Life long Cub fan since 1st game in 1981. I was a 9 year old kid at the game in San Diego in 1984 when Steve Garvey hit that damn...you know. It was a long ride home. Love the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls for life. I'm politically very leftist; believe (like Aristotle) that man is inherently political, and any attempt to deny or repress that is delusional at best, and a gleeful endorsement of the oppression that is the status quo at worst. The beauty of sports is in its ability to unite groups of people who might not otherwise have anything else comfortably discussable in common and also its ability to foster analytical thinking in those so inclined. It also seems at times to function as a non-violent surrogate for city-state warfare, but this aspect has an unpleasant side as well. Insofar that it engenders a sense of regional identity and camaraderie, it is a boon. The down side is the artificial regional "Nationalism" it causes, complete with vilification of "the other". I'm as guilty of it as anyone; I love my city, and every inch of the South Side (despite being born on the North Side) but I detest the White Sox and their fans with every fiber of my being. Believe in non-violence and wish for the well being of except when the Blackhawks take the ice & then I'm ready for Toews to pull a Gordie Howe hat trick. These contradictions may not make me logically consistent but they sure as hell make life interesting.