The Chicago Blackhawks electrified the Windy City by bringing home a Stanley Cup. This weekend the Cubs and the White Sox are playing for the coveted BP Crosstown Cup, sponsored by you-know-who. All of a sudden baseball is irrelevant in Chitown.
The Chicago Blackhawks electrified the Windy City by bringing home a Stanley Cup. This weekend the Cubs and the White Sox are playing for the coveted BP Crosstown Cup, sponsored by you-know-who. All of a sudden baseball is in danger of becoming irrelevant in Chitown.
That's not to say it's not interesting — the continuing meltdown of Lou Piniella in the face of some awfully tame criticism from Steve Stone and David Kaplan is a fascinating and continuing soap opera — but it certainly is irrelevant. Both teams are already out of playoff contention, and as this writing the Sox actually have a slightly better record than the Cubs.
To make things worse, the two teams are vying for the BP Crosstown Cup. Now, we're guessing this is a promotion arranged with Chicago-area BP deals and not the BP headquarters in England. But at a time when BP is synonymous with corporate ineptitude and the biggest oil spill in history, having the BP name associated with your ballteam is not a good PR move. But we'll give both teams credit: they certainly are not downplaying the association and living up to the terms of the sponsorship deal if team press releases are any indication. Here's the press release issued by the ChiSox yesterday:
The Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox today unveiled the official trophy of the BP Crosstown Cup. The Cubs and White Sox will kick off their Crosstown Series today at Wrigley Field and will celebrate their 75th meeting on Sunday, June 13.
Under the rules of the recently established BP Crosstown Cup, the Cubs and White Sox will continue to meet in a yearly six-game series as they have since 1997, though now the team with the most wins in the series will be formally awarded the Crosstown Cup. If the annual series is split 3-3 this season, the Cup will be awarded to the winner of the series' last game. The BP Crosstown Cup will be awarded in a formal ceremony at U.S. Cellular Field following the deciding game of the six-game series.
The newly formed BP Crosstown Cup is the latest professional sports rivalry formally established by two competing franchises. While numerous rivalry trophies change hands within the ranks of collegiate sports each year, the Crosstown Cup represents a rare partnership between two professional sports teams to elevate their ongoing rivalry into official standing.
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