Mapping Chicago Sports Teams (or, where do they love Da Bears?)

Everyone knows we love making maps of obscure cultural phenomena. And everyone knows that Chicago loves its sports teams (and when you've got gems like Da Bears skit? and the Super Bowl Shuffle, too? Who couldn't love these teams?!). So why not try to bring these two otherwise unrelated worlds together?

Keeping with a theme set earlier in the week, today we present you with a series of maps showing how the Windy City of Chicago is represented in cyberspace, especially with regards to two of its beloved professional sports teams - the Chicago Cubs and Daaaaa Bears.

All User-Generated Content in Chicago IL

While the map above shows the aggregate of all user-generated Google Maps content in Chicago, the figures below map specific references to "Bears" and "Cubs" within the city.

User-Generated References to "Bears" in Chicago IL

User-Generated References to "Bears" at Soldier Field

At first glance, the map of references to "Bears" doesn't seem particularly informative. That is, unless you're already familiar with the geography of Chicago. But by zooming in to the location with the highest concentration of references, it becomes clear that the most references to "Bears" is, naturally, at the home of Da Bears - Soldier Field.

User-Generated References to "Cubs" in Chicago IL

User-Generated References to "Cubs" at Wrigley Field

Almost the exact same situation arises when we look at references to "Cubs" who, despite having a considerable number of user-generated references at Wrigley Field, have still not won the World Series in over a century. I guess it just goes to show that success in the virtual realm isn't necessarily related to success outside of it.