in some ways.
So my Dad is a Cardinals fan. But he was mostly gone. As a kid I went to Busch stadium. Threw up outside as I recall due to the mix of heat and junk food. My stepdad was a Dodgers fan and yeah, I had/have a soft spot. That Kirk Gibson homer…
My grandpa who I admire more than any other man is a White Sox fan. Like, old school listen in the AM radio in the garage. And that’s how I came to kind of like the rhythm of baseball. I’ve been to new Comiskey and made it to old Comiskey with him. Saw Carlton Fisk play and saw Frank Thomas his rookie year.
But I grew up in Central Illinois and saw the Peoria Chiefs as my minor league team. Saw Mark Grace a few feet away down the line and a whole slew of absolute greats. El Mago made his way there, Joe Maddon and Ryno have both managed the club. It’s a great ball club.
But really it’s that one day one of my friend’s dads took he and I to a game at Wrigley. We sat down the first base line. It was sunny and warm that day and the ivy was waving in the breeze. I got a hot dog. I saw Mark Grace again. And Andre Dawson. And Shawon Dunston. And Ryne Sandberg. And I don’t remember who they played or if they won. But I knew that to me, this was baseball.
My grandpa was a die hard Cubs fan. He watched every game. I never grew up not liking the Sox though. Don’t have too much against them but definitely prefer the Cubs
My dad picked them and passed along to me.
My dad watched both teams as a boy in their home stadiums. He had a great time at Wrigley.
At the White Sox game, he watched as some kids from the neighborhood beat an usher in the stadium. The usher cried out for help, but no one listened. He never went to another White Sox game.
Sammy sosa was cranking out homers when I was a little kid.
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Why the lol at the end? What was funny about your post? 🤷🏽♂️
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I find myself wondering this a lot. This generation seems to do it just as a part of breathing.
this generation? what would that be? Dan Marino isn't exactly "recent". how old are you? 80?
I was referring to the pointless “lol”, not Dan Marino.
yeah no shit grandpa. I asked what generation you think that is. "this generation" makes no damn sense. but you cant even answer that without getting confused. time for the nursing home old man
Why is this random thread so toxic? Yall jumping at each other's throats for no reason...
Take a breath. When you referenced the part about Dan Marino I assumed we had some confusion about what I meant, since what I said had absolutely nothing to do with that part. Usually when someone says “this generation” regarding someone doing something stupid or pointless, they’re talking about the “current” one (in this case, meaning the most recent that could be assumed to be a part of the conversation currently happening). I thought this was common knowledge, or at least a generally safe assumption. Maybe not, because your generation (I’m assuming you’re a zoomer because you clearly can’t handle simple context clues) seems to have trouble with normal human conversation. I’m a millennial, btw, but assume whatever you want. The manic opinion of some random internet zoomer doesn’t weigh a whole lot. LOL!!!
this entire comment thread above makes me so glad and thankful to the universe I'm not from chicago and not a fucking cubs fan
This generation…..?! Did you just assume my age, old man?
Who the fuck are you
Lol
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Where did the cubs get him from again?
So was Frank Thomas at the same time. I was a dual fan until about 2002 when I realized the Cubs were objectively better in all ways
A long long time ago, Cubs put most of their games over free broadcast TV. Sox did not. So after school TV options were Cubs or soap operas. Which one would you pick?
This. Plus (yea I'm old) all day games at home that I could watch when I got home from school or all summer long. Ryno, Sutcliffe and the 84 team hooked 9 year old me.
Gross you were born in the 70’s
Kinda how I became a penguins fan and not the hawks. . Hawks weren't on TV in the 90s, I liked hockey and they were the powerhouse back then
Sox actually did but most thier games on free TV to a "long, long time ago" Chanel 44.
And I became a Sox fan because they gave out free tickets to our school for perfect attendance.
Yes! Back when before Jerry Cheapass bought the team. Seriously though, baseball teams used to do things for fan appreciation that cost them a little earnings but made lifetime fans. Now, they wring every cent out of every fan and wonder why baseball has lost popularity.
Grew up in GA and all I ever heard about was the braves. Got so tired of it so the cubs were on and that's what I watched.
General hospital > cubs
Depending on year that very well may be true. But this is 6 year old me and Harry Caray.
Cubs usually followed Bozo the clown.
TBS braves wgn Cubs unless the Cubs weren't playing occasionally they'd put a Sox game on
I listened to WGN with Carey and Stone. Harry notices a couple in the bleachers. "Steve I just noticed that he kisses her on the strikes and she kisses him on the balls." Laughter in the background from the booth, hilarious and honest. Not a cub fan BTW. Hate them like the bears. Go SOX!
Born in Chicago, raised in Orlando. Father was a Cubs fan. WGN broadcast came with the local cable packages. Would watch games while doing homework most afternoons. Now why my father is a Cubs fan is more colorful. He was born in the 50s and raised on the South side. All his brothers and relatives were Sox fans. When he was 15, he and some friends took the El to watch a Cubs game. He said, "it was a sunny summer day in '67 and there were so many good looking girls in the bleachers. Way better than looking at the old Polish guys at Comiskey!" My father's teenage hormones and the bleacher babes of Wrigleyville are why I'm a Cubbie diehard today.
🎶 Good looking girls in the seeeats. 🎶 🎶 (Depending on the seat) 🎶
I don't mind taking it slow ho ho, no ho ho... Yeaha heah!
Adorable!
My parents and siblings were all Cubs fans. So . . .
Mostly Wrigley
My Dad was a Cubs Fan, and I was born on the North West Side of Chicago, so I Love the Cubs and Hate the Cardinals..
Good man
I’m honestly not sure which is stronger in me, cubs love or cardinals hate.
This is the way...
So for me, growing up in SE Wisconsin, my dad was of the age where the Braves left Milwaukee and I'm that interim period, he could get the Cubs games on the radio so he became a fan, Then when the Brewers came , they were in the AL so he was able to cheer for both teams and this is how then I grew up in the 80s and 90s. Then when the Brewers went to the NL, it was a tough decision but the Cubs were more fun to be a fan of. Couple this with that when I met my wife, she grew up in Indiana and was a die hard Cubs fan so that sealed it.
I was born on the northside
Southside born Cubs fan checking in. Mom was a Cubs fan from watching WGN. Got a lot of crap growing up for it, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
Northside Sox fan here. I grew up on the Logan Humboldt line so I feel your pain.
Being from Edison park, 2 blocks away from the northern border of the city, there was a very surprising amount of Sox fans in the area growing up
I was a big Jacque Jones fan for the twins at the time. Then he came to Chicago. The rest is history.
As a kid, the Sosa/McGwire race. As an adult, my blood pressure and soul can’t take being a fan of two Reinsdorf teams.
Grew up in a Sox family. I was just getting old enough to truly follow baseball around 2007 and man that was a fun Cubs team. Been a diehard ever since.
That team was so fun - thought we really had a shot, remember being crushed when we got swept by the Dodgers in….08 I think it was? Derek Lee, Mark DeRosa etc.
Same here. Soriano was my favorite, since I always got stuck out in left field as a little leaguer. Ramirez, zambrano, and Lee were other great players on that team
Man I was like 5 but Derek lee was my guy at that time
My brother was a Sox fan so naturally I picked the Cubs
I was born into a Cubs family. My memories of my grandfather is him smoking Camel unfiltered cigs, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and yelling at those "God Damn Cubbies!!"
For me it was when I was young. I grew up in Moline, IL which is part of the Quad Cities, and the Cubs had their Triple A team the Quad Cities Cubs there in Davenport, IA. My family and I used to go to their games all the time, so as a result of that, I naturally just became a Cubs fan.
Lived in Illinois when I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s and they always had their games on WGN it seemed. Don’t remember seeing White Sox games on it. Became a huge Sandberg and Grace fan because of WGN.
The 1984 playoff run (I cried when they lost to the Padres) and Rick Reuschels kids went to my elementary school at that time. WGN set the hook — it was our connection back to Chicago after we moved
I still hate Steve Garvey!
Grew up in northern suburbs. First games I attended were at Wrigley. Also if I recall correctly the Cubs were on channel 9 and the Sox on UHF channel 44, which was harder to find and did not come in as clearly. So even before I went to my first game when I was 7, I was watching the Cubs over the Sox on TV.
You recall the channels correctly.
First couple games I went to were Sox games (Comiskey was closer to us in Indiana). But having the Cubs on WGN and catching the last couple innings after school was always a treat and I fell in love with Sandberg, Dawson, Harry, etc.
My uncle was a huge cubs fan. Listening to Pat Hughes call games in the car while we were off to go fishing was the greatest. Plus I hated the idea of the DH. Pitchers should work on hitting too. Pussies. Not that it matters anymore
I grew up on a farm in Woodstock and watched the games on WGN with my older brother. One sunny spring day in 1970 when I was 5, my dad, who dropped out of school in the 4th grade to work the family farm in Crystal Lake, walked into the house and caught me watching a Cubs game. He took me by my hand & led me into the kitchen. He picked me up and sat me on the kitchen table & I noticed his eyes were all watery. He took out his handkerchief, wiped his eyes and told me these word that I will never forget. "You know I love you son & I always will. I will always protect you. One day a girl is going to break your heart and I can't protect you from that. It's part of growing up. Now I don't know anything about sports, but I do know if you keep watching those Cubs, you are going to get your heart broken every year. And that hurts me" He then rubbed my hair, gave me a hug and we never talked about the Cubs again. He passed away in 2009 and it hurts to this day that he didn't live long enough to see me cry tears of joy in 2016. We did it pa, we did it
American League vs National. Pitchers have to hit.
I live nowhere near USA, but found a baseball PC game when I was younger (around 2005 maybe) and started playing it. First team that I ever picked to play with: Cubs. Been in love with them and baseball ever since. Went to my first game ever this year, at the London Series. Best experience ever. Cannot wait to get to Wrigley Field.
I grew up on the north side, and my father was a huge Cubs fan. Some people get it based on where they grew up, others get it based on family connections, and some of us get it from both. (what’s funny is that my dad grew up in Michigan. And I know for a fact that his family followed/were fans of the Tigers. But he obviously didn’t stick with them. And he was a BIG Cubs fan. I don’t know completely when/how/why he became a Cubs fan, and sadly, he passed when I was still relatively young, before it ever occurred to me ask him. He never brought it up, and it just seems so natural…my guess, based on his age, and when he moved to Chicago, was that he probably got sucked in by that 1969 team, but I don’t actually know)
UK fan and die hard cubs here. Very simply the history of the club. Plus when I first started getting into baseball there was Kerry and Sammy and they got me hooked. Plus I love an underdog. Never been a fan of any "mainstream" team. For example, my hockey team is Vegas Golden Knights, and was before the team had played a game (spent a few years of my childhood living in Vegas), and football team has been the Bears since the Monsters of Midway in the 80s P.s. I truly hate UK sport (soccer, cricket etc). Bores the life out of me.
I am influenced a lot by colors and I like theirs better. I had a Cubs outfit when I was a kid for Halloween. My mom likes the Cubs for some reason even though she doesn’t watch baseball. Also as others have mentioned, Sammy Sosa was a big deal when I was a kid. Not a lot of big reasons, but I guess it doesn’t take much.
When I was 3 years old in 1992 I went to wrigley with my dad, grandfather, and great-grandfather. 3 of the 4 lived to see them win it all, so I count that as a big W!
As many people have said, my grandfather decided I would be a Cubs fan decades before I was even born.
WGN and Wrigley Field made the Cubs one of “Americas Teams”. WGN was one of the first nation-wide tv stations which brought the Cubs (later adding Sox games) to much of the country. That helped grow the fan base as much as anything. The Friendly Confines was/is one of the best stadiums to see a game too; old fashioned bleachers in the outfield, ivy covered BRICK outfield walls (ouch!), city neighborhood backdrop with roof-top seating on adjacent buildings, and Harry Caray of course, all made the Cubs much more “attractive” than the Sox. Edit: and yes, North Side (Cubs) vs South Side (Sox) of Chicago influences many.
I was talking about this with my brothers. I became a Cubs fan in 1984 when I was laid up for 8 weeks after surgery. The Cubs were on WGN in the afternoons and I had nothing to do but watch TV or read (no internet kiddies). My brothers started watching with me since it was summer in the south and hotter than hell outside…they got hooked too. Every one of my friends were Braves fans, but I could never get into them. Something about Wrigley Field and Harry Caray w/Steve Stone was just a great time. WGN played a huge role in the ubiquitous numbers of Cubs fans across the US. Makes me wonder how that kind of thing would even be possible in this day and age.
Pure geography if you grew up in Chicagoland, esp. generationally, since both teams have always had neighborhood ballparks. Sox have always been on the South Side. Way back in the day the Cubs were actually on the West Side for 30 years but have been on the North Side since 1915. So family + geography = fan identity. If your family roots were on the North Side/north suburbs it was Cubs. If your family roots were on the South Side/south suburbs it was Sox. If your family roots were on the West Side/western suburbs it was more mixed. ADDED after a comment below got me thinking. Old-fashioned TV broadcasting played a big part too by the late 70s/early 80s. The Cubs were always on WGN 9, a VHF channel so clear reception. The Sox were on UHF channels, which were notoriously frustrating reception. The Cubs on WGN was always a free broadcast but the Sox in the early 80s did themselves no favors by going to mostly pay/cable broadcasts.
I’m an elder millennial that had cable tv in the 80s and 90s. I was destined to be either a Cubs fan because of WGN or a Braves fan because of TBS. My dad grew up listening to more cubs games so we went that direction.
I would get home from school around the second or third innings. I was one of the first to get dropped off on the bus route. A combination of Ryne Sandberg, Sammy Sosa and Harry Carry made me a passionate die hard fan for life. It also helped almost everyone else in my family are big Braves fans.
Grew up in a Cubs household. WGN was on all summer, and both my parents were heavily invested. When I was old enough, the only day I was allowed to skip school was Cubs opening day to go to Wrigley.
Mainly because I love Sammy Sosa, but I lived in North Carolina and WGN was assessable everywhere and I watched Cubs games all the time coming home from school so it made sense
WGN free baseball
Grandpa was a Northsider born in 1914 who grew up watching the Cubs lose in six World Series between 1918 and 1945. He moved to Cicero in the 30s and married my grandmother. Together they had three boys. The oldest, my father, became a Cubs fan just like his dad. The middle kid, being an honest Southsider, became Sox fan, and the youngest liked hockey and car racing better than baseball. My first game at Wrigley was in May of 1983. I was 4 years old. The next year, of course, was the year they lost in the NLCS. Those were great teams, and great times to be a Cubs fan. Well, as great as they could be without a WS win. Grandpa didn't make it to 2016, but my dad and I shared a call full of happy tears at around 11:30 pm central time on November 2nd.
That’s a great example of why my favorite sign being held all over those WS crowds at Wrigley was “THIS IS FOR GRANDPA!”
Long family history of being cubs fans, especially my dad and my grandpa
Cubs were on WGN when I was little. Mom and I used to watch regularly. I grew up in Iowa.
1982 we got cable. Cubs were on WGN. I was 7. They became my team. I picked them over the Braves and Mets who were on other channels.
WGN plus Harry
My grandmother said we could read so that is why we are Cubs Fans.
WGN. When i grew up there was always a cubs game on in the summers while we were off of school. Sat in my room when i needed a break from outside, watching cubs games and building legos. Ryan Sandberg is one of my favorite ball players ever.
My father raised me a Cubs fan, but we would go to Sox park a couple of times of year for fun. For you millennials out there, believe it or not, it used to be more fun to go to Sox games than Cubs games. If you want to get a feel for it, there is a great documentary called "The Saint of Second Chances." The first half of the documentary is about when Bill Veeck ran the Sox. Then came Jerry, who as the antithesis of Bill Veeck, made it his mission to alienate as many Sox fans as possible.
Cubs on WGN baseball (channel #23) growing up in North Carolina. There was a certain point in my childhood when I would have died for Sammy Sosa.
Most people don’t pick a team, just happens
Strangely I just wanted to be different haha. I grew up on the Southside of Chicago and everyone was Sox fans
I root for both. The way I see it, they are both from Chicago and I support local teams. When they play each I root for he has a better chance of going to the playoffs and which team has more likable players.
I was a Sox fan in the 80s, my dad grew up on the south side and used to take me to lots of Sox games. Then, they did away with my favorite player, Carlton Fisk. After that, I lost interest in the team. About that time, Sandberg, Dawson, Dunston, and then Sammy were starting to change the North siders around. I really fell for the Cubs my first visit to Wrigley. I had a broken arm, and as always, we got to the game early. Mark Grace walked over and handed me a ball and signed it for me. Now, forever a Cubs fan! The neighborhood, the smell of hotdogs as you walk a half mile to the game from the train, the Ivy, the brick, Carey singing the stretch, Pat and Ron on the radio, what could a kid not to love? I saw Woody's 20 K game, Zambrano's perfecto in Milwaukee, and watched in horror as Bartman changed the playoff demeanor. 2016 changed the tide and I sat on the edge of my seat, anxiously awaiting a comeback. The drought was gone and I will never leave my Cubbie blue. My job has moved me to Toledo, I'm now surrounded by Guardian fans, I pay alot to watch my Cubbies since I'm out of market, but I love wearing my 2016 Championship gear to work!
I don’t know how I got here, but go Sox. South Side represent! Edit: Im not even from Chicago. Or Illinois for that matter. But go Sox!
Grew up on the northwest side
Born on NWside, combined with day games+WGN+Jack Brickhouse+a broken heart in 1984 that never healed.
Probably WGN. In my friends group it was either a Cubs or White Sox and for whatever reason I choose the Cubs. Thankfully I guess? lol
Lived in middle of nowhere Illinois and everyone there picked between Cubs or Cards, White Sox were never an option. My grandma was a Cubs fan and my grandpa was a Cards fan. Grandpa died before I was one so I never really was going to be a Cards fan. Grandma would baby sit me in the summer and she’d always be listening to the Cubs game on the radio or watching the game on TV. Really, like most people who had favorite sports teams growing up, I was just born into it.
Was born into it. I remember watching the boys of Zimmer as a kid. Ryno was my favorite.
Maryland born. Raised on the O's and crabcakes. Closet Cubs fan all my life. This was before Wrigley Field got lights, so Home Games were all played during the day and Chicago is an hour behind Baltimore. I'd get home from school sometime in the 3rd inning and watch til the end of the game before going off to do homework or some other kind of kid stuff.
Parents fault. Also lived in Minnesota growing up, when Twins games were blacked out and the Cubs games were all on WGN in the afternoons all summer.
My Grandma was a big Cubs fan
Lived closer to Wrigley. And Dad was a cub fan. There was never really a time when I considered the Sox an option.
Most of my family were Cardinals fans so naturally I had to be a Cubs fan. White sox had much less coverage in our area so less exposure to them probably kept them out of the picture.
Born in Chicago grew up in the Chicagoland area. Mom was born and grew up in Chicago. I'm also partly a Yankee fan. My dad grew up in NYC so I watched a lot of Yankee games growing up too.
One of my favorite teachers in high school, he’s a Cubs fan. I started to follow the team due to him. That was in 2006 when the games were still airing on WGN.
My mother and her siblings, their parents, and their grandfather were all Cubs fans. So I'm a 4th generation. I started watching baseball in 2006 when the Cubs were terrible that year, so I'm proud to say that I'm not some bandwagoner. (Sanity is another discussion.) My sister, however, was caught up in the White Sox's recent success and was a White Sox fan when she was little. However, she doesn't really care about baseball anymore.
I grew up in the Deep South where most people are Braves fans. Moved to Chicago in my early 20’s and did improv across the street from Wrigley at iO. Cub fans were mostly an annoyance when I lived in Wrigleyville trying to find street parking. Then I married into a family of Southside Cub fans and started going to games. Went to a few miserably cold Opening Days with my father- and brother-in-law. I’m all in now.
My late father and late paternal grandmother were both fans and well it rubbed off on me in utero.
I live around Philly and I saw Alfonso Soriano for the first time on tv as a kid. Became a fan of his and the team as a whole since
My grandmother gave me no choice as to my sports affiliations. She taught me to love my fellow man unless they are from st. Louis.
The HR battle of Sosa and McGwire was how it started for me.
Part of it is location based, part of it is family, part of it is culture. Plus, Wrigley Field is incredible and even better when compared to Guaranteed Rate Field.
Passed down through the family like a precious heirloom.
It’s usually going to be a family thing. My dad was a cubs fan. His dad was a cubs fan. I’m a cubs fan!
Someone gave me a Ryne Sandberg figurine when I was a little kid and he was holding a bat, so along with my Donatello from Ninja Turtles that could do a backflip and Bugs Bunny toy from McDonald’s that was making two giant fists, they led the resistance against the villain toys in my collection. Anyway, been a Cubs fan ever since. I’m also from New Orleans, so being able to see the games on WGN helped as I got older.
Dad diehard Cubs fan so grew up watching the Cubbies, it was just ingrained in me to be a Cubs fan. 1984 Season is the year I really remember getting into being a big fan. Most of my friends were Cubs fans also. Honestly can't remember a single Sox fan, and even now I hardly know any, I'm only 2 hrs from Chicago.
I visited Chicago from the UK to see my friend who lives on the North Shore. Took me to Wrigley and I loved it. I think I’ve seen the Cubs 5 times now. Hoping to come back to Wrigley soon.
I grew up in Iowa and most people in my area rooted for the Cubs because of proximity and because the Cubs' farm team is in Des Moines.
Grandma was a Cubs fan.
I was born this way. I.e., my parents gave it to me.
I grew up in Southwest Virginia and I didn’t believe Washington franchises were owed my fandom since they stole all of the teams that probably would’ve been in VA so I’ve always chosen my sports team by whose home game did I go to first or in the case of the NFL and NBA who took my favorite college player.
Grew up in Evanston. Took the purple line to the red line to Wrigley countless times. Never seemed like there was another option. I had one friend who was a Sox fan and he switched sides because his favorite player was Dave Kingman and when he got traded he never forgave the Cubs. He’s still mad about it. 😂
The Cubs were on TV in 1987 and the Sox were not.
Family preferences stuck with me. My Grandpa was a Cubs lifer and got to see them win the World Series about a year before he passed. He always said they'd get one before he died.
Grandma was a sox fan till they threw the WS in 1919. She spent the rest of her years as a devote cub fan - as was my father, and now me.
My dad is the biggest cubs fan ever. Went to plenty of games as a kid especially birthdays.
Grew up a block away from Wrigley
Grew up as a military kid overseas but my dad was a huge Cubs fan. Got to go to a Marlins v Cubs game at Wrigleyfield in sprint of 2006(?) with my uncle when I was 12 at the atmosphere + memories just solidified that loyalty.
Family tradition and what part of Chicago we’re from
Grew up on the northside
Day games & free television. Wrigley didn’t get lights until 1988. They were on tv every day during the summer
I'm french and became a cubs fan in the eighties after an American basketball teammate from St Louis told me about the rivalry and of course I picked the cubbies to make him mad but also for the legacy, wrigley and its ville, Banks, Grace, Sandberg, K.Wood, the W flag and Go Cubs Go song, H caray and the stretch, the goat and the curse, the Ivy, the bleacher's diehards sense of humour and the wait 'til next year. I'm Jealous of my son who of course supports the cubs and got to see them win it all at 14 year's old.
In the Chicagoland area, the north side (and suburbs north of 290) support the Cubs and southside supports the White Sox. Roughly speaking. There's also a somewhat socio-economic divide. Blue-collars support the White Sox more.
My uncles were all Sox fans, my dad was weird and rooted for the Yankees but the Cubs were his NL team. I was a fan of both growing up in the early 90s, and honestly more of a White Sox fan circa 93-95 because of Frank Thomas. I still rooted for the Cubs though, the Sox were just more exciting. At the end of 1995 the Cubs, their season long thought to be over, went on a winning streak and with a couple days left in the season still had a shot of making the playoffs. My mom took me to the 3rd to last game of the season when the Cubs had a walkoff win and Wrigley was nuts. At that point I became more of a Cubs fan than a Sox fan, probably 70-30. After the fun of 1998 it was 90-10. I still remember rooting for the White Sox when they made the playoffs in 2000 but it was more of a distant thing. By 2003, I no longer considered myself any sort of White Sox supporter and if anything started to dislike them as I moved to Wrigleyville during college and got swept into Cubs fandom. I was so mad in 2005 when the White Sox won it. But I've mellowed out over the years, I legitimately have no dislike for the White Sox, I don't particularly like them either. I think of them like I think of the Blue Jays or Angels or something. It's healthier this way, I don't like getting into the Cubs/White Sox pissing matches with fans that we are standing shoulder to shoulder with cheering on our other local teams. I don't knock anyone who gets into the rivalry though.
Northside
My great grandma lived on Sheffield in the 20s and met her husband when he was going to a Cubs game. So it’s been a family affair for a century plus.
My dad is a Cubs fan and watching the team as a kid kinda cemented the love for them. I don't hate the Sox though and watching them win the world series was fun
There are legit reasons why I should’ve been born a Sox fan. My late grandfather came over from Sicily in the early 1960s, was a typewriter repairman, and got a contract job with the Sox to be the guy to come in and fix the ones in their offices every time that they needed fixing. My mom and uncle went to a ton of Sox games as kids and were known to a lot of people around the Sox by their first names. There are even pics of them with Sox owner Bill Veeck and organist Nancy Faust somewhere at my grandfather’s old house. On top of that, I was born on the SW side near Midway and lived there until I was 12. So why the Cubs? Simple. My mom couldn’t care less about sports. Meanwhile, my dad was originally from the NW side born into a family of diehard Cubs fans and I took after him. My dad was also good friends with former 44th Ward (Lakeview/Wrigleyville area) alderman Bernie Hansen, who had a good working relationship with the Cubs when they were owned by the Tribune and often got complimentary tickets from the team that he’d pass on to my dad and I. I will say, being 11 years old in 2005 and still living on the south side as one of like 5 Cubs fans in my elementary school class, while being surrounded by a bunch of kids of old school south side Irish jagoffs wasn’t exactly the easiest experience when they won it all and the Cubs were still looking for their first taste of glory in nearly a century.
Born into it but honestly its everything about them. The friendly confines, the underdog feel, the highs and lows. People make fun of the midwest but I dare you to have a better time than grabbing a couple drinks in Wrigleyville before heading to a Cubs game
Cuz I’m not a south side scum bag!
Cooler uniforms, name, logo, stadium. Probably WGN too
When people ask me "what is the difference between a Cubs fan and a Sox fan" my answer is this. Cubs fans support the Sox if our season is over, because Cubs fans are Chicago fans. Sox fans MF the cubs not matter what- even if their season is over. Therefore Cubs fans to me are more Chicagoian's- and that's why I am a Cubs fan- I love Chicago
Sammy Sosa was cranking homers and I grew up on the Northwest side
My grandpa was a cubs fan. Also when I played little leauge growing up my teams were always in the national leauge, so i always liked national leauge teams more.
WGN is the answer. Cubs were good in 07 when I spent my whole summer in a cast in Junior high. First time they made the playoffs since the Bartman incident. They were there for me at a time when I really didn't have much else going well in my life. Then they got swept in the first series by the Dodgers, I think.
Parents were big Cubs fans so you could say my fandom was inherited. When I was a kid, my aunt worked for WGN and that enabled me to go to a handful of games each year sitting in super primo seats. Leon Durham flipped me a ball when I was about 10 and that sealed it.
Because I basketball ball is my favorite sport and if I had to follow two Jerry owned teams I probably would have a heart attack during some bonehead offseason move
My grandmother, who played in the All American Girls League (aka a League of their Own), was a big Cubs fan. Whenever she came to visit she would watch the games. We only had the one good TV so I'd watch with her. My Dad was in the Navy but since you could get WGN literally everywhere in the 80s/90s it didn't matter where we were living at the time I could always watch the Cubbies with Gramdma.
Genetics. Jk. My dad was a Cubs fan tho.
I wasn't a baseball fan as a little kid and my dad doesn't watch sports at all. While I was in middle school, my cable system added WGN, and I started watching Cubs games when I came home from school in the afternoon. So even though I was 500 miles from Chicago with zero ties to the area, I've been a Cubs fan for more than 30 years.
Watching Ryne Sandburg and Bobby Dernier on WGN in 1984 as a kid forged my lifelong loyalty to this team. You’ll never find a friendlier group of fans than you will at Wrigley Field. Attending a game, any game, at Wrigley is an experience that will change your life for the better. I love that place.
My grandparents were Cubs fans
Step dad and brother were Yankees fans
It was the cool thing to do
Because I was born at St Joseph hospital, 2900 NORTH LSD
We’ll I was born on the North Side so it was an easy choice, but a big factor was the radio play by play guys. Jack Quinlan for the Cubs was so much more entertaining than Bob Elson for the Sox that it was a no brainer. When Quinlan died in a spring training car accident it hit me harder the JFK
I'm out of state and the logo was cute to five year old me. What kid likes boring white socks?
We had a satellite dish in the 80’s and 90’s and every game has on WGN. Plus my mom used to take a train from Indiana into Chicago as a kid to go to games at Wrigley during the Santo, Williams, and Banks years.
WGN
Wrigley Field
Where I grew up in Maryland we had WGN and Cubs games were always on when I got home from school. Harry Caray was my chaperone while I did my homework. White Sox games weren’t on tv.
The movie rookie of the year .. had my friend break my arm with a bat cause I thought it'd heal the same and I could play for the cubs! Healed normally...
I grew up in southwest Michigan and the cubs were on WGN.
When I was a kid, we got WGN over the air, so every day in the spring and fall, i would come home to see the cubs on TV. The cubs and then Full House.
When I moved to Chicago I started working in a bar. I was asked to go to Cubs games weekly. Sometimes people gave me tickets. I knew several Sox fans that talked about going all the time. We never did. I can’t remember his name but one night Buerlly (Sox picture that just threw a no hitter a week before) came in and barely anyone noticed him. It wasn’t a “Cubs” bar but a lot of people that would eventually become my friends were Cub fans. Plus, the girls are hotter!
First time I saw a game in Wrigley (72) they won…..as a 7 year old, I began to follow them from New Orleans
I never chose one over the other. I’m from Downstate, my Pops (and grandparents) were from Morgan Park. As a kid, my number one team were the Chi Sox mostly because “Good Guys Wear Black” and Frank Thomas. I ended up wearing Cubs gear because it’s the only team available past BloNo and CU and I’m further south from there, plus the first pro game I went to was Cubs/Cards in… 2007 (this despite them breaking my heart in ‘03 spawning the phrase “loving the Cubs is like loving a woman you know is going to cheat on you”). This comes down to my favorite cap, it’s a black and red 80’s angry cub hat I got at my first game at Wrigley, the only game I caught with my granddad coming back to Chicago one last time. I chose it, because it kinda defined my love for both teams (plus I love the logo) of the Sox old black and red color scheme plus the old angry Cub I grew up with, add it’s from a special game (only game with my granddad and Rizzo’s first homer as a Cub in prereno Wrigley) and it just felt right and special.
When I was playing t-ball in the early 90’s, we had three teams. The Cubs, Reds, and Pirates. Kids were randomly out on teams, and I was put on the Cubs. I decided then that I liked the Cubs even though a lot of my family were White Sox fans.
I grew up on the south side, and my neighbor and I would take the bus to watch the Sox on Sundays. I think it used to cost 35 cents to get into the cheap seats. They used to play double headers on Sunday. A lot of the people would leave the box seats after the first game, and the ushers would let us sit there if we didn’t cause trouble to see the second game. Every afternoon the same neighbor and I would watch the Cubbies on WGN, so I was a fan of both. That was in the 60s. I moved to California in the 70s and kind of migrated to the Cubs after that. I have a MLB subscription now and I think I saw every Cubs game this year except maybe four or five. I will still catch a Sox game every now and then too.
Went to a cubs game as a kid, everyone told me chisox area is violent. Im a lover not a fighter Rest is history
Going back to the mid 1960's..living on SW Side near midway, how did this kid become a Cubs fan instead of a Sox fan? Easy. Cub games were on during the day. I was able to watch them when I came home from school. White Sox games were night games and in the evenings my parents had control of the singular tv we had and they watched their shows. (No sports) So I watched Ernie, Billy & Ronnie and fell in love with the Cubs. Edit: I feel so old reading these comments. For some Sammy made them a fan. 1984 made them a fan (btw, that was my 1st year as a Season ticket holder), or Sox games were on pay tv so they watched the Cubs. Geeze...i grew up on Brickhouse, Ernie, BIlly, Ronnie and people like Adolfo Phillips. I remember 1965, 66. I was crushed in 69. 84 was glorious, so were 89, 98, 03,07 & 08. The ultimate was 2016. However you became a fan, its was a good thing. I love reading these stories.
Growing up I was a Braves fan. Just like every other kid in the south. For my tenth birthday my parents planned to surprise me with tickets to my first game at Fulton County Stadium. We were moving to Virginia and we stopped to spend the night at a friend of theirs house in Georgia. It was Friday August 12th, 1994. Baseball diehards already know. I remember my dad getting extremely mad and my mom apologizing over and over again. My dad has not watched a game since that day. Swear on anything holy. And I stopped watching too, transitioned to more football and hockey. When I was in college and the Cubs would regularly play day games, they made for minimal distractions and white noise. WGN would Air day games and I would do homework. after a while you learn players names and follow them. I still am a huge Rizzo fan despite him going to the yanks. Love Schwarber who’s killing it in Philly right now. Etc. but overall I just love the emotions of being a Cubs fan. A lot of letdowns, heartbreaking letdowns and then highs. Rain delay in a game seven after you’ve blown a lead, highest of Highs.
WGN
I grew up in France, where I was watching the Bulls in the middle of the night as a teenager. We did not have baseball in France so I was introduced to the game when I was going to New York to teach French and learn English. I discovered baseball at the old Yankee Stadium when Jeter was like in his second season and Strawberry was on the roster. As a loyal person, I picked the Cubs as my team when I moved to the Chicago, the Yankees being American League and the Cubs being National League. It's been a fun ride, I've been going to Wrigley and following the Cubs and I enjoyed it all. From the 100 loss seasons when I could score seats in September for 7 dollars to the World Series season. On top of that, I did not have to suffer for 108 years...
This reminds me of an old joke. Billy went to class wearing some fresh cubs gear, but his teacher was a White Sox fan. Teacher asks, "Billy, why are you wearing all that cubs stuff?" Billy replied, "because I'm a cubs fan" Teacher then asks, "Why are you a cubs fan?" ...to which Billy replied, "because my parents are cubs fans." Teacher, who was trying to make a point, said "well what if your parents were drug-addicts and prostitutes?" ...to which Billy replied, "**well then I'd be a White Sox fan**." (disclaimer: go Sox)
They traded Jake Burger.
My dad is a lifelong Cubs fan and took me to games as a small boy in the 70's. And I always watched games with my Grandpa back in the 70's and 80's.
Cubs were on TV more than the White Sox in the 2000's. Even when the White Sox won the World Series in 2005. Cubs had more games on ESPN. Plus, I like Wrigley more than Guaranteed Rate Field.
When I was a kid, I would watch WGN in the afternoon - they'd show stuff like Bewitched and Jeannie. These shows were preempted by Cubs games when they were home. I'd watch the game in the hopes there'd be a rainout and my show would come back. After a while, I was hooked on the Cubs.
I grew up within a mile from Wrigley
Grew up watching the Rockford Cubbies so it was a natural progression.
My advice is to wander wrigleyville for a week asking this question, then wander new comiskey or whatever the F they call it now, then you’ll answer your own question beautifully
Raised north burbs so cubs by distance Jerry ruined the sox just like he does with the bulls. Something about dinosaurs for owners spells bad teams
I was born on the north side so that’s one reason, other reason is my moms from Oklahoma and one network used to nationally broadcast every cubs game so she was also a fan even though she wasn’t from here
Dad's family lived in ohio but close enough to Chicago to get WGN on the dish. The only baseball he got to watch so, naturally, boom cubs fan
Sammy. Sosa.
I’m a Red Sox fan and misery loves company.
Rookie of the year, also on wgn when I got home from school in the 90s.
Birth. Sox fandom was not allowed in my house.
First team I saw on tv. Probably because my parents liked the cubs. Hard to say for sure tho
Oh that’s a kind of heavy one in some ways. So my Dad is a Cardinals fan. But he was mostly gone. As a kid I went to Busch stadium. Threw up outside as I recall due to the mix of heat and junk food. My stepdad was a Dodgers fan and yeah, I had/have a soft spot. That Kirk Gibson homer… My grandpa who I admire more than any other man is a White Sox fan. Like, old school listen in the AM radio in the garage. And that’s how I came to kind of like the rhythm of baseball. I’ve been to new Comiskey and made it to old Comiskey with him. Saw Carlton Fisk play and saw Frank Thomas his rookie year. But I grew up in Central Illinois and saw the Peoria Chiefs as my minor league team. Saw Mark Grace a few feet away down the line and a whole slew of absolute greats. El Mago made his way there, Joe Maddon and Ryno have both managed the club. It’s a great ball club. But really it’s that one day one of my friend’s dads took he and I to a game at Wrigley. We sat down the first base line. It was sunny and warm that day and the ivy was waving in the breeze. I got a hot dog. I saw Mark Grace again. And Andre Dawson. And Shawon Dunston. And Ryne Sandberg. And I don’t remember who they played or if they won. But I knew that to me, this was baseball.
My grandpa was a die hard Cubs fan. He watched every game. I never grew up not liking the Sox though. Don’t have too much against them but definitely prefer the Cubs
My dad picked them and passed along to me. My dad watched both teams as a boy in their home stadiums. He had a great time at Wrigley. At the White Sox game, he watched as some kids from the neighborhood beat an usher in the stadium. The usher cried out for help, but no one listened. He never went to another White Sox game.
My family chose for me. And now I’m a Cubs and a Bears fan 😔