The Surprising Appeal of the Lovable Loser

The Chicago White Sox are having a historically bad season. Like, a season that could be the worst in the history of baseball. It's so bad even their own social media team is forced to find a way to make the situation slightly better for fans by tweeting entertaining game summaries after losses, like "FINAL: the other team scored more runs than us." The team, too, is coping with humor because what else can they do? It's a season they will want to quickly forget.

With their tragic year, though, they are now perfectly positioned to become the baseball team version of a common character archetype from movies: the lovable loser. This character is plagued by a combination of bad luck and a general lack of opportunity. And the more we see this loser suffer, the more lovable they become. So much so, that we find ourselves rooting for them. Being a loser, in other words, is an unusually effective way to win fans.

If you're a supporter of the team, I'm sure this sucks to watch. But for the rest of us, it's a fun show. Some want to see if they can redeem themselves and at least get a win or two. Even more may only be watching to see how far into the depths of loserdom they can fall. But the bottom line is, more of us are watching.