the last stadium

It’s been rumored for a while now that the Cubs owner, Sam “I’ll sell Wrigley” Zell is interested in selling the naming rights to Wrigley Field. In an article today on ESPN.com the article states Zell is willing to sell the name of the field with the stadium.
In an ever growing trend stadiums have been selling the rights to their fields. It happens all over. Cardinals Stadium, where the Arizona Cardinals play is now University of Phoenix Stadium. In basketball the Houston Rockets play at the Compaq Center. In hockey the Nashville Predators play at Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Oakland A’s play Network Associates Coliseum. There is a whole list of stadiums that don’t even have stadium names just another advertisement on a wall. Places like Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and Lambeau Field are becoming a rarity.
It’s quite a debate about naming a field too. Some people think it dishonors the game, the stadium, the team, the fans, and the tradition. Others think that it is okay because it keeps the prices of tickets down. I am one that thinks that it ruins tradition. If the naming of a field did actually keep ticket prices down maybe I wouldn’t care. The Cubs this spring will raise ticket prices again to more outrageous prices. In other sports it may cost $30 - $100 just to enter the stadium. That doesn’t include parking and food.
LaSalle Bank, a Chicago based bank, has recently been bought out by Bank of America. The picture for the day is a ‘tribute’ to what has become of sports stadiums.

deer in chicago

On a recent hike in a preserve in Niles/Morton Grove I came upon an unexpected surprise - 40 deer. Here is a few pictures of what I saw.

political craze: t-shirts, tv, and more

I guess I am part of the craze. What's up with politics? I wonder if the presidential race will be so popular like it is now in four years or even eight. In the 2004 election I voted for John Kerry. He lost, just in case you haven’t had internet, a newspaper, a TV, or have not talked to anyone in the past four years. I’m a democrat and I voted for Kerry. It seems to make sense. No, he was not my favorite candidate running for democrat. He won the democratic primary.
Four years ago seems like such a 180 compared to this election. Nobody knew anything about anything when it came to politics. (By anyone I mean the average person I would talk to on a daily basis.) I remember people asking me why I was voting for Kerry. I gave them a two fold answer. One, I’m a democrat and I hold the values of a democrat and what they strive for in politics. Second, I like Kerry’s stance on X, Y, and Z. I do not like Bush’s stance on X, Y, and Z. The other general comment I got was how can I vote for someone that is pro-choice. I never got to answer a question like this because it was more mud throwing then actual discussion. After I raised the issue of why I liked the candidate and not the other the person was usually thoroughly confused that I actually had a stance on a candidate and knew something about politics.
As a Christian I got blasted for voting democratic. It was like one in the same republican and Christian. I used to hear how at small Christian colleges they would have Bush on all the TV’s there and conspire against democrats saying there were going to hell for being pro-choice. (This isn’t a pro life or choice issue. I’m pro life. But I also don’t hold to one value of a party.) Now four years later as a Christian I am not getting blasted by other Christians for voting democrat. It’s actually cool. I don’t consider it cool, but that is what it has become. Just check out this website for Obama. I actually like this one. Then I came across this website. A bit much for my liking. When someone has a crush on a presidential candidate I know my time machine works because I am back in high school again. As dumb as I think that that website is it is gearing towards a certain generation that for the most part has not voted in the past. In the end if this junk is getting people to vote, okay. (Although I hope that the same person that buys that t-shirt also knows what the person and party stands for.)
Politics has gone fashion crazy. I can deal with that. But now television shows like Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight are jumping on the political craze. I really do not like the idea of this. I would really hate to see politics turn into a bunch of paparazzi and pointless stories of where Obama ate on Friday night. That’s not what politics is about and hope that part of the world does not destroy the other.
So I am part of the craze. I’ve been excited for this election the day after Kerry was defeated. I never knew the rest of the U.S. would be too four years later. In the end if Obama wins I hope he lives up to the hype that he has become and not like a high school class president who wants pop machines in the school cafeteria. Four years later and I am still not sure if people know about what candidates believe in. It is great to see so many people interested in politics and interested in voting.

top 20: restaurants I want to visit

There are many restaurants I have been, but even more that I have not been to. I have created a list of the top 20 restaurants I want to go to in Chicago. The only criteria: it has to be in Chicago and I have not eaten there yet. Once again there are reasons why I chose these: reputation, uniqueness, price, location, and overall appeal to me.

Top 20 restaurants I want to go to in the city: (Alphabetical order)
Billy Goat Tavern
430 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611
Bobtail Soda Fountain
2951 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL 60657
Buca di Beppo
521 N. Rush St., Chicago, IL 60611
Café Bernard
2100 N. Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614
Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co.
2121 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60614
Chief O’Neill’s Pub
3471 N. Elston Ave., Chicago, IL 60618
Costello Sandwich and Sides
4647 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60625
Elephant Castle *ate at 4/18/08
111 W. Adams St., Chicago, IL 60603
Garcia’s Restaurant *ate at 2/22/08
4749 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60625
Heaven on Seven
600 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611
Jury’s Food and Drink
4337 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60618
La Creperie
2845 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60657
Mia Francesca
3311 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60657
Milk & Honey Café
1541 N. Damen Ave., Chicago, IL 60622
Rhapsody
65 E. Adams St., Chicago, IL 60603
Risorate Agostino
2817 N. Harlem Ave., Chicago, IL 60707
Rosebud on Rush
55 E. Superior St., Chicago, IL 60611
South Water Kitchen
225 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL 60601
The Village
71 W. Monroe, Chicago, IL 60603
Wildfire
159 W. Erie, Chicago, IL 60610

Honorable mentions:
Café Ba-Ba-Reeba *ate at 3/28/08
2024 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60614
ESPN Zone
43 E. Ohio St., Chicago, IL 60611
The Globe Pub
1934 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago, IL 60613
Grizzy’s Lodge
3832 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60613
Park Grill
11 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60602

my fav: restaurants in chicago

I’ve been to a few good restaurants in Chicago. Here is a collection of 14 that I would recommend. This collection is not the best in the city, but the best places I have been. The only qualification to get on the list is that the restaurant is in Chicago and that I have eaten there. There are a few reasons why I have chosen these restaurants on the list: taste, uniqueness, price, location, and experience at the restaurant. The Hot dogs have a separate list.

My Fav: (Alphabetical order)
404 Wine Bar
2856 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60657
Boston Blackies
164 East Grand St, Chicago, IL 60611
Celtic Crown
4301 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60618
Cyrano’s Bistro
546 N. Wells St., Chicago, IL 60610
Erba
4520 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60625
Geja’s Café
340 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60614
Lou Malnati’s
6649 N. Lincoln Ave. Lincolnwood*, IL 60712
Manny’s Coffee Shop
1141 S. Jefferson St., Chicago, IL 60607
Moodys Pub
5910 N. Broadway St., Chicago, IL
Noon O’Kabob
4661 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago, IL 60625
Pizza D.O.C.
2251 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL 60625
Tre Kronor
258 W. Foster Ave., Chicago, IL 60625

Hot Dogs:
Hot Doug’s
3324 N. California Ave., Chicago, IL 60618
Jimmy’s Red Hots
4000 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL 60651
Superdawg
6363 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60646
Weiner Circle
2622 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60614

spring (training) is here!

Spring Training has begun. It’s a great sign that spring is near and that this long snowy winter may end someday. Maybe it is not the greatest sign for spring - the Cleveland Indians had snow on inaugural day last year. Besides the weather change there are other great things to look forward to come the first day of baseball. First, baseball can start and all the Roger Clemens trash can stop. Second, the Tigers, Cubs, and (bo)Sox all look like they are going to have decent seasons once again.
The Tigers have picked up some great players over the off-season; Edgar Renteria, Miguel Cabrera, and Dontrelle Willis. Renteria and Cabrera add to an already explosive Tiger offense. Willis, who had a wretched season last year (10-15 record with a 5.17 ERA) will hopefully be back to playing better with a new team.
The Cubs who ended with a horrible post season last year hope to bounce back with the addition of Kosuke Fukudome from Japan. He’s compared a lot to Ichiro Suzuki, of the Mariners. I just hope he hits better than Felix Pie who batted a .215 last year. Some off the field news to make note of include who is going to purchase the Cubs, and if Wrigley Field will have any new makeovers.
The Sox dominated the post season last year and hope to continue that trend into next season as they secured players such as Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis. The Sox pitching should continue to dominate with a staff that includes: Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Curt Shilling (injured), and closer Jonathan Papelbon.
Some other interesting player acquisitions are: Johan Santana to the Mets, and Scott Rolen for Troy Glaus. For other off-season trades go to: CBS Sportsline. It should be an exciting season.

off the beaten path, chicago

I don’t tend to find many places ‘off the beaten path’ in Chicago. There are a few including Jimmy’s Red Hots at Grand and Pulaski, Tre Kronor at Foster and Spaulding, and a few others. On Saturday while making my way downtown I found a new one.
Let me first explain that among the “hidden gems” I have found they all happen to be quite popular in their respected neighborhoods and in Chicago. However, they are quite hidden from the tourists of the ‘burbs and the greater Midwest.
On Saturday I went to the Newberry Library to do some research on my family history. The aura of books on the outside was as amazing as the building on the outside. The Newberry is a public research library. Its collection includes: rare books, maps, music, manuscripts, and others. Many of these books and information cannot be found at a rare bookstore or even an average library. The library also has numerous classes, seminars, programs, and tours. The history is as local as Chicago itself and as wide as the Middle Ages of Europe. It has to be one of the greatest places I have been to in Chicago.

baseball spring training

Spring Training for baseball opened this week. Here's a great map from ESPN of the grapefruit league training spots in Florida.

bhm: a little history on education

It’s just about the middle of February. Many months today are made special by coining them with a special subject, awareness, or theme. The most well known title for February is Black History Month. I’m no longer is school anymore, where these months were usually celebrated. School was a great place to celebrate such things as Black History Month, Women’s Rights Month, and etcetera. The first thing I noticed about not being in school (and without cable) is that I totally missed at the beginning of the month that it was even Black History Month. I tend to do this with any month. In my white world it had totally escaped me.
That is the thing about being white. We don’t have to think about our ethnicity and what it means to be that ethnicity on a daily basis. My post today however is not on the topic of white blinders. I want to briefly comment on what W.E.B. Dubois thought was most important – education. In 1823, Alexander Twilight became the first African American to graduate with a B.A. from an American University. He graduated from Middlebury College, a small liberal arts college, in Vermont. There is small timeline of African American history in the U.S. at infoplease.com.
Today, in the U.S., education is still unequal between blacks and whites. The reasons are endless and historically rooted from the beginnings of slavery. During Black History Month (and beyond) I encourage everyone to read a little African American history. There is always something to be learned, and gained: whether it is history, friendships, or understanding of diversity and equality. Below I have created a small book list of titles I would recommend. If you want to just check out a website I suggest going to biography.com. The website is basic and easy to navigate.
Book list:
Africa: A Biography of a Continent
African Americans: A Concise History
Divided By Faith
More Than Equals
Race Matters
Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools
The Souls of Black Folk
When I Was a Slave
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

seeker sensitive

In the 1990s and early 2000s the “seeker sensitive” church became popular. It was a church charged to seek out people that were non-Christians and make an inviting place for them. What the seeker sensitive church became, however, was a church that did not teach about sin, Jesus, the cross, and grace – the essentials of Christianity. The seeker sensitive became post-modern and became irrelevant to anyone. It lost Truth in a place that needs truth.
The thing about seeker sensitive churches is that they quite possibly did have a good idea and that was to be sensitive to the outside world (non-Christians). Unfortunately, being sensitive to the outside world does not mean removing the crosses from places of worship or removing the name Jesus from sermons, prayer, and song. Maybe sensitive means something other than what is not hung on walls or simply nice smiles when walking into a church. Instead, maybe being sensitive is being quite the opposite. Maybe sensitive to others is being real, truthful, and just being.
One of the biggest things I have heard from non-Christians’ account on Christians is that they are judgmental and hypocritical. Why - maybe because in a world full of sin everyone is a sinner. No one can cast the first stone. And when people begin throwing stones instead of love it turns people away.
Seeker sensitive can be an embrace for truth and righteousness. All of us are muddy. No one is perfect. We need to live our lives building each other in Christ, embracing sin as it is, not judging, and living to love the Lord and neighbor as oneself.

snowful

There has been a lot of snow in Chicago the past two weeks. It has also been cold: dipping below zero degrees Fahrenheit for several days. It’s winter in the Midwest. It’s cold and snowy. So, what about all those people who have denied global warming or who denied it for so long but eventually gave in to believing that there was such a thing as global warming? I don’t actually know anyone personally like this. I wonder though if they are laughing at all the other people that do believe in global warming in winter now that it is so cold and snowy. What if the people that gave in to believing global warming are now changing their minds back? I mean if the globe is warming wouldn’t there be less snow and less cold? At this point everyone that knows something about the effects of global warming are getting mad at me because they know it is more than just whether winter is cold or not. My point however is not whether global warming is actually occurring. (I do think it is however.) My point is that sometimes it takes faith to believe in something such as global warming. Yes, there is some actually proof of it, such as glaciers and icebergs melting. Once again though, I’ve never seen that (along with many others). To many that just means they are melting and nothing more. Sometimes we need to look at the bigger picture and to have faith that something is occurring even though we can’t see it.
I think there is something ironic about having faith in global warming. It seems that at least in the wider scope Christians have voiced the most concerns about whether global warming is real or not. Yet, Christians call for themselves to be faithful and indeed live on faith everyday.

super something

What a Super Bowl. There are so many storylines to the game. I won’t go into any of them, as most of them have been talked about on sports radio or ESPN. And honestly, I have nothing new to input to what they have already said. In my own opinion it was quite a disappointment to see the Patriots lose. As many people wanted to see the upset, how much cooler would it have been to see a perfect season from an NFL team? Yes, it has been done once before in ’72, but that was also less wins and an easier game schedule. Plus, if you were born after ’72 or just before, you have no idea what it was like to see a season like that.

It is finally ‘Super Tuesday’. I’m not sure who is gong to win on either the Democratic side or the Republican. It’s seems to be a two-way battle for both. I think on both ends though that who ever comes out on top after today will win their particular party.

Although the Super Bowl ended up being a bust. I am hoping Super Tuesday ends up with a better outcome.

super bowl preview

The super bowl is Sunday. Its the New England Patriots (16-0) against the New York Giants (10-6). This year I have particular interest because one of my favorite teams is playing: the Patriots. This doesn’t happen often, as the team you like isn’t always the best team. I have a few favorite teams. The first is the Detroit Lions. This allegiance is based on geography more than team love. The second is the New England Patriots. The Patriots I have liked since the Drew Bledsoe era of the late 1990s. The third team that I tend to cheer for is the Indianapolis Colts. I cheer for this team for two reasons: 1) I like their coach and 2) I like their quarterback.
There are also a few things that just make this Super Bowl unique and exciting. The first is obvious. The Patriots, if they win, will have a perfect season. There has only been one other NFL team to have a perfect season. That was the ‘72 Miami Dolphins. The other aspect of perfect season is the excitement that the New York Giants could upset and ruin the chances of a perfect season. The Giants had a chance the last game of the season and lost. Now in the playoffs, the Giants have won three straight games away beating Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Green Bay. The Giants had a horrible second half of the season, and like the Pittsburgh Steelers of two years ago, have made a great playoff run.
My super bowl prediction? I want and think the Patriots will win. I would not be totally surprised if the Giants won. The Giants have played really well the past four games. Momentum is a big part of sports. The Patriots, even though they haven’t lost, have won a lot of close games as of late. My prediction for the game is Patriots 38 Giants 30.

2008 Playoffs.