(Although this post is about football, it could just as easily be about traffic. That picture above is actually Beijing; but I can relate. You can skip down to the part beneath the underscore to read what I have to say about the game.)
I cut out of the Bolingbrook - Lincoln-Way East game Friday night at around ten o'clock. (I had a great parking spot -- one that would have made even George Costanza proud.) Okay, I figured, I should be home at about eleven, watch the Loyola - Mount Carmel game until one or so (which is crazy late for me) and still get a good six hours of sleep before I have to get up Saturday morning for the Crete-Monee - Bloom game on the South Side. (The way South Side.) Why so early? I was going to meet my friend Kevin and his buddy Marty at the Scrambled Diner in Dyer, Indiana. (Great spot, by the way. I'll have more to say about it later.)
Sounds easy enough, right? But what I didn't count on was getting stuck in Sox traffic on the Dan Ryan. And I ask you: Where else, but Chicago, can you find yourself in gridlock on the expressway at ten-thirty at night? (Cue my brother in Minneapolis smiling.)
So when I finally arrived home I had only enough time for the first quarter of the other Game of the Week (Year?). I just plain hit a wall at midnight (still crazy late for me) and had to go to bed. There would be no checking the computer for other scores, no passing Go, no collecting $200. I would have to politely tell Kevin and Marty not to give away the score of the Loyola - Mount Carmel game at breakfast the next day.
But I shouldn't have been surprised to wake up five hours later and lay in bed wondering about That Game. (It was scoreless after one quarter.) What the heck? Get up, watch the rest of the contest, go to the other one down south, come home and take a nap on the patio (in the sun). Beautiful.
So I watched the rest of the game on Saturday morning. But I "dithered" around (as Dick Cheney would have said), pausing it every now and then to let the dog out, make coffee, glance at the Times, etc. Before I knew it, it was almost eight o'clock and I had to leave for Dyer! But, no worries, I think I can get the rest of the game in. Fail.
Although Mount Carmel took a 24-21 lead with about a minute to go, Loyola came marching back and kicked a field goal with no time left to make it 24-24! The game was going into OT. But it was eight o'clock; I had to get going! So I hopped in the car not knowing the final score of the game -- or any other game, for that matter -- and headed for Indiana.
And -- wouldn't you know it? -- I got stuck in traffic around the Circle at eight-thirty on a Saturday morning. You've got to be kidding me! But I made it to Dyer by about nine-fifteen (not bad) and enjoyed a great breakfast (and rest of the day) with my old friend Kevin. (More on that later.)
But I still had the overtime of the Loyola - Mount Carmel game to watch. So I drove home on Saturday afternoon and -- again -- ran into traffic on the Dan Ryan. Am I on Candid Camera, or something? It's really my fault, though; the moral of the story is don't drive through downtown if you don't have to. (I think I've seen rats in a maze learn faster than me.) But I made it home, eventually, and breathlessly said to my wife, "You've got to let me watch the rest of that stupid game. I can't do anything until I find out the result!"
And it was thrilling. The Caravan scored first in OT, on a field goal, but Rambler quarterback Peter Pujals (who's every bit as good as Malcolm Weaver) found Luke Ford in the end zone for the winning touchdown. (Now I know why there were so few fans on the Loyola side; the traffic in this town is brutal.)
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My takeaways from the Loyola - Mount Carmel game? First of all, the Caravan are better than I thought. (Mea culpa.) But Loyola is really better than I thought. (I had seen them play only once, a 41-21 drubbing of Providence in Wilmette.) In fact, they could go undefeated for the rest of the regular season, finish at 8-1 and draw a really good seed for the playoffs. (The Ramblers should beat Fenwick and Brother Rice at home the next two weeks. The only possible land mine I can see is the season finale at St. Rita.)
And as for the postseason, who in 8A can beat Loyola? Maine South? Maybe; but who knows? The Hawks haven't really played anyone (with the exception of Wheaton Warrenville South; okay, that's a big exception). But who else is good in 8A this year? Bolingbrook? Not without a healthy Aaron Bailey. Marist? Struggled against 3-3 Nazareth (I was there). Palatine? Got beat by 5A Montini at home. Stevenson? They lost to Homewood-Flossmoor; let's see how they do against Lake Zurich. The winner of this week's Neuqua Valley - Waubonsie Valley game? Maybe; I don't know.
I guess I just don't see anyone out there beating the Ramblers for the rest of the season.
Next: The final installment of My Football Weekend (the Crete-Monee - Bloom game).
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