Die-hard sport followers don’t root for his or her groups to lose.
Till they’re about to make historical past, that’s.
With the Chicago White Sox poised to seize the report for many losses in a contemporary MLB season with just a few video games left on the schedule, some followers of different historic shedding groups — for higher or worse — would possibly know the way Sox followers are feeling this week.
“When you’ve been down so lengthy, what’s a bit of decrease?” requested Michael Campbell, a lifelong Detroit Lions fan who moved to Chicago from Michigan shortly earlier than the group went 0-16 in 2008.
From the NFL’s 2008 Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns, who accomplished “excellent” 0-16 seasons, to an early Nineteen Seventies Philadelphia 76ers squad that completed 59 video games behind the league-leading Boston Celtics, the White Sox are on the verge of becoming a member of an unique fraternity of North American skilled sports activities losers.
Trey Burke, a devoted Browns fan who moved to Lakeview in 2021 after graduating from school in Ohio, stated Browns followers had been hugging one another after the group misplaced its final recreation in 2017, and even held a parade to have a good time the season.
“There was actually a parade for an ideal 0-16 report, which is unhappy, nevertheless it’s good that you could find some good out of the horrible,” stated Burke, 25.
Matthew Grezlik, 44, grew up a Lions fan and moved to Chicago from Michigan in 2004. Grezlik stated he was dissatisfied when the Browns turned the second group in NFL historical past to lose 16 video games.
“Frankly, I’d virtually somewhat us be the one 0-16 group,” stated Grezlik, who lives in Sauganash. He later identified that “nobody goes to recollect a 1-15 group, however everybody will keep in mind 0-16.”
Mike Singer, 63, stated he grew up simply exterior of Philadelphia and was in fifth grade throughout the 1972-73 NBA season, when the Philadelphia 76ers had been defeated 73 instances, extra than some other group in NBA historical past for the reason that introduction of the 82-game season.
“I keep in mind desirous to go to a recreation as a result of I simply wished to go to a recreation,” stated Singer, who has lived in Chicago since 1994 and at present resides in Lakeview. “My father was like, ‘They’re horrible. We’re not going to waste our cash.’”
Burke, who wasn’t dissuaded from being a Browns fan after the group’s 2017 marketing campaign, stated there’s benefits of being a fan of a group that’s hit all-time low. For starters, there’s no method the White Sox shall be this unhealthy once more subsequent yr, he stated.
Within the meantime, Sox followers can go see their group play for discounted tickets. Burke stated he paid $1.50 to see the Sox play the Cleveland Guardians this month.
Document breaking and silver linings apart, what the White Sox are doing can nonetheless get a bit of miserable, Burke stated.
“If you watch the White Sox on the TV, it’s type of unhappy what number of followers aren’t there and the way empty the stadium is,” he stated.
Grezlik stated the sore spot from this yr’s season might at some point flip right into a badge of honor for White Sox followers — simply because the Lions’ rocky previous is a badge of honor for individuals from Detroit.
“We had been the financial butt of each joke perpetually, the crime butt of each joke perpetually, and then you definitely throw in a 0-16 group in 2008,” Grezlik stated. “And now have a look at us. The town of Detroit is prospering, and we’re Tremendous Bowl contenders. I feel that’s an superior comeback story.”
The White Sox would possibly be capable to observe an analogous path because the Lions in the event that they get a brand new proprietor, Grezlik added.
Campbell, who lives in Norwood Park, stated he doesn’t assume the White Sox efficiency ought to replicate poorly on Chicago.
“I’d by no means say that the Lions’ efficiency or any of our different groups’ performances are reflective of the town as an entire,” stated Campbell, 50.
He added the Chicago Cubs had been “perennial losers for years.”
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