Like Father, Like Son

We were a family of White Sox fans, passing on the pain from one generation to the next. So, when the Sox decided to leave WGN Ch. 9 after the 1967 season, my dad went out and bought a converter box so we could watch our heroes on UHF station Ch.32. A clear picture was beside the point. Then-owner Arthur Allyn thought that by moving the games to a new station, he could get his team more exposure. That worked in so far as the broadcast schedule increased (I think), but not that many fans went out and bought converters. From then on, the Sox wandered through a broadcast desert while the crosstown-rival Cubs had WGN all to themselves. And when WGN went to cable, the Cubs went nationwide. You’d think Jerry Reinsdorf would follow the adage of “Once burned, twice wary,” but, No. Reinsdorf took the Sox and Bulls to a new regional sports network with Danny Wirtz bringing the Hawks along because he doesn’t know any better, I guess. Only Comcast, the biggest cable provider in these parts, can’t agree with the Chicago Sports Network on the carriage fee. So, rather than stream CHSN at $19.99 a month per team (or $29.99 a month for all three), I went out today and bought an indoor antenna that will allow me to pick up CHSN from WJYS-Ch. 62, a UHF station. Here’s looking at you, Dad.