I'll get to that in a couple of seconds, but judging by the fact that I'm joking about it, I'm perfectly fine, so no need to worry....
Just toured around Chicago yesterday and specifically Michigan Avenue and it's a beautiful downtown with a great combination of natural beauty from the parks with the made beauty of all the tall skyscrapers and other man-made monuments....
As I talked about yesterday on the show, there's a big effort around the city to get it looking as good as possible because of the fact that Chicago is a frontrunner to get the 2016 Olympics and the decision will be made on October 2nd....so if you're like me and had never been to Chicago before, this summer might be a great time to come down to enjoy the city 'cause I'm assuming that it won't be as tourist-friendly in the upcoming years if they are to get the games....
Took the L Train and Red Line train to get to US Cellular Field for the White Sox game last night....I had heard nothing but bad things about the stadium, but much like the Metrodome, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the stadium was....it's expansive and the fans make it a great atmosphere....
The only problem was that I wasn't able to get any pictures from the field level area because you can't get access to that area unless you have a ticket for there....it's the only place I've been to so far that has been like that because normally everyone just comes in at field level and the ramps for the different levels are within the stadium itself....
But I didn't encounter any real surliness from anyone....I had to get my bag checked twice, but it wasn't all that bad.....at least I didn't have to turn on my laptop at the security check like I had to in Toronto....
I've figured it out that the Chicago baseball landscape shares a lot of similarities with the New York situation.....in New York, the Yankees are the team that you take a corporate client to and the Mets are the team that the blue-collar fan watches.....in Chicago, even though I haven't been to Wrigley yet, you can figure it out that the Cubs get more of the corporate crowd and the White Sox get more of the blue-collar crowd....
At the game, I just happened to be sitting beside three guys that were travelling as well....one guy was from London, England and was travelling around the US just like I was, but he started on the West Coast and was going East....he actually was in his 7th week of travelling while I'm finishing week number 8....the other two were from South Dakota and were roadtripping.....so, here were are, a guy from Canada, a guy from England and two guys from South Dakota all sitting in Section 558, row 8 watching the White Sox....just goes to show how small the world really can be....
On my way home, I was walking down a pretty busy street by myself when all of a sudden, I felt a tug on my neck and I was now face-first into a brick wall with someone yelling "Hey Motherf***er, give me your money!" I was shocked for the first couple of seconds, but I quickly clued into the fact that the would-be robber was a short and fat kid who was no more than 15 years old and from the tug on my hoodie, he wasn't very strong either, so I quickly turned around, got face-to-face with him and grabbed him by the neck, when a cop showed up out of nowhere, seperated us and took control of the situation....
From start to finish, everything probably only took about 5 seconds, but it felt like longer....the cop asked me if I was ok and I told him I was fine, then asked where he came from.....he said that he recognized the kid and that he has a track record, so he had a hunch that he would do it again....thank god that cop was there 'cause I'm not sure what I would have done or what would have happened to me....but another reason why I always say, "Mama always called me lucky...."
So, a highlight-filled day in Chicago and now it's off to Milwaukee for a couple of days as we see the Brew Crew tomorrow afternoon, but here's the updated list with only 4 stadiums to go....
1) AT&T Park - San Francisco
2) Petco Park - San Diego
3) Chase Field - Arizona
4) Minute Maid Park - Houston
5) Camden Yards - Baltimore
6) The New K (Kaufmann Stadium) - Kansas City
7) The Ballpark in Arlington - Texas
8) PNC Park - Pittsburgh
9) Comerica Park - Detroit
10) Citi Field (New Mets Stadium)
11) Fenway Park - Boston
12) Yankee Stadium
13) Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia
14) Angels Stadium - Anaheim
15) Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles
16) US Cellular Field - Chicago White Sox
2) Petco Park - San Diego
3) Chase Field - Arizona
4) Minute Maid Park - Houston
5) Camden Yards - Baltimore
6) The New K (Kaufmann Stadium) - Kansas City
7) The Ballpark in Arlington - Texas
8) PNC Park - Pittsburgh
9) Comerica Park - Detroit
10) Citi Field (New Mets Stadium)
11) Fenway Park - Boston
12) Yankee Stadium
13) Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia
14) Angels Stadium - Anaheim
15) Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles
16) US Cellular Field - Chicago White Sox
17) Busch Stadium - St. Louis
18) Safeco Field - Seattle
18) Safeco Field - Seattle
19) Coors Field - Colorado
20) Rogers Centre - Toronto
21) The Metrodome - Minnesota
22) Turner Field - Atlanta
23) Tropicana Field - Tampa
24) Nationals Park - Washington
25) Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - Oakland
26) Dolphins Stadium - Miami
21) The Metrodome - Minnesota
22) Turner Field - Atlanta
23) Tropicana Field - Tampa
24) Nationals Park - Washington
25) Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - Oakland
26) Dolphins Stadium - Miami
