Fun with Poll Numbers

The hopelessly biased Chicago Tribune showed its true colors again Friday, burying the news about how the White Sox are gaining popularity in Chicago in a story that takes up a mere two-thirds of the front page.

The survey is described thusly:

"If I were to show you a graph or a trend line, you'd see the Cubs' and Sox's [popularity] is almost identical," said Howard Goldberg, senior vice president for Scarbrough sports marketing.

Indeed, according to data collected by Scarborough Research, a syndicated firm numerous professional sports teams use, 53 percent of Chicago consumers watched a Sox game on television, attended a game, or listened to one on the radio last year, during their World-Series winning season.

The Cubs and Bears enjoyed 56 percent penetration in the market...

Hey, I don't doubt that the White Sox gained fans over the last year. Winning will do that for a team.

But I find it amusing that the measuring stick Scarborough used to determine a team's popularity is based on whether the 4,182 people surveyed watched, listened to, or attended one game.

Hell, by that standard, I must be a White Sox Fan! I've probably seen then on TV fifty times over the last twelve months.

Of course, it also means I'm a fan of the Red Sox, Yankees, Devil Rays, Phillies, Padres, Rockies, Cardinals, Royals, Braves, Brewers, Giants, Mariners...well, you get the idea.

Unfortunately, this article has already resulted in stupid letters from Cub Fan to the Tribune, which will result in stupid letters from White Sox Fan. It would be funny if it weren't so pathetic.