Sunday, October 16, 2005

Small Victories

How was your weekend? It was a great one in terms of sports victories, but that's what happens when all your teams are playing overmatched opponents. The Hawks played porous defense yesterday but polished off a much improved Indiana team yesterday in Iowa City. The White Sox came back to Chicago late last night after winning their first AL pennant since 1959 and I heard about it all night long from the street outside my apartment. They played great baseball against the Angels each and every night, and they deserve this chance at a title. What could be worse for a Cubs fan than a White Sox-Cardinals World Series?

The Bears just crushed the Vikings at home for a much-needed win and to get back on top of the division as the Lions went down to the wire but lost to the Panthers.

It was a classic weekend for college football, as both USC and Michigan pulled a rabbit out of the hat and scored as time expired to get huge wins against Notre Dame and Penn State. That's good for the Hawks. If we win out, we're looking at competing for a share of the Big Ten title as long as Ohio State loses one more.

I had a good time this weekend, but I have to say it was a little more low-key than the last four or five in a row and that's not a bad thing. TheGirl was out of town, and a few key players were not around either. Friday I started things off with an extended happy hour at the Union League Club and then hit a variety of bars on Sheffield. Saturday found me at Sedgwick's an early hour as usual, but it was up to me and LongMan alone to carry the load during the Hawks game, so we only could manage to drink 5 or 6 buckets of beer. After a long nap in the early evening, and a few bottles of wine with K-Rock, LongMan (careful with his link if you're at work :)), and five of the Hawkettes, it was a quick jaunt over to A Live One for shots until closing. Yee Ha. I'm feeling the effects of the wine right now, but it was well worth it as always.

It was a pretty slow weekend in the news too. The Iraqis voted by referendum on the constitution that was negotiated over a period of months this year. It looks like it is going to pass, but they will be counting votes for several days so we won't know for a while. A lot of people don't know that not only do a majority of voters have to vote for the constitution, but if it is rejected by a 2/3 majority in any three of the 18 provinces, it doesn't pass. So a small but vocal minority (read: Sunnis that feel disenfranchised) can hold up the process for everyone. We'll be looking forward to seeing how the vote came out in a couple of key Sunni-dominated areas.

Stem cell research is also in the news again, because we may have figured out a way to harvest cells without destroying embryos, which would seem to answer a lot of criticisms that are leveled by people that ethical problems with stem cell research. What do think? Should this make stem cell research a no-brainer (if you don't think it is already)? I am all for stem-cell research, but I'm also as pro-choice as they come, so that's not a surprise.

Here's a question for you: do you allow the music you listen to affect your mood? I was a little bit down this week and weekend, and I think it's because I was listening to too many bands that are all about loneliness and brooding and the generally depressing parts of life (the Death Cab show this past week is exhibit A). With my ipod with me pretty much all the time, I probably have music on several hours a day, and it sometimes surprises me how much of an effect it can have on demeanor. Anyway.

Busy week coming up, as usual. I have to get a lot done because we'll be taking the show on the road next weekend to watch the Hawkeyes play the biggest home game of the year against Michigan. Should be a blast.

Have a great week.

No comments: