The Crosstown Cup Can and Will Be Better…

Crosstown Classic sign. Now called the Crosstown Cup
(Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons)

When you think Chicago, you think baseball teams. When you think of these teams, you think rivals and lots of [expletive] talking. So why isn”t it getting the press and fans that it deserves?

When the Chicago White Sox face their north side counterpart, Chicago Cubs, the city should be filled with Cubbie Blue and Black Sox’s attire.

The Crosstown Cup deserves more attention from fans and media. This is what Chicago needs. It will make Chicago baseball more lively. Right now it’s just a thing to do in the summer to past the time until the sun goes down.

As a a fellow Chicagoan, we need to show our support regardless of your love for the Sox or Cubs.

According to Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan, he believes that the timing and teams played a big part in the fans not caring about the series.

In his article he said that the Crosstown Cup was not the only cup being focused on, when the series kicked off Monday May 5. Sullivan had a point. The Chicago Blackhawks, defending NHL champs, were back in the playoffs and the city was focusing their attention more on their run for the Stanley Cup.

It’s understandable that Chicago is not a baseball town, like St. Louis.

Due to baseball long season and several sessions of inter league play, why not schedule the games after the NHL playoffs are over??? If the last day is June 19th according to ESPN.com, then for fans’ sake, schedule the games after.

NHL Schedule

@ChuckGarfien it’s bs. Especially when I work 5 am to 3 pm. Can’t drive from South Bend to Chicago and back on week night! — Brad Ronan (@bradleyronan) May 4, 2014

Sports journalist Chuck Garfien agreed with Sox announcer Hawk Harrellson.

Hawk Harrelson on Sox/Cubs playing Mon-Thurs: “Whoever makes these schedules out has no clue about the game of baseball. No clue.” — Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) May 4, 2014

Like the saying goes, timing is everything, that may be the truth for this occasion. Many Chicagoans are curious to see how the Blackhawks will do. So let them have their full attention on that. Then as soon as the June 20 hits, let the Sox-Cubs games fall on any dates after.

As far as Chicago sports, there is a certain type of sport interest hierarchy. First of all, this town is a Bears‘ town. People in the Windy City love football. Its the number one sport here. Soldier Field is rocking when the NFL is in season. You can see many fans wearing navy blue and orange from the lake all the way out to the far west suburbs of Aurora. Fan interest probably stretches even further than that.

Secondly, it’s a tie up right now between the Blackhawks and the Bulls. The Bulls have a historical past, including the Jordan Dynasty days. Now the Bulls have good players with a lot of heart. They have a lot of potential and every year they make it exciting to see how they will far they can go in the playoffs. In addition, there is the Derrick Rose watch, superstar player who is plagued by bad knee injuries two years straight.

So those teams hold down the second and third spots. Then its baseball. Within the two teams, the Cubs probably are more of the fan favorite than the Sox.

So these two teams who are in the bottom of the sports interests would get more attention if they were scheduled later in the summer. The MLB has several intervals of interleague play, one of them usually comes right in the middle of the summer June/July-ish.

That would be a great time to go to a game in the midst of the summer when the temperatures are guaranteed to be in the 80s as oppose to the suspect May weather that fluctuates in Chicago.

Looking at the attendance numbers from this year, the average turnout for the games held at Wrigley was 33,000.  For games at the Cell, crowds were in the low 20,000s.

Another component that would help with attendance, the time of week and day the games are scheduled. It would benefit business and fans to have it on the weekends, specifically late afternoon or evening games. From a fans perspective, nothing is better than games on the weekend and later. That way the demographics of the game, late twenty to forty year-olds can go out in Wrigley or Bridgeport after the game.

Instead of four straight games, how about it is broken into two to three games on two consecutive weekends.

If you want fans to care about the series, then make it worth going to. Give them a reason why they should go. Since it’s lower in the Chicago sports hierarchy, avoid scheduling it while the NHL is in season.

Chicago really needs this rivalry to pick it back up. Not many cities have the chance to have two teams in the same sport. In addition, the fact that they play in two different parts of town that are occupied by residents make it more of exciting. The two areas Bridgeport and Lake View are two different areas. Its like night and day.

Lastly, the teams are accountable as well for this not being bigger. Mainly because winning sells! So Sox and Cubs, lets start winning on a normal basis. No more 99-loss seasons. Lets start consecutively being in their respective division races come late September.

 

All in all, this series needs to treated as the Chicago’s Summer World Series. Pack the stands!