Tag: Baseball

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

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The Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox.

Not every city is blessed (cursed?) with two Major League Baseball teams, but Chicago boasts a team for the North Side and the South Side. I was raised a Cubs fan and still hold true to the red and blue (no bandwagon-ing here, I promise), but growing up on the other side of the state the biggest rivalry I knew was Cubs vs. Cardinals. I didn’t realize the extent to which the MLB divided this city.

I do my best to stay out of any Cubs vs. Sox heated discussions, but I have been caught in the cross fire. I think that especially at a time when the Cubs are better off than the Sox, the Sox’s fans are holding even tighter to their team allegiance. While they can boastfully ask when the Cubs won their last championship, the Cubs can come back with questioning the Sox last visit to the play-offs…

Even as a Cubs fan, I went to a Sox game last fall for fun. I definitely enjoyed it, but will (somewhat biased-ly) admit that Wrigley is where it’s at. For me, Wrigley’s historic charm and ivy wall are so much more appealing for an afternoon of baseball. Wrigley is also much easier to get to from LUC’s red line L location, rather than a long journey to the South Side for a Sox game.

I had planned to go see the White Sox game this Saturday, but waking up to a snow-covered ground doesn’t exactly put you in mood for baseball. Sooner or later Chicago will get its weather back on track and going to a baseball game will be much more appealing.

As a Loyola student, be sure to keep your eyes out for discounted tickets for baseball games (and all kinds of other shows and events)! Then you’ll have a little extra money to spend on a hot dog or pretzel at the game.

If you come to Loyola from out of town or without an MLB allegiance, I encourage to pay a visit to Wrigley and U.S. Cellular Field to experience all that Chicago baseball has to offer–then you can let me know who really does baseball best.

 

Night Trip to Milwaukee

Night Trip to Milwaukee

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One of the nice parts about being in the city of Chicago is the access to other cool cities that are located just a short drive away.  Among those cool cities is Milwaukee, and this summer I had the opportunity to drive up to Milwaukee for a St. Louis Cardinal baseball game.

There were many “best parts” about this game: the cheap tickets ($2 dollars on StubHub, if interested in baseball, you should seriously check this out), the good friends that accompanied me, even the brats at the ballpark.  However, the actual “best part” would probably have to be the fact that one can drive from Chicago to Milwaukee in under 2 hours, which means that my friends and I were able to travel up to a baseball game on a weekday night, catch a 7 PM game, and get back to Chicago for work the next morning.  It really doesn’t get more ideal than that.

Sure, their are toll that must be paid on the trip in and out (and those add up), but for a chance to catch your home team steal a victory at one of its rivals ballpark, it is well worth the drive.  Something else that was cool is the stadium itself.  Unlike Wrigley or US Cellular field (or Busch for all those Cardinals fans), Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, is isolated outside of the city and is surrounded by miles of parking lots.  In fact, it almost reminded me of a football stadium with vast stretches of parking and tailgaters.   As a fan of baseball, I like having a chance to get to new stadiums in new cities, and as a fan of Chicago, I like the access to the many cities, stadiums and baseball.

By the way, the Cardinals came back in the 9th inning to win the game, which was a perfect cap to a great evening.

4 Continents Down 3 To Go

4 Continents Down 3 To Go

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I have traveled a lot in the past year through to opportunities offered to me by Loyola and the organizations I’m a part of on campus. From Ireland and Scotland, to Madrid and Barcelona and most importantly, Italy, I’m lucky I got to see all these places had to offer. Most recently I traveled to Panama with Global Brigade and provided dental and medical care to the Darien province, just north of the Columbian border.

We left what we knew and entered into a completely different reality. It was a world where the homes were mostly made of wood and palm leafs, were ants are approximately the size of your pinkie and spiders the size of your hand mingle about. When we arrived on the compound where we would be staying we did have drinking water but your best chance for a bath was the river. It was very different from how I’ve been used to living.

To the girls on the trip this was, well horrifying to say the least, personally I thought it was humbling, it made me realize how lucky I am. I took full advantage of the river and when I got back I also took full advantage of the worm killing drugs found at a first world pharmacy. But our job was to help these people, to make sure that they are healthy and most importantly, teach them how they can provide basic health care to their community.

My main job was working as a dental assistant, mainly helping with tooth extractions and basic check-ups for patients. I met many people, had some great experiences and I definitely know now more than ever that I want to pursue a career in dentistry.

The best part was when we took breaks to play with the local kids, which basically mean we played baseball. Most would think that futbol would be the sport of choice, I did and soon found out I was wrong. These kids love baseball, and not only that but they are amazing at it. There were 4 and 5 year old kids who were hitting over hand pitched balls. Nobody was left out of the game and very few people were less than extraordinary.

Hidden in the Jungles of the Darien we learned what really makes life special. It is those times when someone looks at you smiles and even though they may not even speak the same language as you, the hug they give means more than anything else in the world.