"the Losey City" and other sports rants

so hi, I've been around my apartment way too much the past few days, but not blogging. have you ever had no running water in your apt for 36 hours or so? I don't recommend it. from waking up Thurs. to early in my hockey-watching Fri. night, the pipes weren't working (froze the other night); I think it was my apt first then the whole building. by day 2 I had to rely on the McDonald's across the street for a restroom and hot food. now, I know the stereotype is that bloggers are in their underwear, eating Cheetos, probably in their mother's basement (Deadspin addressed the origins of this recently), but I just can't get stuff done when I'm dreaming of when I can wash my hands with something other than cold water from a dirty bucket. anyway...

in news of sports besides hockey: how about the Chicago Bears? oh, nevermind. how about the Bulls? did you know they lost this week to the New Jersey Nets? who had lost their first 18 this season? and they lost at home, giving the Nets their first road win of the season? it merits coverage and analysis by the sports media, sure, but how about something positive, too: those Chicago Blackhawks--they have their problems, but they're doing pretty well, right? this paragraph is a clumsy memo to Chicago Public Radio, the point of the memo being: HOCKEY EXISTS, HOW ABOUT COVERING IT SOMETIME.

CPR (WBEZ 91.5) might be the best public radio station in the country, for their original programming that gets syndicated elsewhere, and their local news coverage (they even have neighborhood news bureaus, including one in my 'hood, Humboldt Park). their coverage of and taste in arts/culture is pretty good too, and I'm not just saying that because they ocasionally run my photos as their photo of the day (above, the photo on 1/1/09, an abandoned racetrack. I needed SOME image in this post). I love their weekday Chicago news & culture show 848. I listened to the weekly sports segment the other day, where they bemoaned the Bears and Bulls. okay, get to the Hawks...nope. no mention. the only mention I can recall was the monthly wrap-up show where three guests declare the "winners" and "losers" and over/underexposed stories of the month. I understand the Bears and Bulls have a bigger following, but public radio doesn't shy away from the overlooked and obscure; would it kill them to include hockey as a sport? (not that the Blackhawks are obscure; but you know what I'm trying to say.) (also, I heard the WBEZ news/weather/sports announcer at least twice last week say the Hawks were playing "at Columbus" when the Blue Jackets were playing here.)

another terrific Chicago website, Gapers Block (okay, they also have used my photos), alerted us yesterday to a pathetic USA Today column about Chicago's sports woes: Bears and Bulls suck, baseball teams aren't that hot either, Chicago didn't get the 2016 Olympics, all we've got are the Blackhawks and college football, blah blah blah, why not call the Windy City the "Losey City." this seems like a piece by a writer thinking please I'll write about anything, anything as long as it's not Tiger Woods again, so I don't feel the need for an in-depth takedown. but why is Chicago getting such a bad reputation? I'd think the "Losey City" is the one going the longest without championships...

I typed "sports championship drought" into Google and it prompted "cleveland sports championship drought." ouch! the Wikipedia page on sports droughts lists Cleveland, Seattle, Buffalo, San Diego
as the American cities that have it the worst. Chicago might be the worst if you add up years since a major team has won a championship (Cubs and Blackhawks, obviously) but writing the city off as losers seems a bit much.

though I've failed to address this on either of my blogs in a timely manner--it'd be a good piece to cross-post when I do--many Chicagoans were iffy about or opposed to the Olympics coming here, anyway. there's any number of issues it raises about architecture and preservation, gentrification, social justice...Vancouver's dealing with that right now. here's a nice story in the New York Times blog to end on a positive note, "Vancouver Group Combines Olympic Housing With Effort to Fight Homelessness."

(coming up: a rant about something I just saw that does promote hockey, but in a truly pathetic way...)