Baseball!

Hi everyone!  This week is the Crosstown Cup series in Chicago, meaning it's North Side vs South Side, aka Chicago Cubs vs Chicago White Sox.  This used to be something that was great for Chicago but it didn't matter.  It was games that didn't count because the American League didn't play the National League until the World Series.  And, if you know anything about baseball, the Cubs have a bit of a losing streak / not going to the World Series in a while.

Yes, I'm saying that no World Series since 1908 is a while.  I'm allowed.  I bleed Cubbie blue and I have since I was a kid.  This year is always The Year until it stops because we didn't get to the playoffs.  Or we do but then there's the Mets - that was last year - but... this might be it.  Might be.  Maybe.  Someone go knock on wood.  Maybe go sacrifice whatever goats eat to the goat who cursed us in the first place.

But that all changed when the MLB (Major League Baseball) decided that interleague play was a go.  You could have teams from both sides playing each other during the regular season and it meant something.  To us, in Chicago, this was huge, because it brought more importance to a series that we already love.  We love going against each other and rooting for our teams.  It's something that is, while not just Chicago alone, it binds the city together during the summer months.

It's why, if you're writing about Chicago, you should take it into account.  If you have a character that lives here, you should give a passing thought about which team they'll support if they're into sports at all.  Now, they can be into sports and not baseball, but do your research and understand the Bears, the Bulls, the Blackhawks, and even the Wolves intertwine into everyday life.  You can also have someone that lives here and doesn't care about sports, but the characters that they come into contact with might.  Nobody lives in a bubble and neither should your characters.  It goes back to the idea of character connection and, yeah, it might be a barista making small talk, but it happens.  I have baristas ask me weird things all the time about something that I might not know about - one asked me about Pokemon Go and if I'm playing when I've barely started - but that's because they're human beings too.  Interacting and connecting is a part of the human experience and you'll want that in your novels.

Anyways, I'm going to get off my soapbox and go cheer for the Cubs.  Well, maybe not right now, as the game isn't on, but tonight I will be.