The Taste of Nick

I am not a big fan of the taste of Chicago but my wife is so, every year we go and strap on the feedbag. This year was no different. Here is a rundown of what I ate.

Bobak’s, Chicken sausage – After finishing the race to the taste, some of the vendors were offering their healthy choice items to the runners as swag. So I figured what the hell, I dig turkey sausage. I grabbed a small sandwich and I can’t say I was a fan.

Timothy O’Toole’s, Buffalo wings – A pretty good wing. I got the spicy and it wasn’t flaming. Overall, it is meaty and has a nice flavoring.

Abundance Bakery, Upside down caramel cupcake – This was crack. It was so frickin good. The best thing I ate the whole day. My god was this rich and sinful.

Shokolad Pastry and Café, Potato varenyky – This is basically a Ukrainian version of a perogie. I am a fan of the genre and I was not disappointed. I also had a bite of Joyce’s key lime shortbread that she got from here and that was really delicious.

Harold’s Chicken, Chicken and hush puppy – I am a Harold’s fan from my days working at IRI. We would make a Harold’s run to their location on Harrison and damn if it wasn’t good. So, I knew I was getting a good piece of chicken (in which I lathered the sauce right on top of.) Hush puppy was also kick ass.

Lovely, Macaroon – I love macaroons so when I saw that there was a desert station that had some for only 1 ticket I jumped on it. I must say, it was really tasty.

Tutto Italiano, Fried ravioli – They gave 4 ravioli for the taster portion which was huge. They threw some peppers in their marinara but, I like that so it was a win. Wasn’t expecting the spiciness but really dug it.

Star of Siam, Pot stickers - Another place that gave me a big portion for the taster size. I got 4 dumplings. For Thai pot stickers, these may have been the best I have had. They were pork, and the ginger sauce was killer. I may make a trip out there just to get some more.

Oak Street Beach Café, Potato and wingette – It was a boiled red potato which I really liked. The wing was nothing to write home about.

Abbey Pub, Corn on the cob – It is customary that I eat at least one ear of corn on the cob whenever I am at some fair or festival. It is my thing. I was walking and I saw the Abbey Pub had corn so, I grabbed one. It is really difficult to mess up corn on the cob and the Abbey almost did. I may have just had a bad one but it wasn’t done enough and was a tad hard.

Guet Lon, Egg roll – I love egg rolls (with the size of my gut I am sure you could have guessed that.) So, I figured what the hell. This egg roll was nothing special. It didn’t suck but in the end I wish I would have saved room for something else.

Dominick’s, Slice of watermelon – After consuming all that food, I felt I needed something to help with digestion. So, I double backed to the Dominick’s station for some fruit. The piece of melon I had was huge and also very good and ripe.

Ricobene’s, Breaded Steak – I am a slave to the Ricobene’s breaded steak. It is the one thing I look forward to at the taste every year. Even though I was stuffed I somehow made room for a breaded steak for my desert which was no small feat.

Nick's 2010 MLB All Star Team

Every year, I pick who my All Star team would be in both leagues. I limit it to a 30 man roster and I make sure every team is represented. So, here are my picks.

AL
Starters
1B Miguel Cabrera Det.
2B Robinson Cano NY.
SS Derek Jeter NY.
3B Evan Longoria TB.
C Victor Martinez Bos.
OF Josh Hamilton Tex.
OF Carl Crawford TB.
OF Ichiro Suzuki Sea.
SP David Price TB

Reserves
C – Joe Mauer Min.

Inf – Ty Wigginton Balt, Billy Butler KC, Elvis Andrus Tex, Adrian Beltre Bos, Justin Morneau Min.

OF – Vernon Wells Tor, Alex Rios Chi, Vladimir Guerrero Tex, Jose Bautista Tor.

Pitchers – Fausto Carmona Clev, Jered Weaver Anh, Jon Lester Bos, Ricky Romero Tor, Andy Pettite NY, Colby Lewis Tex, Jeff Niemann TB, Clay Bucholtz Bos, Andrew Bailey Oak, Neftali Feliz Tex, Mariano Rivera NY.

NL
Starters
1B Albert Pujos Stl.
2B Martin Prado Atl.
SS Hanley Ramirez Fla
3B Scott Rolen Cin
C Brian McCann Atl.
OF Ryan Braun Mil.
OF Andre Either LA
OF Andruw McCutchen Pit.
SP Ubaldo Jimenez Col.

Reserves
C – Miguel Olivo Col.

Inf- Joey Votto Cin, David Wright NY, Adrian Gonzalez SD, Brandon Phillips Cin, Jose Reyes NY.

OF Marlon Bryd Chi, Chris Young Ari, Matt Holiday Stl.

Pitchers – Roy Oswalt Hou, Matt Cain SF, Roy Halladay Phi, Adam Wainright Stl, Josh Johnson Fla, Tim Lincecum SF, Chris Carpenter Stl, Matt Latos SD, Yovani Gallardo Mil, Matt Capps Wash, Brian Wilson SF, Heath Bell SD.

Nick's Top 3 Embarrassing Moments

We all have moments in our lives that are embarrassing. These three stories are probably the three worst.

The Nick Francone Show
It was my senior year of high school. I used to get a ride to school almost every morning from Chris Dusza. He would first pick up Doyle, then me and lastly head to the Gardens to get Zar. Well, at some point Dusza started to flake out on his duties leaving me running for the bus. As a senior there is nothing more soul crushing then having to still rely on the yellow bus to get you to Argo.

In Dusza’s defense he had just started dating this girl he met at one of our trips to Fields on 107th and Cicero. On Tuesdays I believe they had under 21 nights and we would from time to time hit the juice bar. Yes, it was lame but when you are trying to hit on girls, it was usually stock piled. It was usually me, Zar, Dusza and Doyle all piling in at first his Dad’s blue Ford Escort wagon (a total chick magnet) and then eventually his red 1979 Camaro.

Well, one Tuesday night he met this girl whose name was also Chris. Me, Zar and Doyle were not huge fans of hers. Because of this we started to see less and less of Dusza, which meant less rides to school and more time on the bus for Nick.

One of us would usually try to get a hold of Dusza the night before to see if we could count on a ride to school from him or not. Well, one particular Sunday I tried in vain to reach Dusza. Like I mentioned I was not a fan of taking the bus so, I decided to try to track him down. I knew damn well where he was, at his girlfriends house.

So, as I headed out for the evening in Dell’s Impala with Jim Lave along for the ride, I directed Dell to her abode (as I had been there a couple of times) to see if I could count on Dusza for a ride the next morning. We pulled into the driveway and sure enough there is Dusza’s ride sitting in front of the house, so I knew he was there.

I went up to the door and rang the bell and got no answer. I knocked on the door and still nothing. Why, I didn’t just walk away I have no idea, but I persisted. I re-rang the bell and knocked some more. Eventually, Dusza’s girl comes to the door wearing only his shirt. In the most awkward moment of my young life I ask if he is there. She then yells for him. Dusza makes his way to the door shirtless with the look of someone who had just been cock-blocked. And simply says, What?

I was mortified. I then try to explain about needing to know if he was going to provide a ride the next day. He eventually tells me to hold on and he will be out in a bit. At this point I can see Lave and Dell with a half mortified, half laughing their ass off look on their faces. Dusza comes out and I then proceed to have a terribly awkward conversation. I began it with so, what’s up and it all went downhill from there. Dell and Lave didn’t utter one syllable the entire time. (To this day Dell, will when remembering this incident call it the Nick Francone Show.) We all knew that I had interrupted his afternoon coitus session but no one spoke of it. The entire conversation outside lasted five minutes but it seemed like days before I finally ended the horror and we went on our way. Ironically enough Dusza was kind enough to give me a ride to school the next day.


The Wedding Salad
I was working at Kmart. I worked with a girl there named Cindy. At the time I was dating Jenny, and she was dating another Kmart friend Jeff. Jeff had recently gone away to school in Kentucky and Cindy needed a date to her cousin’s wedding. She asked me and I figured a free meal is a free meal, so I agreed.

Other then Cindy I knew absolutely nobody else there. But, I have always fancied myself as someone who when in a room full of strangers finds a way to make conversation. At the reception we were seated at a table with I believe Cindy’s sister and like six or seven other people. Obviously I had no idea who they were and have never seen them since.

The reception was at the Chateau Bu-Sche in Alsip. Anyone that has ever been to a wedding where you are placed at a table where you don’t know anyone knows what usually happens. A lot of small talk is made and some get to know you conversation takes place usually centered on how you know the bride and groom. This was the case as we all took our seats.

I must also point out that I am Italian and as such I have a tendency to talk with my hands. It is something that I do subconsciously. I don’t realize I am doing it but, I know that I do. This little nugget of information will play a major role in the story.

So the soup comes and the usual talk is taking place. Eventually, the second course comes which of course is a house salad. I lather on the French dressing and at some point I am in the middle of telling some story or something. I have at this point placed my fork on the edge of the salad plate. Midway through my, what I am sure was about to me an amusing antidote, my left hand comes down right onto the fork. This causes the fork to go flying upwards sending a nice piece of iceberg lettuce doused with dressing on it to skyrocket over my left shoulder and onto the wall behind me where I am sitting.

The piece of lettuce just sticks to the wall and then slowly proceeds to slowly drip down said wall leaving a trail mark of Nick’s shame. Everyone at the table just froze the instant this takes place. It all felt like it was happening in slow motion. At the exact moment I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a whole and disappear.

Cindy, my date helps things out by laughing hysterically at the site of it. I am mortified. I knew the whole night I was doomed to be known as the guy who jettisoned a piece of lettuce and there was nothing I could do. I figured I better start drinking to ease the embarrassment. It was at this moment I found out the couple was very religious and there would be no alcohol at the reception. So, ya that wedding kind of sucked.

The Toilet Invasion
This story is one I am not sure I have ever told to anyone. Not a soul. I have kept it hidden for years because the mere thought of it still haunts me to this day. Again, this takes place when I was dating Jenny.

I would spend a lot of time at her mom’s house. Her step-dad worked the late shift and her mom would go to bed around 9 so, that meant we could play house and kick back and watch movies and fool around on her couch in the living room.

I, as I am today am always trying to find a laugh in almost any situation. I think I view it as a form of acceptance if I can make people laugh. Of the many qualities that first attracted me to Joyce was her laughing at my antics. Even after seven years of marriage she still has not tired of my comedy routines.

Anyway, I digress. Jenny was a tad tougher of a crowd. But, she too somehow found me funny and I was always trying to find a way to make her laugh. I swear a woman’s belly laugh to me is a bigger aphrodisiac then seeing a naked boob. However, I was twenty one at the time and my material was not as honed shall we say as it is today.

One of my “bits” was to surprise her when either she was in the bathroom or changing in her room and either say something stupid or do some stupid dance. Why I thought this was funny I have no idea, but it must have worked.

Usually once Jenny’s mom hit her bedroom she was out for the night. So, the hijinks of course only intensified from that point in the evening. One night Jenny and I are either watching television or a movie in the front room. Jenny gets up to what I assume was to use the can. Now, at this point I must point out that her house only had one facility.

What I didn’t realize was that Jenny didn't head to the bathroom but instead into her bedroom for God knows what. I wait a minute and figure I will use the opportunity to catch her on the pot and try to strike comedy gold. I am sure if you have read this far you can predict what happened instead.

I head to the bathroom and the door is closed. (To this day I don’t know why it wasn’t locked.) I burst open the door not to find my girlfriend on the can but instead her mom. Her mom lets out a shriek of horror and I run out of there faster than a cheetah. As much as I have tried the visual haunts me to this day. I have no words to describe the level of uncomfortableness I felt for oh, the next 3 years we dated when I dealt with her mom.

We never spoke of what happened and I never breathed a word of it to Jenny. The irony is that for some reason her mom still liked me. Even after I saw her at her most vulnerable she kept the secret and pretended like it never happened. Still, the mere memory of it causes me so much embarrassment, that even today almost 20 years later I still get red faced when thinking about it.

Nick's Jobs Rankings

In February I celebrated my 25th year in the workforce. I started at White Hen in 1985 and I have been pretty much working ever since. Here I will list the best jobs I have had to the worst. I am taking into consideration, money, stress, supervisors, travel, and co-workers. I will only list the 7 places I put in at least a year at. So, my week at Burger King and my month at Dominick’s don’t count.

1. Harris Bank – July 1998 – May 2003: All things considered this was the best job I ever had. I was getting paid nicely, and got a year end bonus every year. I had six bosses in five years and five of the six were great. My co-workers were all really good people that were easy to work with. I met my wife there as well. I can’t really list that many negatives. The one I can list is that the company was hell bent on outsourcing as much as they could. I often said when I was at Harris, that I would never leave the bank, they would have to leave me, and they did just that. We got outsourced to EDS and suddenly the best job I ever had turned into the worst. I would still be there, if not for that outsourcing and I still miss working there.

2. CWT April 2006 – Present: I am pretty lucky in that my current job is not something I can complain about. I mean sure, it is not perfect but all in all there are a lot worse places to have to go to every day. My boss is a great guy and I get along with all my co-workers. The people I support can be trying but, that is everywhere. I do wish our pay was a tad higher but, in the times we live in, I guess I shouldn’t complain. I am also not a fan of having to go to Downers Grove every day, and I miss taking the train. But these are petty complaints compared to big picture things.

3. IRI June 1992 - December 1996: I simply loved my time at IRI. I learned my trade there, worked with friends and had a blast. IRI was more of a party then a job. It was the perfect place to work at when I was in my twenties. I tell stories from my time there and few believe me. It was such a different time and a culture that I am not sure you will ever see it again. The main negative about IRI was the pay. I was paid slave wages. I started out making shit. So, when I would get glowing reviews and 7% pay increases it sounds great. But, 7% of shit is still shit. I honestly think my manager at the time never thought I would leave, so even after I asked for more money I was kept getting the brush off. After I could no longer take making peanuts, I left. It was a difficult decision but one that in the end was the right one.

4. Kmart August 1987- January 1994: Kmart was the best job I ever had if you take pay and the hours out of the equation. I was a part timer and was paid a little above minimum wage. But, man did I have a blast working there. I have written many times about the friends I made at the Mart and the adventures I got into while I was there. Needless to say, no other job shaped me as much as Kmart did. I learned a lot there about people and many of the customer service lessons I learned there still apply in the corporate world. It was the perfect place to work when I was in school and I even stayed there working weekends after I got my first “real” job. But, man did I make peanuts and working retail weekends gets really old after awhile. Also, this was the last job I worked where I was required to wear a tie.

5. White Hen February 1985 – August 1986: My first job was working for my Uncle John at the White Hen he owned at 87th and Roberts Road. I started when I was fifteen. I loved working there. I didn’t make any money, (I started out making 3.35 an hour which was minimum wage at the time, and man am I old.) But, I didn’t really need a lot of money. The little money I made was spent all on discretionary purchases. In 1985 when you are fifteen and you have $40 in your pocket you are king. I worked with a lot of family members and some other really cool people. I must say, though running the lotto machine sucked and again, I think for the 1985 fiscal year I barely topped $1,000.

6. Monsanto March 1997 – July 1998: I met a number of really cool people working at Monsanto. But, overall the job sucked. First off I wasn’t a permanent employee, I was a consultant. That was not fun as I didn’t get one week of vacation the entire time I was there. I have to break this down into 3 segments as I worked in 3 different locations for the company. First, in Deerfield, then Skokie and finally I ended up at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. The first two locations sucked. The travel was brutal and both locations were sterile. When I moved into the city at the Mart that was a great location. My boss there was a guy who had no business being in management as he had no idea how to deal with people. The team I worked on was really tight and I meet some really talented people there. Also, I made some decent coin. But, overall when I was there I was miserable.

7. Chase Bank May 2003 – April 2006: My almost three years at the bank were three of the longest of my life. When my friend Chuck put in my resume he warned me about the place. I should have listened. Let me start off by saying, my co-workers were for the most part all really good. (Save for Mike Wiant, you sir are an asshole.) I got along with 90% of them. I have no complaints there. Also, I got 4 weeks vacation and made some decent coin. But, the job itself and the company were just brutal. I supported for the most part the Capital Markets area, and it was made up of just some truly awful people. You name the job and I supported them throughout my career. Accountants, lawyers, doctors, they were all sweethearts compared to the traders and investment bankers I supported. They all had one thing in life they cared about, money. Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to make some cabbage but these people were just consumed by greed and didn’t care how they acted in their pursuits. They would talk down to you and had an air of superiority about them that just rubbed me the wrong way. On top of that the management there left a lot to be desired. They based everything on numbers that were easy to manipulate. It is the laziest and most uncreative way to try to judge ones talent and this is coming from someone who had the best numbers on the team. And then there was the constant fear you were going to lose your job as they kept making cuts. It all added up to a big bowl of wrong. I would get stress headaches daily that would start on Sunday evening. I just hated working at Chase.

An Imperfect Perfection

I am in the middle of writing like 4 posts at once and can’t seem to properly finish any of them. But, I do want to throw out a quick one on my thoughts on what transpired in the baseball game on Wednesday night in Detroit where Armando Galaraga was robbed of his perfect game on a blown call by first base umpire Jim Joyce.

First, off let me state I feel just horrible for both the pitcher and the ump. The kid pitched his ass off and by all rights should have pitched a perfect game, sans one bad call. Joyce did not want to make a mistake and certainly didn’t do it on purpose. You know deep down that guy just has to feel awful and his entire 21 year career as an umpire will now come down to that one blown call.

I also feel everyone involved has handled this with the utmost class and professionalism. You would have certainly understood if Galaraga had bashed the ump in his post game interview for taking away his chance at history. But instead he took the high road and to that I say good for him. He certainly made me a fan. The Tigers organization and Jim Leyland also deserve high marks for coming out in support of Joyce. Leyland in the heat of the moment lost his cool, but once he calmed down, again came to the defense of the umpire.

Joyce himself also deserves some praise for how he has handled this. He came right out in the first post game interview after seeing the replay and admitted his mistake and owned to it. He answered every question and took responsibility for what happened. No one is perfect and the guy simply missed the call. To err is human.

All of this has led to cries from many fans and media persons out there. First, Bud Selig should reverse the call and award Galaraga a perfect game. Second, there should be more instant replay in baseball. I am against both ideas. It is very easy to overreact to the events that took place. But, I hope sanity prevails.

It is rare I agree with Bud Seilg. While many in the media will fawn over what Bud has done for the balance sheets of the owners, as a fan of the game it has sickened me. He is the only commissioner in baseball history to cancel a World Series. (And I know there is plenty of blame for that one, but in the end what did that work stoppage accomplish for the owners? I will answer for you, nothing.) He overreacted to one tie in an All Star game and now we have the fate of home field advantage in the World Series based on who wins a meaningless game in July. He created the abortion that is interleague play. I know a lot of people love it, but count me as someone who views it as unnecessary and patently unfair. (If you want to me to bore you with all the details of why I think so, just ask.) I could go on and on but I won’t.

With all that said, on this one I have to agree with Selig. You cannot overturn the call and to do so would start a really bad and dangerous precedent. I mean where do we stop? Do we now award the 1985 World Series to the Cardinals because Don Denkinger missed the call at first base? Does Milt Pappas get his perfect game because he ump called ball four with 2 outs in the 9th? Baseball for as long as it has been played has never been perfect. It is after everything is said and done simply a game. It is not life or death. It is played by great men who sometimes are not so great. It is judged by umpires who are human and are prone to all human frailties. But, that is part of what makes it great. This is also why I am dead set against more replay in baseball.

I realize I am fighting a losing battle. It is coming and there is nothing I can do about it. We have it on home run calls (somehow the game survived for 120 years without it) and soon its reach will further poison the game. Baseball is not like football and hockey. There is an ebb and flow to it, and the last thing we need is to have more interruptions and longer games. Yes, it sucks when a call goes against your team. But, there is an old saying breaks tend to even out. Football plays 16 games, and baseball plays 162. During 162 bad calls are going to go both ways and like I said tend to even out.

Even in football with instant replay how many times will you look at a replay and think, okay that will be overturned and the ref comes out and lets a call stand? The NFL has been using replay for over a decade and has still not perfected it. Nothing gets my goat more than watching a football game celebrate a touchdown only to have some coach throw the red flag to dispute it. It totally disrupts the flow of the game and like I said, even with replay sometimes the refs still get it wrong.

I get the argument on the other side. I really do. I understand the want to have calls be 100% accurate, but that is fantasyland stuff. There are always going to be calls that are incorrect, replay or no replay. Baseball umpires as a whole do a pretty good job (save for Laz Diaz and Angel Hernandez the two worst umps in baseball.) I know the umpires now want more replay, but I just think this is a huge over reaction. This is the first time in the 130 year history of baseball that a perfect game was lost on a bad call at first. Somehow even without replay the game will survive.