Say what you will about this rant being a Chicago fan venting that the big free agent didn’t choose the Windy City. But the spectacle LeBron James made of himself over the last week is really pretty sad. Not to mention for a man that bills himself as “King James” he sure acted more like a court jester, following the crowd to South Beach. Last I checked, Kings lead, they don’t follow.

On top of all that, this BIG announcement on ESPN was nothing more than a big joke and a way of sticking it to Cleveland. The worst kept secret in sports. You’d have thought all the reports over the last few days were a perfect way of throwing people and the media off for when he would announce some place other than Miami to play.

Now, LBJ becomes 2nd banana to Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh gets to tag along for the ride as long as his knees hold out. I’m betting in the long run these three musketeers end up more like the three stooges and I’ll be all the more happier if some other team takes home the championship next season.

For a man compared to Michael Jordan, he sure doesn’t act like it. MJ would have never gone out of his way like this to put himself above the game. Yeah he endorsed tons of products and yes he was larger than life. But he wouldn’t degrade his sport all in the effort to purposely plaster his face on primetime TV for an hour, just to take 2 seconds to announce the next stop on the celebrity express.

The Bulls are better off without LeBronMania. Some people may not see that now, but it’s true. We have a great young nucleus and money to spend to surround them with good talent.

James couldn’t hold MJs jock strap, let alone be any real threat to the legend that is Michael Jordan, here in Chicago, or anywhere else. And, the Bulls attempt at luring James to Chicago was perfect, attacking directly at his competitiveness. Looks like MJ beats him in that category too. If James competitive nature was half that of Jordan, he would have jumped at the chance to try and overtake MJs popularity and success in this city. As it is, he gets to put up with Pat Riley for the next 5 years.

New information states that the City has to pay the private company when ever the city has to block off parking spaces for parades, fairs, construction, etc. The legal mumbo-jumbo of this idiotic deal also states the City gets to keep revenue from parking tickets given to people that park at metered spaces, but don’t pay the parking fee.

If the private company gets money back from us for lost revenue from things like construction and parades and the like, I’m hoping there isn’t microscopic fine print somewhere stating that we have to pay them a portion of parking ticket revenue, because of their “lost revenue”.

As stupid as this deal was to begin with, when it’s all said and done, the city will probably have found a way to owe the private company more than they paid us in the first place! Not to mention, the money we got out of this deal, sure as hell didn’t fix the budget deficit, as we still have one! Hopefully, the lawsuit filed, stating it was illegal for the city to privatize the parking meters, sticks. I fail to understand how a city the size of Chicago could even begin to think that quick fixes would be the answer. At best, they’re stop-gaps. Not to mention it screws the tax payers even worse than usual as we have to pay parking meters twice over now. Once to park, and once to block them off.

A parking situation blown totally out of proportion and a city transit system so skewed, it needs to be blown up and started over. City streets were in bad enough shape with the government getting their hands on it, now they’ve stuck their nose in a big pile of dogshit and we get to deal with the stink.

Welcome to the big city, run, while you still can. Before they tax that too!

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It seems right that Chicago would be ranked so highly in traffic. The only more fitting tribute would be to our road construction, when the usual traffic becomes just simply, a parking lot. Or, maybe the excessive amount of hot air emanating from City Hall. ‘Windy City’ can have so many meanings.

At the very least, it’s better than placing 24th Smartest of the 55 largest US cities and tied with St. Louis.

Go Traffic!

The Olympics come in February, which gives the opportunity to see 6 Blackhawks play and possibly even match up against each other.

• Patrick Kane was named to Team USA
• Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook were named to Team Canada
• Marion Hossa and Tomas Kopecky were named to Team Slovakia.

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A quick look at his stats with Texas:

Marlon Byrd

The Cubs outfield seems to be set with Alfonso Soriano in Left field, Marlon Byrd in Center field and Kosuke Fukodome in Right field. The 4th and 5th outfielders will probably be Reed Johnson and either Tyler Colvin or Sam Fuld, save for any future trades or signings.

Again, save for any future trades/signings, the infield will be Derek Lee at 1st Base, Jeff Baker at 2nd Base, Ryan Theriot at Shortstop and Aramis Ramirez at 3rd Base.

Geovanny Soto will catch and have the opportunity to prove that 2009 was just a sophomore slump and return to his 2008 form.

Now to think about the pitching staff and see what they have in store for us. Maybe in another post.

Spring Training can’t come soon enough.

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I remember waking up to a phone call from my father, it was my day off and I was planning on enjoying the act of sleeping in. Needless to say, after that call, I was glued to the TV. You see, the phone call came just prior to the second plane crashing into the twin towers. I reached for the remote control and turned on the TV just as the reports and videos of the second plane hitting the tower came on. Fast forwarding a few hours; I continued to try and take everything in and another call came in. At the time, I was less than a year into my job as a security officer, assigned to a high profile client/company at O’Hare International Airport. My supervisor was calling in an attempt to round up as many officers as possible to come in to work OT, because nobody knew if or when another attack would take place. Reluctantly, I agreed to work.

I was posted on the tarmac, to this day THE most eerie sight and feelings I have every encountered. Assigned to watching the busiest airport in the world, at a complete standstill, save for the F-16s flying patrol routes overheard. As cliche as it seems,the silence truly was deafening. Thousands of people dead between New York, Washington DC and rural Pennsylvania. I stood my post, all the while wondering what was next. Thankfully, nothing else happened that day and I spent the time reflecting and praying. 10 hours, felt like 10 years, constantly looking over my shoulder or to the skies, occasionally chatting with the police and my superiors, few details were coming in so soon after the tragedies.

8 years later, the memories of that day, are as if they happened yesterday. The retrospectives on TV haven’t lost an ounce of sting, I don’t feel any less sorrow or sadness for everyone directly connected and affected, if anything, at times I feel more sadness. I often think what Chicago would be like without the Sears Tower standing over us. This morning all over the country were moments of silence and remembrance. Five, ten, fifty years from now, the hurt will remain. We will never forget that fateful day. But, like the United States we are, we stand defiant against the terrorism. Humanity, in one form or another, in some peoples eyes, may be dead, but the heartbeat of a strong nation beats healthier than ever before. We stand victorious as evil failed to gain the upper hand. We proved that when we all stand together against a common enemy, nothing can knock down the American Spirit.

My thoughts and prayers go out to each and every member of every military outfit still abroad fighting this war. May you all come home soon to your family and friends. Know that the jobs you are doing, makes everyday brighter, and everyday gone by makes us stronger still.

I understand it may be disappointing, but to cause such a scene seems ridiculous to me and would also seem to be akin to going to the ticket counter at Wrigley Field and demanding a refund either because a few starting players were forced to sit out the game due to illness or injury, or paying to see a movie only to demand my money back because it was worse than Corky Romano. Unfortunately it also proves, no matter how wrong you may be, if you bitch loud enough, and in large enough numbers, you’ll get your way, if for no other reason, just to shut you up. I would guess, when the tickets were purchased, most people actually wanted to see The Color Purple. While Fantasia brings much to her role, it didn’t change the fact that The Color Purple still went on. The undo pressure this puts on a star like Fantasia who obviously wants to do all she can to please her fans, can’t even fall ill by no fault of her own without backlash against the theater/production company, etc. Plus, the poor understudy must have felt horrible, even though I’m sure she put on a hell of a performance in her own right.

It amazes me how people wonder why the prices of damn near everything keeps going up then demand their money back for no good reason at all. In effect, the production company, to some exent, put on a show for free when they were not planning  on doing so. Cast and staff salaries need to be paid as well as other routine expenses, but without the incoming ticket money. Granted, one or two shows wouldn’t put a huge ding in the profits, just don’t be surprised when todays $100 show ticket turns into tomorrows $150 show ticket.

All of that being sad, I hope Fantasia is feeling better and I hope the rest of the country enjoys the show just as much as most Chicagoans have.

On to the gridiron:

Yes, the Bears have a franchise quarterback. No, we haven’t flashed back to the 1940s.

Jay Cutler will be the field general with a young core of wide receivers. Is he the end all, be all, answer that will lead the Bears back to the Super Bowl. I say, yes. Will it be during the 2009 season? I don’t know. Will the defense be back in good form, the way we’re used to here in Chicago? Hopefully. I’m banking on 11 wins this season. Judging by my yearly picks in Yahoo’s Pro Football Pick’em, don’t put too much stock in that prediction.

You know, its really a shame that the joy of the beginning of football season always comes crashing down with the realization that winter in Chicago is right on its heels.

Other buildings have undergone name changes in downtown Chicago as well. The Standard Oil Building became the Aon Center. You’d be hard pressed to find any locals around here that call it Aon Center.

Comiskey Park become U.S. Cellular Field as well. Apart from me calling it the Phone Booth from time to time, or others calling it “The Cell”,  it will always be Comiskey Park. And, of course, The iconic Marshall Fields and Company Building became, ugh … Macy’s on State Street. The most glaring and controversial of all name changes the city has had to endure as of late.

In a world where everything changes so rapidly and often, it would be nice to see some things stay the same.  Alas, that’s not very likely.

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