Chicago 365 Playoff Central: 0-2, in the hole. Oh no?

     The Blackhawks just wrapped up ANOTHER overtime playoff game, and the results were not kind to the men from Chicago.  Things were going well for the Hawks as the Third Period arrived, and the Hawks were up 3-2 with 10 minutes to go.  Then Brent Seabrook drove David Backles into the glass and was hit with a 5 minute major penalty.  This would come back to haunt the Hawks, as the Blues wound up pulling their goalie in the final seconds of the game, and using their 6-4 advantage to score the tying goal with 6 seconds left in regulation.  Yeah, you read that right. 6 SECONDS.  !@#$%^!  But what's worse?  The Blues ended up winning the game in overtime 4-3.  grrrrr...  !@#$^&*!!!!!!

     Scottrade Center?  More like Scottrade Shit-Hole.  Luckily, Game 3 is coming to us on Monday from the United Center, and while being down 0-2 is nothing to be happy about, it's not like the Hawks haven't come back from a bad playoff deficit before.   Tomorrow we'll be switching gears and catching up with the Bulls as they start their first round series, but we'll definitely be back on Monday night pulling for the Blackhawks.  Till then, stay strong boys, and here's to a better Game 3.

1 Day. 4 Wins.

     April 18, 2009 started off like any other Saturday: warm, springlike, full of promise. The time of getting excited for what the summer had to offer, overall a great day to be alive. However, it was about to get a lot better. On that day, the Chicago Bulls were all set to tip off their playoff tilt against the Boston Celtics. Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks were celebrating their return to relevancy by opening up their first postseason series since 2002.  Elsewhere, the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox were getting ready to play early-season games of their own. Here's how that day progressed:

      To start things off, the Cubs played the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Before any baseball was played, the first pitch was thrown out by none other than newly-signed Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who also sang the 7th-inning stretch. The game was won in a thrilling walk-off fashion by Aramis Ramirez, who belted a two-run homer in the 11th inning, wrapping up Ryan Dempster's first home win of the year. One person who did not partake of the win was Milton Bradley, who was serving a 2 game suspension(gee, what a surprise)

      Heading south down the Snowbird Trail, we find ourselves following the White Sox as they took on the defending AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays. Mark Buehrle gave up 8 hits, but he still managed to gut it out and start the season 2-0. Additionally, this kicked off once again the annual tradition of the Rays being stymied by qualified pitchers.

      Back in the Windy City, the Blackhawks were hot to trot in their comeback tour after languishing for years in Hockey Hell. After digging themselves a 2-0 hole against the Calgary Flames, the offense sputtered to life, scoring 3 goals in the second period, including Jonathan Toews' first playoff goal, to put away the Flames 3-2.

     And over in Boston, the 7th-seeded Bulls were starting off their series against the 2nd-seeded Boston Celtics.  All of the commentators and most of the fans were predicting a relatively easy victory in this series for the defending champion Celtics.  However, tonight's game cast doubt on those assumptions.  By the end of it, Derrick Rose had tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for best playoff debut, the series had seen the first of seven overtime periods, and all of a sudden we had the makings of an instant classic series on our hands.

     And there you have it folks.  1 Day.  4 Teams.  4 Wins. 1 incredible and true day in Chicago Sports History.

Chicago 365 Playoff Central: Here we go again!

     Another (late-arriving) spring, another playoff double-shot for the city of Chicago. For the past five years now, we've been able to obtain a distraction from inconsequential/unwatchable spring baseball thanks to the tenants of the Madhouse on Madison. And 2014 is proving to be no different. With the Blackhawks starting off their series visiting the St. Louis Blues tonight and the Bulls starting things off by hosting the Washington Wizards on Sunday, Chicago is getting a taste of something that is all too rare around here: games that actually matter. Not games that matter because you're playing spoiler, not games that matter because you're playing a hated rival, but games that matter because every win gets you one more game closer to that championship. For the next several days(and hopefully longer than that) we're going to be treated to those kind of games, and Chicago 365 will be there all along, recapping each day of action, bring you both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat(but lets just stick to the victory part, okay?)


UPDATE AS OF 11:27 PM:  The Blackhawks and the Blues are tied at 3 goals apiece at the end of the second overtime period.  Tied? Overtime? Jeez, some things just never change, don't they.  We'll be back with the final result if it ever when it comes across the wire.

The Day that changed Archaelology forever.

    On October 4, 1997, the museum world converged upon the Sotheby's auction house in New York City to bud on a most unusual object-a dinosaur skeleton. But this was no ordinary dinosaur skeleton(though to be fair, dinosaur skeletons aren't exactly ordinary things to begin with). No, this specimen was the most intact fossil of Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found. And it was about to change the world of archaeology forever.

     After being discovered in the Badlands in 1990, this particular skeleton was cleaned, examined, and preserved for several years, until the time came for the specimen to be transferred. There were several different parties interested in acquiring this skeleton, which by this point was named Sue after the rancher who had discovered the skeleton. And so, the auction began.  As the bidders rolled into Sotheby's, they were handed this program:

     Several museums had stated their interest in acquiring Sue, but one institution that had hidden any speculation was the Field Museum, from right here in Chicago.  The bidding started.  Bids were put out on behalf of museums in North Carolina, South Dakota, and even a cultural center in Florida.  But there was one other museum that truly craved the skeleton: the Smithsonian.  Eventually, it became a bidding war between the North Carolina museum, the Floridian cultural center, and a private bidder serving as proxy for an anonymous bidder(the Field Museum).  The North Carolina museum stopped bidding.  Then the Floridians bowed out.  And then finally, the private bidder had won the T-Rex for the whopping price of $8.3 Million, which was quickly revealed to be from the coffers of the Field.  This auction changed the landscape of archaeology forever.  All of a sudden fossil-hunting out west became the late-20th Century answer to 49ers panning for gold.

     As for Sue and her new home, she went on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in 2000, and has held court for more than 21 Million visitors over the past 13 years.  As bold as it might have been, the Field's win-at-all-costs attitude over Sue proved to be a dark harbinger of the future, as by 2013 the museum was facing massive budget deficits due to rampant expansion and acquisitions without commensurate fundraising, a trend which in many ways was kicked off by the 1997 bidding war over Sue.

Al Capone's Empty Room

     The year is 1986.  Al Capone has been dead for 39 years.  Prohibition has been over and done with for 53 years.  But Big Al is about to pull one last trick from the grave. 

     In that year, the Lexington Hotel in Chicago was being renovated, as was the case with many hotels in that period of time.  When the contractors found their way into the basement of the Lexington, they discovered a shooting range.  Additionally, they found an immense network of tunnels connecting numerous taverns and brothels.  Clearly this was no ordinary hotel basement.  Instead, this was a hideout of truly grandiose proportions.  In fact, this hideout belonged to none other than Al Capone. Capone's hideout had been in a different hotel in the city, but in July 1928 he moved his operation to the Lexington.  When he was arrested, Capone went away, but rumors of his treasure did not.

     Coming back to 1986, when the rooms underneath the Lexington were unearthed, who knew what could have been in them?  Enter Geraldo Rivera.  Geraldo was on the upswing of his career when he caught wind of the find over at the Lexington.  So, being the crack reporter that he was, he hopped on the next plane to Chicago and decided to have a look-see at the vault for himself.  What he saw certainly looked promising.  So promising in fact, that he decided to have a live TV special to unveil it.  The hype was incredible.  Arrangements were made to have a medical examiner on the scene in case any bodies were unearthed.  The IRS even sent over some agents to properly collect any monies that would be discovered in the vault. It was even rumored that Jimmy Hoffa might have been in there!(hey, you never know)  So after all of this build-up, and after a two-hour nationally syndicated special, the big moment came.  Geraldo blew the vault open, and what did he find?  Treasure, bodies, unfiled tax returns, the very meaning of life itself?  Actually, how about none of the above.  In fact, if you answered "An old stop sign and some empty bottles of gin", you would be correct.  Here's Geraldo's take on the whole affair:

     It was embarrassing.  It was humiliating.  People are still making jokes about it 28 years later.  But it was also the highest-rated syndicated special in the history of television.  And to this day, it is still the highest-rated syndicated special ever.  And Geraldo Rivera is still going strong(and in some cases, a little too strong).  Not too bad for a failed television special.

The Introduction: Fight Song Week Day 5

     Okay folks, let's be honest.  It had to end this way.  It was ALWAYS going to end this way.  With the Chicago Bulls and an English bloke by the name of Alan Parsons...


     In the final decade of the 20th Century, the city of Chicago had many things going for it.  A new expansion to the Adler Planetarium, the transformation of Navy Pier from abandoned hulk to THE tourist trap of the Midwest, and the creation of the Museum Campus(just to name a few).  But the ONE thing that put Chicago on the map in the 90s?  Well that's easy.  But rather than tell you, how about I just play you a video to introduce them much better than anyone else ever could.

     That's right, 1990s Chicago was ruled by Michael Jordan & Co.  This opening theme just served to enhance their mystique.  The track used is called "Sirius".  It was originally released by the British group The Alan Parsons Project way back in 1982.  Later on in the 80s, the song was incorporated into the team's new intro music.  The introduction came to define the Bulls dynasty like nothing else.  The theme is still used to this day during player introductions(but lets be honest, it's nothing like it was in the 90s)

The North Side Anthems: Fight Song Week Day 4

     In 1984, the Cubs were burning up the National League, and well on their way to their first postseason berth since 1945.  And all summer long, the city of Chicago was singing along to the catchy tunes of Steve Goodman:

     Goodman, a well-known folk singer and a lifelong Cubs fan, wrote the song at the request of WGN, who wanted a more upbeat tune for the games.  Goodman came through, and the song became a staple of Wrigley Field for the entire 1984 season.  Tragically, Steve Goodman passed away due to Leukemia 4 days before the Cubs clinched a spot in the postseason.  Afterwards, the song continued to be well-known and liked and used as part of the Cubs' broadcasts.  In 1987, the song was eventually retired in favor of "Here Come The Cubs" by the Beach Boys.  However, in 2007, the song enjoyed a modern resurgence, and is now played after every Cubs win at Wrigley Field.


     Speaking of Cubs Anthems that rose to prominence in 2007, Eddie Vedder was attending a Cubs Fantasy camp when Ernie Banks approached him and asked him to write a song about the team.  Vedder, being a lifelong Cubs fan, was only too happy to comply.  This is what he came up with:

     In September of 2008, the song was made available for purchase on Pearl Jam's website.  This only served to raise the fervor surrounding the song and the Cubs' playoff chase to a fever pitch.  In the summer of 2013, Pearl Jam played a show at Wrigley Field, and at one point in the show, Eddie Vedder invited Ernie Banks onstage to lead the crowd in the song.  Ultimately, the Cubs are still waiting to go all the way, but when they do, they'll have a song to sing when they get there.