Discussing The Baseball Playoffs With Stuart Over Lunch And Coffee

I had lunch yesterday afternoon at QDOBA Mexican Eats with my friend Stuart, seen in the photograph on the left, followed up with coffee at Starbucks. And the talk naturally turned to the National and American League Wild Card Series, in which both the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs were playing. Stuart, as regular blog readers know, is originally from the North Side of Chicago and a Cubs fan, while I am from the South Side Brainerd neighborhood and a White Sox fan. And the National League Wild Card series did not work out so well for the Cubs. They lost 8-0 to the San Diego Padres in the first game and 4-1 in the second, managing only one run during the series. Of course, both teams were pretty equally matched, and so it was expected to be a tossup who won, but what was surprising was how poorly the Cubs played. Stuart simply said that the Cubs "stunk up the field," and left it at that. But I think in their hearts, all Cubs fans knew that such an end to the season was inevitable. And so, as they say at the end of almost every baseball season, "wait until next year, Cubs fans."

On the other hand, my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, beat the Houston Astros 6-3 in the first game and 7-3 in the second, and will face the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series starting tomorrow afternoon. The Guardians won the AL Central Division title over the White Sox by a single game, and so both teams are also evenly matched. Either could win the series and move on to the American League Championship Series, which determines who goes to the World Series. If the White Sox get to play in the Championship Series, their season will have been a tremendous success after coming off two consecutive 100 loss seasons. Even if they lose to Cleveland in the Division Series, they still will have had a great season after setting the Major League record of 121 losses just two years ago. And so, thanks again Pope Leo! And by the way, the photograph on the right is of the last game of the regular season between the White Sox and my adopted hometown team, the Colorado Rockies, which the White Sox won. I was not able to watch the White Sox play in the Division Series since it was on Peacock, which I do not get at home. In the good old days, the games would have been on regular television, and everyone could have watched it. But no longer. As humorist and travel writer Bill Bryson says, "life keeps getting shi**ier." But enough complaining. Go White Sox!

University Of Denver Homecoming Is Approaching: Alumni, Bring Your Checkbooks!

I took a walk around the University of Denver campus the other day, and it is looking very pretty. Homecoming will be taking place October 19th through the 24th this year, less than 3 weeks away, and the university really tries to make the campus look it's best when all the alumni return to campus. With the decrease in students which DU has experienced due to enrollment declines, fewer international students, and long-term demographic trends, resulting in a $30 million budget deficit last year, DU will be needing those alumni and their donations more than ever. Be prepared for a major sales pitch, people! The building in the background of the photo on the left, by the way, is Mary Reed Hall, where the Vice Chancellor of Business and Finance had his office when I worked at the DU Bookstore as the Finance Manager, before the store was outsourced. The store's management team would meet with him there every quarter to discuss the store's financial results. He retired from DU a number of years ago and these days is probably damn glad he did. 

I went to the Homecoming Pregame Party the year before last and enjoyed it very much. I didn't recognize anyone I knew, either from when I worked at the bookstore or when I was taking classes to earn my MBA, but still enjoyed the atmosphere. Everyone was in good spirits, having a great time and looking forward to the hockey game that Saturday night. DU does not have a football team, and so the big game everyone attends is the hockey match, this year against Boston College. The university eliminated football after the 1960 season for financial reasons. The clothing buyer at the bookstore had a T-shirt made that said, "University of Denver Football, Undefeated Since 1961," which became a top seller. I wish I had bought one when I had the chance. I am hoping to attend this year's Homecoming Pregame Pary with my friend Stuart, who is also a DU alum, but am not planning to make a donation to the school. I feel that working there for almost 30 years and then being outsourced is enough of a donation, despite their financial struggles. On the other hand, I will strongly encourage my friend Stuart to give a big-time donation to dear old DU, despite his mixed feelings about the school. Just open up that checkbook, Stuart! It's tax deductible, after all.

The Union Station Farmers Market - A Venue For Denver's Hipsters?

On the way to Oktoberfest in Denver's Ballpark neighborhood this past Saturday, I walked through the Union Station Farmers Market, which takes place in front of Denver's Union Station every Saturday and Sunday between May 31st and October 26th. It has been a while since I have perused this market and have forgotten how much fun it is. To be honest, I have seen very little produce at this market. It is more about clothing, gifts, crafts, gizmos, and everything else that appeals to the urban hipsters that frequent Denver's Lower Downtown (LoDo) neighborhood. And I suspect produce is not at the top of the list. No doubt dinner will be at either one of the local hotspots that populate the area or a DoorDash delivery to their upscale apartment. And by the way, Union Station was built in 1881 and was once a major transportation hub. It underwent a renovation back in 2014 that turned it into a shopping, dining, and cultural destination, appealing to those same hipsters shopping at the Farmer's Market out front. But it still remains the main transportation hub for buses, light rail trains, and Amtrak service to Chicago and San Francisco, two cities also very appealing to hipsters, although I suspect you won't find them on Amtrak's California Zephyr anytime soon. I imagine an overnight, high-speed trip in their BMW or Porsche to either of those cities is more their style. Anyway, that's the way I would do it.

RTD To The Rescue

As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, someone recently sideswiped my car, which was sitting at the time in its spot in the parking lot of my condo building, requiring me to take it to an auto body shop to replace the front bumper. And so, being without a car for almost a week, I have been depending on the RTD, aka the Regional Transportation District, which operates Denver's buses and light rail trains, to get around town. In my opinion, RTD has done a lot to improve public transportation in Denver over the years, especially with its light rail system. And living in a condo building just a few doors down from the train station, as seen in the photograph on the left, it makes it very easy to get around the city. While my car has been in the shop, I have been able to attend Oktoberfest in the Ballpark neighborhood, as well as the last Rockies home game of the season via a 20-minute train ride. There have been complaints about the lack of policing of the trains and light rail stations, as well as the delay in completing the light rail system promised in a voter approved "FasTracks" plan, but it seems to me RTD has done everything possible to deal with these issues.

The system's biggest critic, ironically enough, is a former chairman of RTD, Jon Caldara. Caldara hosts a current event's show on KBDI-TV PBS 12 here in Denver called Devil's Advocate with Jon Caldara. I remember watching this show when he stated that if he was ever chairman of RTD again, he would immediately close down the entire light rail system and mothball the trains. A system that people, especially those who cannot afford a car, depend on every day. And keep in mind that when Denver was experiencing tremendous growth, the city was encouraging transit-oriented developments (TODs), which resulted in many planned use developments around these light rail stations, giving people an easy commute to work. Can you imagine the chaos if someone came in and just eliminated light rail service to these TODs? And more importantly, how the hell would people who don't own cars or don't want to hassle with parking get to the ballpark? Not to mention Denver Bronco games. Talk about chaos.

The Chicago White Sox (Not To Mention The Chicago Cubs) Are In The Playoffs!

I watched the final game of the regular season on Rockies.TV yesterday afternoon with my friend Mark, a contest between my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, and the Colorado Rockies. It was played at Rate Field in Chicago, as seen in the photograph above. The White Sox won the game 4-2. It was fun to watch, but lacked the drama I was hoping for, since the Sox lost to the Rockies 9-6 the previous day, ending their chance to win the American League Central Division. If they had won that game as well as yesterday's, they would have finished in first place, since the Cleveland Guardians lost to Kansas City Sunday. But no matter - the White Sox still made the playoffs and will play the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Series, which starts on Tuesday. If the Sox win that series, they will play the Cleveland Guardians, the team that beat them by just 1 game to win the AL Central, in the American League Division Series. As for their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, they will face the San Diego Padres in the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday. If they win that series, they will face the Milwaukee Brewers, who won the NL Central by 14 games over the Cubs. And how far will the White Sox and Cubs go in the playoffs? I myself think that the Sox will beat Houston and have an even chance of beating the Guardians. If they make it to the American League Championship Series, I will be thrilled. Getting that far would be a tremendous achievement for a team that lost a record 121 games only two years ago. Thank you, Pope Leo! As for the Cubs, they are pretty evenly matched with the San Diego Padres, and could very well beat them, but their next opponent would be the Milwaukee Brewers, who finished with the best record in the Major Leagues this year with 103 wins. Good luck with that, North Siders.

A Tale Of Two Oktoberfests

I really wanted to go to Breckenridge Oktoberfest this year, which is taking place this weekend up in Breckenridge, Colorado, but my car is in the shop having the front bumper replaced after it was sideswiped, and so I have been limited to where Denver's public transportation will take me. Which yesterday turned out to be Weekend Two of Denver Oktoberfest. Which is all well and good, of course. I must say, the crowd was much larger than last week, and the event was very lively. But there is something about being up in the mountains, with all the leaves turning to gold and so many people in traditional German folk costumes strolling up and down the street that makes the experience very special, like actually being in Bavaria. But it was still fun to walk around at Denver Oktoberfest, do a bit of peoplewatching and see everyone having fun, as seen in the photograph on the left.

Just like last week, traditional German folk music was not being played at Denver Oktoberfest. There was not an accordion in sight. However, this week, instead of rap music, the Denver Dolls were performing. This is a group that has been around Denver for a long time, mostly singing songs from back in the 1940s. I remember seeing them perform once at Denver's Mercury Cafe dressed as WACs like The Andrews Sisters, singing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," which was a lot of fun. It was good to hear them again, and at least they were wearing traditional German dirndls. Perhaps next year one of them could learn to play the accordion. 

However, up in Breckenridge, they have nothing but traditional German music, as seen in the photograph on the left that I took last year. And I must add that although a lot of people do dress up in lederhosen and dirndls at the Denver Oktoberfest, most of them are 20 something hipster types that live in the surrounding area. Up in Breckenridge, it seems like people of all ages dress up in traditional folk costumes, which really adds to the ambience. And for those of you whose car has not been sideswiped and the bumper detached, the last day of the 30th annual Breckenridge Oktoberfest takes place today from 11:00 until 5:00 on historic Main Street. And best of all, Those Austrian Guys will be performing at 11:30, 1:00, and 3:00 today. And I am willing to bet that it won't be rap music.

Private Rome

I just finished reading Private Rome, James Patterson's latest book with co-author Adam Hamdy. At least I think it is Patterson's latest book. It is copyrighted 2016, but Patterson has so many books out there written with various co-writers that I can't be sure. And does he actually write these books, or does he just edit the co-writer's work? I have no idea, but frankly don't care, since all I care about is the story itself. In any case, a while back I read Private #1 Suspect, which had been sitting on my bookshelf for years. It was okay, nothing extra, but I saw Private Rome featured at the library in Stuart, Florida and decided to give it a try. And it is actually pretty good. Jack Morgan, the head of an international private investigation firm, flies to Rome for the opening of his company's latest office. At the firm's opening party, the person he selected to run the office, Matteo Ricci, is found standing over the body of a dead priest with the murder weapon in his hand. Ricci claims not to remember anything, and Morgan starts an investigation into the killing. He soon learns that eight Vatican priests have died in the last few months, allegedly through natural causes, and that the latest death is connected to the others. Soon his team from the home office in LA arrives to investigate what appears to be a major scandal involving murdered priests, laundered money, and corruption at the Vatican Bank. I really enjoyed reading this novel and can recommend it to anyone looking for an absorbing international thriller. Pick up a copy at your local library today.