True Blue

Many people claim to be "True Blue" Cubs fans. Fortunately, for our fans, this is usually not a massive exaggeration. However, no one, I repeat, NO ONE has ever bled a deeper shade of Cubbie Blue than the late Ron Santo. I woke up this morning, checked my twitter feed, and immediately noticed that Ron Santo was trending. My heart dropped. Quickly.

For those of you who do not know, Ron Santo was an All-Star 3rd basemen for the cubs. He was the recipient of five golden gloves and finished his career with a .277 BA. There has been much debate over his entrance into the Hall of Fame. He has come extremely close to gaining the necessary 75% of the HOF voters' approval, but never quite got over the hump. Sound familiar cubs fans?

After a quick google search, I realized that Ron had passed away this morning. He had been battling Type 1 Diabetes for all of his adult life. It is quite inspirational to imagine someone with that significant of a disease being a MLB All-Star and a five-time gold glover. The final cause of his death was bladder cancer, but it had clear links to his Diabetes, which eventually took both of his legs.

For my generation, Ronnie is best know for his no-holds-barred Cubs Radio announcing on WGN 720. When I think summer, I think of sitting in a backyard with some friends around the grill, tossing back a few old styles, playing bags, and listening to Ron and Pat Hughes call cubs games. It has been something I've taken for granted as a Cubs fan. There is always someone who is cheering louder and taking losses harder than you, if thats possible. That man happens to be in a profession that is technically supposed to be bias. Not Ron. He was always the first to let you know just how he felt, whether it be during a July game where the cubs are hanging around 3rd or 4th in the division and utterly hopeless or a late-September game in the bottom of the ninth in a close pennant race. His passion never wavered. Take this clip from 2010, a brutal year for the cubs. This game meant nothing, but still...the passion:

There have been countless moments that I have been listening to Ron call a game that have brought me to tears in laughter. The thing is, he's not trying to be funny. The man cared so much about our Cubbies that he would become piping hot with anger towards whatever umpire, opposing player, goat, or evil spirits that had doomed the Cubs on that day.

My one personal experience with Ron was one that I am extremely privileged to have had, and one that I will not soon forget.

I was about 14 years old when a friend invited me and another one of our buddies to go to a Cubs game. Great, I thought, I haven't been to a game this summer. Should be fun. So the three of us went, and around the 8th inning, the friend who got us the tickets let us know that we were going to make a quick pit stop upstairs in the booth.

Ummmmm, awesome? Apparently, my friend's mother is friends with Santo's wife, so he offered for us to come up. A few minutes later and the three of us were standing outside of the WGN booth on a sweltering mid-July afternoon. After a less than intrusive security check by an apathetic guard, we were granted access to the Holy Grail of Chicago sports radio.

We just sat there watching as the bottom of the 8th came to an end and when they went to commercial, he motioned us over to him. Whoa! We spoke for a brief moment and met Pat Hughes, but soon they were back on air.

I've always imagined that being a baseball radio announcer would be brutally difficult, because it has got to be difficult to come up with interesting things to talk about on a Tuesday afternoon when your club is losing to the Reds by 4 runs. Luckily, Ron ran with this opportunity. I will never, in my life forget these two minutes.

"So, Pat, me and my wife's good friends' son just entered the booth with two of his friends, and I gotta tell you, it really is amazing the way these kids grow up. I have known this young man for a long time and it really brings a smile to my face to see how they grow up. Welcome boys, and maybe you will give us some good luck!"

The story would be better if the Cubs had come back and won while we were in the booth, but I already took enough artistic liberty with the paraphrasing of Mr. Santo in that quote. Pretty close though.

The highlight of everything was when Ron gave us a ride home! That's right, Ron Santo gave me a ride home from Wrigley Field in his legendary Chevy Tahoe. Since, at that point, he had already lost his right leg to the Diabetes, he had a contraption installed with which he simultaneously controlled the gas and brakes with his right hand. To accelerate, he pulled down on a lever that was installed under the wiper lever, and to brake he pushed a button on the same lever. Pretty interesting and border-line safe. What is a cop going to do? Give a ticket to Ron Santo? Get outtta heeaaaa.

Trying to pull out of the Wrigley parking lot in Ron Santo's tinted out Tahoe made me feel like Burt Reynolds or somethin. Dozens of people stumbling out of the bleachers with 3rd degree sunburns and 14 beers under the belts (on a tuesday afternoon) came up to the car to get pictures and autographs. Ron, the great Chicagoan that he was, genuinely smiled and obliged to every last request. And to think, he had to do that exact same thing every home game (and probably most away games) every summer from 1990-2010. Unreal.

It is with great sadness that we, the people of Chicago, say goodbye to Ron Santo. "This Old Cub" will never be forgotten. The next time any cubs fan is sitting in their backyard around the grill, tossing back old styles, and playing bags, they will surely cherish the memory of hearing that gritty old voice willing, with every fiber in his being, for the boys in blue to pull one out so that W flag can fly high. Rest in Peace Ronnie, the Truest of the Blue.

Welcome to the Brutally Awkward House

So far, this blog has been full of Blackhawks related content. Why? Well, Chicago can finally rejoice in having a championship and the highlights (blog worthy) of my time home have had something to do with them.

This, on the other hand, makes me embarrassed to call these two captains. The notion of "selling out" is something with which I am COMPLETELY fine. If I had the opportunity to sell out, I would do so in a heart beat. Imagine being Wayne Campbell or Garth Algar from the infamous Wayne's World...

Two lowly residents of Aurora, Illinois trying to make a name for themselves out of Wayne's parents' basement with a local cable show. When they have a chance to sell out, naturally they take it. In these times, its all 'bout da benjamin.

This type of behavior is completely acceptable.

Unfortunately, I stumbled across this Dell advertisement featuring Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane and it has, somehow, questioned my loyalty to these two as captains. There is no chance in hell that Patrick Sharp would ever consider doing something like this. Please view with caution if you are a hawks fan. If you happen to be a Detroit fan, here is some ammunition:

Really, boys? Emphasis on boys. That is just pathetic. You are professional hockey players for a Stanley Cup winning team. The entire franchise is built around you. If you are going to sell out, at least make it mildly watchable. Bad acting can be counter-acted by a marginally professional commercial, but looks like something they did in telecom class junior year of high school.

I think it would be less childish to promote Four Lokos or Smirnoff Ice. At least you could work Hockey into the dead fad of icing someone...

Welcome to the Job House

Over the last week, I have spent more time in the United Center than the last 4 years combined. As you saw with my last post, I went to a Blackhawks game earlier this week and today I went to a recruitment event for Wirtz Corporation (they own the Blackhawks, a Liquor Distribution Company, a joint-venture in the United Center, etc.)

Recently, my weekdays have been reduced to trying to remain productive by scouring the internet for job openings through your standard websites like Monster, CareerBuilder, Michigan's Career Connector, and, heaven forbid, Craig's List.

Initially, I was very pleased with the services provided by these websites. Within a few days of posting my resume, I was receiving calls and e-mails about potential offerings in various industries. After following a few leads, I have come to a startling and sickening conclusion. 99% of online job offerings are complete and utter scams.

It is really unbelievable. This morning, for instance, I received a call from a random 312 area code. As someone active in the job market, my pulse immediately quickens and I stand up and lunge towards the nearest window, contorting my head into positions only a desperately unemployed college grad can find, in order to insure that AT&T doesn't drop me like a ball thrown to Ray Charles. Too soon?

Once I start talking to the HR person sporting a lace veil of sincerity, I have to start wading through the bog of bullshit that is their attempt of legitimizing a job they full-know is to sell at 100% commission a service or product that no one wants.

Now, I have nothing wrong with 100% commission, but when I am asked to prepare a list of over 100 personal contacts that could potentially want life insurance that I can share with said company before they even hire me, I have a massive issue. Almost as big of an issue as I have with run-on sentences. There is absolutely no chance that a single one of my friends is anywhere remotely close to considering purchasing life insurance. I think Uzbekistan has a better chance of emerging as a global superpower by the year 2015 than a single one of my friends buying life insurance by the same date.

Something like real estate? Bring it on. People want that. It is sexy. It is a valuable asset. It can, and will, make you a lot of money in the future. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get a job in the industry right now. I remain confident, however. I have always said that I am a lucky person and I think something will come along soon.

Every now and then you can find the 1%er online. Luckily...I found that with the recruitment event for the Wirtz Corporation. I applied for it off-handedly and was invited to attend the function at the United Center.

Upon my arrival, the scene was not at all what I had expected. I was anticipating (read: hoping to see) a group of about 40 recent big ten college grads. Instead I saw a stampede of salt n' pepper-haired, grizzled pounders of the pavement flocking towards Gate 9 (unfortunately the opposite side of MJ stuffing some inferior opponent).

"Great. Now I get to wander amongst these Wacker Street Warriors as a green neophyte of the business world. I don't have a problem with small talk in areas in which I am somewhat comfortable, but this was not one of them. At all.

When I got inside, it was just what I was dreading. A section of the United Center corridors was roped of with a stand of various soft drinks and water bottles and a massive table of food that no one except for the seedy overly-corporate dimwit in the "formal" hawaiian shirt dared touch. Just bad form buddy, no one wants to see you eat popcorn out of a cocktail napkin. Much less talk to you or, GASP, shake your hand.

Aside from the refreshments, there were 5 booths set up, each representing a different aforementioned business line of the Wirtz Corp. After going to the first few, I mosey over to the Wirtz Beverage booth and began waiting in a fairly sizable line. After about 10 minutes, people around me were all talking to eachother, but me and the 20-something girl behind me remained silent.

Well, this is awkward...say something, Wes...:

Hey, Uhhhh, trying to get a job? No, too idiotic.

Come here often? Sounds like a come on, although she is rather attractive... No! Wes! Business time!

How about them Hawks? Ehhhhh, fairly plausible, but she's a girl. Might not like sports.

So, want to have a small talk networking conversation? Slightly funny and she might appreciate our awkward situation and break the ice. No, Wes. Focus, Game face. Be natural.

Ten minutes later:

Wes: "Wow, this is quite some line we've got here..."

Skirt: "Hah, it sure is. Why don't you go and push everyone out of the way so we can talk first."

Good, nice girl. Funny. I like her attitude.

Wes: "I like your attitude."

Commence standard pleasantries about college location, hometown, current employement, the same Australia spiel (I had to look up that spelling, never written that word before) that I use about 18 times per week.

So after I had locked in a friend and spoken to all of the booths, it was time for a video. We got to sit in the arena, right by the covered ice and watch a corporate video, a blackhawks video set to the theme to Requiem for a Dream (massive chills), and a member of the Wirtz family spoke followed by McDonough, the President of the Hawks. It was a good presentation, but I am rambling.

As a good Samaritan, I gave my new friend a ride to her friends place (she's from out of town and W. Madison is not an ideal place for a cute girl to walk around trying to find a cab at night) and that was that.

I remain cautiously optimistic. There were a ton (perhaps 250) people at this event, but very few youngins, so I feel like we have the entry level jobs locked down.

If not, you all might be getting calls inquiring about your interest in life insurance. As a matter of fact, I take back everything I said earlier. YOU ALLLLLL NEEEEEEED LIIIIIIIIFFFFEEEE INSUUUUUUURRAAANNNNCCCCCEEEEEEE.

Welcome to the Mad House

Last night I caught up with a friend whom I hadn't seen in far too long. We had a man date at the Blackhawks game against the St. Louis Blues. After missing the entire season last year (Australian men play field hockey, not real hockey), I was extremely excited to see the only team able to bring Chicago a championship since I have actually cared about sports. Oh, and the White Sox may as well be from Indiana as far as I am concerned. I am still somewhat upset that I might have jinxed the hawks by coming back and disturbing the status quo (I'm a big deal).

Last night's game, however, quickly eliminated that idea. The United Center was absolutely amazing. The last time I went to a blackhawks game was during a VERY different, non-Stanley Cup winning, era. It used to be a fun event, but the crowd lacked confidence. Now, fans expect, and usually enjoy, victory at all costs.

The hawks went down 2-0 with 9 minutes left in the game. It was looking bleak. A couple years ago, many fans of the fair-weathered nature would have checked out in order to beat the traffic, but no! Not with these hawks. Even in an ice rink, there was humidity of a thick, musky, desire to take out our midwestern foes, no matter how scrappy we get.

Enter Marion Hossa. I would really like to thank all of you clowns up North for giving up one of the most prolific goal scorers in the game today. That man is oozing experience, infecting other players, and he has a nose for the goal like none other.

Hossa managed to score two goals right on the doorstep, the second being between his legs to tie it up. We eventually went into overtime and Kane had a 2 on 1 opportunity with all of the time in the world and, as we have come to expect from him, made a beautiful cross crease pass to Sharp for the goal after freezing the goalie by threatening to pick the near side corner.

The place went nuts.

Great reintroduction to the hawks and Chicago sports!

Genesis

I would like to take this opportunity to officially welcome everyone to my new blog.

Anyone who is reading this knows that I spent the last year in Australia and, during that time, I kept a blog to inform friends and family of my various adventures, and misadventures down under. Alas, the Aussie ship has sailed and with it, wesdownunder.

I throughly enjoyed spilling my thoughts and experiences on the blog and coming home put a stop to that because, after all, you can't write for something called "Wes Down Under" while living in the states. So, here is my new rant space!

It is debatable whether or not it will be interesting, seeing as I am now just another college grad seeking employment, but my hopes are high that I can contribute a good post here and there.

So check in once in a while and, who knows, I might have a good story or two...

Oh, and sorry about the font color...I did not anticipate how difficult it would be to choose one based on my lavish background which took far too long to make and seems a little vain, but who cares, I am American now! Get some.