It's a sports week for me.

I know a gentleman named Walt who works for the NFL. He maintains all of the fancy computers that hold statistics, and he goes over the footage with a team of people to determine who gets credit for plays made. They watch the footage in slow-motion, and they determine which player gets credit for assists, tackles, tipped balls, etc. He and the team do this for all Chicago home games.

Instead of paying Walt expense money for travel, (3 hours each direction, each Sunday) they've given him two extra tickets to each home game. They're doing this because the Bears are playing at U of I this year instead of Chicago, where they're building a new Soldier Field currently. Walt has to go there anyways to work in the scoring room, so obviously he doen't need the seats.

That's where I come in.

My mother hasn't seen a Bears game in person since she and my father went in 1971. That was the last year the Bears played at Wrigley Field. She's thrilled that the two of us are headed for Champaign to see the season opener. This is something I've wanted to do for her for a long time. It's either the Chicago Bears or Neil Diamond, and I don't knew if he's going to tour again, so the Bears it is.

Unfortunately, Walt hasn't shown up at work with the tickets yet. He's a good guy though, and I know he won't let me down.

Next week, if finances allow, I'm going to try to catch a White Sox game at Comiskey Park next week to complete a September Chicago trifecta, the Cubs, the Sox, and the Bears.

I am so lucky sometimes.
1:01 PM - Bottle Rocket Fire Alarm