Week 2, Walk 3: Mapping Social Territory in Place (5.25.10)

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I live in a suburb which is just outside the city of Chicago. Even in my small suburb, there is a large sub-culture dedicated to the following of the Chicago Cubs baseball team (more fondly known as the "Cubbies"). This fact has always intrigued me, because it's not like the Cubs are that outstanding; they have not won the world series in over 100 years, they have not played in the world series for over 60 years, and (to be honest) when they do make it to the playoffs, they tend not to do very well. However, this sub-culture of die-hard Cubs fans still exists and even continues to grow. They all like to use the phrase "this year is our year!", yet it never seems to be.

So for this walk, I decided to wander around Wrigleyville, particularly near Wrigley Field which is the Cubs' home stadium. My goal was to investigate this unique sub-culture in the place which is at the very heart of it.


Luckily for me, there was a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the afternoon I decided to walk around. This gave me the opportunity to see what it is like when an immense number of people belonging to the Cubbie culture come together in one place.

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The first thing I noticed was all the vendors stationed around all sides of the stadium. It is because of these vendors that Cubs fans can wear their team's colors and visually show that they are proud supporters of the team and members of the culture formed as a result of the existence of the team. The vendors serve to visually unite this social scene, no matter how different its individual members may look otherwise.

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As I continued to look at my surroundings, I took notice of the residences which were immediately across the street from the stadium. I kept thinking to myself that the people who live there must be active members of this social scene, otherwise how would they be able to stand the constant commotion the Cubs games bring about? It turns out I was correct. I saw many windows displaying Cubs flags. I even saw a few buildings named after the famous ivy which covers the outfield walls within the stadium.


However, the most interesting and clever characteristic I found about most of these residences is that they have bleachers on the rooftops where they can sit and see the games just as well as if they were in the stadium. I'm sure some people make very good money selling those seats off to fans eager to watch the game at a lower ticket price. It occurred to me that someone would have to be greatly supportive of this culture if they are willing to alter their residence in such a dramatic way.

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As I walked around the stadium for a second time, I began noticing that many of the official sign postings in the area have something to do with the Cubs. For example, there are "no parking" signs posted all along the outside perimeter of the stadium which pertain specifically to baseball game days. These restrictions are obviously needed in order for the culture to thrive more comfortably in their surroundings on days when games take place.

I also saw that the multitude of recycling receptacles in the area had Cubs emblems on them below where it reads "recycle here". Perhaps members of the Cubs culture are more likely to recycle if the team itself encourages it.

Another posting I came across was a billboard advertising the Bank of America which was aimed at Cubs fans. It insinuates that real fans use Bank of America and includes a Cubs emblem on the picture of the featured credit card and on the bottom right of the billboard. The advertisers obviously know how to target specific social scenes and get their attention. I would not be surprised if majority of the members of this sub-culture belonged to the Bank of America after seeing this ad.

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Something else I couldn't help but take notice of as I wandered around Wrigleyville was how even the big fast food franchises have assimilated themselves into the social scene revolving around the Cubs. There are giant baseball pillars surrounding the McDonald's across the road from the stadium, and there is a giant Cubs cap hanging from the sign of the Taco Bell down the street. I would have to imagine that the massive amounts of members of the Cubs sub-culture would provide these corporations with very good business both before and after games. It would be silly for these locations to not be visually Cubs friendly.

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As I walked back to my sister's apartment (which is a few blocks away from Cubs stadium), I looked up and saw that the El sign indicating the Addison Avenue stop had Cubs emblems on it. This, and all my other findings of the day, made me come to the conclusion that a social scene is defined by anything and everything that suggests it; even the seemingly unimportant details. Sub-cultures are embodied by many factors which must all be considered in order to fully understand them and their inner workings.