White Sox Dave Evaluates Pearl Gonzalez’ Banned List Status | UFC Fight Pass

In 2016, Dave Williams, a.k.a. White Sox Dave of Barstool Sports, watched as the team he’s dedicated his time, energy and identity to traded away Chris Sale for a flock of prospects with the thought of World Series contention down the line. Williams watched as the entire fanbase seemed to doubt the move, advertisers left, and South Side morale dropped as low as it has ever been.

He tried to assure everybody the future was bright, but his reasoning fell upon deaf ears as people began brushing off baseball altogether or, even worse, reverting to their “second favorite team.” Having seen enough of it, Williams put together a “Banned List” of fans whose allegiance is in question or revoked altogether.

“It was a running list of people who abandoned the rebuild before it even had a chance to matriculate,” Williams said. “Like, Domino’s Pizza was on the list. Anytime you said anything bad about the White Sox I would put you on this list. One of the ways to get on this list was to root for both the Cubs and the White Sox. I’m of the opinion you’ve got to pick one or the other. I hate the Cubs; I think that’s how it should be.”

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One of the biggest offenders of Williams’ unwritten rulebook was beloved Chicago native John Cusack. After multiple runs from both teams in the playoffs, Cusack had found himself the media darling of both fanbases on multiple occasions. Instead of calling into question his ability to bleed both black and blue at the same time, commentators would compliment his love for the city of Chicago.

Williams is never one to shy away from voicing his opinion, and when the stars aligned ahead of a long awaited playoff series and Williams saw Cusack outside of Guaranteed Rate Field, he did just that, but it didn’t go exactly as expected.

“He knew about the list, people have told him about it before and he always had fun with it,” Williams said. “He would give the middle finger to me on different videos on social media, like, he would play into the joke, but I had never met him until that confrontation and I was just going to bust his balls a little bit. It was crystal clear right off the bat that he was offended that I even walked up to him. It kind of caught me off guard.”

Footage of the unexpected confrontation went viral, and Williams remains as polarizing as he ever was, just on a larger scale after the incident.

A lover of all things Chicago, minus John Cusack and the Cubs, Williams is a proud supporter of notable names from his city. From football players to fighters, Williams tries to keep an eye on how Chicago-natives perform in whatever walk of life they choose.

“I always made it a point to look into all the fighters from Chicago,” Williams said. “Anybody who’s been in the UFC from Chicago I’ve at least done a Wikipedia deep dive on.”

A name Williams has come across in his Wikipedia research since entering the life of an MMA fan is Pearl Gonzalez.

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As a South Sider from birth and proud of her Chi-Town roots, she’s tailor-made for Williams to root for. Unfortunately for them both, she may be next on Williams’ Banned List.

Gonzalez didn’t grow up a diehard fan of the Cubs or the White Sox but grew up a fan of the energy both brought. She may have been born in Sox country but can’t deny the Wrigleyville atmosphere. As much as Williams wants her to win any fight she books, her allegiance will forever be in question.

“By her own admission, she wants to root for Chicago, so go ahead, but if she claims she’s a diehard Cubs and a diehard Sox fan, I’d be like, ‘No. that’s impossible. You can’t be a diehard fan of two teams that compete for eyeballs, dollars, fans in seats. That’s impossible. Those two things cannot be true at once,’” Williams explained. “If she’s just like, ‘I’m not really a baseball fan but I like going out to Wrigley,’ fine. I don’t care.”

She may be safe for now, but she is flirting with The Banned List already. Maybe one day the stars will again align, and Williams will casually confront a decorated martial artist about their integrity as a sports fan. Here’s to hoping the UFC veteran has a better sense of humor than John Cusack.

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