The South Side Hitmen is an online group hosted by Yahoo where Chicago White Sox fans from all over the world gather to communicate their thoughts, opinions and beliefs regarding the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball. This appears to be one of the more popular sports groups in Yahoo!, because it was the first or second option under the sports category.
After spending some time studying this group for my ethnography, I have come to the conclusion that this group communicates primarily through forum messages and chats. Yahoo does allow the members of the group to make posts by simply sending an email to the group. From there any member that is accepted by the administrator can start a new discussion, comment on someone else’s discussion threads or even just browse the community ‘members’ list. The members list allows users to communicate one on one with each other through direct messages or emails. When posting a message to the forum, Yahoo allows for attachments to be posted, creating an even easier way to share documents and ideas.
It appears that the South Side Hitmen group operates as its own entity. I didn’t find that it was attached to any other sites, but it was referenced on a bunch of personal websites. The Hitmen group allows for users to post a button or link from their website to the South Side Hitmen group though the promote tab, which I imagine creates more traffic to the group.
After looking at and participating in a number of posts I discovered two things right away.
First, more people post when they have something to be angry about. For example, the White Sox got rocked the other night by the Texas Rangers. I think the final score was something like 9-3, and I watched the game – it was brutal. Well after the game ended, I went to bed. When I woke up my inbox was filled with at least 15 to 20 new messages about how the position changes and coaching moves that Ozzie made cost the White Sox the game. And these fans had direct examples too.
For instance, when criticizing roster moves, many fans reference the 2005 team because that squad won the World Series. Well, that was four years ago now! So some fans don’t appear to be able to let go of the past, but others encourage those to move on.
“Would you please do me a favor? 2005 was 4 years ago, we won the WS, and everybody knows that, LET IT GO. We are talking about this year, people change, their mindsets change. I know that not everybody is perfect. I don't expect Ozzie to be perfect. Adjustment is a 2 way street. If he expects his players to adjust, then he needs to adjust his thinking and managing to the players he has. That's what a good manager in any business does.” - Pearlzone16@yahoo.com aka Jim Gorman (outside of the group).
This user disagreed with one that posted something about how the 2005 White Sox made the correct position moves and the roster seemed to get along better.
The second thing I’ve come to notice is that the posts usually target specific players. Jim Thome has been in a slump as of late, and this particular user, Bill (andersoxy@yahoo.com) feels that Thome should be traded.
“If I was KC I'd be shaking in my boots [sarcastically]. Oh [shoot], I forgot the HOF Jim Thome, the strikeout, popup king of Central Illinois. C'mon KW (Kenny Williams – White Sox team president) you ate McDougal’s contract, and Owens' contract, please do the same with Thome and put us out of our misery. I don't want to hear any BS about 25-30 HR's and 90 RBI's, because he can't do it anymore. He is just a waste of a roster spot.”
So while may know something about baseball, or think they’re experts, some people feel they are qualified to run a baseball team. All in all this posts like this spur conversation between users, creating long threads and posts about each topic.
The primary websites that the South Side Hitmen group references are the Major League Baseball site, and the Chicago White Sox site. It seems that most of their information comes from these sites or from sports shows like ESPN News and the local sports reports on WGN and CSN. Both the MLB and White Sox websites utilize video, images and copy in creative ways. They allow for fans to watch highlights and see photos from previous games. Fans can read previews of upcoming games This group does a good job of enhancing the image of the White Sox. Yes, posts and people do criticize the manager and team president, but all in all they are still promoting the product and building interest and conversation around it. This is more of a bonding group where all the users share a common interest in Chicago White Sox. Some appear to be more of diehard fans compared to others, but in the end they all support the Sox.
After spending a couple weeks following and partaking in this group, I feel that this could be a group I would get involved in some day. Right now with school and work I don’t think I have the time to keep up with conversations and forum threads. But, if I had more free time, a group like this would give me a place to talk to more people about the White Sox. Sometimes it’s hard to discuss sports with my girlfriend because she doesn’t really like sports, whereas a group like this is like a home away from home. I think this community is great for the White Sox fan base because it provides equal footing for each fan. It doesn’t matter where your seat is in the stadium, or if you even go to the games; fans from all over the world get to communicate about the team they love an care about.
