A Preview of The 10th Inning By Ken Burns

Last night I went to the old Schubert theater downtown to see a preview of the 10th inning hosted by Ken Burns himself. The Schubert(now Bank of America theater) is a really nice place.

We saw a big clip on the 2003 Cubs, a clip on Sammy Sosa, and even the washed out NYC central park league showed a team of wanna be Cubs. Maybe it was the Jim Beams and the lack of dinner but this rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I expected more from Burns in regards to respecting both sides of town. Maybe it was the Bank of America guys influence, who was an unabashed Cub fan, or maybe it was just ignorance on the part of the self righteous Red Sox fan Burns. Who knows. But the fact remains the Sox recieved the red-headed step child treatment throughout the presentation.

The event was completely slanted to the Cubs side of town and it sounds like the 2005 season just gets mention in the 2 hour program. It seems waiting 88 years to win it all isn't nearly as important as waiting 86 years. Apparently 4 CG victories in a row for a Championship series from a club that went wire to wire in 1st place means nothing despite the complete game happening less often than it ever it has before.

I was there a little early so I asked everyone sitting around me if they thought there were more Sox or Cubs fans there. They all said Cub fans, but when I asked the people within ear shot where their loyalty lied, it was 6-1 Sox. I went back up for another drink, and since someone else took my 1st seat I relocated. Again I asked everyone around who they thought had the majoriity and again universal Cubs answers. Yet both elderly couples behind me and two guys who came in late were all Sox fans, and just three Cub supporters in the vicinity. Now this was a small sample size, of course, but unless I naturally migrated to Sox territory somehow, thats still about 75% Sox fans. I was going to put my theory to the test but they stopped questions from the crowd before I could get to the mic and ask for everyone to show their allegiances by raising their hands. I would have liked for Burns to see the results.

Of the 12 or so questions he did take, 3 were from obvious Sox fans, 3 from Cub fan haters(one bitter bitch of a Cub fan actually asked him if he thought the Sox World Series Win should be recognized since the Astros werent allowed to close the roof). Three were general baseball questions, and the last quarter were from the WTTW crowd, a fan girl, and an old Slav wondering why he never gives the Slavic people any respect in his documentaries.

I cant really criticize the film because we only got 6 or so little snippets from the show. Based on this presentation  I assume that there isn't much on the White Sox in it at all, despite the devastation the strike caused our fan base(being in 1st and all at the time) and despite the fact that they had an amazing 2005 season. It starts in the early 90s, covers the strike, steroids, the South American training academies(specifically in the DR), and the hilarious futility of the Cubs. I think it airs late September or PBS. I also expect to see a lot about the Red Sox(since Burns is one of those annoying Red Sox fans) in the full version.