Pride. Passion. Tradition. Words that should mean something but sadly only one aspect consistently displayed: Tradition.
Chicago White Sox fans generally know the history of this franchise. A neighborhood team, the "Other Chicago" baseball franchise plagued in woes and the curse of 1919. It was always funny to me hearing Red Sox fans blame Babe Ruth or Cub fans thinking a Billy Goat caused their long droughts between chips. Those are prime examples of grasping for an excuse to blame. Neither of those franchises, nor any in baseball to my knowledge, has ever been found guilty of throwing a championship for money. That is a real "curse" AKA precedent for the pain to follow.
Enough time has passed that the tradition of being mediocre to abysmal should be in the rear mirror, however it's not. The shadow of "tradition" is be dysfunctional, sleezy in team economics, actively sabotage windows for personal principles over team success...we all know the lists of grievances. Laundry lists from die hard fans. Folk with money, folk with little money, folk looking for a distraction during dog days of summer, folk trying to enjoy their love of baseball.
Fandom has evolved. No longer do we live in days when information was limited. Teams in all sports valued secrecy to avoid any advantage getting out. Officials would provide little meat and a lot of fat, only to satiate the masses even if shameless lying was at play. Once the internet became a thing, fandom changed. Communities were built, information and analytics are readily available, team finances, media deals, attendance numbers are public, anyone with a connection can look it up. Before, owners could use "stupid fans" as a reason to make statements like If I listened, I'd be sittin..This is not the case anymore.
Something the White Sox fail to recognize is the organizations yearly disappointments have pushed die hard fans to dive into what is going on. This involves researching other teams. Transactions, small and large, robust systems and front office types. Reality of information being available is that many Sox fans are much smarter now. We want a team that can legitimately compete not just saying so with no regard for accountability when it goes sideways.
Fandom is subjective to the individual. For instance, my parents met at a White Sox game. My existence is rooted in this team. Not to mention family being from southside of Chicago. We all have reasons for being a fan. Ironically, the evolution of fandom has lead to communities for all types, die-hards, casuals, trolls. Identities around fandom is growing beyond the stereotypes of SNL skits during the glory days of Chicago sports. Identities in fandom lead to irrational emotions in and around entities we have no control of. In a box, you could argue fandom is existential albeit contextual.
During the 2017-2019 "rebuild" years, fans went through what we thought would be the bottom, eyeing the prospects acquired feeling bound for glory in short order. The team itself sold fans this was the solution to the mediocre 2010's. One could argue, the entire 2020's projected business model was centered on rebuild 2.0 working out as advertised. We know how that went.
From an organizational standpoint, the messaging is generally eye rolling. Even when a decent concept is discussed, there is always another shoe. Looking to build a new stadium when no one is asking for one is an insult as far as I'm concerned. Blaming neighborhood, blaming players, blaming fans, blaming stadium, blaming literally anything else than themselves for their horrendous track record. For an organization that is reluctant to invest in free agents, likely a labor union gripe from ownership, they player development and scouting are so far behind that its either an extremely slow crawl for any prospect or rush job that looks like malpractice in hindsight. An argument could be made that anything important is rushed and anything that should be important takes years to implement with the franchise.
Airing of grievances towards a team that optically seems to care little for the fans that stick out the summer nights of putrid baseball year after year is a manifestation of team behaviors. This gets used against fans somehow, as if we caused the fire-news flash "we didn't start the fire". Threatening to move a team for public funds is bush league, but especially for a team rooted in the neighborhood. The Southside team is for better or worse the sport representation of a marginalized area in Chicago. Instead of embracing the Bridgeport and southside, the team seems to use it as leverage for any economic play. The fanbase is fickle because the fanbase isn't willing to spend disposable income on a product like this. You would think the data metrics of consumerism would show that team success does in fact help revenues. Business loyalty translates to consumer loyalty, literally sports business 101. Your fanbase is your customer, not just corporate sales and season ticket holders. The treatment of "everyone else" has only created a social media war/active boycott from many fans just wanting a good team year after year.
Alright, enough of the pile on, back to the point-Tradition. Instead of viewing tradition as it pertains to the play on field, a new tradition has arrived: White Sox content community. On behalf of random fans who have too much time on our hands, the White Sox content community is the best thing about the franchise. Great writers, story tellers, voices, opinions, laughs-this laundry list is not grievances rather acknowledging the blogs, websites, podcasts are keeping fan engagement alive. This is a new tradition, waking up looking forward to a cup of coffee and White Sox content. Objective and fair. The personalities that are introduced to fans by fans is an incredible phenomena.
Social media has opened a new market, new economy in many ways for White Sox fans. Confirmation bias runs a risk, but as far as I'm concerned, fans of this team have earned the right to say what they want and how they feel. Its relatable to those not fortunate enough to get to games easily but still watch/listen regularly. The content community appears to be fairly cooperative with one another. Competition in this space behind the scenes may prove differently but to the no bodies like myself, its refreshing to see comradery. We are all fans of the team, everyone has an opinion on what to do but the respect to allow every fan to fan how they want helps keep the polarization to a minimum.
Arguments to stop giving the team money tend to be lost on me, mostly because I make a point of ordering merchandise yearly so I can avoid being told the team isn't making money, at least from me. Gives me more reason to hold them accountable as I am spending disposable income on the team that could go to much better uses. Obviously, holding the White Sox accountable through dour comments is a hopeless task, since as previously stated "if he listened, he'd be sittin"(although the better bet is the team simply doesn't care to look at consumer data/comments since they seem perplexed fans don't think highly of them outside lack of winning). Despite this being a big part of the equation, it's also being disrespected as fans in ways that just keep jabbing.
Back to the point, the avenues and information fans can access now is educational, if nothing else, on how to and how not to run a professional sport franchise. Allowing an org to go stale for no reason other than "loyalty" which one could say means vastly different things from the Rich to the "others", goes beyond malpractice, it's business suicide. Complacency is the death of many businesses. Get too far behind the times, the costs to catch up will be much higher. Delaying the changes only pushes the gap further. This is why the Content Community is so vital to White Sox fandom.
It's sad that the team fails to see this as a positive. It's sad that the team wants to run away from mistakes rather than own them. It's sad that fans are disregarded outside generic statements with little to no sincerity. It's sad the team has the inflated ego it does and lacks any humility to move on from mistakes. Double down, force the issue and just be happy you have a team, ungrateful bums. Gas lighting emotions of the fan soul to find cracks that can be used in negotiating fiscal deals said fans will never benefit from.
Leave 35th because the original stadium taxpayers footed wasn't good enough. Threaten to sell to a new owner who would move the team. Threaten to move the team. Threaten this threaten that. Psychological methods are not wise to pull when dealing with fans in 21st century. Consumers don't want to feel like disposable entities with any business they feel loyalty to. Again, business 101. Finding new fans doesn't come with a new stadium or moving. It comes from the product on field and/or feeling valued, even if a fan lacks season tickets. Those who do, enjoy the games you attend. Don't change because someone tells you being a good fan is refusing to spend money on the Sox. Balance is good in fandom, optimists should be optimistic, pessimists have every right to doubt everything.
In ending this rant post, thank you Sox Machine and all the Sox content creators, written or voiced. You are the new tradition. A tradition of passion, pride and honesty. I see the tailgates online and it brings me happiness knowing the community is strong. I see videos of different personalities enjoying talks with one another. In a world with a lot going on, fandom is an escape but as the White Sox content community proves, can bring people together for good. I'm looking forward to the future of the all the people involved across all the platforms. Perhaps this is a rosy colored view of a potentially hostile background, however the optics have given me hope that fans can rally and be cordial. Infighting not worth it, it's one tribe(pardon the trigger of the former Cleveland named, I hate that team)
Thank you for keeping engagement despite the uphill battle with the team, ironic doesn't do enough justice. The hard work everyone does with little to talk about has impressed me and given me hope, even if that hope doesn't necessarily apply to the team itself. That said, I hope somebody...anybody on 35th is listening to you all, it may be the reality check required to raise the standard, as you all have in covering the team. Cheers all.
Go Sox
