By Alex Conover
Sports Editor
Recently, when the big White Sox- Tigers game was going on, I was trying to write a paper. The “Sox faithful” in my dorm prevented me from doing so.
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The Gilmore lounge has two levels: an upper one with tables for studying and a lower one with couches and a big-screen TV. I was happily typing at my table, pounding out my Analysis/Synthesis paper for Dr. S. I was making real progress until Alexei Ramirez hit his grand slam and sent all of the Chicago girls downstairs into pandemonium.
I was not irked, just distracted. I leaned over the railing and yelled, “Hey, you might have won this one… but it won’t matter once the Twins mop you up!” I got some real southside slang thrown back at me that I took as hostility.
Of course, the following night I was wrong. Jim Thome’s solo shot into Comisky’s blackout crowd ended the Twins’ season, put two Chicago teams into the playoffs and made me look foolish.
The sports allegiances at Saint Mary’s University are, in my opinion, split three ways: Minnesota, Wisconsin and Chicago. It is to be expected from a school that is 10 minutes from the Wisconsin border, and is highly populated by Illinois students. It definitely makes things interesting, that is for sure.
For instance, take the NFC Championship game last year between the Packers and the Giants. All of Benilde was watching that game, especially the Viking and Bears fans. These two teams didn’t even make the playoffs, so why were they so interested? The main reason most of B-Town was tuning in was because they wanted to see Green Bay LOSE. Ouch.
When Favre threw his final interception and handed the game to New York, the hall erupted. All the Chicago kids were banging on my door, yelling anti-Packer sentiments that cannot be printed. Did it matter that Green Bay was one game away from the Super Bowl? Or that no one else from the NFC North division could scrape up enough wins to earn a measly wild card playoff berth? No. All that mattered was that Favre and company lost 23-20, and that according to them, “it will be different next year.”
So far, it has not been different. The Packers are 2-0 in the division, with sound victories over both the Vikings and Lions. The big game I am waiting for is on Nov. 16, when Chicago comes to Green Bay. It definitely promises to be an interesting matchup.
Just in case, I think I will watch this one in the privacy of my own room.
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