Sunday, July 24, 2016

(R)- White Sahx and Hahtdahgs

The White Sox game went smoothly, and now I have more experience living the Chicago lifestyle. Hannah
(on the right) always makes a point to address all the tourist things I do, since she has lived here her whole life.

I came one step closer to becoming a true Chicagoan today.  Starting with the best day of baseball I have seen this season; it just kept getting better.  We arrived at the stadium around 12:30 PM and immediately went inside.  US Cellular Field is nice but, according to Hannah, not as great as Wrigley.  I would still like to see Wrigley but I do not think I will be able to. All the more reason to come back.  

The game started by finishing yesterday's rained-out event. The White Sox won with a walk-off hit. The scheduled game then started about 30 minutes later.  In the first two innings, the White Sox scored four runs, and the game remained scoreless until the 8th inning when the Detroit Tigers scored two runs.  The Sox went scoreless in the bottom of the 8th and Mauricio called it by saying the Tigers would come back to tie it.  They did just that in the top of the ninth with two back-to-back home runs. They scored these runs with two outs and with two strikes.  Unbelievable.  The whole stadium was going nuts.  No one could believe it, and Mauricio was officially dubbed a jinx.  I wanted the Sox to win so badly, I felt like a life-long fan, and I even said it like a true Chicago native at one point. (Pronouncing the "O" as "ah")  The Sox did not disappoint and hit a walk-off single to win it in the bottom of the ninth.  Everyone was on their feet, and no one could complain because that was well worth $15 tickets.  We even got on the jumbotron!
After getting off the red line, which we rode to the stadium.

Portillo's hot dogs are perhaps the best in Chicago.  Of course,
to truly live the Chicago lifestyle it has to be pronounced
with "ah" in place of the"o"s.
Five of us, including me, Mauricio, Ernestina, Hannah, and a new friend named Gabe, went to the esteemed Portillo's hot dog joint.  The strangest hotdog I have ever seen turned out to be the best tasting. I ordered their classic, all fixed-up with relish, mustard, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and a pickle. I had no idea what to expect, and I ended up very impressed.  The combination was perfect. No single flavor was too overpowering and years of experimenting led to this perfect hot dog.  Now looking at the picture on the left, notice the sky is mostly bright. That did not last. Within twenty minutes, that sky was dark and stormy. The fourth day in a row with torrential rains hit harder than ever.  There was a flash flood warning and trees looked ready to blow over. I am in a mix of fear and awe when these storms come around because California has nothing like it.  I even captured a lightning strike on the drive home. We caught an Uber, which was my first time, and it was a relief not walking all the way back to the train.

I came back to the dorms and got right to work with Doris on the case.  We are ready to go in tomorrow morning for our consulting session with Ms. Scott. We do, of course, expect to have a lot of proposed improvements.  Three more days to create the best case we can.  We hope our work is satisfactory because we have spent a lot of time on it.  Some groups have not even met up and are doing everything separately, so we think we must be better off than them.
The view on the way up to our seats. The architects should
have built the stadium to have this view of downtown, in my
opinion. Instead, it is behind the stadium.

US Cellular vs. Wrigley, a timeless debate.

WE MADE IT! I am on the bottom left in the
hat and sunglasses. Mauricio was lucky enough
to have his phone ready just in case we got on.
Lightning in Chicago is unlike anything I have ever seen.



1 comment:

  1. Two years ago the essay prompt for UChicago was “You’re a Chicago hot dog. What kind of condiment would you be. [You can’t be ketchup.]”

    Chicago takes great pride in their dogs and it’s unlikely that you’ll find anything like them outside of Chicago.

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