skip to main |
skip to sidebar
It's been a rough year for the Cubs: a losing season, the loss of Lou Piniella, new ownership, various issues with Carlos Zambrano.
I thought this photo from the Chicago Tribune said it all!
In the last 25 years, all of Chicago's other Major League teams have won championships: the Bears (.500 in Super Bowls), Bulls (6x), White Sox, Blackhawks (hence the sign), and Fire.
That leaves the Cubs minus a championship. Not even a pennant.
Today I did some reading on the 2003 season, the first in which the Cubs won a post-season series since 1908. I remember watching game 6 of the LCS with a friend who is not familiar with Cubs history. When the Cubs made it to the top of the 8th inning with a lead and one out, my friend said, "Only 5 more outs to the World Series! Aren't you excited?"
"Just wait," I replied, "this is the Cubs," after which Steve Bartman promptly interfered with Aramis Rodriguez' attempt at fielding a foul ball. When the implosion was complete, my friend was beside himself. How can it be? How did this happen?
"Easy," I said. "It's the Cubs!"
That year I overcame my profound disappointment in the team that I'd cheered for most of my life. I became more like a Sox fan, I suppose, in not being completely unrealistic in my hopes for the team. I became more like a Missourian, too: "Show me."
It would be nice to have at least a .500 season this year, but I'm not holding my breath (I don't know if it's possible for them to go .500). Bully for Mike Quade and the team's performance under his tenure!
But in the words of the late Jack Brickhouse, they've closed the barn door after the horses got out; they're a dime late and a dollar short; whew, brother.
Back up the truck! Bring on the new manager!
This evening I was having supper out on the deck, and I noticed many flying insects, which looked like flying ants. They weren't bothering me, and I didn't pay much attention except to note that there were many of them.
After supper I sat back and noticed birds overhead. Usually we get a lot of gulls, but these were not gulls. I noticed the white bars on black wings. It was a flock of about 30 nighthawks. I don't recall seeing them around here before, nor have I ever seen such numbers, and so early in the evening (the sun was still up).
They appeared to be feasting on the very bugs I had noticed earlier.
Seeing the birds reminded me of my childhood, when we could hear (and sometimes see) the nighthawks swooping down, making the unforgettable whooshing noise. These birds weren't making that noise.
The flock drifted off, drifted back, and off again, not to return.
I'm still working my way through Einstein's Universe. A couple of months ago I brought the book to work to read during lunch. One day, a co-worker of mine saw it and asked about it. It turns out that Scott has a lot of knowledge about relativity, quantum physics, etc. When I picked the book up again, I mentioned to him various things I learned, such as light being affected by gravity, and he picked up the topic and carried the discussion further.
Each day we have a little chat about the universe, you might say. For my part, I'm gradually coming to view things in a more Einsteinian way, with curved space at the forefront. I see how radical his theories are, even now.
And to have such discussions at work (and I don't work in a physics major - dominant environment) is a pleasure. I might learn something. This is also something of a consolation, as I didn't take physics in high school. Back then, all the physics students would study together, and I felt like I missed out on something. Maybe I can experience something like they did then, now.
