By Jesse Baker
Lamp staff
In sports, games are usually contested between two different teams or people. These games are very competitive and that is often personified by rivalry games, which can often split the fanbase of the two teams. In football, Springfield fans are often split by the Chicago Bears and Greenbay Packers games, while in hockey it’s the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues that holds Springfield’s interest.
However, in baseball, the rivalry between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals has and will continue to divide opinion for years to come. In this year’s edition of the Major League Baseball season, the encounters of the two teams were met with animosity and intensity on both sides, and this made the battle for bragging rights between the fans even better.
“It’s always nice to beat the Cardinals.” said Cubs fan Tanner Reavis.
In the head to head matchup of the teams, the Cubs narrowly beat out the Cardinals beating them 10 out of 19 times, getting their last win in the last game of their season series. In the overall season, the Cubs also beat the Cardinals record posting the best record in the MLB with 103 wins and 58 losses, while the Cardinals came second in the division with 86 wins and 76 losses.
It is because of those two records that Cubs were able to make the playoffs while the Cardinals could not this season. Given the Cubs record in the playoffs for the past 100 plus years, the question of “Could Cardinal look past their rivalry with the Cubs and support them if they made it to the World Series” arose.
In a survey of 20 Lincoln Land students conducted with that same question, 15 out of 20 students or 75%, stated that would cheer for the cubs if they made it that far whereas 5 – 25% said they would only ever cheer for the cardinals.
Darius Allen, one of the five who said they wouldn’t cheer for the Cubs stated, “I probably 
would never cheer for the Cubs. Most of my family are from down there (St.Louis) and I would never change my team.”
Patrick Kline on the other said, “Yes, I would support the Cubs, they haven’t won in so long and they’re actually good for once. We won back in 2011 so there is no reason why we have to be jealous of Cardinals fans.”.
Overall, the matter of the fact is that the Cubs are yet to make the World Series as they are currently facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, but if they are to make it, opinions will certainly be divided on the team here in Springfield and at
Lincoln Land.
Jesse Baker can be reached at [email protected]
