( 9:57 PM )
BRAD & JENNIFER HONEYMOON VIDEO
Spent the afternoon at the ballpark. US Cellular Fan Attack Field, formerly known as Comiskey Park. White Sox-Royals. I wanted to see the Royals play while they were in first place, and they won’t be back in Chicago till August. I went alone–which is perfectly normal. If you’re a serial killer. Anyway, here’s a statistical abstract from my day.
2
stadiums; my baseball afternoon started with the sounds of corny organ music and scalpers calling hoarse at the end of a long homestand. And this was half an hour before I got to Comiskey. Standing on the platform at the Addison L stop I had a view of the pregame scene in and around Wrigley for Cubs-Reds.
$1.50
fare for half-hour Red Line journey from Addison-Wrigley to 35th-Sox
$36
price for a ticket 16 rows behind homeplate
$0
amount I spent on concessions
Priceless
an afternoon at the ballpark with your kids. Thank god I don’t have any.
1
people sitting in my row, including me
2
times I was asked by an usher, or whatever they are, to show my ticket in order to prove I hadn’t snuck down to a better seat in the 5% full lower section
44
degrees farenheit at game time
1917
last time the WhiteSox won the World Series, as celebrated by a banner in center field
1919
last time the WhiteSox threw the World Series; no banners for that
4
hitless innings pitched by White Sox starter Esteban Loaiza
4
hits allowed by Loaiza over six innings, in which he gave up one run (earned), struck out 11 and walked two
4
innings before Royals starter Chris George retired the Sox in order
4
Sox home runs; all solo except Carlos Lee’s 5th-inning Grand Slam
5
security guys on the field down the third base line
6
security guys down the first base side, the visitors’ side; the KC boys had threatened not to play unless security was beefed up
2
bats thrown into the stands (accidentally....????) by Royals 2B Carlos Febles
1
times per at bat the drunk-ass south-side bitch behind me shouted ‘you suck’ to Royals hitters
10,116
announced attendance
4,000
actual attendance (my estimate; much closer than the official, laughable figure)
7.5
innings I stayed before seeking warmth
7
runs the Royals trailed by when I left (they lost 8-1)
4:30
I walked off the L train at Addison to a platform packed with smiling Cubs fans who’d just seen the northsiders pound Cincinatti 16-3
So a banner day for Chicago baseball. Of course I had hoped to witness a Sox loss, and maybe see some drunken piece of trash Sox fan charge the field. Well, too bad.
I did enjoy watching Loaiza work. The Royals didn't look like a contender, but I think they'll be fun to watch. Today they lost, but to a hot pitcher and without two of their best every day players: Brent Mayne and Joe Randa. Young Chris George had some good stuff but didn’t spend nearly enough time in the strike zone.
As for the drunken south side trash, I can see that anytime, come Bears season.
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( 12:18 PM )
CATHERINE ZETA-JONES NAKED
I'm going to see if provocative titles will increase traffic on my blog, which as far as I can tell is generating about as much buzz as a six-pack of O'Douls.
Random thoughts for today, Tues. April 15...
It's tax day and I still haven't filed...last year's return. Ha! I denounce the income tax as unconstitutional. Plus I hate filling out the forms.
Memo to Roy Williams: Fuck yourself.
Sunny and 85 degrees in Chicago today. Gorgeous. Lori and I are going to walk home from work tonight (that's her work; I have a meeting downtown this afternoon, but I do not work). The lake shore path will be crowded with joggers, roller-bladers, bikers, dog-walkers and four-ton baby strollers, but the traffic won't spoil the pleasure of a long walk on our first summer night.
So three years ago Roy turned down the job at Carolina, choosing to stay at Kansas, my alma mater, because he said he couldn't look his 'kids' in the eye and tell them there was another team he'd rather coach. Which would imply that this time, there is another team he'd rather coach. He also said, in that misty-eyed news conference three years ago, that he'd be at Kansas till they fired him or drove him away in a hearse. Doh! Good one, you really had us going. Prick.
Then again, HOW 'BOUT THOSE ROYALS? Goddamn and hell if they're not a surprise. I know it won't last, that they'll be out of the post-season race by July, so I'm enjoying it. Been years since I woke up every morning wondering how the Royals did. Exciting stuff.
Now that the war is over, when are we going to start discovering some weapons caches? I can understand not finding any WMDs to this point--our guys have been pretty busy whipping ass. Now though, I need to see some of these horrible threats to our national safety that caused us to whip said ass. Americans have died in Iraq. If they died to save the rest of us from a worse fate, I can live with it. Let's hope...
KU is now operating with no basketball coach and no athletic director. If we lose a few players, we could be in for a multi-year swoon. Bill Self would save us from that fate, and I'd love to see him pacing the Allen Fieldhouse sideline next year, but I don't expect it to happen. He's building something at Illinois, has a good team coming back and a strong recruiting class coming in. KU would be a step up, but not a big one. And there's a lot of uncertainty in KU's athletic dept right now.
Saw a great show last night: The Jayhawks at Metro. An acoustic three-piece set, under two hours, but packed with prairie harmonies and that cool power-twang the Jayhawks do so well. Gary Louris got his vocal swerve on and Metro is the best venue in Chicago for a good singer. They played my favorites from 'Hollywood Town Hall' and 'Tomorrow the Green Grass,' plus most of their new record, which isn't bad.
Sitting here with the windows wide open, it strikes me that the 'beep-beep' backup signal has replaced the emergency siren as the signature sound in American urban life. Whoa.
Dear Coach Williams:
Congratulations. Hope you like your new job, coaching a team full of brats who play in a spiritless dome filled with linen-pantsed douchebags who got rich selling tobacco products to our nation's youth. Best of luck, fucker.
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