While watching tonight's White Sox game, I saw a graphic after Adam Dunn hit a mammoth home run as he pads his resume for comeback player of the year.  Anyways, the graphic showed that Adam Dunn has moved into a 66th place tie for the most home runs in MLB history.  The tie is with two players: Norm Cash and Jeff Kent.  Norm Cash is a member of the '59 Go-Go Sox who was foolishly traded to Detroit before the 1960 season where he enjoyed 5 years of hitting 30 home runs or more.  The other, Jeff Kent, whom I fucking hate.  Along with Brady Anderson, Kent is a redneck posterboy for the steroid baseball era (Yes, I realize being from suburban Los Angeles doesn't make you a redneck but look at his 'stach). 

Moral of the story: reminders of the 'Roid Era, and bad Sox moves for the rest of my life are going to bug the shit out of me.

Discuss!

A hiatus

After over a 3 year hiatus, it's time to flash back on the radar before a going off into oblivion once more. So much has happened with in these 3 years since I've been gone, it would take forever to bring you, the casual sports fan, up to date. Plus, I'm not an almanac. I analyze the present and predict the future. Without doing much of any research, I'm going to address Chicago's #1 sports problem right now. The quality of the Chicago sports reporter. Long are the days of the grey haired, stogie smoking, suit wearing, type-writer savants, and in are the days the likes of Phil Rodgers, Rick Morrisey, Rick Telander, and Steve Rosenbloom. Any Pulitzers amongst that group, I think not. Why has the second city that claims to be second to no one employed second rate reporters? Telander speaks of the irrelevant, Morrisey at best can reproduce beat reporter's column with his plethora of thoughts, Rodgers is stuck in the 70s psychedelic with his thoughts (i.e. Cubs and White Sox should trade front offices), and Rosenbloom is the only reporter with a set of balls on him, but is often stuck in fantasy world like Rodgers.

Well what if you want to turn on the television you say? Have you ever seen Chicago Tribune Live. I could not imagine a more suburban, let's give everyone gold ribbons in tee-ball program; especially when it's lead by the castrated David Kaplan. Chicago Tribune Live is a glorified network news 5 minutes sports segment. There is no analyzing, and they often rely on reporters to go out of their comfort zone and make remarks on an array of sports which does not produce viewable results.

Why is this problem? Simple. It's a toss up between Chicago and Philadelphia for the toughest sports town in America. Only in Chicago will you see starting quarterbacks being booed in the preseason, ballplayers being booed on opening day (surprisingly on both sides of town), fans showing their displeasure by empty seats (Hawks and Sox), and fans showing their loyalty with full seats (Bulls during the Jordan to Rose gap; Cub fans should look at the Hawks and Sox on how to gain attention). With fans as passionate as these, why is that the face of the fan in Chicago is lead by such an under deserving group of reporters. Say what you want about Jay Mariotti, and I will say that personally I did not like him, but you cannot take away what he did. He decided to pick and prod on the tiny issues, expose the major issues, and say what you don't want to hear but better listen up too. And it pains me to say that the last sports reporter in Chicago with a backbone was that dickwad.

True Fan = Road Trips

Before I was introduced to Section 8, my family showed me that true fans take roadtrips. Since around 1999, every couple years we would plan our vacations around the White Sox schedule. I have seen the Sox @Oakland, @Cleveland, @Kansas City, @Cincinatti, and @Pittsburgh. Since I started traveling with the Fire in 2006 I have been @Columbus(2), @Toronto, @New York, @Washington DC (2), and @New England (Boston). With the new schedules out for both teams here are the roadtrips I plan this year for my team.

White Sox
Once again my family is planning another vacation around the White Sox and talks this year is to see them at Minnesota for a 3 game series. This year being the last year of Yankee stadium, I would also love to visit that stadium and will look to do so during the White Sox 4 game series there Monday September 15 - Thursday September 18.

Fire
Playoffs and US Open Cup aside, I will aim for around 4 regular season games to go to = @Columbus (Saturday July 5, drunk bus), @Kansas City (Sunday July 27), @Kansas City (Sunday October 5), and @Toronto (Saturday October 18). The only other appealing regular season game would be @Houston (Saturday May 17).

Spring is almost here!

Groundhog day has passed. If you know the results please let me know. Tomorrow there is a storm coming in that is suppose to produce 7-10 inches of snow, but in my mind spring is 30 seconds away. White Sox pitchers and catchers report to camp in around a week and the Fire preseason camp begins in what seems like hour. This is such a fun time of the year when fans all around the USA are once again able to come out from under a rock and discuss their teams offseason moves (or lack there of) with other fans. The White Sox and Fire have both have pretty interesting offseasons so far.

The White Sox have been built to be in the top 1/4 of the MLB, and on their budget, that's not terrible. Hopes are very high surrounding Carlos Quinten. All I hope is that Quinten can become a very fun, well rounded player to watch so that I feel that we stole back a poor man's Chris Young from the D-Backs. There are still so many question marks that will be solves in the next month and a half. Who is going to win the spot for 3rd base, or the 3rd outfield spot? Where will Uribe go? Does Richar have a big spring training? If Crede proves to be healthy, if and when will he be dealt? I'm also happy with the way the White Sox have gone with their television broadcasts of spring training because I should catch around 6 telecasts.

The Fire on the other hand are now surrounded with more question marks than when I last posted. Since that time we have lost Matt Pickens to Queens Park Rangers and our rookie goalie Dominic Cervi "favors" us in signing him. There is still the presence of John Busch, and in "Busch I trust" for now. Also there is no definite answer to right mid. Right now the possibilites range from Logan...Pause, Bruno Menezes, Calen Carr, and Chris Rolfe. There is still no striker to compliment Chris Rolfe (although Pole Thomas Frankowski will train with the team). I was told by a friend that he had John Guppy (GM) tell him that these next 3 weeks will be very fun for Fire fans with new player signingsm. Well one week there has been nothing.

Regardless of these situations, I can still hold my chest out, my head high, and my stomach hasn't dropped yet over these two teams. It's almost spring and I'm loving it!

Winter Lull

Haven't posted in a week because there has been really nothing to post on. The Fire were in talks with Paris St. Germaine (PSG) striker to fill in at left mid, but I hear that has diminished. The White Sox just had Sox fest where everyone seemed very optimistic, I wonder why. In December Thome and another player (I think Jenks, not sure) expressed their anger at the organization's lack of roster changes, and that was after the trade for Cabrera was made. Since that time, the Sox have made 2 roster moves, signed Octavio Dotel for way too much and traded 3 of the White Sox top 7 prospects for average but very fun Nick Swisher.

At SoxFest many comparisons to the 2005 team was made on how we were picked to finish in 4th and no one believed in us. The difference between 2005 and 2008 is the offseason. Keep in mind back in 2005 we signed Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. Dye and Pierzynski were huge additions, and it was clear to see that if Jose Conterars did not have El Duque by his side, he would have been a flop just like he was with the Yankees. This year the Sox have added a solid short stop, outfielder, and bullpen relief. Also, Jerry Reinsdorf made an interesting comment the other day when he said he thinks the White Sox pitching is better than Detroit, Cleveland, and Minnesota. I do not know what he is looking at, but last time I checked the Sox still had major question in the 3, 4, and 5 starters. Right now, it seems to me that White Sox are pinning their playoff hopes on Gavin Floyd and Jon Danks (now you can see why even though I am the forever optimist, I still don't have the Sox making the wild card).

Besides SoxFest, much really hasn't been done. The NHL all-star game was Sunday, or so I was told, it's Super Bowl week, but who really cares about 2 East Coast teams, and the Bulls and Hawks still suck. Thank God for the English Premier League and torrents to keep me through this long winter.

A Southsider's top 5 announcer list

For me there is nothing better than on a Saturday evening to sit outside and listen to a White Sox game on the radio, but in order for this to be an enjoyable thing, there has to be good announcers. Throughout the years with all the sports I have watched, I have heard some good ones, but still have looked up video and audio clips of the legends from the past. This is my list of the top 5 announcers (color or play-by-play).

5. Ray Hudson
I am pretty new to Ray Hudson's work, but he still cracks my top 5. Not caring that much about soccer in Spain, I can sit back with a beer, and Hudson's passion and enthusiasm for the game makes me even get into it. He also has some of the best one liners out there. My favorite would be, "Real Madrid is a 5 pound chicken trying to lay a 6 pound egg". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x7gu-7WXvI

4. Johnny Red Kerr
In my life, Johnny Red Kerr has been a staple for the Bulls as a color man, and at his finest when teamed up with Wayne Larrivee. Johnny had good insight from being a player and a Bulls coach, and clearly loves the Bulls. The following is not a good clip of Red Kerr but he lays a great one liner around the 30 second mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX6CinctnbQ

3. Hawk Harrelson
Whether it's his hate of Jay Mariotti or his famous home run call, Hawk is a White Sox legend. At his best when teamed up with Wimpy, the Sox were very enjoyable to watch back in the mid to late 1990s even though of their record. The Hawk lives and die White Sox and his announcing during this past year showed that. Comcast asked Hawk to be quiet when he gets mad so he doesn't say anything dumb on live television, that is why in games the Hawk would be silent for minutes at a time because he couldn't see his Sox lose.

2. Pat Foley
After being gone for 2 years, Pat Foley is still the face of the Black Hawks organization. Growing up most of my life without cable and never going to games, Pat Foley was my way of knowing what Chicago hockey is. There would be nights where I would fall asleep listening to Foley announce a Hawks game. It is a shame that the Hawks let him go, but every now and then I'll watch a Wolves game just to hear Pat Foley's play by play call.

1. John Rooney
The worst move the White Sox made after winning the world series was letting John Rooney go. Having possibly the smoothest voice to ever call the game of baseball, John Rooney doing the play-by-play was magical. He is my favorite announcer of all time because he was almost the voice of reason and kept everyone calm during the White Sox slide almost out of the playoffs in 2005. From the calls of "it's a White Sox winner" to "it's a goner", Rooney, in my opinion, is what all announcers should aspire to be.



News and Notes
The Fire have a had great draft this past Friday and continue their wheeling and dealing ways by sending Jim Curtin to the Chivas USA for a draft pick, and acquiring the signing rights to Andy Herron for a 4th round draft pick in 2010. Also there are reports that the Fire will be announcing a new player signing soon.......For pictures of what most of the MLS home jerseys will look like, go here: http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/8012/allmlsna4.jpg (takes a while to load).

The United Center -- Night and Day

After attending back to back Bulls games this weekend, I observed many things that are different between the two teams at home. The first most notable difference is the ticket prices. For a 300 level corner ticket in the stadium, my tickets prices were insane. For section 331 row 13 seat 11, the price was $40, for section 315 row 2 seat 8, the price was $50 (obviously both tickets were freebies). For hawks game, end line tickets are $8 with a student ID. If I were to sit in those tickets would both be $30 respectably. In terms of a family of 4, that's a savings of $40-$80. Another big difference is the absence of Frank Pelico at Bulls game. In my opinion Frank Pelico is the Nacy Faust of the United Center and should be utilized for both teams.

One of the greatest Black Hawk traditions of clapping during the national anthem is not done for Bulls games. Even if you sing the national anthem, you feel like you're making too much noise. Once the game get started for the Bulls the crowd is very quite and subdued (even against DETROIT), and there is a lot of artificial noise to help make the stadium louder. It even took the crowd until 2 seconds left in the game to start a Detroit Sucks chant. What, a person will get that in the pregame of a Hawks game, even when the Hawks don't play the RedWings!
I also didn't see a sense of urgency or tension at Bulls fans. At the Hawks games, everything is F-this or F-that, while at Bulls games, I felt in in southern California because it seemed everyone was even oblivious to the events of Joakhim Noah from last week because when he came in, there was no applause or no boos, the crowd didn't even seem to care.

Another thing that was dissapointing at Bulls game is that people didn't respond to the chants on the big screen. When a call for defense or let's go Bulls was put up, it was almost as silent as it was before, while at BlackHawks games it won't take the crowd the big screen to get a let's go Hawks chant started.

The biggest difference for me between the games is the yuppie factor. Bulls games have become the mall of late teenagers and older, it's a social statement to go to a Bulls game. Blackhawks games on the other hand are different. Level 100 still is yuppie but once you get up to the 300 level, it's what most people call "southside scum". It's people who come, pay their $15 a ticket, take the family out, swear, drink, yell, for their Black Hawks team to win. Black Hawks have geniune heart at every game because once you leave the stadium, you're looking for a fight, while at the Bulls game on friday, it took me until the walk to the car to realize the Bulls lost.