With the Minnesota Twins sitting ½ games ahead of the Chicago White Sox before last night’s game, a White Sox loss would have sent the Twins to the playoffs and the White Sox home for the winter. However, last night’s White Sox victory over the Detroit Tigers forced the eighth one-game tiebreaker in MLB history.
Tonight will be the second one-game tiebreaker I attend as the White Sox host the Twins in a 6:30 pm start at U.S. Cellular Field. The last one-game tiebreaker I attended was September …

Normally only one-game tiebreaker games take place on the Monday after MLB’s regular season ends. However, each year there are always some possibilities of a game that was rained out earlier in the season that will need to be made up on Monday if the 1st and 2nd place teams are only ½ games apart in the standings. Yesterday was that exception.
For the first time in 27 years, a team needed to make up a rained out game after the conclusion of the season. In 1981, …

The Chicago Bears held onto their 4th quarter lead to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles last night 24-20. With 5:40 left in the 4th quarter, the Eagles had 1st and goal at the 4 yard line. The Bears stopped the Eagles’ run on four consecutive plays. The Bears took over on downs and ran the clock down 28 seconds before having to punt.
One of the best things about Sunday Night Football, is that you have your entire Sunday to relax, run errands or tailgate. On a normal …

With a possible Wild Card clinching game on hand in Milwaukee I decided to drive to Miller Park yesterday for the game between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. Some friends of mine recently moved to Milwaukee and were tailgating before the game. I met them in the Miller Park parking lot for my first Milwaukee tailgate. Of course, they served brats. Tailgating at Miller Park has a similar feel to tailgating before an NFL game – it seems everyone in the parking lot is grilling …

The Cleveland Indians defeated the Chicago White Sox 11-8 last night. Ryan Garko hit a grand slam in top of the 5th inning to give the Indians the lead which they never gave up.
In the ten White Sox games I have attended at U.S. Cellular Field this season, I have witnessed 6 grand slams in 5 of those games. In addition, a player has had at least four RBI in seven of the games I attended. I’m not sure how many grand slams I have witnessed in total but I …

For the past few seasons, I have generally chosen to attend a Cubs game at Wrigley Field over a Bears game at Soldier Field because of two main reasons. First, Wrigley Field is located much closer to my house than Soldier Field. Second, the Cubs are usually out of the playoff hunt late in the season and their tickets are worthless whereas Bears tickets range in the triple digits for early season tickets.
Earlier in the week, I chose to attend the Bears game instead of the Cubs for two …

This Saturday, the Cubs clinched the NL Central in dramatic fashion against the Cards. Having attended 26 Cubs games in addition to 8 other MLB games, I needed a break before the playoffs to make it through the homestretch of the season. So, on Saturday, I found myself helping the premier lemonade stand in Wrigleyville for my team’s ice skating fundraiser. Given the high spirits of Cubs fans, donations rolled in. We sold $250 worth of dollar lemonade and treats….that’s like drug money lemonade stand.

Such is the informal economy in …

In the third game of the day, the U.S. Women’s National team beat Ireland 2-0. The match set a record for the U.S. women for wins in a calendar year. They won their 29th match of the year moving their 2008 record to 29-1-1. Defender Kate Markgraf scored her first international goal in her 193rd international match (cap).
Getting to the gameWe had a ride back from Toyota Park since Jim Cook’s wife and friend were driving to the stadium. From Wrigley Field, we took the Red Line to the Orange …

Once again we arrived at the Cubs game right on time from Evanston. We helped out with Nicole’s ice skating student’s lemonade stand briefly and walked into Wrigley Field.
With the Cubs magic number to clinch the NL Central division title at one, everyone in the stadium was hoping the Cubs could send Wrigleyville into a frenzy. In 2003, the Cubs swept a double header from the Pittsburgh Pirates at home to clinch the NL Central division title. That year, I went to Cubby Bear with my friends after the game. …

The day started at 9:15 am as I left the house and walked to the Addison el stop. In one hour, I would arrive at the Northwestern parking lot for the tailgate to begin. My friend Barbara Gorder had offered me two tickets to the game. I invited my cousin Jim Cook to join me. Little did I know Jim was already planning to attend the US Women’s Soccer match later that evening.
The GameNorthwestern beat Ohio to start the season 4-0. It is Northwestern’s first 4-0 start since 1962. During …