So it was a thrill Saturday night to attend the 16th annual Chicago 16-Inch Softball Hall of Fame induction banquet at Drury Lane Center in Oak Brook, Ill.
Problem is, the game is dying. What's 16-inch, you ask? A game played with a ball that size, slow-pitch, no gloves (no gloves!) and athletes who excel at it somehow. Originally invented as a Great Depression game designed to save on space and equipment costs, it became the signature game of the Chicago area.
Now, though, everyone plays 12 inch and you can hardly find a 16-inch league anywhere, even in the Chicago area. Still, it was stirring to see a team I once covered as a young reporter be inducted along with its 16-inch parent team, the Bruins. Several of the guys were there. I traveled to Sheboygan, Wis., and Fenton, Mo., to watch them play for titles. I became known as "Flashbulbs" because I somehow managed to capture on film their most-emotional, most-exciting and most-controversial moments.
Now, like me, they play golf, raise kids, pay mortgages and try to live the American Dream. I can't tell you how much fun I had covering them consecutive summers. Mostly because, I can't...
...But suffice it to say they had as much fun off the field as they had on it and several can never return to Sheboygan, according to local county police records (jk).
Then again, I've never had anyone tell me they wanted to return to Sheboygan for anything. Except, that is (personal to Dave Wilhelm here), for a shower curtain. Thanks, Dave.
Congratulations to the Bruins, 12- and 16-inch teams. Honor well deserved.
There was a guy inducted Saturday into the Hall of Fame who once went 77-for-79 in some tournament or another. Incredible. I did that when I was potty training.
See you guys at the first tee...
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Saw a post to the Chicago Tribune's web site in which the author claims the Bulls will get past the Miami Heat in the NBA playoffs this year. If they get to the Heat. If they're lucky, they won't draw the red-hot, getting-healthy Boston Celtics in the second round.
So long, Bulls, if that happens.
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In a Tribune blog, a writer claims Cubs minor-league prospects Anthony Rizzo (first base), Josh Vitters (third base) and Adrian Cardenas (second base) are grooming for the future World Series the Cubs will eventually win. Guys starting at those positions now had no comment but said they hope they can get tickets to see their replacements win a World Series.
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Roger Clemens is back on trial for lying about using performance-enhancing substances. Didn't anyone read the coverage of the first trial, which ended in a mistrial?
He's already been convicted by the media. Geez, c'mon.
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And finally, the State of Illinois is pushing legislation to expand riverboat gambling and even install slot machines at racetracks to enhance the take.
The problem? Any state looking to balance its budget by relying on revenues generated from taxes from the gambling losses of people who likely can least afford it is in serious trouble. Illinois already tried this with The Lottery, which, almost 40 years ago, was supposed to keep education funded in this state eternally.
Uh, I teach in this state. It ain't working. Gambling revenue winds up in the pockets of guys who ... well, you know, have no visible means of support.
Go rent "Casino" and then tell me if you still want gambling in your state. Media watchdogs, where are you?
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Howard Schlossberg is editor of the Journal of Sports Media, with his first edition out this year. He's an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago, where creativity and learning are embraced hand-in-hand. And he still writes sports for the Daily Herald in Chicago's northwest suburbs. http://journalsportsmedia.blogspot.com; www.colum.edu; http://www.facebook.com/pages/CCC-Journalism-Columbia-College-Chicago/115604591875424
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