The Struggles of the Windy City

A few years back, Sportscenter did a contest in the summer to see which city in the United States was "Titletown". It was created to see which city had enjoyed the most success and, being from a town fifty miles south of Chicago, I naturally began to wonder if Chicago could contend. They have all the major sports and then some yet when I looked at it, not many titles have come to the Windy City. Here's a run-down of Chicago sports and the struggles they have experienced.

Chicago Cubs: I'll start here since I'm a die-hard Cubs fan. Anybody who even knows the slightest little thing about sports would have to know that it's been 100+ years since the Cubs have won the World Series. They have had chances but they were few and far between. The last chance they had was in 2008 when they were embarrassed by the Dodgers. But before the Cubs were swept by LA, there was the infamous year of 2003. The Cubs looked so promising; they were up 3-2 on the Florida Marlins and in game six it all came crashing down when Moises Alou ran over to that left field wall in foul territory. You know the rest, Steve Bartman became Chicago's Most Wanted and is said to have cost the Cubs not only the game but the series. Many forget that Alex Gonzalez made an error on the next play, though. The Cubs are quite a special case, but it's no secret that they haven't helped Chicago win a title in quite some time.

Chicago White Sox: Yes, I know they won in 2005, but the Sox are not much better off than the Cubs. People continually point out the Cubs' failure to win in over 100 years when they forget to include the fact that it had been 88 years since the South Siders had brought home a trophy. The Sox have won three World Series titles which, between the two Chicago baseball teams, gives the city only five World Series trophies. I'd say that's much less than impressive.

Chicago Bears: The past two years the theme for the Bears appeared to be "Start hot, cave late". Last year's season was plagued with injuries for the Bears with Jay Cutler and Matt Forte having to be sidelined during the season. They finished with an 8-8 record and did not enjoy any playoff ball. This year, the Bears started off 8-1 and finished 10-6. Not exactly the record of a Super Bowl contender. Again, the Bears did not make the playoffs. Throw this in with the Super Bowl loss in 2006 and Chicago's 1985 Bears are the only NFL champions Chicago has had in the Super Bowl era.

Chicago Blackhawks: The Hawks are two years removed from their last Stanley Cup victory and the fourth in franchise history. Four is a decent amount but when you take into consideration that it was nearly 40 years since they last won it makes the Hawks just fit right in with the rest of Chicago's teams. We'll see what the Blackhawks can do with the shortened season this year.

Chicago Bulls: I was born in '94, so I wasn't old enough to enjoy the Jordan days. But six titles in eight years? Wow. I wouldn't hesitate to say that if Jordan hadn't retired then they could have hoisted up eight straight banners. It's a new millenium now, though, and the Bulls have struggled. The Baby Bulls back in '03 were nothing short of a disappointment and, though they put up a tremendous and respectable fight against the Celtics in '08, the Bulls were ousted in the first round. Fast forward to 2011 and the year the Bulls looked like title contenders, yet fell to the Heat in five games. With that in mind, the Bulls fought to earn the best record in the league in 2012, yet fell short in the first round to the 8th-seeded 76ers. Derrick Rose exited game one early with a torn ACL and later in the series Joakim Noah suffered a sprained ankle. Without two very key starters, the Bulls' chances at a title were very slim to none.

I don't mean to come across as negative, it had just simply occurred to me that there haven't been many parades in downtown Chicago. In fact, since the new millenium started, there have only been two (White Sox and Blackhawks). Other cities have had numerous parades such as LA, San Antonio, and New York. Chicago has always seemed to have teams that could contend, but something seems to always go wrong. I would hate to see the city of Chicago continue to struggle to win the big one, in any sport that is.