Memories of Superbowls Past

1/31/13

Once again, it's time for the only day this year that you'll ever hear anyone say, "Shut your yapper, I'm trying to watch these commercials!"  It's also the only day of that year that people seem to use Roman Numerals.  Yes, it's the Superbowl!  After fighting two people for the last Haas avocado at the grocery store, we all crowd in front of a 112 inch high-definition LCD-TV to watch a football game played between two teams that we don't care about.  We complain about the halftime show and wonder aloud why it's always the people at our office who make entirely too much money that win the office pool.  As Chicagoans, it's another excuse to re-live memories of Superbowl XX (which translates to "20") when our beloved Bears stomped on the Patriots.  Next to putting a man on the moon, it's the single most important event in history for those in Chicago.  I was in third grade at the time and remember how special it was at the time that the nuns at my Catholic school allowed us to decorate our lockers with Bears posters (we promptly had to remove them following the game).  Now each Superbowl is a reminder of something even more frightening than Tom Petty's 2008 halftime show: Sunday's game will be Superbowl XLVII ("47").  That means it's been (gasp) 27 years since Superbowl 20.  Apparently, I haven't been in the third grade for a while now.  I'm gonna shut my yapper now...

Why I Should Have Been A Baseball Player

1/21/13

I could be wrong, but I believe the word "January" comes from the Latin word "le January" which means: "dark, dreary and depressing."  With its short overcast days and long cold nights, I can't think of a month with less sex appeal.  Heck, even psychologists discovered the most depressing day of the year falls in January.

This is the time when we take inventory of our lives and set goals or resolutions to go along with the lofty aspirations we attach to the New Year.  It all coincides with the arrival of our W-2 tax forms that bluntly remind us how little money we earned in the previous year.  For me, it's the time when I am reminded that I should have been a baseball player.  Why?  Just look at some of these contracts that these former Chicago players received.

Fukudome has 5-1/2 million reasons to smile.

Chris Volstad managed to get a $1.5 million minor league contract from the Colorado Rockies after posting a 3-12 record with a 6.31 ERA with the Cubs in 2012.

Geovany Soto milked the Rangers for $1.5 million after hitting a robust .198 last season.

After being released by the White Sox with a lousy .171 average, Kosuke Fukudome went and signed a three-year $5.5 million contract to play for a Japanese team.

While the rest of us are groaning next January, these three guys will be laughing when they look at their W-2s.

"Thank You. Have A Good Night!"

1/3/13

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "Midwest values"?  I can sum it up with one simple story (actually, it's a story that repeats itself daily).  I take public transportation to work every day and each night I notice as passengers pause before exiting the bus.  Each of them, as if they were old friends, tell the driver, "Thank you!  Have a good night."  There it is: two strangers in a crowded city wishing each other a pleasant evening.  It's a simple, yet beautiful gesture that plays out here each night in the Midwest, and it's something that I'll never tire of seeing.