Chicago fans must pick side

The Chicago Tribune devoted a news editorial to a crisis.

And it has nothing to do with gas prices, foreclosures or war.

It's all about fence sitting, and not on the one being built on the U.S.'s southern border.

"Some distinctions are inviolable. You're a cat person or a dog person. You're a vegetarian or you're not. You're celibate or not, sober or not, pregnant or not. You're safe or you're out," the editorial stated.

Then it got to the point: "You're a Cubs fan or a Sox fan. You can't be both."

With the north-side Cubs sitting first in the National League Central and south-side White Sox resting atop the American League Central, the Windy City paper wants its readers to commit their loyalties before Friday, when the Cubs head south to visit the Sox for three interleague games a week after sweeping them at Wrigley Field.

"Whether you're a Cubs fan smelling annihilation or a Chisox fan spoiling for revenge, you are one with your tribe as we head into Round 2 of the Red Line series. ...

"Please, folks, don't do this to your kids. God gave us two major league teams for a reason. Cubs-Sox is a storied rivalry that has fired up generations of baseball fans, even during those very long stretches when one team or the other (or both) was a miserable flop."

• NEW YORK MESS -- The New York Post reported Monday that new Mets manager Jerry Manuel "stepped in it" when he compared fans' boos directed at struggling reliever Aaron Heilman to "fertilizer" being heaped onto the Shea Stadium field.

Manuel's loose lips got him into trouble Sunday when he took Mets fans to task for targeting Heilman, who is 0-3 with a 5.17 ERA.

"It's very, very fertile ground for growth in Shea Stadium," Manuel said. "It's fertile ground for a team's growth and development. Sometimes, fertile ground has fertilizer."

• FASHION CONSCIOUS -- Maria Sharapova won her first match Tuesday at Wimbledon, but there was more talk about her attire than her play.

The third seed wore what she described as a tuxedo-inspired shirt and shorts.

"Every year at Wimbledon I want to do something classy," she said. "I've never worn shorts before at a Grand Slam, and Wimbledon is the place to do it."

She added, "I'm very inspired by men's wear this year."

• RED BULL RAGE -- Amanda Mathis, the publicist for Scott Speed's No. 22 Red Bull-sponsored Toyota in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, apparently didn't like what a track security worker told her June 14 before a race at Michigan International Speedway.

NASCAR suspended her this week through July 30, after which she will be on probation at the end of the year for "actions detrimental to stock-car racing" and for violating a NASCAR rule regarding "any member who participates in fights or altercations in the pits or on the race premises."

Perhaps she drank a bit too much of the product supplied by her team's sponsor.

COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF REVIEW-JOURNAL