Tag Archives: sports

How do you watch live events?

Internet, , ,

With the debates and the Playoffs on this week, I was wondering about the level of personal engagement people have with others during major live events.

For instance, I purposely stayed home during the Sox final clincher game against the Twins because I wanted to be able to swear at the TV and act up without the judgment of those around me. I was at work during the game yesterday, but am considering leaving early to hole up in a bar to watch the 2nd playoff game against the Tampa Bay Rays. If Sunday’s game is another do-or-die, I’ll probably stay home again, but the farther along we get in the Playoffs, the more I’ll want to be around other people.

But…I did use Twitter during those games to enhance the shared misery and joy.

For the debates, I almost never want to be out. It’s fine for me to make sardonic comments, but hey you, buddy? I’m watching the future of our country over here, keep it down, uh?

But again…Twitter has actually enhanced my enjoyment of the debates. Some of my friends are their own mini-Truth Squad, others drop Dorothy Parker-level bon mots at every opportunity, and still others just offer a sense of the communal. (Though I know at least one casual Twitter-using friend of mine has reported being overwhelmed by the level of Tweets coming into his phone.)

There are definitely some times when I want to be “alone” and able to control my immediate environment, but lately I’m more and more drawn to using Twitter to still get analysis, camaraderie and information about a live event.

How about you, avid/casual Twitter users? Who else is using Twitter during live events? And are there ever events when you wouldn’t want to use it?

A.J. Pierzynski: Futurist

Uncategorized, ,

From this New York Times article:

Pierzynski said that when people asked him about a possible Chicago-Chicago finale, he advised caution.

“I’m like, ‘You don’t really want that to happen because the city would just probably explode,'” Pierzynski said. “And no one would be able to go to work. No one would be able to do anything because there would be fights every day at work, and just because it’s so passionate and the fans are so amazing.”

Smart and punchy, that’s our A.J.!

I have a copy of When Chicago Ruled Baseball on my shelf, so I took a quick look at the index to see if past performance might be indicative of future events. There isn’t anything in there about fights or other workplace incidents, but I don’t think for a minute that A.J. is wrong. If your workplace is anything like mine, the election is already putting a drag on productivity. If both teams – or, frankly, even just the Cubs – get into the playoffs and/or the World Series, I think Chicago’s going to see its own economic slowdown.

Unintended consequences

Music

I was trying to explain to my co-worker – who moved here from Atlanta in the last year – why the Cubs don’t seem like underdogs when you live in Chicago (and especially if you’re a Sox fan). Unfortunately, he’s out of the country this week and isn’t seeing the many supporting arguments for my thesis.

Frankly, I can deal with the wall-to-wall Cubs playoff coverage on the news and the way it infects my daily life, but the one thing that chafes me is the way every asshole with a guitar seems to have come up with their own song about the Cubs. Ya’ll have Go Cubs Go. Isn’t that enough?

On the other hand, I quite enjoy this little ditty from the fine folks at the Beachwood Reporter.