Thursday, May 5, 2011

Over to the South Side

Chicago is serious about its sports. If you live in Chicago, you care about the Bears. You care about the Blackhawks. You care about the Bulls. And, most importantly, you care about your baseball team. This is the one area where Chicago sports fans are fiercely and utterly divided. Live on the north side? Wrigley's your baseball home. South side? You hail from Comiskey Park US Cellular Field Sox Park. Throughout most of the year Sox fans and Cubs fans are capable of living in peace. This is aided by the fact that, like in so many other ways besides simply sports allegiances, Chicago is truly a heavily segregated city. 

But this is not a post about the differences between the North Side and the South Side, or about the rampant problems associated with gentrification and the increased displacement of the poor in Chicago out of the city as Section 8 housing has been significantly diminished as a result of the eradication of concentrated public housing projects.

No, this is a post about one thing, and one thing only. One of the best things about summer - despite the fact that it's not really summer [or barely even spring] here in Chicago. This is about  


baseball.

Last Friday eight of us trekked down to Sox/35th to see the White Sox take on the Orioles. [Well, that's not really what happened, but I'm getting ahead of myself.] This was my first White Sox game, my first Sox Park experience, and the first baseball game of the season for most [if not all] of us. Despite the 50-degree weather predictions, nobody was prepared for how cold it actually was. I think my muscles are still sore from tensing my body for 4+ hours hundreds of feet up into the air, in the shade, and sitting directly in the path of the nice spring "breeze."

Despite this [actually seasonable] frigid weather, the $20 parking, scrambling to get Justin in because somehow his ticket didn't have a barcode [and subsequently riding in a VIP elevator all the way to the fifth level], and an Orioles win, it was still very fun. At least, it causes me to look forward to real summer baseball games, perhaps in the afternoon, and sitting directly in the sunlight. With sunblock, of course.

Precious. Sunglasses not really needed.

Not willing to pose for a photo. Not if you're going to be friends with me.

[P.S. Did you know that the White Sox often have colors of red, white, and blue? This seems a little odd, considering the Cubs are red, white, and blue, and they are fierce rivals, so it could get confusing...but, who am I to judge? I'll just wear the black and white. Those are the best colors, anyway.]

Not willing so much as forced.


Yay!

Precious. Too bad we're still wearing scarves. But I still really like that leopard scarf, so I'm not really complaining. It's done well for me this year.

For this one picture, my aperture's a little too small, so Rich isn't in focus, but it's the only one I could get before this happened:

I guess some people like to actually watch the game and all that. Who knew?

Also coerced. And this is what happens when you take a picture from very close range. And it's windy.

Tardy. But still fun. :) They also left early. Smart ladies. Except, they missed this:

Fireworks! Apparently the Sox do them only once in a while, so I was forced to stay besides the fact that I was about to lose my toes. But I'm glad we did, because who doesn't love a good fireworks display?


Let's hope the next time I see them it's actually summer, as in, greater than 50 degrees. Hey - let's live on the edge: maybe even greater than 70...

2 comments:

Ashley Joy said...

Tardy?! We were there for the first pitch! (And then we left to get beer and hot dogs.)

Your camera takes nice pictures.

ashley elizabeth said...

Haha, that's true. I guess we just got there SO EARLY.

And thanks. It's all the camera.