when they lose, not so much.

Part of it is the logic he expresses, but the bigger part for me is this:

The crosstown classic that became largely irrelevant after the Sox won an actual World Series …

I find it hard to work up much anitpathy toward Cubdom anymore, except as reflexive humor. My heart doesn’t really much care anymore.

who will occasionally rub it into my friends who are cubs fans. but only occasionally. i agree with the post overall, that these series are not only meaningless but put us at a disadvantage this season. (going back to) playing one exhibition game against the cubs would be ideal, but that’s never going to fucking happen.

Since the Sox won it all the interleague doesn’t really mean much until the Cubs win one. I mean, the Cubs could win the next 20 against the Sox and it doesn’t change the only thing that matters: 1 WC for the Sox, 0 for the Cubs.

one cannot deny that there is a definite increase in interests by the fans and media when they play each other

sportscenter is currently running a segment on ozzie v. piniella leading into the crosstown series

plus, i think it means more to the fans. definitely getting more calls and texts from cub fans already talking smack about the upcoming series that you do not necessarily receive when the twins are in town

it may be meaningless or ‘just another game’ for the players when they step on the field but for the common fan i like to believe it definitely creates an uptick on the meter

This year, in a total of 6 interleague series each, the Sox and their current closest division rival, the Twins share a total of one common opponent. That is a total of 15 games played against completely disparate teams at potentially uneven talent levels.

Does anyone know if there is some sort scheduling rule applied to interleague opponent selection, or are these just hand crafted each year? Do they at least try to use some sort of weighting system with the previous season’s record so that teams from the same division are not playing a significantly harder schedule (even then, parity would have to be low for that to work consistently)?

If I had no family or friends who were the most insufferable people whenever the Cubs were in first place throughout my whole life it wouldn’t matter. However, that has not been the case. Because of that history, watching the slow torture that is their failed dreams evaporating every year is not instant gratification-esque enough for me. Yes, I want to pound them, if only to blunt the “Ha, Ha” I inevitably hear if we lose, and the excuses if we don’t. It’s nice to have that chip.

And ducking the rivalry (“it’s not relevant any more”, “we’ve won the Series, so who cares”, etc.) isn’t the answer. Gandhi and MLK may have changed parts of the world with non-violent civil disobedience, but we’re from Chicago, and that doesn’t work.

Bring ‘em on. Every year. And stomp the mofo’s.

and while this (“Look at it this way: Both teams have six games against a first-place opponent over the next two weekends while their division rivals get at least one set against second- or third-tier opponents.”) isn’t always true, it is true that the cubs are a bitch to play no matter their record at the time.

I know swish was 2 for 3 today with a walk, but somehow this just isn’t feeling good… I thought his power numbers were going to go up in the hitter friendly cell…..

is the epitome of sport and i happen to buy into both.

Baseball is supposed to be fun, and these are fun.

If the media would stop discussing the same topics year in and year out. Instead of asking the same questions over and over every year, can we all agree on one answer and just reprint it yearly? All the radio stations and newspapers are very annoying around this time of the year.

Another thing I don’t like is the people without any baseball clue asking me how can I be a white sox fan and not love the cubs. Especially when those people are clueless at all why they like the cubs and pretend to like baseball.

The positives are that the games generate revenue for the Sox and often puts them on the national stage.

The negatives are that I don’t really give a crap about the Cubs, so, even in the Bay Area, all the hype is annoying (I agree that this series became irrelevant after the 2005 World Series). It puts the Sox on the national stage where they can make asses of themselves, which is what I gather happened last night. I think the other things have been mentioned previously in this thread, so I won’t repeat them.

I can understand why people like this series, but I agree with larry and Sox Machine that we can do without the crosstown classic. I’m not so sure if I’d want to eliminate inter league play all together, because I do like to see some of the different matchups it brings.