Forgive me fellow Chicago baseball fans, for, by your standards, I have committed the ultimate sin. I am a both-fan. I cheer for the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs.

I’ve received my fair-share of flack throughout my life for liking both teams. People have said I’m not a true baseball fan, it’s impossible to like both teams, and I don’t deserve to live in Chicago and be a both-fan. I can’t wear Cubs gear to school because my Sox-fan friends would get mad, and visa-versa. I can’t discuss how a team did because so many people who like the Cubs or Sox discredit what I say just because I like both teams. So I’d like to take this opportunity to explain myself, and make other both-fans (I know you’re out there) feel comfortable. Here are some FAQs I’ve received over the years for being a both-fan:

1.) How did you become a both-fan? Well, you can blame my Dad for that one, because if my Mom had it her way I’d solely like the Cubs. My Dad grew up in Omaha where there are no professional baseball teams, so when he moved to Chicago he took advantage that we had two and decided to cheer for both. He passed that both-fan gene on to me. My Mom and her whole family are die-hard Cub fans, not to mention her brother who won’t even consider me a Cub fan since I like the White Sox as well

2.) Which team do you like more? My answer is very unpopular and political, but it’s true that I like the two teams equally. I consider myself a 100% die-hard Cub fan and 100% die-hard Sox fan. Some consider me to be a fair-weather fan for liking both teams, but that’s not true. I don’t base who I cheer for on who’s doing better. I cheer for the Cubs as much as I do the Sox, and I never cheer for either team to lose. Depending on the situation, however, I may pay attention to one team more than the other.

3.) Who do you cheer for when they play each other? I don’t cheer. I rarely watch the Cubs vs. Sox interleague games, and when I do, I do so as if I’m watching the Toronto Blue Jays play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays—a game that means little to me. I hope that it’s a well-played game and in the end that the two teams split the 6-game series. Truthfully, I hate interleague play solely because I don’t enjoy watching the Sox-Cubs games. Now, my partisan answers may anger some, but they’re stated with the utmost honesty.

4.) How can you think it is okay to be a both-fan? I can do so because while the Cubs and Sox play in the same city, and they’re two entirely different teams. They only play each other 6 times a year, and until interleague play began they never played each other. I don’t consider two teams not in the same division that play each other that rarely a rivalry. As a Cub fan, I hate the Cardinals and Astros. As a Sox fan, I hate the Twins and Indians. All Cubs and Sox fan should be able to do the same. It’s ridiculous when Cub fans pay more attention to the White Sox’s record than the Cardinals record. Those ‘Cub’ fans are not true fans. True fans cheer for their team(s) at all time and cheer against their true division-rivals. Not only am I a true fan, but I consider myself the biggest baseball fan there is. Because of that, I choose to root on two teams all year. How lucky are we in Chicago that we have two teams to cheer for everyday. Also, the sports journalist inside of me lets me be a both-fan since Chicago sports writers have to be unbiased. And lastly, I was born in Chicago, have always lived in Chicago, so I consider it my birth-right to cheer on both teams. It is difficult cheering for two teams famous for their World Series futility, but every win is that much more exciting. So I hope that this explanation will help other both-fans realize they aren’t committing a sin and are just enjoying the national pastime a little bit more than the next so-called baseball fan. I still haven’t answered the most frequently-asked question of a both-fan. I’ve never had a legit answer to this question, so I will do my best to conclude this column with an answer.

5.) If the White Sox played the Cubs in the World Series, who would you cheer for?

Well, in the words of baseball great Yogi Berra: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”