DECATUR - The threat of sleep depravation at 5 a.m. didn't stop him from staying up to see the end of marathon Game 3, so White Sox fan Jasone Lewis wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to see the World Series trophy with his son Sean.

Lewis was among the hundreds of fans who eagerly snapped pictures with the baseball icon while it was on display Wednesday night at the U.S. Cellular store at 2950 N. Water St.

"This is one of the coolest things ever. I kind of had to talk him into doing it with me, but it was real important to me," said Lewis of Mahomet, who also braved a wait to see the trophy in Champaign.

First thoughts? "It's pretty cool," said Sean, 7, his eyes buried beneath the brim of a Sox cap.

Decatur was the 23rd city to host the trophy, which recently was flown back from Washington, D.C., after the World Series champs were honored at the White House.

As a thank-you to fans, the White Sox created the 45-city tour, which will traverse Illinois and northwest Indiana, making at least 100 stops along the way. Charleston will play host today before stops next week in Springfield and Bloomington.

The road trip has been so popular that the White Sox are considering adding a mall tour to get to more communities, said Dan Blocker of U.S. Cellular, which is sponsoring the tour. The Illinois State Fair also is on the list of future stops.

"What we've seen is that the fans come out, no matter if they're fans of the Cardinals or fans of the Cubs," Blocker said. "We've seen a lot of people start showing up with White Sox clothes on, and a lot of them say, 'Hey, I haven't been able to pull out this stuff, and now I can come down and see the trophy.' "

But Sox fans weren't the only ones to stop by. Young, old, Cubs, Cards, it didn't matter Wednesday.

Kent Fitzjarrald was dressed in a Sox jersey, carrying a display that included newspaper clippings from the Sox's magical October run.

"I was desperately hoping for a White Sox/Cardinals World Series. My cousin asked me what I'd do, and I said root for the home team, which was the Sox," Fitzjarrald joked. "Boy, would that have been great, we would have had Cubs fans jumping."

Not to say the Loveable Losers weren't gracious in defeat. Jason Mashburn of Decatur brought his two sons - the trio dressed proudly in Cubs blue - for a quick peek.

"It'd be better if it was a Cardinal one, though," said Mashburn before pausing, "It would actually be better if it would have been a Cub one."

Sox fans let them leave without saying a word. It seemed pride helped put the cross-town rivalry on the back burner, at least for a day.

John Dunn of Decatur became nostalgic while talking about the team, which had last reached the World Series in 1959.

"I'll put it this way: I'm a Brooklyn Dodger fan ¦ and I know what that means," said Dunn, recalling the former team's lone World Series win (1955) despite six appearances.

"To have this happen for the White Sox, it was magic," he said.

Michael Drapa can be reached at mdrapa@herald-review.com or 421-7908.