The Leader

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Thomas Edison invented electricity in 1879, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969 and in 2005 the Milwaukee Brewers played .500 baseball.

For those of you who don't know (which apparently is a lot) the Milwaukee Brewers are your Major League Baseball franchise and, in a couple of years, they are going to be really, really good. You do remember what baseball is...right? I only ask because based on what is reported in the local sports pages and on the local news broadcasts, the Packers are the only Wisconsin sports franchise that matters.

Okay, I know what you're thinking-that's because this is Packer country! Brett Favre should be Supreme Lord Grandmaster of the galaxy! Bart Starr's birthday should be a holiday! There should be a law requiring everyone to paint their garage green and gold, and if you don't have a garage to paint, then your first born child will do, blah blah blah.

Many Wisconsin sports fans pride themselves as being among the most passionate in the nation, but we're not even as good as Chicago sports fans. That's right, I said it. And no, I'm not from Illinois. I'm from right here in Wisconsin. It irks me to say it, but Wisconsin sports fans suck.

We are one of the few states with the privilege of having a team represent us in each of the three major sports. We may be fans of the Brewers and the Bucks, but we are only truly fanatical about the Packers. That makes us shitty sports fans. In Chicago, they aren't just passionate about one of their professional sports franchises, they spread the love equally. Last year, cheeseheads only bought about 70,000 more tickets than Bears fans; however, the Cubs total attendance was 3.1 million as opposed to the Brewers final tally of 2.2 million.

We take our non pigskin passing sports franchises for granted. Do you know how happy it would make the residents of Cheyenne, Wyoming if the Brewers got relocated there? Why don't we support our other teams like we do the Packers? In the Brewers case, it's not because they haven't played well until very recently because we always support the Packers regardless of their record. Furthermore, Wisconsin sports fans can't argue that it is because this is more of a football region because Cubs fans are some of the most passionate in all of sports.

I'm sick of going to Miller Park to see a Brewers/Cubs game and listening to the crowd roar when a Cub hits a homerun or a Brewer strikes out. Hell, last year there were even more cheers for the Twins when they came to town than for the Brewers. Can you even imagine the crowd at Lambeau Field erupting in jubilee when the Vikings run a kickoff back for a touchdown or the Bears pick off Brett Favre? Of course not, that would be absolutely absurd. But that is the type of thing that happens to the Brewers every year.

Only one conclusion can be drawn from all this...Chicago sports fans are better than Wisconsin sports fans, and that makes me sick.

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