Monday, July 25, 2005

Chicago native misses the point....

Just because you grew up here and then moved away doesn't mean you know Chicago in 2005.

http://www.rogersimon.com/archive/2005/07/stop_the_presse.html

I get his point, but this is not the whole story. As a great nephew of Mayor Kelly of Chicago (he was my father's uncle), I have a soft spot for the system.

However, when the people given the jobs don't do it, or overcharge for their work, or do private work on the city's dime, all while services get cut and fees go up, it is worth looking at.

The Hired Trucks scandal is real. Giving Mayor for Life II this wet kiss (even without mentioning his name) gives people the same wrong impression that many outside of the City have.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

I predict...

Patterson (among others: Mitre?) to the Marlins (or Orioles) as part of a 3 team trade that sends Jorge Julio and Juan Pierre to the Cubs, with Burnett and Lowell to the Orioles.

I just hope we do not have to take Sosa back as part of the trade.

Your 1976 NL All Star Catcher


Really small picture, I know, but what can you do.

The White Sox made Swisher their number-one draft choice in June of 1973, but sent him to the Cubs in the deal for Ron Santo that December. Though Swisher proved to be a disappointment, in 1976 he was the sole Cub named to the NL All-Star team (fuck that Sparky Anderson for not playing him); a special project of coach Lew Fonseca, he hit well in the first half, and was batting .394 against the Reds, whose manager, Sparky Anderson, chose the squad. Swisher finished the season at .236.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmm......


So, during my single days, possibly during the Summer of Greg, I was set up by my old boss, whose wife knew of a young lady that was looking to meet a nice young man. We went out, I think, twice, once to a Cubs game, and once for a couple beers. It didn’t go poorly, but neither one of us felt anything. I do think she thinks she broke my heart.

I remember feeling good when she told me it wasn’t going to work. I could then take up with this other girl I had met. No future there either, but I digress.

So, as I was having breakfast at, natch, The Breakfast Club, in walks this girl and a classmate from the Academy. Dave Turner.

Good for both of them.

Who cares? No one, but it’s a blog, and I can put any worthless crap I want, right?

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Typical of this White House


"They will offer more lectures, and legalisms, and carefully worded denials. We offer another way, a better way, and a stiff dose of truth. "

Dick Cheney - 2000 Republican Convention Acceptance speech

Monday, July 11, 2005

More Neil Steinberg...

Let's try a little thought experiment, shall we?

I put a big bag containing $1 million in crisp new $100 bills in front of you and promise that it's yours if you correctly answer this question: What city hosted the summer Olympics in 2000? Only five years ago ... and a million bucks is yours ... could you do it? Me neither. Which is why, even before the London attacks, all of New York let out a collective sigh of relief after the International Olympic Committee, a scary bunch of Eurotrash if ever there was one, decided to hand it to London in 2012 — I bet they're looking forward to that now. I won't bother exploring the many other reasons New Yorkers are happy — money saved, inconvenience avoided, to name two.

But I will point out how superfluous the Olympics have become. Back before the Soviet Union fell apart, the Olympics had a certain dramatic tension — would we beat the Russkies? Was that East German lady weightlifter really a man?

Now they're just a cattle casting call for the next two years of Nike ads. Host the Olympics? I wouldn't even want to watch the Olympics. Think of the events. Swimming. Pole vaulting. The high jump. All fine activities — for high school and college athletes to participate in, and for their friends and families to watch. But for other people? Strangers? Did you ever say to yourself, "What I'd really like to do this weekend is watch a javelin toss?" Bet not. And I haven't even mentioned gymnastics. Those poor little girls. What kind of twisted parent would permit their child to toss away youth irretrievable trying to land a triple flip? Again, fine for a 5-year-old at the Parks Department. At the Olympic level, it's child abuse.

I won't keep you in suspense: Sydney, Australia, hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics. And no, you don't get $1 million if you knew the answer. I was being hypothetical.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Nice Quote

“It is important for families to hold together in the face of loss. They must cling to each other, despite the impulse not to, despite the differences that come welling up at unexpected moments such as these. The tendency over time is for a family to become a puddle, drying in the sun. When what it needs to be is a river, inevitably replenishing. The water rushes in, remains for too brief a span, then rushes away, irretrievable. That is sad. But the river remains, deathless, enduring. A refutation of death, to those who hold fast to it.”

Neil Steinberg