Why I Oughta...

I swear we've done nothing different between the three kids in regards to sports and balls.  But The King of the Ball Tossers is really living up to his name:  he's drawn, almost magically, to sports balls of all kind.  Here he is, strapped into his car seat with his ball and bat.  He wouldn't let me take it out of his hands!

I went to the dump that is known as Wrigley Field last night with some good friends.  I think this was the second time I've been in the bleachers, but I can't totally recall.  Have to admit...it was pretty fun. Couldn't pay much attention to the game (which kinda explains why the Bleachers are such a party normally, right?), but I did 'hoss down an absolutely delicious Hot Doug's polish sausage called the 'Carmen Fanzone'.  I wasn't ever able to get to Hot Doug's before they closed, so this was a really nice treat! The Tribune describes the sausages thusly : Named for former Cubs players, the lineup consists of the Carmen Fanzone (spicy Vienna Beef polish sausage with brown mustard and caramelized onions), the Rick Reuschel (pork sausage with chipotle mustard and pepper jack cheese) and the Dave Kingman (bacon cheeseburger sausage with cola-barbecue sauce and sharp cheddar). The improvements they've made to the park are quite dramatic and ...

I don't normally follow college baseball and the College World Series, but this year, things might be different:   my Illini have won 21 straight games are now ranked #6 in the country .  They beat #23 Ohio State yesterday in a comeback.  Pretty awesome to see the sports like baseball (and golf!) doing so well down in Champaign.  (One slight nitpick...why are the Illini wearing these 'old' uniforms?  This isn't the new font, right?  Maybe because these are 'cut off' jerseys, they're alternates and holdovers from last year's uniform set?) Happy for these guys and for the team.  Here's hoping the student body is getting behind this crew and showing up at the home games. I-L-L...

My childhood favorite (and Mike's favorite!) is back in stores.  Go out and stock up.  I just did.  I put 20 of them in my cart at Jewel over the weekend. What's the big deal?   Here's the details via CBS Sports : In the pantheon of sports drink flavors, not many things top Gatorade's Citrus Cooler. So hell yes you should be excited the sports scientists are bringing it back in March of 2015.   Gatorade's celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015 and as such they're producing a bunch of commercials related to the milestone. But this is next level stuff. Citrus Cooler was/is Michael Jordan's favorite flavor and if it's good enough for the G.O.A.T. it's good enough for the rest of us. And they also brought back the "Be Like Mike" commercials with a slight tweak.  I can't stop humming the song.

Back in January, I went to what I *think* was my first Chicago Blackhawks game with some buddies .  Last week, I went with the full 19-headed monster to the game against the Devils.  The seats, weren't...ahem...quite the same.  It still was a lot of fun and I got to take the Babe with me - so we had some good daddy/daughter time. Now....being up in the 300 level, things weren't all bad.  There are some advantages of 'seeing the game' from up there, but let's be honest:  everyone in any of the 300 level seats would switch in a heartbeat with someone in row 4 down close to the glass.  But, when you're with 18 members of your family, it doesn't matter where you sit.  It is going to be fun.

The Bulls/DRose stuff is great.  But...the Illini hoops squad making the homepage with a win? Makes this Friday morning all that much better.

A few weeks back, I was invited to watch the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Dallas Stars by a friend who lives in Elmhurst.  I *think* I've been to a couple of 'Hawks games before (I believe Matt - the Mayor organized a trip to the United Center during one of the Christmas Breaks while we were in college (the late 90's) and I have a faint recollection of going to the Blackhawks game with my little league baseball coach and his son when I was really small. But...I can't quite confirm those things in my memory...so I'm claiming this as my FIRST Blackhawks game.  It *is* the first one I've been to since the team has been good the past few years, so that's something, right? Oh...and they won in overtime, too!  It was pretty awesome.  We then ran to the car and got out of the parking lot pretty easy. I do have one beef, though.  They Hawks wear red jerseys at home.  That's too bad.  If I was a season ticket holder, I'd be pushing the team to reve...

Kind of hard to see, but in the middle of that photo is a guy wearing a jacket that says "Super Bowl Champions" on it.  Big Broncos logo. Do they distribute the loosing gear to people already?  Is this guy down on his luck and got the jacket for free?  So many questions after a loss like that.

See that red box down near the baseline that has the number 30 transforming into the number 29?  That's the shot clock.  And in this Duke/Florida State game today, it was the first time I have ever viewed this innovation.  Is this new?  I feel like I watch a lot of college basketball, but maybe the B1G network games are slow on the technology uptake? I really liked this box and it increased my interest in the game.  This seems like another innovation that brings us one step closer to the idea that stadiums and arenas are increasingly becoming "glorified studios" for the tv audience.  As the cash from tv becomes so big, the fans attending the game become less and less important.  Guess who didn't see the shot clock box?  That's right:  those folks who are in the stadium.

Had a wonderful night watching the Good Guys beat up on the Cubs last night.  All things considered (NATO, etc) we got to the game relatively easy and had great seats!  Thanks Dennis and Angela!

Yesterday, the three of us spent part of the morning up in Bensenville, watching my nephew play in one of his first full-ice hockey games.  He's only 5, but he's already part of the Elmhurst Chiefs Hockey program and lovin' every minute of it.  They played well, but on this day were outmatched by the visiting team. Youth hockey is so foreign to me - mostly because I didn't see a second of ice time during my childhood.  In fact, I'm not sure there was a rink that was within 30 miles of my folk's house.  With this rink being so close and hockey being a 'big deal' in the neighborhood - based on the other kids on the team including one girl - I'm wondering if the hockey bug will catch on in our house?

With The Masters coming so quickly after the Final Four, my sports-related Official Google Blog posts are coming fast these days.   Just 7 days after I told you guys about the latest Final Four trends , I found a ex-pro golfer at Google to "sign" my latest piece.    This one was fun, but because the trends around the game have been so dominated by Tiger's off-course issues, there were a few problems with hanging our hat on the leading players. As I write this, I'm watching the final holes at Augusta and just as our post posited, there are very talented, but relatively unknown golfers coming on strong to contend for the green jacket. (Hello Jason Day, Adam Scott, and Charl Schwartzel!) One trend that I didn't get into the post was around the Par 3 contest that takes place the Wednesday before the tournament opens.  This year it seems, interest in the Par 3 contest skyrocketed as more golf fans wanted to know more about it.  Perhaps it has something to do with...

With the Heisman Trophy being awarded tonight, the race doesn't even look close at this point - both in listening to the experts on ESPN and looking at the Google Insights for Search Chart.  Google has Andrew Luck edging both Kellen Moore and LaMichael James for second place.  Will these results hold up?  Stiffarm.com ranks them (from first to last) Newton, Luck, James, Moore.   We have the last two flip-flopped - but it seems that Google Insights for Search and the "experts" agree on the top two.  Computational prowess, FTW!

Too bad , Cubs fans.  Nothing like a little bit of Blackhawks bandwagon-ing to point this out.

Pop the term "World Cup" in your friendly search engine and scroll down.  Pretty cute image awaits you at the bottom. As pointed out by  others ,  these  both  are pretty good, too. World Cup in 1 day.  Let's go USA!

Yesterday, on the Official Google Blog, a post on the Stanley Cup Finals went live .  This was my third post published on the OGB (although 2 of them are "posted" by someone else). I had the idea for the post late Sunday during the Hawks game, pitched the blog team internally and got the draft ready early Tuesday.  Jim - the Googler who's name is on the post - is a HUGE Hawks fan and I'm thrilled he agreed to put his name behind it. The most interesting trend that I spotted was the surge in queries for [ Chelsea Dagger ] - the song the Hawks play after each goal. Really pretty fun to get the posts in front of such a huge audience - there's 523K feed readers alone, let alone those that come from Twitter and other links. For those keeping track at home here are the other 2 posts that I wrote (signed the GOP one) At the Republican National Convention: Politics in the Cloud and on the Ground  (9/9/08) Searching for the Next Olympic Host City  (10/1/09)

Even the tourists are getting into the act.  Check out this set of (French, I think!) tourists I walked by near Michigan Avenue on Tuesday. Look closely (click the image above).  Although she isn't wearing a Hawks sweater, it does seem eerily familiar, doesn't it? Oh....you think that she was dressing fashionably and this is just a coincidence?

With the baseball season in full swing (and my White Sox stinking up the joint), my mind - and attention - have begun to focus on America's Pastime.  One way or the other, I was turned on to this browser extension for the Chrome browser.  It is called "Baseball Player Search", but it really is a pretty amazing baseball lookup.  Once you add it, you can click on the little ball in the corner and down drops this toolset: You check as many of the boxes as you want, pop in a player's name and hit search.  Up pops as many tabs as you've checked and you get every bit of info at your fingertips. If you're not using Chrome, you should.  Seriously.  And....if you are a baseball guy/girl, this might just put it over the edge and convert you!

Right now on the Tribune's homepage , they've gussied up their logo with this Chicago Blackhawks Doodle.  It is the first time I have spotted them doing something like this.  Seems familiar... somehow . They did a pretty cute job with it - they should do it regularly based on news events around town.  Maybe a   "Please Come, LeBron" doodle?

I'm guessing that the City of Chicago department head that approved these banners to be made and hung outside of City Hall is breathing a bit easier now that the Blackhawks have tied up the series with Nashville, eh? I even caught myself watching a bit of the game.  And...I'm clearly not alone in being a "fair weather Hawks fan".  Here's how far the Blackhawks are "back" in people's minds:   they're surging in search .