Today's Chicago Tribune reported that last night's Cub's game drew a "season high 6.9 rating" on the Nielson Scale. This meant that the game reached about 240,000 households in the Chicago-land area and achieved the highest rating for a game this year.
Of course these ratings come the day after the Cubs claim their spot on top of the National League Central. Although this is something that half of the Chicago baseballs fans have been waiting for all season (of course, being dreaded by fans of that team on the South Side). However, the recent success of the Cubs has lead to the emergence of my least favorite sports fans: "Fair Weather Fans".
This is a phenomena that happens every time a a mediocre team begins to do well and puts itself in the middle of the playoff chase. It occurs in every sport and in every city across the country. A great example is the crowed that showed up at Golden State Warriors' games at the end of the NBA season. The Warriors could barely fill half their stadium during the season, but, as the playoffs came, the Warriors began playing for a full house donned in "We Believe" t-shirts.
The same thing happened in 2003 as the Cubs came within 5 outs of the World Series. As the Cubs won their division, it seemed like everyone was wearing a hat that had the iconic red and white "C". Even girls bought "cute" hats that had the "C" or had the throwback logo of a bear carrying a bat.
Although it was nice to see so many females at Cubs games that summer, it bothered me that so many fans suddenly jumped on the band wagon. I consider myself a pretty hard-core fan that followed the team from opening day until September. I survived the ups, the downs, and the pains that come with following a team that plays 162 games per year. So, it naturally bothered me that there were so many people that claimed their were "fans", even though their hat still had the tags on it.
So, to the few baseball fans that read this blog, I ask you to pick a team and stay with it. I feel like the more you follow your favorite club, the more enjoyable it becomes to cheer for them. You learn the history of the team and the little nuances of the sport that you can tell your friends when the go to games with you. It makes the sports community, with so many teams and so many people seems a little big foreboding, become a little closer as you know that you are one of only a handful of fans that really know what is like to live and die by your favorite team. This summer, all of you Brewers fans, Padres fans, and even White Sox fans, stick with your team. Ride it out until the end. And, as they say, there is always next year.
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