Fantastic "Fallen Arches" column

[Frater Perdurabo]

I hope no one minds that I quote a few paragraphs, because they echo almost verbatim my feelings and those of many other rabid Sox fans and media watchers:

Cubs fans are another story. Their “lovableness“ is beat into their heads by the Tribune Co. juggernaut and their unwitting accomplices in the rest of the local media. The funny thing is that these supposedly savvy media types don’t even realize they’re being sucked in by the Tribune.

One wonders if these media types are the same people who as kids would do anything stupid just because “everybody’s doing it.” The Tribune Co. set out the make the Cubs trendy, no matter how bad their team is, by selling the “Wrigleyville” experience.

They used their newspapers and superstation to make the Cubs into a national brand. The amazing thing is that the rest of the sports editors in the city are a part of their competition’s marketing campaign. I guess that says something about the people who are responsible for bringing us the news.

P.T. Barnum is given credit for saying that there is a sucker born every minute. It’s obvious that many of them hold positions of responsibility on the local media. Of course it also helps when one also doesn’t have any kind of memory.

The same people who help the Tribune Co.’s marketing campaign are the same people who can’t remember from year to year how well the White Sox draw during various months of the season. They can’t tell you that the peak months for Sox ticket sales are June through August.

I urge everyone who might skip over the main WSI page to get to the forums to read Hal's column in its entirety. Here is a direct link: Linky (http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/index.php?category=2&id=2497)

Excellent column, Hal. :gulp:

[batmanZoSo]

That is a good column.

I've had enough with people wondering why we don't draw like the Cubs. THEY are the exception.

[Railsplitter]

We need a salute icon around here, so Mr. Vickey can be properly recognized for his excellent column.

[TornLabrum]

Thanks, guys. One thing I'm beginning to believe is that Ozzie really did hit a nerve when he talked about the Cubs bias in the local media. They've been doing so much wailing since he did that, that it must have struck a raw nerve. I think it's our job now at WSI to keep striking that nerve until they start treating the Sox and their fans like first-class citizens.

[jackbrohamer]

Originally posted by TornLabrum
Thanks, guys. One thing I'm beginning to believe is that Ozzie really did hit a nerve when he talked about the Cubs bias in the local media. They've been doing so much wailing since he did that, that it must have struck a raw nerve.

Sign of guilty consciences.

[wdelaney72]

Media bias is all just a bunch of whining. If the Sox would put together a consistent winner (and that's World Series winner), this discussion would not exist.

Point well made, though, that the Cubs are the exception, not the Sox.

Boston may never win it all, but damn they do contend every year.

[TDog]

The change in the media coverage is not imagined. It is not a symptom of paranoia. It should be obvious to anyone with any sort of memory.

In 1969, a season when the Cubs had great attendance success, and were apparently on their way to great things, even though Santo and company stopped winning late in the summer, fans were ignoring the White Sox. The Sox fell apart in 1968. In 1969, they were in a division with two expansion teams -- one of which would finish ahead of them in the standings. The biggest crowd of the season (probably for the Bat Day Sunday doubleheader) was well under 20,000. I think it might have been under 16,000. Except for the games the Sox played in Milwaukee. People didn't care about opening day. They stopped going to Sox games in 1968. Some people around here would blame the move to channel 32 for Sox attendance problems, but there would have been little reason to watch the few Sox games WGN was broadcasting by 1967.

In the Tribune one April morning, it was still obvious that the media considered it an obligation to cover the Sox. The Cubs, of course, were running away with their division, and the Sox won some games in a division where teams were beating each other and the Twinks hadn't yet set the pace. The Tribune went to the trouble of putting together a graphic that showed how the Sox and Cubs had both been in last place at that date a year before this morning when both teams were in first. The Sox were only in first because a West Coast game was not complete before press time. The Tribune took its role as a newspaper in a two-team city seriously.

The Sox are one of the city's Major League Baseball teams. Cover it as such.