Chicago Memories, part VI: Sports/Leisure

Trying to wrap up a few more thoughts on Chicago.... What a great city this is: it waits until my final days here before busting out the really nice weather!

Here are some highlights from a few specific fun times at various sports and leisure events from the past few years.

Sting concert - Fall of '03. Free concert in Grant Park underneath the lights of the downtown buildings spelling out their support for the Cubs, who were playing just up the street at Wrigley Field that night in the NLCS. That was, I believe, the last game before the term "Bartman" became a permanent foul addition to the Cubs fan lexicon. The concert was great too. We were about a quarter mile from the stage, it seemed, and could barely even make out the image of Sting on the video board they'd set up, let alone actually seeing him. But hanging out with friends in that great setting on a perfectly tempered fall evening was very memorable!

Wrigley Field - Speaking of the Cubs, catching a game at Wrigley is an absolute not only for any baseball fan, particularly, but for anyone who just enjoys a fun setting in the summer, too. I had the pleasure of going to several and will miss 'The Friendly Confines'. Of course, the three most memorable games were the only three that I attended where I was not pulling for the Cubbies--last season's inter league sweep by the Tigers!

Red Wings/Blackhawks - Speaking of DET domination over CHI hometown teams.... As a Red Wings fan, its always a blast to go catch the Wings at the United Center, though the atmosphere there has dropped off dramatically with the decline in the Blackhawks prowess over the past few years, and the entire NHL lockout not helping the cause.

Lions/Bears - Okay, so my Detroit teams didn't always fare that well when facing off against their Chicago counterparts. I only made it to one Lions-Bears game at Soldier Field (and, unfortunately, it was already the 'new' Soldier Field at that.). Well, I'll say this about the game... at least we lucked into free tickets from some guy in the parking lot, so we almost got our money's worth.

Tigers/Sox - I can't really say much about the atmosphere at White Sox games in general, but with a big thanks to Julia and Marty, we managed to score some GREAT seats, including some just a few rows behind home plate, to a couple games last year during the Tigers' great run. And even in the years before the Tigers' resurgence, they always seemed to have disproportionate success against the Sox.

Michigan football games - Watching a Michigan-Northwestern game in Evanston is an interesting experience, and typically if you're wearing maize and blue, an enjoyable one, too. (Someone is telling me that I came into town for one of those games in 2000, before I moved here. Strangely, I have no recollection. No, really. They must be making it up. I mean, with a score of 54-51, they must have been talking about a basketball game or something. Right? I digress.)

But aside from those games, one of the greatest things about living in Chicago, for me anyways, was its centralized location and relative proximity to the majority of the Big Ten programs. Of the 63 football games Michigan has played during my tenure in Chicago, I attended 57, including every single game during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. I have attended every home game since 1995--a streak very much in jeopardy should I get a job and a work permit to allow me to stay in Ireland for a longer period of time--but living in Chicago helped me to maximize my attendance at road games as well. I've seen Michigan play at every Big 10 venue at least once (most 2-3 times) plus Notre Dame and several other non-conference stadiums. This is why many who know me so well are highly skeptical that I could opt for a longer stay in Ireland, where I may struggle even to
find the major games on TV. But we'll see how it goes.

It would be impossible to pick just one game over the past five years that is the most memorable, but if I had to choose one that stands out, with proximity to Chicago as a criteria, last fall's 47-21 FBD of Notre Dame in South Bend probably tops the charts.

I'll wrap up the 'sports' section with a memory of the craziest sports road trip I took during my time here in Chicago (it's a close race for craziest overall with the trip to Boston for the NCAA Hockey finals in '98, but that's another story...). On Nov. 9th, 2002, at around 9am, Justin and I left our place headed towards Minneapolis for the Battle of the Little Brown Jug between Michigan and Minnesota. The game was a night game, though, and as we had to pass through Madison, WI on our way anyway, we stopped off at Camp Randall and caught half of the Illinois-Wisconsin game. All decked out in Michigan gear, we got a lot of strange looks and heckles, but we cut out at half-time and got back on the road to Minneapolis. After the Wolverines walked off the field with the Jug firmly in hand, we busted out of town and headed due east, stopping off at a motel in the middle of Nowheresville, Wisonsin around 2am to catch a couple hours nap before getting and continuing on to Green Bay, where we got to take in the awesome atmosphere of Lambau Field, though only to watch the Lions lay another egg. Nearly 900 miles and two and a half football games in just over 24 hours.

Venetian Night - one of my first great Chicago memories, from just a few weeks after I moved in. An annual boat parade in the harbor across the lakefront downtown, Mike came into town to hang out with us and his now-wife, Melissa, and we all headed down to the harbor to watch the boats and the fireworks on a warm August evening, 2002.

Bluesfest/Taste of Chicago - Two of Chicago's most popular summer festivals. Both offer tons of great food and music, though they come at the price of huge crowds, long lines, and, well, ridiculous prices. But hitting either at the right time and with the right folks can be a great experience, especially if you happen to get a rare pleasantly mild, dry day.

Airshow - The Chicago Air and Water Show, while lacking in the close-up looks at static aircraft provided by most airshows, makes up for it with the pacing of the acts. Since the show is held over the public beaches and parks along the city's north side, there is no need to wait for planes to cycle through landing patterns before strutting their stuff for the crowd, so the performers are on show center with very little time in between.

Milwaukee Irish Fest - I finally made it to Chicago's Celtic Fest last fall for the first time. While I got to see a handful of fantastic musicians, the fest is, surprisingly, not nearly at the same size and scope as the Milwaukee Irish Fest, which I made it up to a few years ago with Justin G. It was a treat to get to hear Liam Clancy and Tommy Makem both perform, though odd and sad that they played just a few hundreds yards and 45 minutes apart, yet each made no acknowledgement of the other.

Strictly Sail - Quick. Think Chicago in February. What's the first thing that comes to mind? You mean its not sailboats? Hunh. I've enjoyed heading to Navy Pier and checking out the boats on display each year I've been here, but the best thing about this show, bar none, is that its been good for at least one guaranteed visit from Dad each year!