Many still think homophobia is acceptable
Baseball fans reach dismal lows at weekend Cubs-Sox game
Although I saw a few fights break out in the stands at the Cell over the weekend, most of the back-and-forth between Sox and Cubs fans seemed to be of the trash-talking variety. Cubs suck, Sox suck -- you know, the usual elevated discourse on the relative merits of the two organizations.
There did seem to be an increase in trash-talking logos, from signs to T-shirts to bumper stickers.
I saw a middle-aged woman in a Cubs T-shirt with a customized, expletive-filled diatribe about the Sox on her back. Somebody somewhere's saying: That's my mom!
In my section, a father and son each had their gloves, hoping to catch a foul ball. Looked like a timeless, All-American tableau. Except the boy, who was about 6, was wearing a hat with a depiction of a little boy urinating on a Cubs logo. Ah, the grand traditions handed down from father to son.
Numerous fans wore T-shirts proclaiming "F--- the Cubs" or "F--- the Sox." Others opted for the universal "Giving the finger" logo on their shirts.
A White Sox fan in right field on Sunday was wearing a Sox jersey with the number 35 and the name "BARTMAN" on the back. Subtle.
When the game ended Sunday, a few Sox fans unfurled banners with a blue-on-white "L," mocking the Cubs' tradition of flying the "W" flag after a victory.
And then there was this (above). I saw this one quite often, on T-shirts, signs and bumper stickers:
Get it? Sox fans are winners, but Cubs fans are GAY. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
A company called Chi-City Tees is among the many online vendors offering variations on this theme. Their pitch for the $19.95 T-shirt says:
"The hottest and truest T-shirt on the South Side. We all know the Cubs have their parade . . . gay . . . and the Sox had theirs . . . championship parade."
In the men's room on Friday, after the game: Sox fan walks in, does an exaggerated prance and shouts in a lispy voice, "I'm a Cubs fan, where are the gay bars?"
He says this about 10 times, over and over, until a Cubs fan in line finally says, "Why don't you go home and beat your wife?"
The response from Mr. Genius: "Maybe I will!"
Nice comeback.
Look. I'm not going to pretend I'm Joe Sensitivity, or even Rich Sensitivity. I've been going to Sox games forever, and while I still cringe when I hear adults dropping f-bombs left and right in the presence of children, and while I'm not inclined to purchase a T-shirt with a giant cartoon hand giving Cubs fans the finger, whatever. This is the world we live in. (Although I have to admit I was taken aback by the female, twentysomething Cubs fan sitting behind me on Sunday. Wow could she swear. If she was in a Tarantino film, he'd be asking her to take it down a notch.)
Nor am I going to pretend I marched indignantly around the park on Sunday, tearing down those "Cubs Parade/Sox Parade" signs like a mad crusader.
The signs, T-shirts and bumper stickers are literally a sign of the times. I talked to someone who had one of the signs posted at his tailgate party. Nicest guy in the world. Just poking a little fun at Cubs fans. I'll bet a lot of the folks who buy these shirts are for equal rights and aren't at all inclined to discriminate against gays -- but the explicit message in the parade "joke" is that it's a putdown to call someone gay.
I see this all the time in the chat boxes in the online poker tournaments. A player will lose a hand, and he'll call his opponent "gay" or a "homo." It's never intended as a compliment. Nobody says, "Wow, you're a great player. You must be gay!" It's always, "What a stupid bet, you gay douchebag."
As hundreds of thousands were declaring their gay pride or their support for gay pride at a parade last Sunday, there were myriad reminders at the Sox/Cubs game that for many, it's still considered an easy insult to call someone "gay."