An upcoming Crosstown series full of emptiness for Cubs fans

The Chicago Cubs will meet their crosstown neighbor, the White Sox, in a two-game set on Friday and Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field. This is "Part Deux" of the intercity matchup between the North Siders and South Siders this season after the two teams played each other at Wrigley Field back in early June.

While the series has overall lost much of its luster since the mid-2000s, it usually has something that has meaning within it. Typically at least one of the teams has expectations and is fighting for, or well-placed in a playoff spot. There are also the rare years when both teams had a legit shot at October glory and the matchup is even more anticipated. This coming series will feature a mediocre Cubs team and a White Sox team trying to avoid being in the history books for the wrong reasons. This is certainly not a battle of the Titans, and it makes many baseball fans in Chicago shrug and go, "meh..."

The funny thing is, this series almost did mean something. The Sox were on a horrific 21-game losing streak over the past few weeks and there was a chance that they could carry that slide into Friday's game against the Cubs.

The latest iteration of the Crosstown Classic lacks much appeal.

The Cubs could have aided the Sox in reaching the MLB record of 26 straight losses (1889 Louisville Colonels), or the Sox could have broken the streak and humiliated the Cubs. But alas, the Sox broke their streak Tuesday night beating the A's in Oakland.

For some Cubs fans, it was a bit of a relief that their team did not have the potential to be the streak-breakers. Now it's just a series of little consequences other than "bragging rights". The Sox truly have nothing to lose while the Cubs' chances at postseason play are technically still alive, though microscopic.

It will be interesting to see what the crowd is like this weekend. There will always be plenty of Cubs fans to travel down, but many Sox fans have understandably had it with owner Jerry Reinsdorf and the front office. It would not be surprising to see some scattered empty seats.