Chicago and the Good Land

The year 2000 was the year that we have had the most people attend. Which we thought was awesome because our idea of traveling to ball parks was catching on. We learned from our mistakes and made some planning this time.

We drove the 5 hours to Chicago in 2 vehicles and got to Chicago just in time to experience rush hour. We drove to north Chicago where are our hotel was located. We checked in and played cards and drank, heavily I might add, all night. The next day we attended the Cubs/Reds game in the afternoon, because you don't go to a Cubs game at night. That's just wrong. But I will say this, the ushers at Wrigley were by far, the most friendly I had seen. This was a time when you still had to sneak down at Riverfront, yes it is Riverfront and always will be, to get to the blue seats. The ushers at Wrigley let you go anywhere you liked, and would even offer a story about the ballpark.

The game was awesome. The Reds were trailing for the first few innings, but after an offensive explosion consisting of multiple home runs, the Reds took the lead and held on to win. We were lucky enough to sit near a large group of Reds fans that had made the trip and celebrated right along with them.

After the game we decided to try and visit the United Center and maybe Comiskey. We drove from the the north side to the south side. We traveled through every section of ethnicity that makes up Chicago. Finally we arrived at the United Center. We attempted to make it inside, just catch a glimpse of the very court that the greatest player to ever play basketball played upon. To our disappointment, we were informed by a security person that we could not get inside. But he had told us that we wouldn't have been able to see anything because the court was being worked on. So we admired the Jordan statue that sits outside and took some pictures. When I find the picture, you will notice one glaring thing. One of our traveller's could not remove the phone that was permanently attached to his ear for the ENTIRE trip. I digress. One of the security guards noticed some of our Reds attire that we were sporting and came and asked us if we were Reds fans. Nope, just liked the shirt, here's your sign. He asked if went to the game and who had won. We told him that the Reds prevailed and he was happy because we was not a Cubs fan. I guess when you work for Jerry Reinsdorf, you better not be a Cubs fan. He asked us if we had seen Comiskey yet and we said no, but were hoping to get over there. He told us to wait for a minute and he would be right back.

This is where the coolest thing happened on any ball trip to date, by far. He came back over to us and told us to go to Comiskey and go in the offices and ask for a particular gentleman. So we did, wouldn't you? So there we are in the offices of the Chicago White Sox waiting for this person. I noticed on the computer behind the front desk a screen saver playing with several different players being shown and what not. I mentioned something to the person at the desk and told him that I liked it. He turned around picked up a disk and said "Here, take a copy." He had given me a disk containing the aforementioned screen saver. I was ecstatic just at that. Little did I know this adventure was going to get a whole lot better.

The person finally arrived and he told us to follow him. We walked through the doors and down a hallway containing picture frames of players jersey's from past and present. We continued down the hallway and through another set of doors. At this point we were in a service area and really had no idea where we were. Then we turned and went through another set of doors and found ourselves directly behind home plate on the playing surface. We were in awe. Our only instructions, stay off the grass. So, as any person would in their right mind, we took full advantage. We walked around the warning track only to have some run and make it look like they were making a home run robbing catch. I looked up at the seats, only for it to seem like they went forever. After completing our victory lap, we had the security guard take some pictures of us in the dugout so that we may relive that day for the rest of our lives.

I think for those of us that went on this trip, it was one of the greatest things experienced.

Jeff's update: here are some pics...



Hey, look who's on the phone!