CHICAGO - CINCINNATI

Well, the Cubs are in the World Series.  Chicago is agog.  The 'North Siders' have finally done it.
The last time the Cubs were in the World Series, I was 4 months old.  Yikes!  that's a long time.

Chicago's nickname is "The Windy City".  You probably thought that had something to do with their nasty weather.  Na baby Na.   Not according to my history book.  Cincinnati gave Chicago it's lasting moniker because the town and it's newspapers were full of windbags and blowhards.

In the 1860's, there was an intense rivalry between the two major cities of the Midwest because of the meat packing industry and professional baseball.  The two cities jabbered back and forth through their daily newspapers; the Chicago Tribune and the Cincinnati Enquirer.  One snipe after another.

Chicago was sure it was slaughtering more pigs than we were in "Porkopolis" (Cincinnati's nickname at the time).  The 'Trib' claimed that Chicago was the real "Porkopolis".  The rivalry was further exacerbated when the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first professional baseball team in 1869.  Cincinnati was the envy of the whole country.  Chicago put together a local team and called them the White Stockings.  (In 1903, they changed the name to the Cubs.)  Yes, it is the "Second City" - always a step behind Cincinnati.  In the 1870's, a New York newspaper picked up on the name "Windy City" and it stuck.

Remember this history each time you hear the name "Windy City".   At least the Cubs were smart enough to use a Cincinnati area boy on their team; Kyle Schwarber from Middletown.

Now, in an effort to be fair and balanced in regard to Chicago, I want to give them their due.  They have far exceeded Cincinnati in some respects:  corruption in government, fixed elections, gun violence, murders, cold weather and deep dish pizza parlors,
O_O