Free Republic

In August 1999, Barack Obama strolled amid the floats and bands making their way down Martin Luther King Drive on Chicago’s South Side. Billed as the largest African-American parade in the country, the summer rite was a draw over the years to boxing heroes like Muhammad Ali and jazz greats like Duke Ellington. It was also a must-stop for the city’s top politicians. Back then, Mr. Obama, a state senator who was contemplating a run for Congress, was so little-known in the community’s black neighborhoods that it was hard to find more than a few dozen people to walk with...

South Side stigma: Scandal, mediocrity, obscurity are lumps fans have taken CHICAGO — Its most famous team is the one that cheated, the one forever branded the Black Sox. Its most enduring image might be the outfielder doused with beer while standing against the outfield wall, or maybe the two drunken fans running onto the field to attack a coach. Then again, it might be the decades of losing. Not the romantic kind tied to some mysterious curse, but the kind that comes with simply playing badly. As the Chicago White Sox take on the Los Angeles Angels for the...

CHICAGO - Its most famous team is the one that cheated, the one forever branded the Black Sox. Its most enduring image may be the outfielder doused with beer while standing against the outfield wall, or maybe the two drunken fans running onto the field to attack a coach. Then, again, it may be the decades of losing. Not the romantic kind tied to some mysterious curse, but the kind that comes with simply playing badly. As the Chicago White Sox take on the Los Angeles Angels for the right to play in the World Series — something they haven't...