Post by Tin on May 13, 2008 23:37:13 GMT -5
Giving a jolt to a tired tradition
Rahula Strohl at 9:43 p.m.
When I looked up from my computer to see that Duran Duran was singing the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night, I rolled my eyes.
"Ah yes, another classic Chicago connection," I said, not trying to hide any part of my contempt for the circus that "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" became in 1999.
Not surprisingly, the actual performance was good since Simon Le Bon has sung more than a few times in front of large audiences. But then something surprising happened.
In the booth interview with Len Kasper and Bob Brenly in the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth, Le Bon came prepared.
You see, not being a long-standing baseball fan ("This is only my second baseball match," the Englishman said), he decided it was his duty to educate himself on the history of the song.
He said he looked it up on Wikipedia, noted that this is the 100th anniversary of the composition of the song, and he even sang the first two lines of the first verse of the song.
(In case you weren't aware, the commonly-sung passage from the song is the chorus, there are two verses to the song, as well.)
So in the wake of the Tony Romo disaster on Sunday, I propose the following two requirements for singing TMOTTBG at Wrigley Field (either one or both is acceptable):
1) Your name is Ron Santo, radio color commentator and former third baseman for the Cubs.
2) You score 100 percent on the Simon Le Bon "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" quiz, which includes writing the first verse and chorus in their entirety and providing the name of the song's writer and year of composition. Heck, throw a couple of other questions on there for good measure.
That will save Cubs fans from such debacles as Kelly "Popcorn and Crackerjacks" Pickler, Jeff "Wrigley Stadium" Gordon and Tony "Dear God, My (Ex?) Girlfriend's Lip-Synching Sister Sings Better Than I Do" Romo.
blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_whatsgoinon/2008/05/giving-a-jolt-1.html
Rahula Strohl at 9:43 p.m.
When I looked up from my computer to see that Duran Duran was singing the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night, I rolled my eyes.
"Ah yes, another classic Chicago connection," I said, not trying to hide any part of my contempt for the circus that "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" became in 1999.
Not surprisingly, the actual performance was good since Simon Le Bon has sung more than a few times in front of large audiences. But then something surprising happened.
In the booth interview with Len Kasper and Bob Brenly in the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth, Le Bon came prepared.
You see, not being a long-standing baseball fan ("This is only my second baseball match," the Englishman said), he decided it was his duty to educate himself on the history of the song.
He said he looked it up on Wikipedia, noted that this is the 100th anniversary of the composition of the song, and he even sang the first two lines of the first verse of the song.
(In case you weren't aware, the commonly-sung passage from the song is the chorus, there are two verses to the song, as well.)
So in the wake of the Tony Romo disaster on Sunday, I propose the following two requirements for singing TMOTTBG at Wrigley Field (either one or both is acceptable):
1) Your name is Ron Santo, radio color commentator and former third baseman for the Cubs.
2) You score 100 percent on the Simon Le Bon "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" quiz, which includes writing the first verse and chorus in their entirety and providing the name of the song's writer and year of composition. Heck, throw a couple of other questions on there for good measure.
That will save Cubs fans from such debacles as Kelly "Popcorn and Crackerjacks" Pickler, Jeff "Wrigley Stadium" Gordon and Tony "Dear God, My (Ex?) Girlfriend's Lip-Synching Sister Sings Better Than I Do" Romo.
blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_whatsgoinon/2008/05/giving-a-jolt-1.html