NEAR WEST SIDE — Avoiding a run-in with his father-in-law, Mayor Rahm Emanuel won't be cheering on the Chicago Cubs at Game 1 of the World Series in Cleveland on Tuesday.
Instead, Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, and daughter will be at Progressive Field on Tuesday night cheering on the Cubs as they fight to make history, Emanuel said hours ahead of the game at the Advocate Center, the Bulls' training facility. The mayor will be watching from Chicago.
"If I went to Cleveland, I would have to see my father-in-law, so I decided to stay here," Emanuel joked.
Rule grew up in suburban Cleveland, according to the Tribune.
Emanuel said he does plan to attend the three weekend home games at Wrigley Field when they return home to battle the Indians.
While Emanuel will be able to take advantage of the Cubs' offer to buy playoff tickets at face value, aldermen won't. The offer to buy tickets at face value could still be accepted by Emanuel and Ald. Tom Tunney, whose 44th Ward includes Wrigley Field, if they attend as the "representative of the city itself" and "the representative of the citizens and businesses in the vicinity" of the Friendly Confines.
Originally, Chicago Board of Ethics Executive Director Steve Berlin ruled that Emanuel and any of the 50 aldermen who take advantage of the Cubs' offer to buy playoff tickets at face value could go in their official capacity.
But on Friday, William Conlon, chairman of the Chicago Board of Ethics, ruled that buying the the tickets at face value would violate ethics rules — upsetting aldermen. The Cubs subsequently said they would not give Chicago aldermen a chance to buy World Series tickets at face value.
When asked about the Board of Ethics ruling, Emanuel said Tuesday that supporting the National League Champions during their historic season should be the the city's priority. The Cubs last appeared in the World Series in 1945, and last won the World Series in 1908.
"Keep in mind what is priority," Emanuel said. "It's not whether an elected official goes to the World Series, it's that the Cubs are going to go to the World Series. That's what matters."
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