Our Love/Hate Relationship With Chicago Sports

There are a lot of great things about living in Chicago. It’s a big city with tons going on, and plenty of things to do. The windy city is fantastic, and probably one of the best things, or arguably the most frustrating, is being a Chicago sports fan. A Chicago sports fan goes through a lot of different emotions depending on the sport.

Let’s start with by far the best team, the Blackhawks. These guys bring pure joy to every Chicagoan out there. Winning three Stanley Cups since 2010 is a pretty monumental feat and gives us hope for the future. They never fail to put on a great performance and elicit mass amounts of pride for the city. They’re unstoppable and the future is bright with these ones.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is the Bears. These guys consistently bring tears of sadness and broken dreams. When you go to school in Wisconsin, people never fail to remind you how bad they really are. I’m a firm believer in never losing hope, but these guys basically have me on the edge. The hope of another team doing the Super Bowl Shuffle like the ’85 Bears keeps me holding on. I’m awaiting a chance to victoriously dance along at some point in my lifetime. Super Bowl XLI in 2007 represented a positive look towards the future, but it’s been downhill ever since.

The most conflicting team for me personally is the Bulls. I wish the team could stay healthy, and when I say team I really mean Derrick Rose. This man was Chicago’s savior when he won Rookie of the Year in 2009 and was the MVP of the NBA in 2011. However, injury after injury has left the heart of every basketball fan in Chicago broken, the most recent being an orbital fracture that makes us nervous for this future season. The Bulls have potential, and I will be rooting for them all winter long.

Now let me take a second to acknowledge the surprise of the century. Baseball in Chicago is often questionable, and the White Sox tend to be the team to look out for when compared to the Cubs. Fortunately, the tables have turned. The Billy Goat Curse has proven to be a powerful source of witchcraft as the Cubs have gone over 100 years without winning a World Series title. This year they’re in the playoffs as the wild card, and I only predict it will go up from here. They’re a young team and have a lot of potential to go far in the season. This year has been and will continue to be a lot of learning, and I predict that within the next couple of years they will bring home a title that will leave White Sox fans crying over the fact that it’s been years since their 2005 victory. Check out this commercial that pumped me up for this season, even if it is just for a video game. By the way, I’m a Cubs fan if you couldn’t tell.

Moral of the story is that we love Chicago. It’s our home, and the sports teams put us through a rollercoaster of emotions, whether it's tears of joy because the Hawks won the Stanley Cup, or tears of pure sadness when Derrick Rose tore his ACL. However, one thing is definitely certain, Chicago keeps you on your toes and never fails to put on a show.