Out with the Old, - Bay Watch News

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16 Living on the Course by Jack Sullivan, Riviera It’s Not All About Golf The digiTal secoNds on my computer screen dropped from 15 to 14 to 13 and on down to 1. Then I watched them jumped back to 15 – 14 – 13 – 12 until again reaching 1. Onand-on-and-on and down-and-down, the process continued as I watched this yawn-prompting process continue for 20 minutes. The first day of ticket sales for the Minnesota Twins spring training games is a test of any baseball fan’s patience as well as a test of loyalty to the sport. To get tickets to a Red Sox game is no different. When tickets go on sale, you either get up at dawn’s wee hour, grab a folding chair and drag yourself to the ball park to get in line, or you can follow my example and sit in front of your computer like a lizard waiting for a fly and watch the 15-second reduction until you finally win the chance to pick a game. Your reward is the right to purchase two standing-room-only tickets at the cost of a dinner for two at Carrabba’s. Why is getting a ticket to a baseball game that has no competitive meaning so difficult? It’s a matter of age. That’s right. Only old people love baseball so much that they’d stand in line or squirm before a computer screen to earn the right to buy a ticket to a meaningless game. Believe it. If you ever do get a ticket and go to the City of Palms Park or the Lee County Sports Complex to see a ball game, look around and make an estimate of the average age of the fans. You’ll find that the ticket takers and ushers are the youngest people there – and most of them retired when Bonita Bay was a rattlesnake-infested swamp. You see, only the oldies come out en-masse because they love the game. They learned to love the game when tickets were easy to come by and cost about the same as a haircut or two ice cream cones. They remember a time when a baseball player made about the same amount of money as the local plumber and they were not treated, nor did they think of themselves, as the reincarnation of King David. Oh, there were exceptions like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Bobby Feller and the great DiMaggio; but for every Joltin’ Joe, there were dozens of big league ball players who made “local plumber” money. Many had winter jobs to keep bread on the table or beer in the icebox. They were our touchable heroes. I remember one. * * * * It was a hot August night in 1942. Close to midnight. Comiskey Park’s field lights were out. The sweepers pushed their brooms under the grandstands. Paper beer cups bounced ahead of them, sending a sound of tinker bells echoing off the cavern walls. The stale stink of spilt beer and cigarette smoke hung in the air like a fetid fog. The 35th Street streetcar could be heard clanking its way west to Halsted Street. I should have been on it, giving my 4¢ to the conductor and asking for a transfer ticket. Instead I sat on the hard bottom step of the of the clubhouse staircase. My three pals, all ten-years-old like me, had gone home. They left telling me that I was crazy to stay. My parents would worry. Said I’d be in big trouble. My mom might call the cops. My dad might get the old razor strap out when I got home. I told them to go. Told them I’d take my chances. I had autographs of every player on the White Sox team except one: Luke Appling, the White Sox shortstop and future Hall of Famer. He had a special place in my heart. Special places there were reserved for my mother, my father, my sister, and Luke – not necessarily in that order, depending on the day’s box score. They remember a time when a baseball player made about the same amount of money as the local plumber and they were not treated, nor did they think of themselves, as the reincarnation of King David. continued on page 34
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Page 1: Volume 2 Number 4 march 2010 Bonita
Page 4 and 5: Remodeling Redefined Protect Your I
Page 6 and 7: 6 Who’s Who in Bonita Bay you wou
Page 8 and 9: Champagne Tony Lema maNy years ago,
Page 10 and 11: In the Doctor’s Office Therapeuti
Page 12 and 13: Bonita Bay Beach continued from cov
Page 14 and 15: 14 ON THE BOOKSHELF South of Broad
Page 18 and 19: Concerned about the SAFETY of your
Page 20 and 21: SAVE THOUSANDS On A New Cooling Sys
Page 22: 22 Academy Awards Contest Winner wi
Page 25 and 26: Out with the Old, In with the New c
Page 28 and 29: arbara duFraNe To hosT march 16 Tab
Page 30 and 31: 30 The abiliTy To maNage our escape
Page 32 and 33: Curious Photographer “Red light
Page 34 and 35: Living on the Course continued from
Page 36 and 37: Masters Golf Contest We’re seriou
Page 38 and 39: ��
Page 40 and 41: 40 Travel Taboos... If you want to
Page 42 and 43: The Dentist Chair Implants i haVe b
Page 44: 44 What’s Happening in Real Estat
Page 47 and 48: The Dentist Chair continued from pa
Page 49 and 50: We’re Glad To Be In Bonita Spring
Page 52: Moving. Parts. Combining Talent wit

Out with the Old, - Bay Watch News

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