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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Congrats to Jackie Robinson West #JRW


I want to offer a belated congratulations to the Morgan Park based Jackie Robinson West Little League team. They made it all the way to the Little League World Series and unfortunately lost to a team from South Korea on Sunday for the Little League baseball world title.

Unfortunately I never had the chance to truly watch them play but it's great to know this group of young men have already tasted success in their young sports careers. Here's hoping they will continue to have success not only on the baseball diamond but also in their lives away from sports.

Every young man or woman either playing youth sports or even playing in high school, college or professional can always have the ability to become a champion if they work extremely hard. That also goes for life whether in school or in a career as well.

Chicago was truly behind this team and this morning there is a parade for them.

BTW, Worlee over at The Sixth Ward shared his own thoughts on not only JRW, but also the state of Little League baseball on the south side. We need to provide outlets such as this for our youth to keep them out of trouble and team them skills that would help them not only in sports but in life.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Life skills

This reminds me we had to take a class on consumer education but the teacher who taught us this in my senior year of high school well I didn't get the gist of what we were supposed to know. All I knew was that I got credit for it.

Before I graduated from 8th Grade we had to take a basic skills proficiency which I also passed. It showed us a lot of things that we could use when we get out here in the real world.

Another thing learned before getting out of elementary school was that our math books had exercised with regards to balancing a checkbook. By the time I got to senior year of high school we had to do this on a PC. Although in that case we used an antiquated version of Microsoft Works which basically contained programs akin to word and excel but it wasn't on Windows 95 like the computer I had at home!

School contains the stuff we should learn academic during the course of our time in school. They're as important as the life skills contained in the image above - found on FB. Unfortunately schools don't teach that and most importantly this is not something you should get credit for anyway because you need to know these things.

BTW, it hits me that my 8th Grade teacher as an exercise had us fill out applications for McDonald's. Not sure what I got on that assignment but I knew what to do.

ALSO, we shouldn't just know how to vote as it's also important to know who you're voting for. Schools should always teach critical thinking schools to allow students to make the right decisions as far as votes, life, money, etc.

My experience was almost 20 years ago, perhaps CPS has changed or perhaps they have stayed the same. What do you think?

Friday, August 15, 2014

9th Ward Back to School parade, picnic, & health fair

I apologize for this short notice. This event is expected to occur tomorrow afternoon and is worth noting here.

Further information is below:
  • Alderman Anthony A. Beale's 15th Annual Back-to-School Parade, Picnic and Health Fair
    Join Alderman Anthony Beale for his 15th Annual Back-to-School Event Saturday, August 16, 2014


    Parade Kick-off: 11:00 a.m.
    Roseland Little League
    12483 South Michigan Ave.
    Picnic Immediately Following in Palmer Park
    201 E. 111th Street

    Alderman/Committeeman Anthony A. Beale
    34 East 112th Place
    Chicago, Illinois 60628
    773.785.1100
Flyer is below

Monday, August 11, 2014

Attending live sporting events?

When I was a student at Bennett/Shedd schools I only fantasized about going to a sports event since starting to watch sports in the 3rd grade. My first exposure to sports was watching what was believed to be exhibition NHL hockey with the Chicago Black Hawks. It was the most interesting sport I had ever seen.

Earlier than that though I had attended my first Major League Baseball games. At one point I went with my parents to both Wrigley Field and the late Comiskey Park. Unfortunately I don't remember either event or even as much as who the Cubs and White Sox had played and no idea what the respective scores had been.

Regardless during my time in elementary school I had attended a Bulls game which I do remember. The Bulls were playing the Houston Rockets however don't ask me about the score that escapes me. This game was played at the late Chicago Stadium and is also the place were the Barnum & Bailey Circus would perform!

That wasn't the only game I ever attended at Chicago Stadium. This score I do remember, the Chicago Black Hawks played the Soviet Union Red Army team in a losing effort 4-1. I saw a fight up close between a Hawks player and a Red Army player. They played physically and the fans showed their contempt for the Russians with their vulgar chants and vulgar T-Shirts on sale before the game. It was a different experience I had also attended with my parents.

Since then that was the last game I ever attended before two Chicago Bulls games when I was still in high school. It was one exhibition game and one regular season game that my mother had procured through her job and we sat in the club level at the then new United Center. Incidentially these games came during the season where the Bulls won their last NBA Title.

Finally my first live MLB game in many years I attended last Wednesday. The White Sox at US Cellular Field (I still call it by it's original name Comiskey Park) lost to the Texas Rangers 3-1. Both teams had good defense it seems, but offense counts and the Rangers were scoring the runs. It was also at the club level of the stadium where I had a nachos supreme and a bacon cheeseburger with pink lemonade. It was a great experience to watch live MLB baseball in spite of the fact that I kept getting distracted by my cell phone LOL!

As a matter of fact though, the pic above I snapped at the same White Sox game last Wednesday at the start of that afternoon game. I still hope to go to Wrigley Field in the future I talk about it but it needs to happen.

Are sports an important aspect of your life?