Chicago: Great Sports City? Or the Greatest?

Chicago checks in at No. 4 on the Sporting News's list, and we've got beef

You know, those guys at the Sporting News got a lotta nerve.

Here Chicago is, home of two baseball teams, one of the NFL's most popular franchises, the NHL's hands-down most popular franchise, a legendary NBA team, and millions of residents with allegiances to colleges far and wide (not to mention the colleges in the city itself). And we're only No. 4 on their list?

Yes, the Sporting News released its list of best American sports cities, and Chicago checked in at No. 4. It's really nothing to be upset about, seeing that it's just an arbitrary list, and that sort of thing is impossible to rank, and hey ha ha we'll give the Sporting News the benefit of the doubt because we're sure the rest of the top five is --. Wait a second, there's something not right about this. Have a look:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Philadelphia
3. Boston
4. Chicago + Evanston
5. Los Angeles

Not one, but two Pennsylvania towns rank ahead of the Windy City? What?! We'd argue Boston deserves its spot in the top five, but what have Pittsburgh AND Philly done to get the No. 1 and No. 2 rankings? What's with the pro-Penn bias, Sporting News? WE DEMAND ANSWERS!

The Sporting News said its rankings were “based on point values assigned to various categories, including but not limited to won-lost records, postseason appearances, applicable power ratings, number of teams and attendance.”

We're still confused, but whatever. We know Chicago's a great sports town. So what if our teams don't always win. We've got at least three solid months during the summer in which it doesn't matter, because the weather is so nice we can go outside whenever we want and play our own sports. And we do. Sigh. Take that, we guess?

Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.

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