What is on Nick's Mind

Three topics that are on Nick’s mind.

Newspapers

I have mixed emotions about Jay Marroitti leaving the Sun Times. On the one hand I, like most of Chicago thought he was a smarmy ass, who only spouted knee jerk reactions. He was a human fire alarm who consistently flip flopped on his opinions. On the other hand, I must admit I did read his column.

It was rare I agreed with him. But, one thing you can not accuse of Marrotti of is not having an opinion. Sure, it was often in my mind mis-guided but he got you talking, which is one of the best things you can say about a sports columnist. He is far better then the vanilla Rick Telender who is so boring you need a Red Bull and a hit of Ecstasy just to read him.

His reasons for leaving, I do agree with. The newspaper business is a sinking ship and he wants to head off like so many others into the cyber world. That makes me sad. I still love reading the newspaper. Listen, I am not one of these anti-technology stuck in the 50’s old men. I make my living based on technological advances. But, there are some things that sadly are becoming less relevant and the newspaper is one of them.

I know younger kids just don’t read the paper. They didn’t grow up with it like I did. I buy the paper every day, even when I am on vacation. I will usually buy one no matter what town I am in. I have some deep seeded need to be wired into the world. I could not imagine a morning train ride without a Sun Times. It is what makes life worth living.

I hope for no other reason the medium survives. Sure it has to change, and I in no way have the answer. All I do know is it will be a real pain in the ass to lug a laptop into the bathroom when I want to read something when I am on the throne.

Instant Replay

I am in the vast minority I know, but I do not like baseball going to instant replay. I understand the need to get the call right. I also realize it is only for home run calls (for now.) However, has anyone seen how bad instant replay is in football?

Half the time even with replay the refs still get the call wrong. Now, baseball is going to have an umpire leave the field, call into some office in New York to get the right call on a home run. I have said this numerous times but bears repeating, baseball and football are different sports. If you have an interruption of that amount of time in football, no big deal. In baseball when you have a pitcher sitting on the mound for ten minutes trying to decide a call he can start to stiffen up. (Baseball is also very much a flow and momentum game. Anyone that tells you different has never played.)

And we all know that certain managers are going to take advantage of that. (Hello, Tony La Russa.) Somehow the game has survived nearly 150 years without instant replay. But, because we had a couple of missed calls earlier this year, the knee jerk reactionary commissioner, predictably over reacted and instituted this nonsense in the middle of a season. Even, if let’s say you want instant replay why institute it in season? Was this such a problem that we couldn’t wait until next April? We could have tested it in spring training and worked out any glitches. (And trust me their will be glitches.)

In a 162 game season, each game is as important as the next. So, the ones in May are just as important as the ones in September. By having instant replay instituted in the middle of the season, it does not allow for the delicate balance that is baseball. In a long season breaks tend to even out. You get a call in May, and the logic is that one will go against you in somewhere down the road. (That is unless you were the 2005 White Sox.)

I agree with the thought behind instant replay. I just don’t think that the solution that baseball has come up with is the one that is going to fix a problem that was severely overblown in the first place.

Obama is not a Cub Fan

I am still going to vote for the guy but was he way off base in his comments concerning Cub fans. I don’t want to mis-quote the guy, so here is what he said when he was discussing the two teams in Chicago. “You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. Southside”

That is such old thinking and is from someone who hasn’t stepped foot inside Wrigley field in years. Yes, there is a part of Cub nation that goes just to drink and be seen. And from someone who has been to so many games this year that I have lost count, I would put that minority of fans at about 5%. (And I am not going to apologize if some Cub fans are good looking and dress nice.)

The 2003 season changed Cub fans. The bar has been raised and the fans are more into a game at Wrigley then any other park I’ve been to in the last ten years and that includes the Cell. We don’t need fan o’meters to tell us when to cheer. We don’t need a kiss cam or a fundamentals section to get fannies in the seats. Every time a pitcher gets two strikes on a batter the fans all start clapping. They are into each pitch and have not been shy in voicing their displeasure.

Like I said, I still like Obama and am still going to vote for him. He is just voicing the same old recycled rhetoric that Sox fans have been regurgitating at nausea forever. The reason they do so is simple. It is nothing more then jealousy which a World Championship should have cured. But, I now realize they will always fell inferior and I guess I understand why. I invite all Sox fans to attend at least one game at Wrigley before making their baseless assumptions. I mean I could make the assumption that all fans at the Cell are angry, bitter drunks who talk like sailors and can’t handle their booze. But, I know that is not the case because I have actually been to the park in the last decade.