I think you and I were similar as youths.

_________________

Ahh, hell, it's Friday night, I've cracked the Tito's. Let's just tell some stories.

My uncle was head of a big medical association in Chicago on the '80s. He always told us if we ever wanted seats he's got season tickets in back of the Bulls bench. So, one day, he just gave my Dad 4 tickets on what happened to be my 19th birthday on what was still George Washington Day 1990, a Monday afternoon.

To me, "in back of" meant 20 rows back. We get there....front row...10 feet behind the bench. We have cocktail waitresses walking past getting Dad drinks, 10 years before that was a thing. Chet Coppock walking past us in a full-length fur coat. Otis Thorpe was the biggest human I'd ever seen in real life.

But the thing I'll always remember. Smiling Michael Jordan from the Nike and McDonald's commercials, that super-nice guy, was in every teammate's face screaming words that I thought you weren't supposed to say to African-Americans with a tone that was different from the commercials. He seemed angry. It was quite something.

_________________
You know me like that.

Would he act differently today, given that everyone has cell phones? I always wonder what goes on down there today.

_________________

That's why he's the greatest ever.

_________________

I was always fascinated by Dave Winfield. He could have played any sport he wanted. How did he wind up at U of Minnesota?

I was at 3, 4, and 5 also. That Colorado game was the highlight of Illini football in that era.

_________________
You know me like that.

Pretty fucking sad list

1. Sosa hitting his 60th and 61st. Watched both sail over my head in left field.

2. Chicago Wolves winning the Turner Cup in 1998. Thought this would be the only time I'd see a Chicago hockey team win a cup.

3. Ozzy Osbourne singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame

4. Zambrano no-hitter.

5. Last game against Seattle in the old Comiskey Park in 1990. Remember watching my dad cry for one of the few times in my life.

_________________

98 - Brant Brown game
91 - My first game at the new park...saw Clemens vs McDowell as the pitching matchup
2000 - Sox vs Yankees, Friday night game, Mariano Rivera blew a save on a Carlos Lee home run. Sox won in 10 on a walkoff hit by Herbert Perry
91 - Saw Dominick Hasek start for the Hawks against Quebec
92 - Larry Bird's last game at Chicago Stadium

_________________

Yeah--Illini football went way down two weeks later.

You were at the Mount Carmel-Lanphier game?

_________________

Your second one almost made my list. Was at that game, too--best seats I ever had, right behind home plate. Tino Martinez kept coming over and talking to us. Great game, beautiful evening. I thought HP scored, though--I thought I remember him clenching his fist as he crossed home plate. Whatever--great game.

_________________

Maybe Perry scored...I had a few that night...remember the rain delay right before the start of the 7th? I sat in the last row of the lower level behind 1st base...covered. Beer vendor hung out right next to me...and I wasn't driving.

I do remember thinking Manuel was an idiot for sending Parque out there after the rain delay, and I want to say it was Paul O'Neill that proved me right.

_________________

2 weeks later was the Nick Bell Iowa game, correct?

I was wrong. I was at the 1985 Class A championship with St. Mel and Lowell Hamilton.

_________________
You know me like that.

Yep. The Illini got their asses handed to them. I'll never forget Nick Bell running over people.

Ah, ok. I actually saw Providence-St. Mel play that year (Mount Carmel played them in a tournament around Christmas).

_________________

I think you are right. Boy, for a guy who started 9-1, Parque sure sucked the rest of the way through.

_________________

Another story, not a great game.

JORR's partner won a block of 12 tix for a White Sox game circa early-90s behind home plate and invited our group. Turns out - top row of the upper deck 3 miles up. Literal up 100+ steps. Nobody else was there.

So we paid the beer vendor to sit with us so we didn't have to go all the way down to get a beer and he didn't have to trek around empty seats. Win/Win.

_________________
You know me like that.

Parque was bad.

I'm still cracking up about Kenny getting Fat Fuck Wells for Mike Sirotka.

Damn...that 2000 team had a horseshoe up their collective asses. Pretty much lasted until Cal Eldred's forearm exploded and James Baldwin's elbow went wonky

_________________

I loved hearing Jimmy Piersall call Parque a punk.

They had that great road trip that year--swept the Yankees and Tribe back to bac.

_________________

That Sunday game of the trip was Father's Day...Jose Valentin went absolutely nuts that day...drove in like 5-6 runs

_________________

1) Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world. The two previous years I had season tickets. I was so disgusted that they got rid of Lee and Magglio that I didn't renew. Go figure. So now I was really going to have to pay for the ticket. I was going through some hard financial times that year. I had been fired from my own business and my horse racing empire was crumbling. Tough times. I sold Glenn Beckert's 1969 batting helmet for $750 to get the cash to go to the game. Three friends and I waited until the last minute at Jimbo's and we were able to buy four seats together in the 500 level for $2400. It was great to see them pound the shit out of Clemens. Contreras was a little shaky early, but the Sox scratched one out and you know the rest. I think Game 2 is regarded as the better game. It probably was. We tried to go again, but it was a much tougher ticket. Seats were going for over $1000 apiece. Still, I wouldn't have missed the first World Series game in Chicago in 46 years.

2) Game 1 of the 2005 ALDS. The Sox wrecked that fucking turd Matt Clement throwing up 5 in the first inning. I didn't believe they could actually win the World Series at that point, but I was starting to believe maybe something good could happen.

3) 1993 Little Brown Jug. Life Sign was going against a four hose entry from the powerful Robinson stable. A horse winning first over on all four turns in a race of this caliber was simply unheard of. But Life Sign went all those extra feet and still dug deep at the end to outkick Presidential Ball and Riyadh, two great horses in their own right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxQUGTaKS3M

4) 1983 Evanston-New Trier football games. There were actually two games just a couple weeks apart. Two great teams. The first one was a real shootout with New Trier getting the best of it 26-25. The second one was a playoff game and it was a shitty fall day. New Trier had this kicker who was supposed to be so great, Rob Houghtlin. He would later go on to kick for Iowa and boot a game-winner vs. Michigan a couple years later. But on this day, with the weather, he wasn't looking so great. He missed two kicks in the game and the Evanston crew and I were laughing at him. "This guy isn't so great!" It was tied 3-3 late and he lined up for a long one. I knew he was gonna make it. Evanston lost 6-3. My future brother-in-law and his friends were all big contributors for New Trier in both games. If bigfan were here he would confirm how great these games were.

5) Cambest World Record Time Trial. Twenty-three years later, modern race bikes, the elimination of the hubrail, and still no horse has ever paced a mile faster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbr0o1RTOH4

_________________
Freedom is our Strength.

In no particular order


-Sox Blackout game

-Marty Morninwheg kicking off to start OT in Champaign. Edinger kicked about a 40yard fg to snap a 7 or 8 game losing streak for the Beloved

-A random Thurs afternoon, Sox hit 4hrs in a row against the Royals

-Bo Jackson's first game the Sox. They beat the Yankees, and he hit a laserbeam for a HR to the right field stands. I dont think the ball ever got more than about 30' off the ground

-Konerko gets hit in the head, then comes back to hit 2 homers off Kerrie Woods as the Sox come from 8 down to beat the Cubs 13-9

_________________

Tadahito Iguchi drove in 7 runs on 2 HR in the last 2 frames to send a game against Houston to extras, where the Sox lost. It was unbelievable.

2005 ALCS game 2, the dropped 3rd strike game.

Saints/Bears NFC Championship. The result of that game was never in doubt.

I went to a Rockies/Phillies game in Denver a few years ago and squirrel ran loose in the OF for like 10 minutes with all these security people trying to helplessly corral it.

i was there too. in a suite, because my sister was working for livenation at the time and got us hooked up. fun fact: billy corgan was in our suite. that's when i found out about his skin condition. almost got beaned with a foul ball. smacked the glass right in front where he was sitting. we all had a big laugh, including him. he was chill.

1. Bears / Saints NFC Title game

2. Bears / Packers NFC Title game

3. Cubs playoff clincher over cards last October

Honorable mentions

* Cubs / Sox game a few years back; both pitchers (Lilly, Floyd) flirted with no-hitters. Cubs won 1-0

* Bears / Lions in Champaign -- big q4 comeback and OT win when Detroit defers the kickoff.

* Grossman tearing his ACL in Minnesota

* 2005 Bears sunday night "statement game" vs seattle

_________________
"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

JORR, you got that much for a Glenn Beckert helmet? That's crazy.

I did an Illini/Bears doubleheader weekend in Champaign during the renovation.

Don't remember much, I was pretty much drunk the whole time. I think the Bears lost and somebody took a kick back. It was great.

_________________
You know me like that.

2015 Big Ten Championship Game
Michigan State 17 Iowa 13
Probably the best and most nerve wracking game I've ever seen. Playoff spot on the line for the winner.


Sept 30, 2004 Reds 2 Cubs 1
Mark Prior K's 16 in 9 innings but the Cubs lose in extras. This was the culmination of the collapse to end the season, and I believe the infamous Steve Stone interview was after this game.


2005 Citrus Bowl Iowa 30 LSU 25
Iowa wins on a hail mary as time expires.


2010 Orange Bowl Iowa 24 Georgia Tech 14
We won the fucking Orange Bowl!

2016 Rose Bowl Stanford something Iowa 14
Just always wanted to go to the Rose Bowl even though we go our asses kicked.

_________________
Git on back there.

1. Cubs-Giants one game playoff in 1998. Best atmosphere for any game from start to finish.

--Bears/Saints NFC Championship

--1992 Iowa State Beats top 5 Nebraska, terrorist students tear down goalposts risking mass death and multiple insurance claims.

--Ryder Cup @Medinah

--Last game of the NLDS last year v. Cardinals.

_________________
Soccer 1,2,3
Spanish Honor Society 1,2,3,4
Forensics 1,2,3,4

"Smiles with Nostrils"

"...no Hmong, go find some blacks"

Yeah, I'm thinking in the right auction it's probably worth a bunch more. Beckert's not a Hall of Famer or anything, but there's a pretty strong cult around that 1969 Cubs team. And this is a one of a kind item. Sui generis. One of one. I would bet the guy who bought it has had it signed by now.

_________________
Freedom is our Strength.

i'll always remember that one. i had flown out to NYC with the baseball uncle because that weekend (~sept 13th? 2008) both the mets and yankees were home so we managed to get tickets for shea on saturday and old yankee stadium on sunday (and the saturday/shea day ended up being a str8up doubleheader so we got 2 games with one ticket and johan santana started the first one... AND they gave us a free camo mets hat when we walked in, sunday @ OYS ended up being david price's MLB debut) --- and it was some kind of monsoon out here late-late-friday into sat/sun (which flooded the shit out of my basement). the white sox were home for sunday night baseball and smehow a cubs game had gotten moved up to milwaukee and it was going alongside the whitesox snb game.

we got back to the hotel after a sweltering afternoon out in the bleachers @ OYS ("family section" so no alcohol, it felt like 300 degrees out there, and ofc who the fuck puts a flagpole RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR SIGHTLINES?!) and as we flipped on ESPN zambrano was up in miller park doing his thing and we got to catch that game from like the 3rd-4th inning to the end (as ESPN was able to go away from the boring whitesox game and do live coverage of zambrano's no-hitter).

ahh yes it was one hell of a baseball weekend that i vaguely remember including a ~3am $93 cab from manhattan back to queens (hotel was walking distance from laguardia, and yeah i left the nightcap of the shea DH early to go out to manhattan to have a night out with my friend out there) and then at the end of it all there i was on like ~3hrs sleep thoroughly cooked blasting the hotel room AC on max watching my favorite damn pitcher throw a no hitter. que sera sera!

does anyone remember why that zambrano no hitter @ miller park was moved up there? rainout/makeup-game that couldnt be played at wrigley?

_________________

Geez, most of you have really sad sports histories.


1. 2010 Stanley Cup Finals game 6 at Philly. : No explanation necessary.

2. 1987 NCAA tournament round 2 at the Rosemont Horizon, DePaul beats St. Johns in OT.: What an unbelievable game from start to finish. Dallas Comegys misses a FT on purpose at the end of regulation and Kevin Edwards gets the rebound and lays it in to force OT. Amazing battle all game long between NY playground legends Rod Strickland and Marc Jackson.

3. Bulls title run #4, second round win vs Orlando: Taking on the team that knocked them out the year before (Brick Anderson famously saying "I guess 45 isn't the same as 23"), Bulls down 20+ points in the 3rd, John Bach releases the dobermans and MJ, Harper, Pip and Rodman decide that for the rest of the game Orlando isn't even going to get the ball over half court, let alone get a shot off.

4. Gretzky goes off at the Chicago Stadium: Not sure of the year, but assume 85ish, Oilers dismantle the Hawks in a shootout, 7-5 or 7-6, Gretzky in on every goal.

5. Bench clearing brawl between Sox and Tigers Don't remember the date, but the cool thing about this was I was sitting 5 rows behind home plate so had a great view of the fighting.



As for worst sporting event, gotta go with 1993 ALCS game 1. Rickey Henderson called me fat, Sox lost, we got t-boned in the parking lot when one traffic cop told us to go while another cop told someone else to go. Then while sitting in the police dept parking lot for an hour I heard on the radio that MJ retired.

_________________

2015 Game 6 Blackhawks vs Lightning...winning the Stanley Cup on home ice. I actually got a little dust in my eyes just thinking about it. Only thing that could top that would be to see the Cubs win the WS live at Wrigley.

_________________

Damn.

_________________
You know me like that.