Crosstown Classic
Week 4 begins - only 1,441 days to go...
Sports were never a big deal in my home. My mother grew up in a small southern town and never really played many sports, although she did learn to ski and play golf as adult. My dad hated golf, didn’t play tennis, and never watched professional sports. I remember an exchange we had one time:
Me: “Dad, who do you think is going to win the Superbowl?”
Dad: “I don’t know. Who’s playing?”
Dad was from Montana. He liked mountain sports like hiking, horseback riding, skiing, fishing, etc. The only time the TV was turned onto sports in our house, was for the Olympics or for skiing events. (Who can forget Jim McKay’s indelible line: the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat? I still cringe, when I think of the image of that poor ski jumper missing the mark and crashing down the hill.)
Which brings me to my senior year in high school, when our class ditch day was to go watch the ‘69 Cubs play at historic Wrigley Field. I was too much a rule-follower to actually play hooky, but after I got home from school I watched the end of the game, to see if I could recognize anyone in the legendary bleachers.
There was so much excitement around the Cubs that year, that I became hooked and followed them for the rest of the season - much to my family’s bemusement. I actually learned to recognize both the names and faces of Ernie Banks, Don Kessinger, Fergie Jenkins, Ron Santo, Glenn Beckert, Billy Williams, et al, as Jack Brickhouse would provide his play-by-play coverage on WGN-TV. The team’s rise and fall of that season was both exhilarating and heartbreaking. I experienced, for a brief a moment in my life, what it meant to be a Cubs Fan. (Check out The Nice Guy, the Bully and the Kiss on Cautionary Tales.)
Chicago is one of the few cities that has two major league baseball teams. As a North-sider, I actually didn’t know any White Sox fans until met some at work several years later. They were an oddity to me. Why would anyone root for the White Sox? Although later, through marriage, I acquired actual Sox fans in my family. My brother-in-law as a University of Chicago graduate, had lived near Comiskey Park. He favors the White Sox and has since passed that loyalty onto my nephews.
There is an undeniable rivalry between the two teams. It’s as big a rivalry as the Red Sox versus the Yankees. The Crosstown Classic games are typically sold out by Chicagoans of both persuasions and are amongst the most popular games of the season with the Northsiders slugging it out against the Southsiders.
But a funny thing happens, when either team is competing against another city, say Cleveland or Los Angeles. The Northsiders will often root for the White Sox and Southsiders for the Cubs. Their common loyalty to Chicago supersedes any loyalty they may have for their own team.
In 2005, when the White Sox swept the Astros in four games, winning their first World Series championship in 88 years, many a Cub’s fan joined the celebration. Then when the Cubs ended the Curse of the Billy Goat in 2016 and defeated the Indians 4–3 to capture their first World Series championship since 1908, the city went wild. People came out in a mind-boggling show of support: it was determined to be the largest crowd ever in Chicago history. City officials estimate 5 million people celebrated the newly crowned World Series champions. While I don’t know the number, I have to believe that a sizable portion in that crowd were perennial Sox fans.
One can’t help but see the parallels with the Republicans and Democrats. I feel like our elected officials in Congress have been continuously playing the Crosstown Classic for way, way too many years. Its members seem very keen on rooting only for their own team.
Isn’t time they started rooting for America?
Thought for the day in honor of his birthday…
“Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can't get you off.” ~Bill Veeck
Check out this app to contact your members of Congress…
5 Calls - apparently the app dials the message and number for you!
What I read every day…
Quote of the day:
“The President took an oath the other day to faithfully execute the presidency of the United States. That means to execute the laws that are passed by Congress, not edicts passed by the Office of Management and Budget. So I hope and believe that our colleagues on all sides of the aisle will realize that this is not a political discussion. This is not a programmatic discussion. This is an institutional discussion that goes to the viability, authority, expertise and work that's based upon Article Three of the Constitution. This is just a usurpation of authority… And if this stands, this will redound to the detriment of both parties, whichever party is in charge.”
~Senator Angus King (I-ME)
What I’m reading today…
Trump’s Gaza Notion Sets Off Democratic Infighting and G.O.P. Doubts
“There was a need to recognize the danger of Trump and some folks in my community, some hustlers, were deliberately deluding themselves and others into thinking this was actually going to be a protest vote. It was a vote for suicide. They were helping to drive the car off the cliff and taking the community and the country with them.”
Is Donald Trump Afraid of Elon Musk?
Since Trump was officially sworn in back on January 20, Musk has increased his influence in the White House to unfathomable levels, even as his behavior has at times been erratic. Musk is now leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency as if there are no limits to his power. His band of teenage and 20-something programmers is burrowing into federal computer systems at breakneck speed, and it’s unclear if Trump has a full grasp on what Musk is doing.
Trump Takes Over the Kennedy Center
Trump never attended the Kennedy Center’s annual gala event during his first term, as artists protested his administration and threatened to boycott Kennedy Center events at the White House. Now Trump is making clear that he will not be sidelined again from the most celebrated cultural institution in Washington.
Every President Has a Foreign Policy. Trump Has Five.
The range of potential outcomes in Trump’s presidency is so extreme because the range of views is so broad. Mapping this terrain is helpful because it reveals the tactical alliances that may emerge and the internal fights that may erupt.
A New Kind of Coup: Trump and Musk are Updating the Autocratic Playbook
It seems like the plot of a political thriller. We are living through a new kind of coup in which Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has taken over the payment and other administration systems that allow the American government to function, and has locked out federal employees from computer systems. Many of Musk’s collaborators in this endeavor previously worked for his private companies and/or helped him take over Twitter.
On day two on the job, Bondi filed lawsuits against Illinois’ governor, Chicago’s mayor, and other officials, challenging that state’s ability to operate sanctuary cities. Between the memos and the lawsuits, that’s a lot to read, let alone understand. So it’s impressive that Bondi also found time to do an exclusive interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News during her second day on the job, with the White House as her backdrop.
Biltmore Village features 14 historic cottages. Should they be lifted after Helene's floods?
The district has historic cottages, hospitals and train stations that were built as early as 1895. With many facing significant flooding, property owners will have to decide how to protect the culturally distinct district, while also maintaining historic buildings and protecting them for the future. But some are advocating for entire portions of the village to be lifted.
The End of Insurance: Climate Change Is Destroying Homeowners and Insurers
In North Carolina’s Buncombe County, where flooding from Hurricane Helene resulted in over 57 fatalities, federal flood insurance covered less than 1% of homes… The traditional insurance model is no longer viable in the face of escalating climate risks that also create systemic financial pressures. The future of insurance must address these challenges by shifting toward models that manage risk and align incentives in better ways.
The Key Products Targeted - Food and gas prices are expected to go up.
Trump argues that these tariffs are meant to protect U.S. interests but has acknowledged that the trade dispute could bring “some pain” to Americans. While China supplies the U.S. with apparel, toys, and electronics, tariffs on imports from America’s closest trade partners — Mexico and Canada — could put even more pressure on domestic issues like the ongoing housing crisis.
The List of Trump’s Forbidden Words
Trump and his fellow fascists use terms like DEI to describe anything they don’t like, which means that the word “women” is on the forbidden list while “men” doesn’t initiate a review.
Trump Appoints Donut Shop Owner as U.S. Ambassador
President Donald Trump announced the appointment of the owner of a Texas donut shop to the position of U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica. Hildebrand and her billionaire husband Jeff Hildebrand donated generously to Trump’s presidential campaign last year.
What I am watching…
“This is like comparing apples and cannon balls…”