Disaster at The Friendly Confines

I go to school on the North Side of Chicago. I'm a rabid White Sox fan. This weekend was a travesty, a disaster with ramifications lasting until the Cubbies come down South during the summer's second round of interleague baseball.

Derrek Lee set me and millions of other fans of the Good Guys up for 6 weeks of disappointment, anticipation, angst, and irritation. Coworker a Cubs fan? It's going to be a long day at the office. Lovable Losers in the family? Stratch them off the list of guests to your next barbecue. Personally, I'm going to excommunicate any and all schoolmates from my life if they are Cubs fans. It's not personal or anything, it's just a way to cope with the pain. You know?

The Crosstown Classic, as the media has dubbed it, (as cliche as it sounds) is more than just baseball. Especially after my beloved White Sox won the World Series in 2005, the Cubs-Sox games are about regional pride, bragging rights, everything but baseball. In the inevitable arguments that North Siders and South Siders have, it's too easy to just say "2005" to a Cubs fan. That takes the fun out of it. This series is the catalyst for a year's worth of debate. Winning both of these series gives you hollow-point bullets for ammo - there's nothing a Cubs fan can say to counter.

Now the pressure is on the South Siders. Though they salvaged the series and avoided a catastrophic sweep, this weekend at Wrigley Field was indescribably painful. Boone Logan better lay low for a few days.

Unimaginable

A couple of days ago, about 10 minutes from my own home on the south side of Chicago, 4 students were shot on a CTA bus. One, Blair Holt of Percy L. Julian High School, died.

I heard about the incident later on that night and I can honestly say that the news hurt me, regardless of the fact that I had never met any of the victims. But, for some reason, I felt some sort of emotional connection to this kids. Maybe it was because they were young, black high school students like myself. Or that I knew several kids who attended Julian High School. Could've been the shooting's close proximity to my neighborhood.I don't know. All I do know is that all I've thought about over the past week is this senseless, disgusting act.

The Chicago Tribune featured the only fatality's, Blair Holt, devastated parents as the top story the next day. His mom was a fire chief, and his father a cop. Holt was an only child and an honor student, consciously avoiding the ills plaguiing his society. He was outgoing and popular and, at 17, in the prime of his adolescence.

In what kind of time do we live when students can't even let down their guard on the bus? After a long day at school attempting to learn, Holt couldn't even catch a break on the ride home. I know he's going to be labeled a hero in the coming weeks, with crowded funeral services and a gang of t-shirts bearing his likeness, but I don't think he's a hero. Celebration has no place in a situation like this. Blair was a victim, a tragic one, and more questions and change need to raised than anything.