With all the losing that’s been going on, Chicago sports fans need to raise their anger game

I chortled upon hearing that Mavericks fans had gnashed their teeth and shaken their fists at the Luka Doncic trade, had held a faux funeral for their beloved hero outside American Airlines Center and had chanted for the firing of Mavs general manager Nico Harrison during a recent Dallas game, leading to some fans being kicked out of the arena.

They think they have it bad?

Try living in Chicago, where fans pay exorbitant rent for the privilege of living in the depths of depression. You want angst over supporting a professional sports team? Try supporting the White Sox, who likely will have their third straight 100-plus loss season in 2025 — that after setting the modern-era record for losses in a season in 2024. Try supporting the Bears, who haven’t won a Super Bowl since the 1985 season. Try supporting the Bulls, who are a gerbil wheel of a franchise, going nowhere in particular. Try supporting the wealthy Cubs, who spend just enough money to be just OK. Try supporting the Blackhawks … nah, don’t even try.

The Mavericks have had a winning record five of the past six seasons and reached the NBA Finals last season before losing in five games to the Celtics. And it wasn’t as if they received nothing for Doncic. The Lakers sent them Anthony Davis, a nine-time All-Star who, when healthy, is one of the most dominant players in the league. Good health and Davis have not been on friendly terms during most of his career, so Mavs fans’ fury has some basis. And, like clockwork, Davis got hurt in his first game with Dallas and is expected to miss multiple weeks, according to ESPN.

But still.

Mavs fans don’t know how good they have it. What a soft, privileged, overwrought bunch they are.

But then I thought about it. Maybe they have it right. Maybe the way to get filthy rich owners’ attention is to make a fuss, although early indications are that this kind of strategy might take some time: When a fan chanted “Fire Nico’’ at a recent game, Mavs minority owner Mark Cuban told him to “sit the f*** down,’’ then had him ejected from the arena. Now there’s a good look for a business.

But that’s how it should be, right? If anger is in the air, things should look like a mess because they are a mess. I wonder if Dallas fans are showing Chicago the proper way to express displeasure. Clearly, passivity hasn’t worked here. Losing 121 games last season didn’t make Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf open his dusty wallet and spend money on better players in the offseason. It actually made him spend less. We haven’t heard much recently on his unspoken threat to move the team if he doesn’t get public funding for a new ballpark. Now, I wouldn’t advocate for a Mavs-style mock funeral, complete with a fake coffin, for the 88-year-old Reinsdorf. That might strike a little too close to home plate for him. Perhaps a tasteful retirement gift for him.

One of the bizarro-world aspects of professional sports is that fans sometimes riot after their team wins a championship. Shouldn’t the riots occur after a team finishes fifth in its division because the owner refuses to invest in the product?

So maybe those angry Mavs fans had it partly right. And maybe Chicago sports fans need to raise their game. This leads to a fundamental question: What are fans who are feeling helpless and hopeless to do? The best way is to stop buying tickets to home games. That means empty seats. That means fewer people watching the game at home. The revolution will be televised, and the ratings will stink.

I’ve politicked for a fan boycott before as a way to punish various floundering Chicago franchises, but it has had little effect. Some fans have indeed stayed away from games, but most can’t quit the team they love. They should rethink that. Boycotts can work. Bears fans chanted “Sell the Team’’ at Soldier Field after the Bears lost 6-3 to the Seahawks in December. It was their 10th straight defeat. Team chairman George McCaskey later told reporters that he didn’t blame fans for their wrath. Was that anger and the Bears’ average home attendance of 58,649, their lowest in years, enough to make the McCaskeys shell out big money for Ben Johnson, who was viewed as the top available head-coaching candidate? There’s no way of telling, but you’d like to think that empty seats spoke loudly and were heard.

State Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Highwood, recently introduced legislation that would force teams to win games before they could get public funds for new stadiums in Illinois. Under Morgan’s plan, franchises would have to win at least half their games in three of their previous five seasons to be eligible for state money. The legislation will go nowhere, but its heart is in the right place. It certainly reflects fan frustration over footing the bill for owners who don’t seem to care enough about winning to do something about it.

So the fan uprising in Dallas? I’m not an inveterate chortler, but I did chortle at their outpouring of outrage. And then I thought: Chicago could use more of this.