Throwback Onions: Grant Park 2008, Revisted

The following is an account of Election Night in Grant Park, Chicago, back in 2008, when Barack Obama was named the 44th President of the United States. This post is not meant to be political, but more of a narrative of history in the making. This was originally written the days following the 2008 election.

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Reporting Live from Grant Park: Experiencing History

Jason Sacks

11/4/08

When I moved to Chicago on June 2, in the back of my mind I thought that I might be a part of a historic event within the next four to five months.  The Cubs were the best team in baseball, and I was moving in three blocks from Wrigley Field.  I couldn’t help but think how crazy the month of October would be in Wrigleyville as the Cubs ended the 100-year curse. Well, less than a week into October, Wrigley field went dark, and there went the historic event; “wait till next year,” as they say in these parts.  But less than a month after the Cubs were booted from the playoffs, that historic event that I thought about, would turn out to be something much more  than just a World Series in my backyard.

About two weeks ago, people started discussing an Election Night rally in Grant Park, where Senator Barack Obama would hopefully make his acceptance speech as the next President of the United States.  Details were still a bit unclear, but my initial gut reaction was that that rally was going to be absolute chaos.  I attended a free Stevie Wonder concert in the summer at Grant Park and ended up sitting on Lake Shore Drive (for those of you not familiar with Chicago, not the best seat for a concert).  The number of people present made it impossible to move, hear or see anything going on.  I could just imagine what this Election Night rally would be like, and didn’t think I wanted to be anywhere near there. I figured there’d be better views on television.

Then about a week ago, someone sent me the link to register for a free ticket for the Election Night Rally.  Word on the street was that tickets were good for you and a guest, and that they’d allow about 70,000 people into the park.  I filled out the registration form and figured it’d be worth at least having the option of going.  I quickly received confirmation that I had a ticket and that a ticket would be emailed to me a day before the event.  At that point, I was still on the fence on whether or not I’d attend.  The more and more I thought about it though, I wondered, how cool would it be to tell my friends, family and one day my children, that I was there to witness one of the most historic nights in our country’s history.  Done. I was going.

I'm in that crowd...somewhere

The tickets and information about the event said that the doors to Hutchinson Field in Grant Park would open at 8:30 pm (all times in this account are Central Time...I’ve converted).  We knew there’d be large crowds of people down there, so we (myself, Colleen, Brady and Brandi) arrived at the entrance to the event at around 6:15 pm.  We started to work our way through the crowds and entered through our first check point, showing tickets and IDs, disposing of any food, beverages, large bags, etc.  We then walked to another checkpoint where they checked tickets, and another checkpoint where they pretty much did the same thing.  At that point, we could see a row of 24 metal detectors and a large mass of people.  It took about 25 minutes to actually get up to the metal detectors. Luckily, while we were waiting, Brady’s new $15 transistor radio that he just bought at CVS was giving us up to the minute updates on…NASCAR and the Chicago traffic (Eventually Brady would find a news station with Election updates, or not). As we got closer to the metal detectors, I made sure that we went through the detector numbered 22 for good luck (you’re welcome, Barack).  As we made it through the final checkpoint, which was manned by TSA workers along with Secret Service Officers, we could start to see the open field where the rally would take place.

What is David Stern Thinking? NBA Opening Night

Welcome back, NBA. Whew....good to have you back in our life.

Tuesday night kicked off the NBA season with the prime time match up of the Wizards vs. Cavs Celtics vs. Heat. Lots of story lines in this game, but we'll save that for another time.

Instead, let's get to David Stern. Mr. Commissioner announced last week that he will be stepping down on February 1st, 2014, rounding out a 30 year run as the league's leader.

In his first appearance post retirement announcement, David Stern started off the Miami Heat Ring Ceremony by first acknowledging the tragedy and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Seriously.


At that point, I tweeted, "Nice start David Stern #sandynotkatrina #checkedoutalready"

Obviously, just a slip of the tongue by Stern, but it was interesting timing with him knowing he is on his way out, so maybe he'll just go into check out mode, with a side of I'll do whatever the hell I want mode (I guess the latter is what he is in the majority of the time anyway).

As the ring ceremony got underway, we wondered what Stern was saying to each player as he shook their hand. Everything written below could, or could not be what was actually exchanged.

Terrel Harris: "Who the f are you?"  (not only did Stern say this, but so did everyone else in America)
Norris Cole: "You're right...having that box haircut is the only way someone would ever notice you on this team."
Dexter Pittman: "Just because I'm on my way out, don't think you can pull any of that dirty crap you did last year. I'll be watching you....even if you only play 4 games this year."
Joel Anthony: "Who's Anthony, Who's Anthony?....Wayne's World, anyone?"
Juwan Howard: "Who would have thought you'd be the last Fab 5 member playing in the NBA?"
Mike Miller: "Don't go auctioning this ring off, like you did your house." 
Udonis Haslem: "You have two NBA championship rings?!"
Shane Battier: "Why can't everyone in the NBA be as nice as you? Oh, and cut the flopping, would ya?"
Mario Chalmers: "I would say I know how it feels to be yelled at by everyone, but I don't....sorry."
Chris Bosh: "I loved you in Avatar."
Dwyane Wade: "You don't know how many times I spelled your name D-w-a-y-n-e, instead of D-w-y-a-n-e."
LeBron James: "Remember that whole thing about beating the Lakers in 6 we talked about last year, let's make it 7." (shout-out to Grantland.com)

Fun Fact Friday: CamORANGEflage

Fun Fact Friday is back after a one week hiatus due to the nuptials of loyal reader Ramy, who is currently enjoying his honeymoon in Hawaii. Enjoy this post on the beach while sipping a fruity cocktail. Also, put some more sunscreen on your head.

Anyway, back to the fun-ness that is Fun Fact Friday. We are exactly 2 weeks away from Syracuse tipping things off against San Diego State on the Battle of the Midway. It was announced on Wednesday that Syracuse will be rocking some Nike camouflage jerseys, similar to what Michigan State and North Carolina wore last year during their deck top match-up.

No sign of the 'Cuse jerseys posted online yet, but we are looking forward to the potential. Will it be worth shelling out the $60-80 to pick up a new basketball shorts? If they look good, I'd say strong to quite strong. Why not represent 'Cuse and our Armed Forces.

P-Shump Update: For all of you Orange fans that were wondering, "Hmmm, I wonder what Preston Shumpert is up to these days?" Well, now you know. The Syracuse Post Standard reported yesterday that Shumpert is recovering from a tendon injury in his finger; an injury sustained while playing in Turkey. Here we thought the only competitive sport happening in Turkey was this season of The Challenge on MTV. Turns out Shump has been playing in Europe for the last decade. According to the article, Shumpert, his wife and two kids live in the Syracuse area. Anyone know where Deshaun Williams is?

Orange Cut Day: Ok, so this isn't fun, but its worth noting. In the past week, Johnny Flynn and "I'm Sorry" Rick Jackson have been released/cut from NBA teams. Andy Rautins is one of four players fighting for one position in Oklahoma City. Odds are, Andy is next to be gone. Donte Green isn't on a team as he rehabs from an injury. Rough stretch for a couple of guys that played together up on the Hill. Jackson and Rautins are who we thought they were, but man, imagine if Flynn and Green would have stayed in school for another year or two. Ahh, what could have been.

Fun Fact Friday: The Madness

October 12, 2012. The official start of the basketball season. Today marks the first day that college teams can hold practice, most choosing for a "Midnight" Madness type of event. Up in Central New York, the 'Cuse figured if its not at midnight, why call it Midnight Madness? They opted for Orange Madness, which brings us to our first installment of #FunFactFriday.

Jasmine and Scoop prior to Madness (Post Standard)

This year's Orange Madness will be hosted by none other than, the Human Momentum Killer himself (nickname given by reader JaLil), Scoop Jardine. The fun fact comes here. Scoop's co-host is his girlfriend, Jasmine Jordan. Jasmine is a sophomore at Syracuse, and the daughter of some guy named Michael Jordan. And this is probably the only time Scoop's name will be used in the same sentence as MJ's (Although there were rumors back in August that Scoop was getting an invite to the Bobcats preseason camp - but a longer than expected recovery from a foot injury puts Scoop back at the Dome, instead of in Charlotte). Jasmine said she was asked to co-host the event by The First Lady of SU Basketball, Juli Boeheim. If Juli called you, you'd do whatever she asked as well.

Onto some other Midnight madness notes:

-Jimmy B is 10 wins away from 900, and 13 wins away from passing Bob Knight on the all-time wins list.

-Seth Greenberg thinks Syracuse's weakness this year is not having a "city" guard like Pearl Washington, Adrian Autry, or Dion Waiters. Brandon Triche, Jamesville-Dewitt (NY) and Michael Carter-Williams, Hamilton (MA) are all offended. Seth also thinks he should still be coaching at Virgnia Tech, though.

-Indiana opted for the televised day time practice with drills and Tom Crean pacing around the court chirping compliments and instructions faster than he chews his gum. No crowds, no smoke machines, no freshmen doing ballet numbers (UNC did this). The Hoosiers are ranked as high as #1 in some preseason polls and return ALL of their starters. They also have a guy named Maurice Creek on their team. Mo Creek, anyone?

-ESPN has placed their talent all over the map to report live from Midnight Madnesses. Syracuse got the short end of the stick with Dino Gaudio, while UNC and Pitt were the big winners with Doris Burke and Bill Raftery, respectively. Since Syracuse beat Pitt in football last week, they should have won the rights to have Raftery in town for the Madness.

-Kentucky's madness started with them raising their 2012 National Championship banner to the rafters. Reports out of Rupp Arena is that they are leaving the ladder out, since they will have to vacate that win within the next year or two. #tooeasy  Kentucky also has two players with Kid 'N Play type boxes, stud recruit, questionably eligible Nerlens Noel and transfer PG from NC State, Ryan Harrow.

-Andy Katz has Louisville ranked #1 in his preseason poll. Whatever that means.

-This is the final Midnight Madness for Pitt and Syracuse in the Big East. Next season the 'Cuse will be in the ACC House. Oh my god, oh my god. #RIPBigEast

Return of the Onions

What happens when you are on an airplane for four and half hours, need a break from doing your "real" job (thank you wifi on Southwest!), and start seeing some tweets about college basketball media day? You rededicate yourself to your college basketball blog, that's what you do!

And then you go and post this song to get it stuck in everyone's head - throwback to high school anyone?



By the way, did you know that the Return of the Mack official video has 8,996,280 views on youtube? I have no bearing on whether or not this is super high or average. As reference, This is How We Do It by Montell Jordan has just over 9 million views, while Thong Song has over 17 mllion views. And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you work The Thong Song into a college basketball blog post.

Now, onto more pertinent information regarding some college hoops. Here are a few stories we are following (not breaking).

Sunk my aircraft carrier? Our beloved Syracuse Orange were set to square off against San Diego State on November 9th on the retired USS Midway aircraft carrier flight deck, which is docked in San Diego. This would be the second straight year a basketball game was being played on a aircraft carrier (last year it was UNC and Michigan State).
As of this morning, it looks like this game is in limbo. Apparently the fan fest, concert, and other tomfoolery around the event are all being canceled because the inability to find a national sponsor. Interesting since the game is just over a month away. I'm sure Ron Burgundy and Champ Kind will have more details as this story breaks.
It would be ironic if the game does get canceled though. Syracuse, who gets a bad rap for not playing outside the state of NY until January most seasons, tries to not only go across the country to play again, but they aren't even playing the game on land. Maybe its just not meant to be. Stay at the Dome, Jimmy B.

SI.com

Jabari Parker: The top ranked player in high school hoops since LeBron James happens to reside and play in Daily Onions backyard on the south side of Chicago. The Simeon High School (same as Derrick Rose) senior has narrowed down his list to five schools. Unfortunately for those fans of in-state schools, DePaul and Illinois are nowhere to be found. According to ESPN recruiting folks, Simeon coach Robert Smith said DePaul was the toughest school for Jabari to leave off the list. Wonder if Oliver Purnell and company can use that in their recruiting pitch..."We were #6 on Jabari's list!!"

The top 5 for Jabari looks like this (in no particular order): Stanford, Michigan State, Duke, BYU and Florida (no Kentucky, thank goodness...Calipari did get the Harrison twin brothers yesterday though, both ranked in the top 5 of the class of 2013). Parker and his family are Mormons, so that explains BYU. From all accounts, Jabari is a great kid all around, (check out this article on him from Sports Illustrated) including the classroom, to go along with his basketball ability. Would be pretty cool to see him go to a BYU or Stanford. My early prediction that doesn't mean a damn thing, Michigan State. I'm basing this on Tom Izzo make a couple of extra trips to Chicago during the season last year, just to sit court side and make eye contact with Jabari.

Butler heading East: You didn't think we were going to get through our first post of 2012-13 without mentioning Onions favorite Butler and Brad Stevens did you? Well the Dawgs are on their way to the Atlantic 10 this season. Stevens and company were at the Jay-Z Center in Brooklyn today for the conference media day. Butler has some high expectations this season (despite being picked to finish 6th in the league), after missing the NCAA tournament last year. They bring everyone important back except Ronald Nored (graduation) and Chrishawn Hopkins (dismissed from team). They also add 6-6 freshman guard Kellen Dunham (2-time All-State player in Indiana), as well as senior Rotnei Clark, who transferred from Arkansas. Clark is said to be one of the best shooters in the country. As he'll soon find out, the measurements in Hinkle Fieldhouse are the same as his court back at home ("10 feet........15 feet").

Happy Birthday! Shout out to Daily Onions loyal reader, my dad. He's celebrating his birthday today (October 5th) poolside or green-side down in Florida. Appreciate all the support, whether it was while I was on the basketball court, on the blogosphere, or life in general. Enjoy!

DaJuan Coleman - 2012 McDonald's All-American Game

Last night marked the 35th Anniversary of the McDonald's High School All-American Games. At the United Center in Chicago, the West Squad defeated the East, 106-102.

After the game, we caught up with 6-10, 285 lb F/C DaJuan Coleman, who will be headed to Syracuse next year. Coleman, playing for the East team, finished last night's game with 7 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

As you'll see in the video below, Coleman thinks he can come in and make an impact right away by filling the void in the middle for the Orange. He also comes in hungry to rebound, rebound and rebound.

Winners and Losers of Sweet 16 Thursday

Half of the Elite 8 is set. Syracuse, Louisville, Ohio State and Florida advance. Daily Onions was 2-2 last night in our picks (Marquette and Michigan State). Let's see who else were winners and losers last night.

Fair busts out of slump vs. Wisco (pic: syracuse.com)

Winner: Basketball - Seems kind of simple, right? Well the game of basketball was a winner last night with the Syracuse and Wisconsin game. Whether you are a fan of Otto or Bucky, you HAD to enjoy watching that game last night. One of the best all around played games in a while by two teams in the tournament. You had the athleticism, length and uptemponess (new word) of Syracuse, against the smart, patient, sharpshooters from Wisconsin. The Badgers hit 14 3 pointers in the game, including a stretch of six in a row. But every time they made a run, Syracuse was able to bounce back and answer. Eventually, Wisconsin's shots weren't falling, thanks to Syracuse extending the zone and a little regression to the mean. One other note, good to have Brandon Triche and CJ Fair back doing their thing for the 'Cuse.

Loser: That Awful Camera Angle - Note to CBS and TBS, let's try and stay away from the over-the-court angle that makes you feel like you are even further from the action. Keep it simple.

Winner: Coaching Trees - Rick Pitino was one of Jim Boeheim's first assistants. Pitino then went on coach Billy Donovan at Providence (as well as a short stint with the Knicks). After working on Wall Street for a year, Donovan became an assistant for Pitino at Kentucky. Now, all three of these coaches are in the Elite 8, with Pitino and Donovan squaring off against each other in the West Regional Final.

Loser: Lesley Visser's Face in HD - We don't want to be disrespectful, but come on. Her face just isn't normal anymore, and it's actually frightening. I remember watching Visser as a sideline reporter when I was growing up. She was always solid. But I think it's time for her to hang up the microphone.

Louisville in Orange (pic: syracuse.com)

Winner: Orange - Congratulations to all the teams that wore Orange last night, as you were a winner. Syracuse defeated Wisconsin, Florida beat Marquette, and Louisville beat Michigan State.

Winner: Draymond Green - Yes, we know that Michigan State lost, but how can you not like this kid. Everybody loves Draymond. Classy kid on and off the court. Probably came into this season with a ceiling of being a very good college basketball player, and a quick flame out in the NBA. This year though, he led the Spartans from unranked to a number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Put Draymond Green on a perennial contender in the NBA and I think he becomes a solid contributor. It's been fun watching Green over the past few years. Too bad he didn't go to Duke...then Dick Vitale would have been comparing him to Derek Jeter all year long.

Loser: The State of Wisconsin - It was a rough night for all the cheese heads. Not only did Wisconsin fall to Syracuse in a heartbreaker, but Marquette couldn't hit an open shot and lost to Florida. We really liked Marquette this season, but if you don't make open shots you aren't going to win Sweet 16 games. Actually, if you do make open shots, you still might not win Sweet 16 games (see: Wisconsin).

Winner: Bill Raftery - Last but not least....this is obvious. Raftery was on point during the Syracuse - Wisconsin game. His greatest work came during Syracuse's first half run. There was a little lingerie on the deck after a Dion Waiters spin cycle. Then Waiters hit a high arching jumper, to which Raftery exclaimed, "It came down wet!" He then followed that up with a jab at a round Derrick Coleman (he was available?!) in the stands ("No Church League for that guy!"). See for yourself.