mplex weather and water patterns meant some Australian favourites faced a fight just to stay in touch with the leaders, however.Tom Burton won gold in the Laser but only after a one in 10 t

Chicago is a city of mythic conflicts: Mayor Richard J. Daley and his cops against long-haired hippie protesters in 1968, Eliot Ness Untouchables vs. Al Capones Outfit during Prohibition, and Cubs fans vs. Sox fans in the Crosstown Classic every summer.Before the installation of interleague play in 1997, the Cubs and Sox had occasional exhibition games to raise money for charity (I saw Michael Jordan play outfield at Wrigley in 1994). The teams also played for keeps once, the 1906 World Series, where the Hitless Wonders defeated the 116-win Cubs 4 games to 2. For decades, the teams staged a postseason City Series that let owners and players make a few more dollars before the offseason. Chicago baseball scribe Ring Lardner dubbed this the City Serious, and fans do indeed take it seriously. Perhaps too seriously, with so many Chicago myths in play.Cubs fans are yuppies, White Sox fans blue collar. Cubs fans dont really watch the game, Sox fans do. Cubs fans foolishly support bad teams, Sox fans only show up when theyre winning. The media loves the Cubs and ignores the Sox.Well, whatever grains of truth these myths might have, the media do not ignore the Cubs-Sox series, and fans flock to it.But it might surprise people to learn that the games when the Cubs host the White Sox are not the most in demand among my season ticket group in Section 416.After going to a few games in the first few years, I generally avoid Sox-Cubs games, the Country Doctor says. I have nothing against the White Sox, but their fans seem to have an inferiority complex that tends to make them a tad aggressive. The Big Bun, though he came out Thursday, has a similarly dim view of the matchup. The atmosphere may have changed over the years, he says, but back when I did go to this series it was a bunch of drunks -- on both sides --?who just wanted to talk smack to each other.Azz puts a positive spin on this problem, saying, Ive never seen any evidence in either park that one side is more serious about baseball. This is Chicago; what we take seriously is drinking, and in that regard both sides are champions.Cubs fans might have been driven to the bottle by consecutive losses at the Cell on Monday and Tuesday. (White Sox ownership and stadium workers mightve just been driven to exhaustion, as the two crowds of 39,510 and 39,553 were the Cells biggest gates of the year, even exceeding the 38,019 who showed up for Opening Days snowstorm. Cubs fans travel, especially south of Madison Street.But the buzz on the North Side on Wednesday and Thursday was all about Aroldis Chapman, or rather the myth of Aroldis Chapman.And the myth became reality as he mopped up in Wednesdays 8-1 blowout and saved the 3-1 pitchers duel for John Lackey on Thursday.Most fans I talked with at Nisei pregame and later at the park were not happy with Chapmans history of domestic violence, and expressed unease with the win-at-all-cost attitude the move represents.At the same time, if Chapmans triple-digit fastball can finally bring a championship to Wrigley, the cynic in me suspects all will be forgiven. Sports fans are a forgiving lot, especially when distracted by freakish excellence.And Chapmans fastball? Freakishly excellent.When he was still with the Reds, I saw him throw a pitch through the screen behind home plate. It hit a seat with a crack like a gunshot. The guy in the adjacent seat grabbed the ball and held it up like a champ; if hed been one seat over, that pitch wouldve shattered his sternum.Cubs-Sox matchups always feel odd, with intense cheering at every play (there were lots of Sox fans at Wrigley). But Chapman changes how everyone watches the game. After he struck out Melky Cabrera to end the eighth (and a threat to erase the Cubs narrow lead) seatmate Rich pointed out that Chapman makes the game feel like a tennis match. When he pitches, all the fans first look to the plate, and then turn in unison, like 41,157 synchronized bobble-head dolls, to check the left-field videoboard to see how fast the pitch was thrown.We were rewarded with 100, 101, 102 and 103 mph fastballs, not to mention 91 mph sliders.How Chapmans debut games, which pushed the Sox two games below .500 and the Cubs to 21-over, will be remembered depends on how the rest of the season plays out. But at this stage, Cubs fans are thinking about creating some new myths. Vikings Jerseys Outlet . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Minnesota Vikings Jerseys . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. http://www.vikingsjerseyscheap.com/ . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Cheap Minnesota Vikings Jerseys . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Cheap Colby Gossett Jersey . -- Arizona knocked off some quality opponents, rolled over a few overmatched ones and grinded out victories even when things didnt go so well. Australia took seven sailing crews to Rio; six made their medal races, and four won medals, in a strike rate that leaves other big squads in their wake. Only the swimming team won more medals from vastly more chances.If we can come to an environment like this and convert essentially four medal chances ... thats a pretty damn good outcome, Australian Sailing team leader Peter Conde said.The medal run was four years in the making.We had our first trip here six months before the last Olympics, Conde said. We started in April 2012; we had the first sailors training here in November 2012.All four of Australias expected medal chances finished in the top two in Rio.Mat Belcher and Will Ryan, who won silver in the mens 470, made 10 trips to Rio to learn the complex conditions.Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin, who won silver in the Nacra 17, told a similar story.Weve spent almost six months in Rio sailing in these waters just to get acclimatised to the conditions, Waterhousee said.ddddddddddddios complex weather and water patterns meant some Australian favourites faced a fight just to stay in touch with the leaders, however.Tom Burton won gold in the Laser but only after a one in 10 tactical move on the starting line came off to perfection.And Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen in the 49er were unable to get in front of the New Zealand crew, who claimed gold ahead of Australias silver.But the medals werent the only measure of success.Jake Lilley and Ashley Stoddart made the Finn and Laser Radial medal race, respectively, and both 23-year-olds showed the potential to push for better results in future Games.If they are selected for Tokyo 2020, they will know the Australian Sailing Team has already put in the work to see them succeed.That started again in April. 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