What the heck is a long distance fan?

Growing up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago during the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, I was privy to some great Chicago sports teams. I witnessed the dynasty of the Chicago Bulls, the up and down seasons of the Chicago Bears and despite living in the Northern Chicago area, I was (and am) an avid White Sox fan. I really didn't follow the Blackhawks until a few years before their storied 2010 Stanley Cup Championship, but now see every score and nearly every highlight. I pretty much live and consume as much about Chicago sports as I can. To be fair, I follow the Cubs, but I let out a devilish smirk anytime they lose and the White Sox win. I'm not quite sure why the rivalry, but most of my friends were Cubs fans, and I always felt like the White Sox were always the underdogs when it came to everything, despite winning the World Series in 2005. There's a weird rivalry there, and if the Cubs ever win a World Series (and I'm confident they won't in my lifetime), I would be insanely jealous and depressed. I'm sure this is how most of my friends felt after the Sox won in 2005 as I paraded around with my 2005 Champions merchandise.

So what is the problem here? Millions of people like Chicago sports! This is true. The problem I face is that I am obsessed with Chicago sports, but I live over 700 miles away from Chicago. I moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 2005 and have lived here, cheered here and have been mostly ignored as a sports fan here. With the latest technologies at my fingertips, hasn't it brought me closer to the game? Sure. But nothing can replace talking sports with just about anyone in the Chicagoland area. You go to the grocery store, you can chat up the cashier about how great Devin Hester is. You go to the bank and before you know it, you're discussing the latest Ozzie Guillen tirade after the game last night. These are the things I miss. How does a person cope with not only the distance between them and their team, but them and fellow fans? I'm setting out to explore these options and figure out what it means to be a long distance fan. Any fan of any team can really take pointers from this blog and hopefully apply them to their own sports obsessions.