Eliot asks: Why do Chicago sports fans suck?

HEY WAIT A MINUTE BUDDY, I’M A CHICA… OK, OK, I’ll keep it together to answer this question because I think I just might have an answer. This was actually a more explicitly worded question, but I changed it up a bit because I’m not looking to corrupt the youth of America.

I want to preface this answer by saying that I think Chicago is an outstanding sports town. Chicago is one of only 12 U.S. cities to have a team represent each of the four major sports. Aside from the big four, it has a soccer team, a softball team and even a roller derby team (Go Windy City Rollers!). While Chicago is a great sports town, its fans can be a little, I don’t know … whiny I guess?

I wouldn’t go as far to say that Chicago sports fans suck, because I am one, and needless to say, I don’t suck. Just because a majority of us don’t, there are still some that do. I think the root of the problem is that two of the city’s major sports teams are the Cubs and the Bears. Two franchises that seem entitled to success, despite the fact that they don’t have very much of it.

No Chicago fanbase whines about its team more than Bears fans. Every year it seems like Bears fans are ready for their team to be in the Super Bowl. Regardless of which crappy quarterback is starting or how good the other teams in the division are, Bears fans feel like their team will have success. Just because they are the Bears and they play in Chicago, the fans feel a sense of entitlement. I can see how from an outside perspective this can get annoying. From the outside, it just looks like a bunch of fans hyping up a bad team, when there are good teams getting less attention, but because they don’t play in Chicago, nobody talks about them.

The Cubs are bad, but their fans seem to take losing as a point of pride (for some reason). They have been known as “the lovable losers.” I totally get how Cubs fans can get under the skin of opposing team’s fans. They lose, and they lose and they lose, and still have a smile on their face. Just like a less-likeable Rocky Balboa in the first Rocky movie, they take the beating, get back up and still lose. Except in this case there is no “moral victory”, there’s just more losses. The Cubs are kind of like Kim Kardashian. We all know who she is and that she is famous, but we don’t know why. 

John asks: WHY DOES GOD HATE ILLINOIS FANS?

This question was asked in all capital letters, so I present it as such. John. This is like asking about the meaning of life. It has been asked for decades, and I don’t know if there is a definitive answer. I will try my best to talk through it and see if we can get anywhere.

Speaking of annoying fan bases, Illinois fans can get a bit whiny. In recent history, Illinois sports have had their fare share of disappointing things happen. I’m here to say it’s all in your heads. Yes, bad stuff happens at Illinois, but bad stuff happens at every school.

Illinois football has had a lot of misfortune in recent years. We’ve seen head coach Tim Beckman’s chewing tobacco incident, sideline interference incident, “giggle” incident and many other questionable Beckman quotes. Last week, it was strongly rumored that Missouri’s defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski would be joining the Illinois’ staff as a co-defensive coordinator. He was regarded as the nation’s top defensive line coach. It was thought to be a done deal, until he released a statement saying he was staying at Mizzou. 

This past season, transfer Wes Lunt, former Oklahoma State quarterback, made his highly anticipated debut. He showed flashed of potential, but still had flaws, and on top of that suffered an injury that derailed his season.

Let’s see here, in the last few years, Illinois basketball fans have seen Cliff Alexander’s hat trick, Quentin Snider’s de-commitment, numerous near misses with top recruits, injuries, suspensions and in recent cases, a combination of a few. On top of all that, a rule was created because of a questionable call in a game against Miami in the NCAA tournament … WAIT A MINUTE, I THINK GOD ACTUALLY DOES HATE ILLINOIS FANS.

Sam is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @Sam_Sherman5.