I admit it: I'm an arrogant Chicagoan, although you may have already guessed that. I instinctively say "Chicago" in reference to my entire state, and I am never satisfied by pizza made outside my city's limits. People from my fair city tend to feel a little bit superior to those from other cities. Our big shoulders are trumped only by our bigger egos.

It's the third largest city in the United States (puny Milwaukee is only 23rd), populated by nearly 3 million people (Milwaukee scrounges up just over half of a million). And even though New York City and Los Angeles may think they know what's up, I don't see either of them with a bid in for the Olympics.

Although she's a Minneapolis native (which is only 60 sq. miles, a quarter of Chicago's span), my girlfriend patiently allows me to wax poetic about the greatness of Chi-Town.

But being such a large, diverse metropolitan area, some pockets of the city form their own identities. Most notorious is the Crosstown Showdown, the six games in which White Sox play that other team. It's the ultimate face-off between North Siders and South Siders.

As a born and bred South Sider, I am proud to share in the collective swagger shared by residents of the less flashy half of the city. Instead of the trendy bars, hippie hummus joints and artsy feel of the North Side, we South Siders flaunt our dive bars, our tiny bungalow houses and our sub-grade taco stands.

But once a year, the South Side steps into the spotlight. Three hundred thousand people show up annually to attend the South Side Irish parade, a route that spans a mere mile and a half in a residential area. When St. Patrick's Day fell during Holy Week last year, the parade committee moved the parade a week earlier so that residents would be able to make their way to Palm Sunday mass.

It's crowded, messy and full of public drinking and debauchery — and it has been hands down my favorite event each year for as long as I can remember. Over break, my friends and I realized the very first song we can remember learning was "The Ballad of the South Side Irish," a tribute to our Irish heritage and our unique culture and experience on Chicago's South Side.

Finally after 31 years, though, our Irish luck has run out. The committee said the parade had grown to "international proportions" in an area that simply could not sustain such numbers. 53 arrests were made this year, and residents reported attendees urinating on their property.

"While we regret the need to alter such a fine tradition, the committee feels that suspending the South Side Irish Parade in its present form is the just and responsible thing to do," the committee said in a press release. They said they wish to continue a yearly cultural celebration, but we all know how spinoffs usually turn out.

"There's a great spirit here in Beverly and on the South Side when it comes to St. Patrick's Day, and we intend to honor that," event organizer Mary Beth Sheehan told Chicago's Southtown-Star.

I don't know how to describe the depth of my disappointment. I feel as though I lost a piece of my past, my home. I love being a South Sider, proud of our blue-collar culture and simple values. Even if events still take place, the death of such an iconic tradition is something from which we will not easily recover.

"Slán go fóil" South Side Parade.