The Chicago White Sox are 76-56, with a 10-game lead in the American League Central and a nearly 10 percent chance to win the World Series, according to Baseball Reference. The Chicago Cubs are 57-75, just traded away their entire core of star players and have less than a 0.1 percent chance of making the playoffs this year.
Needless to say, their two fan bases are on completely different wavelengths at this point in the season — they likely have been for the majority of the season — and probably aren't too agreeable on topics other than which squad is objectively better. When you combine that tension with a little bit of alcohol, 90 degree weather and a complete blowout of a game, fists may be a bit more prone to fly than usual.
And, boy, did they.
Ending off Crosstown Classic weekend with a good ol fashion bleachers brawl
— Barstool Chicago (@barstoolchicago) August 29, 2021
(via ig:gdog.k32) pic.twitter.com/17iPeKcRcI
It's impossible to tell what's going on. White Sox fans could have been attacking fellow White Sox fans, and ditto goes for the Cubs faithful. It was complete chaos, no matter the perspective from which you view it (h/t Barstool Sports).
Significant fan brawls seem to be popping up with more and more consistency across various sports, and though this might be entertaining for a few seconds on social media, it's a clear issue that presents several problems, chief among them the health and safety — both injuries from the fight and viral spread due to COVID-19 — of fans in attendance. A massive brawl in a Lions-Steelers preseason game similarly went viral recently, and the consensus was that something needs to be done from the top-down.
NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah brought up the point that stadium security often seems to be missing from these videos — though, in the Cubs-White Sox clip, a security guard intervenes quickly — and that this is a troubling trend the leagues need to deal with sooner rather than later. Others agreed.
Others, like NFL legend Shannon Sharpe, wants the fans to behave much more responsibly, and that's another point you won't find me arguing against.
And then there's Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Steve Greenberg, who has a more pessimistic approach.
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