The Cubs and the Sox are both in postseason play for the first time in 102 years. An African-American* from Chicago is the Democratic nominee for President and up by 6 points in the latest polls. Road construction on the Edens is over. We even may be getting the Olympics even though most of us don’t want them here. These are heady days for our town. Sure, the Cubs are down 6-2 in the middle of the 8th inning of the first game against the Dodgers, but we’re used to that sort of thing around here. The colors are flaring in Door County and it’s good to be a Chicagoan.
I called my dad after the Sox clinched it last night. I wore my Konerko jersey to work today. Now it’s 6 to 2 going into the 9th. Don’t let my choice of attire fool you, I’m rooting for the Cubs in this one. I just look better in black. I’m genetically programmed to love Chicago baseball. I can’t help it. You’re as likely to find me in one park as the other. They both have their charms and are completely different. If you want to understand the twin soul of this city, you only have to spend time in New Comiskey (I refuse to call it anything else) and the Friendly Confines.
Wrigleyville, while not as swanky as Lincoln Park, is a lively neighborhood that demands to be strolled through and have it’s shops, restaurants and bars explored. Terrific theater abounds and the leafy side streets conceal beautiful homes. New Comiskey is surrounded by housing projects and dilapidated industrial parks, although Chinatown is worth checking out. Just don’t walk there from the park. And, at the bottom of the 9th, it’s 7-2. And now Maddux is pitching. But Theriot makes it to first. Ward grounds out and Theriot makes it to third. And Soriano bloops out. Dodgers win, 7-2. If the statistics I heard were right, that means that the Dodgers now lead the Cubs 1013 games to 1012 all time played.
*Yes, my eugenecist friends, Barack Obama is an African-American despite his mother’s ancestry or even what Rush Limbaugh thinks. Obama cultually identifies as black and cannot ‘pass’ as white.
Teahouse of the Furious Buddha 