If baseball is truly America’s past time, then spring has officially started. Spring training camps are open in Florida and Arizona this very moment. This means by the end of the month, the first pitch of the 2014 season will be thrown.

One of the most poetic elements of baseball is how synonymous it has become with rebirth. With the season starting right as the weather turns from cold and gray to sunny and warm, baseball represents hope. It also represents the idea of a fresh start.

For many die-hard fans, opening day means that friendly rivalries and good-natured ribbing will be ramping up.

Advertisement

In Chicago, there is a long-standing rivalry which often pits boyfriends against girlfriends and fathers against sons.

While the Cardinals vs. Cubs debate is big around here, I’m used to the much more heated rivalry between Chicago’s teams, the 2005 World Series Champion White Sox and the 1908 World Series Champion Cubs.

I am a Chicago White Sox fan. For some people, this means that I am from the gritty south side as opposed to the glitzy north side.

For others, it means I was raised by White Sox fans. For me, it means I refuse to support losers. I refuse to support mediocrity. I refuse to support a franchise that has failed to reach its objective for over a century.

I was raised as a White Sox fan. This is true. All I can think is, “Boy, did I dodge a bullet!”

Chicago was home to the greatest champion to ever play sports, Michael Jordan. He has forgotten more about winning than most people will ever know.

For a time, His Airness laced them up for none other than the Chicago White Sox. Need I say more?

Advertisement*

You see, I don’t mind that the Cubs are more popular. I don’t care more people attend their games. Because I am a fan, a true fan. That means I care about one thing: winning.

If sports teams were corporations, they would be expected to achieve their mission. Their mission should be to win.

That is what competition represents — winners and losers. By that measure, neither the Cubs nor White Sox have been wildly successful. However, there is a clear winner and the Cubs are not it.

Sticking with this theme, examining both teams like a business, the Cubs come up short in another area.

As one of the nations’ most popular and marketable teams, the Cubs have many more resources than the White Sox. How well have they used those resources in the past 20 years?

The White Sox averaged 81.35 wins per season in that span. A shade over .500, very respectable, especially with the 2005 Championship.

At 75.15 wins per season, the Cubs averaged more than 85 losses per season with no Championships.

All of the Cubs fans who read this will no doubt fall back on what they have always touted: tradition. They have more hall of famers, they have better attendance, more people like them, U.S. Cellular isn’t as pretty as Wrigley, and many other common defenses will be shouted.

Bottom line is this: they don’t give out rings for those who had the most attendance or hall of famers. They give out rings to winners, which the Cubs aren’t.

Ashley Zborek can be reached at [email protected], @opinion_de on Twitter or 536-3311