April 8, 2006

• Last night I played cards at Mark's house. I had to pick up Dave, who,
  of course, was not ready to go when I arrived. That being said, I only
  had to wait for him for about 5-10 minutes. We got to Mark's house and
  Scott and band teacher Jeff were already there. Mark told me that he
  would not be able to come over and watch the Cubs game today. I asked
  him why and he said "because we are going to the game." I said "oh.
  well that's ok. Who are you going to the game with?" and he said "Me
  and you!!!!" WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!! I was pretty excited about it. As
  for the card games, we had 8 people and in the first game, I started
  off ok but lost a big pot to Mark. This put me down severely. I kept
  battling back until I was almost chip leader. I wound up 4th, one spot
  out of the money. As for the 2nd game, we had 6 people and I started
  off very good and was rolling before cooling off and finishing 4th, 2
  spots out of money.

  I got up this morning shortly after 10 in the AM. I walked outside and
  got the paper and saw that although it was chilly, there was not a
  cloud in the sky. Doesn't matter, though, its always colder at the
  park, especially if we are in the shade. Mark arrived at 11:20ish and
  we were off to the game. I have been to dozens of Cubs games over the
  years, but I still get very excited about going, just like the first
  time I went. The night before a game, I'm all giddy and can't wait to
  get to bed so that I can get up and go to the game. Each time as we
  approach the park, I get anxious and excited and start looking for the
  park. I know its sorta cheesy, but what can I say? We had some issues
  finding parking, but settled on a place very close to the ballpark that
  cost $25. Mark got out and said "ahhhh, its not that cold out here." I
  replied "its misleading. Sure, its not cold here, but inside the park
  its going to be frigid." We walked along the outside of the park under
  the new bleacher section. Looks good. The best new feature is what is
  know as a knothole, its an open window that is under the right field
  bleachers that allows you to see from the street all the way into the
  park, even home plate, for free. Its great. We walked in the park and
  got our 2006 magnet schedule. I have a lot of old Cubs magnet
  schedules, and I proudly place them on my fridge like a badge of honor.

  Before heading to our seats, we grabbed some hot chocolate. We walked
  up the ramp and saw we had some great seats, pretty much right behind
  home plate but about 40 rows back. Great view. The big problem is that
  we were completely in the shade. Oh, and there was a STIFF 20mph wind
  howling directly in, smacking us directly in the face. And, since it
  was only about 40 degrees out, this made for a VERY chilly afternoon.
  In fact, it was almost brutal. No, correct that, when the wind gust, it
  was brutal. Every now and then the wind would die down and it was
  tolerable. But, when that wind was blowing, I was miserable. I hope
  someday, my many games of freezing my ass off in early April pays off
  with a World Series title.

  The game was great and very close. Fortunately, it was a quickly played
  game. The Cubs fell behind 2-0 to the Cardinals in the 6th inning, but
  managed to actually comeback on Michael Barrett's 2 run homer in the
  7th and took the lead on Derek Lee's solo homerun in the 8th. The funny
  part is that with the wind blowing in as hard as it was, Mark and I
  both said throughout the game that nobody would be hitting a homer
  today, this of course, was not true. Ryan Dempster came on in the 9th
  to shut the door and the Cubs won!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!  They
  played "Go Cubs Go" over the PA system and we along with thousands of
  others in the park sang along like a bunch of dorks. I know its still
  early, but I'm excited, I like the way they have played so far.

  • 7:34 pm
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