It’s a young buck known (at least on YouTube) as “Little Drummer Boy”. From the name, you can probably guess what the kid’s skill is, but you have to watch he and his pops perform to truly appreciate their ability to entertain.

Just wait for the kid’s solo at around the 0:25 mark.

———–

And here is another example, which includes a longer solo for the little guy in the middle:

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And finally this one, which features some spectacular synchronicity between the two:

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There are plenty of others two. Just search “drummer boy wrigley” in YouTube if you want more.

Has anyone seen the young kid perform live?

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“It’s time to get rid of Wrigley”—SI.com

Excerpt:

How much longer can the Ricketts family ask Cubs fans to pay top dollar for nostalgia and atmosphere? Wrigley’s food has never been the greatest, the concourses remain narrow and all those poles mean that many seats have a partially obstructed view of the field. If a fan can’t ride a Red Line train to the game, parking becomes an expensive nightmare.

Other prominent teams have left historic homes. The New York Yankees exited Yankee Stadium and the Boston Celtics departed Boston Garden. Neither of these championship-rich franchises appears to have suffered. . . .

In a city where Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe helped shape the skyline, surely the Cubs can ignite the imagination of architects to design a worthy successor to what Chicago troubadour Steve Goodman called their “ivy-covered burial ground.”

This, after concerns once the field was laid out at Wrigley, and it was realized that the SAFER barriers in front of the indentation of the right field wall (as Pat Hughes would refer to it on Cubs broadcasts) would be mere inches away from the middle of the end line in the east end zone. The fact that the near sidelines were also precariously close to the right field stands was also too close for comfort.

Because of that, the east end zone will be secured for the offenses on Saturday. After each change of possession, the ball will be repositioned and both teams will be moving from right to left on your radio dial the entire game. The only plays that will start left to right will be kickoffs. Also the only way a touchdown will be scored in the outfield end zone that is all dressed up with no place to go will be either on a punt or turnover return, or a safety.

So what was billed as the first ‘Wrigleyville Football Classic’ will almost no doubt also prove to be the last. Technically, this will also serve as the first and last night game ever to be played at Wrigley, due to a 2:30 local start time.

All of this begs the question: How the world did the Chicago Bears survive playing at the not-so Friendly Confines (at least for football) through 1970?

The answer is not very well.

The layout for the Illinois-Northwestern game is from the Bartman third-base line to the right field fence, and would have featured PAT’s landing onto Sheffield Avenue. During the Bears tenure the field was laid out from the first base line to left field. There was also a temporary grandstand that was placed in right field which did allow attendance to reach 46,000.

However, as was the case with the Northwestern layout, there was not quite room for 120 yards for the Bears, as evidenced by these pictures (Note – goalposts were at the goal-line during this era)…

As you could tell, the left field end zone was obviously fewer than ten yards. Also notice the padding in front of the ivy. That was a result of Bronko Nagurski in the early days thundering past the goal line until his leather helmet met brick wall. The first base line also featured a corner far less than the regulation ten yards. Since the Bears moved, additional seating was added to the home plate area making the old Bears layout for Illinois/Northwestern more impractical.

In the pre-1970 NFL, quirky field dimensions were simply accepted as part of the ground rules. There were also several other baseball facilities that hosted NFL games with similar problems back in the day. As recently as 1994, the Green Bay Packers played part of their regular season schedule at Milwaukee County Stadium, the regulation ten-yard end zones were used, but a receiver could conceivably land in row three trying to catch a pass on the third base side of the stadium – which was more of a safety hazard to fans trying to hold onto a couple of cups filled with soda (or some other beverage) than the players themselves.

And there was also the time Sterling Sharpe thought he had passed the goal-line in a snowstorm when in fact he had only passed the five-yard line. The defender knocked the ball from him but miraculously bounced right back to him.

There was also a WLAF/NFL Europe team once called the Barcelona Dragons. Since their home stadium was fitted for soccer (110 yards) the venue featured end zones that were only 7-8 yards. That could had been an option for Illinois/Northwestern had they chosen.

By the 1960s the fact of Wrigley being without lights was also becoming a sticking point with the NFL. Teams in the Central Time Zone in those days traditionally started games at 1 PM, meaning that late-season games ended in the gloaming – as evidenced by watching the second half of this game played on November 30, 1969.

And obviously no lights meant the Bears could not play a late-afternoon game for television or be on Monday Night Football. Commissioner Pete Rozelle also lobbied the Bears to move their 1963 NFL Championship game from Wrigley to Soldier Field, so the game could start at 1 PM and the lights would be available had the game had gone into overtime. As it was, the ’63 title game was moved up to a noon local start.

Eventually, even Major League Baseball got fed up with Wrigley sans lights. After allowing the Cubs to host two afternoon NLCS games in 1984, the National League ruled that the Cubs would have to play post-season games in St. Louis had they qualified the following season. That finally got the ball rolling towards illumination, and the Cubs hosted their first night game in August 1988, 40+ years after every other MLB venue had installed lights.

Ironically, the Bears had a lot of pull in the league during the 1950s/1960s and persuaded the Green Bay Packers to eventually build the facility that became Lambeau Field. Through the 1956 season the Packers played their Green Bay games at what was basically a high school field, with expanded bleachers to accommodate 25,000 spectators.

The Packers used the high school as their locker room while the opposition often ended up dressing at the team hotel. It was not an ideal situation for either team, but at least the field was regulation and there were no brick walls.

The Wrigley Field gimmick is not a total failure. They did get ESPN GameDay to show up, an impressive feat for what’s otherwise a match-up of a couple of meddling Big Ten programs that makes the SEC at least semi-jealous. And in typical Wrigley fashion, they were able to upcharge tickets to a much higher price than if the teams simply met at Ryan Field.

And for those sitting in the Sheffield bleachers? Too bad suckers; they already have your money. You wanted something unique, and you got something unprecedented and a charade that will not be repeated.

Maybe the next time Illinois and Northwestern wants some attention they should take another page out of Bears history from an occasion where Wrigley was out of commission for an NFL playoff game due to a snowstorm, and move festivities to the United Center and play the first NCAA Arena Football game.

This is quite possibly the hardest post I’ve ever had to write.

*GULP*

I am about to give massive props to a Cubs fan.

Just watch the video.

That’s pretty awesome dude. Well done.

Now, it should be pointed out that he is wearing nothing affiliating himself with the Cubs officially. He’s just in the bleachers will all of the other drunk idiots, which makes him guilty by association.

Actually, his shirt does appear to have black and some shade of white/silver/gray on it. Thus, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was actually a White Sox fan who unfortunately got stuck on the North Side for a day, decided to catch a game, and then proceeded to display his dominance as the superior fan with this act of pure badassness.

But who knows.

Either way, whoever this guy cheers for, even if it’s *GULP* the Cubs, kudos. Men everywhere applaud you.

After a rough 2-4 start in six road games to open the season, the Cubs beat the Brewers 9-5 yesterday.

Susan did some nice camera work, so I thought I’d post the pictures here for your enjoyment.

Wrigley Field Opening Day 2010

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Pay close attention to the blonde woman standing next to the post in the bottom right quadrant of the picture. Doesn't it look like she's staring right into the camera?

You can also visit her blog CupCakes and CrabLegs.

Much thanks to YouTube user rairjordan and a big hat tip to the fine folks over at Mouthpiece Sports for this incredible trip down memory lane today. I loved it so much I wanted to share it with you all here at MSF. 

Michael Jordan. The White Sox. The Cubs. Wrigley Field. Harry Caray. Jordan getting two hits and a couple of RBI. (Video after the jump.)

I had completely forgotten about this pre-Interleague play exhibition that Jordan played in with big league club when he took his baseball hiatus.  As the guys at MPS point out in their post, all that is usually discussed when we harken back to Jordan’s baseball days are his paltry average and then how quickly he cut the baseball experiment short to hop back into the arena where he was the greatest in the world.

Michael Jordan provided the city of Chicago, the Midwest, and the nation as a whole with more thrills and exciting moments than perhaps any other athlete ever. There weren’t many on a baseball diamond, but especially for White Sox and Cubs fans, this day certainly qualified.

Something about seeing his name in the same lineup as The Big Hurt, Robin, Officer Ron, and Ozzie is just awesome.

Just surreal.

Apparently Northwestern is attempting to schedule a football game or two at Wrigley Field during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Naturally, the proposed opponent for the game appears to be the Illinois Fighting Illini and their water-skiiing maniac of a coach Ron Zook.

Zook Eyes Game at Wrigley Field – (ESPN Chicago)

Zook, appearing on the “Waddle and Silvy” show on ESPN 1000 on Monday morning, said he would love the chance for the two Big Ten rivals to square off in the “Friendly Confines.”

“Well, to be honest with you, we were there last night and walking around with the people there and I just think it would be an awesome venue,” Zook said. “Obviously, until just a couple years ago, there had been more NFL games played in that stadium than any other stadium, and there hasn’t been a game played there since 1970.

“And can you imagine the national media? I think it would be great to have that opportunity. I’m probably speaking out of turn, the higher-ups make the decisions, obviously.”

Playing a football game at Wrigley would certainly not be unprecedented, as the Bears played there from the 1920s through the building of Solider Field in 1970. Additionally, Northern Illinois played Iowa at Wrigley Field back in 2007.

Northwestern Pushes for Football Game versus Illinois at Wrigley Field — (Chicago Tribune)

We are continuing a dialogue with Illinois,” Phillips said. “Within the next month or so, we’ll decide if it’s something that can work. There are a lot of moving parts, but it’s something I will pursue aggressively.



“I thought of how good the Northern Illinois-Iowa game was at Soldier Field. This may be the next great venue for a special game.”



As NIU’s athletic director at the time, Phillips was the point man for the Huskies-Iowa game, which sold out Soldier Field on Sept. 1, 2007. Iowa won 16-3, and Hawkeyes fans filled at least two-thirds of the 61,500 seats.

Among the details still to be worked out (ALERT! Someone please notify the AP that I am about to link to them and send traffic their way…) for any Northwestern-Illinois game at Wrigley are the financial considerations and the logistics of turning Wrigley Field into a stadium where the home team actually wins venue fit for a college football game. One of the biggest questions is about player safety and about whether there is enough space behind the end zones and on the sidelines to ensure the well-being of the players.

We’ll see what happens with this one. All kidding and Cubs hatred aside, I think this would be a pretty damn cool thing for Northwestern, Illinois, the Big Ten, and sports fans in Chicago. Plus, no one would have to worry about Northwestern or Illinois winning a National Championship and spoiling the history of home team futility at Wrigley.

* – Football at Wrigley Field photo credit: Tribune File Photo

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Other links:

• I don’t want to hear Bob Kravitz or any other ESPN hack lecture me about journalistic integrity ever again — (Stampede Blue)
• Splain it! Chubbs Charleston — (Straight Pinkie)
• 15 awful car tattoos — (Philly Edge)
• Danielle Moinet of the Lingerie Football League — (Gunaxin)
• Tiger Woods > the field — (Sparty and Friends)
• Steroids or gambling, cheating is cheating — (MoonDog)
• Spilled beer led to Philly fan-on-Philly fan violence — (Busted Coverage)
• Part II of Bill Simmons Almost Famous-NBA Offseason mashup — (The Sports Guy)
• Jeff George is creating NFL buzz again? Really? — (Pro Football Talk)
• ESPN Radio host in Dallas quits over ESPN’s non-coverage of Roethlisberger story — (The Big Lead)
• Living Legends — (Hugging Harold Reynolds)
• Michael Vick reinstated, but relax — he isn’t a savior — (Black Sports Online)
• Bad news for Bears and Charles Tillman — (Midway Illustrated)
• Jimmy Fallon works it out — (My Sports Rumors)
• Baseball’s most immovable players — (Rumors and Rants)
• Soriano starting to hit; Cubs in 1st Place — (Zoner Sports)
• Baseball rules I’d change: Part 1 — (Major League Jerk)

The disappointing part is right around the 0:30 mark.

I was a little disappointing in President Obama’s somewhat condescending description of White Sox fans who hate the Cubs and actively root against them, mainly because I fall firmly in this category.  I guess he has to toe the line somewhat and not totally ostracize the larger of the two fan bases in his home city.  Again though, he makes up for it later in the interview by subtlely getting in a few digs anyway.  

I know that deep in his heart of hearts Obama hates the Cubs.  (He even discussed dissolving them as a franchise in this “interview.”) How could he not?  He’s a winner.  If Obama was a Cubs fans, he would have found a way to bartman the election at the last minute and John McCain would be president.

He just needs to work on his pronunciation and throwing ability a little bit.

Geovany Soto will now be on the DL due to a left oblique strain he suffered during batting practice Wednesday. Soto will be the 13th person that the Cubs have had to put on the DL this season. There are now questions about who will be the backup to Koyie Hill, who started Friday and will start most of the games while Soto is out.

Jake Fox is currently the backup, but Lou said they are looking outside the organization to add depth at the position.. Mark Johnson is the catcher in Iowa that has Major League experience, but he is on the DL so that doesn’t seem like a logical answer. Steve Clevenger is another catcher, but he is new to the job after being converted from shortstop. Chris Robinson, who they got from Detroit and is currently in Iowa, looks like to be the most logical internal answer.

The Cubs’ season has been nothing but disappointment, and they can’t seem to get away from injuries. A day after activating Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson, and Angel Guzman off the DL, the Cubs had to put Ryan Dempster on the 15-day DL due to a broken toe. Believe it or not, the Cubs are not totally out of the division race. Before Friday the Cubs stand just 3.5 games out of first place. Even though the Cubs are not out of it, there is no “This is the Year” feeling.

Lou Pinella said that there is really nothing you can do about injuries, and while that is true, players can still be careful what they do. The Cubs might not win the World Series this year, but this year is not a total loss. This a learning year for the Cubs and their management. The Cubs should learn from the Milton Bradley signing. Never sign a player who is not a proven player. Bradley has never played the whole season, he has had only one good year, and he has had problems with previous players and coaches.

What the Cubs have never had was a great farm system. Very rarely do the Cubs have a rising star. The only one I can think of is Randy Wells. Most of their first round draft picks have been busts (like Prior due to injury, or like Felix Pie due to lack of production), or they have never made it to the big leagues. With all these problems the Cubs need an overhaul. The only way to get better is to trade away some guys, and recruit potential All Stars. They need to stay away from players that get hurt. (Rich Harden and Bradley come to mind.)

Another huge problem are the fans. One year when Dusty Baker was managing the team the Cubs were playing the last home stand, were 20 game out of first, and they still managed to get 40,000 to show up. Even worse was when the Cubs came back to win the game in the 9th, the fans went insane like they were playing in the World Series. Cubs fans seem to be living in there own little baseball world. If no fans showed up maybe the team would do something different, but no matter how bad the Cubs do they always sell out at Wrigley.

Until things change, the Cubs will continue to go nowhere in the next few years.

* – Lou Piniella photo credit: AP Photo/Paul Connors via Sports Maven

With only a few days before the calendar turns to September, the likelihood of a White Sox-Cubs World Series is still possible. It is so rare to have both teams in contention for playoff spots this late into the season. Thus, you will have to forgive White Sox and Cubs fans if they jump ahead of themselves a bit and daydream about a Windy City Series.

Who would have the advantage in a South Side-North Side battle? Let’s go to the tale of the tape, knowing what we know right now, for a completely objective, totally unbiased, and unequivocally fair analysis:

[Update: If you do not take the following opinions expressed by our author seriously, perhaps this opinion will sway your thinking.  That's right, none other than our future President agrees wholeheartedly that the White Sox are better than the Cubs.  Just thought you should know.  Now on the with the Tale of the Tape!]

Current Record: Chicago White Sox 74-56 | Chicago Cubs 80-50

Advantage: White Sox.

Now, you may wonder how an analysis claiming to be objective could reach such a conclusion. It’s very simple: The AL is better than the NL. 74 wins in the American League is actually the equivalent of 82 wins in the NL. Don’t believe me? There is plenty of sabermetrics to back me up. Click here Cubs fans…it is verified fact.

Manager: Ozzie Guillen | Lou Piniella

Advantage: White Sox. This is actually pretty easy. Ozzie has won a World Series with his current team during the current decade, while Piniella’s lone title came in 1990 with the Reds. Plus, Ozzie is a much better rapper. No one can understand what the hell he is ever saying, a prerequisite for solid MC’ing.

Stadium: Comiskey Park | Wrigley Field

Follow this undeniable string of logic: Wrigley Field has ivy…the most commonly known form of ivy is poison ivy…the Cubs are cursed (synonym: poisoned) and have not won a World Series in 100 years. Hence, your overrated dump of a stadium is part of the reason for your drought. Comiskey Park (or U.S. Cellular Field, if you must) has shot off fireworks in a World Series game in the last 5 years

Advantage: White Sox…go cry in your beers you dirty Bleacher Bums. Comiskey is the clear winner. Plus, I’d much rather spend time on 35th Street than Wrigleyville, but that’s just the testosterone talking.

Out of Nowhere Star: Carlos Quentin | Geovanny Soto

Let’s see…Carlos Quentin has an OPS of .975, has hit 36 HRs, has 99 RBIs, and is hitting about .800 in clutch situations. I’m exaggerating, but he does have more game-tying or game-winning RBIs from the 7th inning on than any other hitter in baseball. Geovanny Soto has an OPS of .869, has hit 19 HRs and driven in 71 runs while playing a tougher defensive position. But while he gets extra credit for playing catcher, he loses all credit for having this picture on the Internet in which he looks like a lesbian softball player. Come to think of it, are we sure he’s not? Wrigleyville is kinda freaky like that…

Advantage: White Sox

500 Home Run Hitters on Current Roster: Ken Griffey Jr. & Jim Thome | None

Advantage: White Sox (that was easy)

The A.J. Pierzynski Factor: The White Sox have him | The Cubs don’t

Look, A.J. Pierzynski is not a “better” player than Geovanny Soto. He isn’t a great hitter, he won’t wow you with stats, and he has a pretty rag arm. But he is an absolute winner. He made a head’s up play against Tampa Bay this weekend to stay in scoring position and eventually score the winning run, and we all remember what he did against the Angels in the 2005 playoffs. And those are just two examples. A.J. makes clutch plays and is an absolutely indispensible member of the White Sox for the intangibles he brings. Oh, and suck it Michael Barrett. Are you even in the Majors anymore?

Advantage: White Sox

Greatest Player of This Era: Frank Thomas | Sammy Sosa

Another shameless plug for the unnecessarily long and in-depth analysis I did of Frank Thomas and Sammy Sosa…but I started this blog so really the whole thing is just one big shameless plug for my drivel. (Writer’s Note: I actually did try to be legitimately objective in that one. Seriously. I promise, and I’m not trying to be sarcastic.) Feel free to waste an hour of your life reading it, or just look at the next line.

Advantage: White Sox

Voice of the Team: Hawk Harrelson | Harry Caray

Hawk Harrelson is the man, and even though Harry Caray is a baseball legend, the fact that Hawk knows what is going on more than 30 percent of the time gives him the tie breaker (though, admittedly, it probably is not much more than 30 percent). Plus, Hawk created the greatest home run call of all time (Yeeessss!), along with coining such incredible nicknames as The Big Hurt, El Caballo, and The Milkman. (Yes, that is actually Herbert Perry. Melvin Mora was apparently too busy thinking about his next steroid injection to help Herbert out.)

And again Cubs fans, before you start whining like you did when I dissed Wrigley Field that Harry Caray is a legend, and the voice of baseball, and blah blah frickin’ blah, remember one thing: He was with the White Sox before he was with you. Just like Sammy Sosa. Seriously, get your own heroes. Stop pilfering from the Superior Side. And Mark Grace sucked. (Thanks a lot for Jon Garland though. I hope you enjoyed Matt Karchner…I’m sure Garland enjoyed winning a World Series.)

Advantage: Way back, it could be, it is…You can put it on the board…White Sox!

World Series Titles During the Lifetime of Anyone Reading This: 1 | 0

Any explanation would just be rubbing it in. But who cares, let’s rub it in anyway. (And anytime you have a chance to diss Cubs fans by showing a World Series parade in Chicago that they will never experience, while also laughing at the cheesiness of Steve Perry, well it’s an opportunity that must be taken.)

Advantage: White Sox.

So there you have it sports fans. Nine categories. All nine in favor of the White Sox. After an unbiased analysis grounded completely in fact it is clear that the Chicago White Sox would have the upper hand in a South Side-Back Side matchup in the World Series.

Besides, it’s really a moot discussion anyway. The Cubs will never make it that far. We all know what you’ll do in the playoffs (if you can make it…)