Today’s Wisch List column from the Kankakee Daily Journal and The (Ottawa, Ill.) Times …

Chicago’s other March Madness

The WISCH LIST

March 27, 2010

Way back in 1970, when my dad was a budding 24-year-old distance-running junkie, he started logging every mile he ran inside spiral notebooks that he then stored in a nightstand beside his bed.

Forty years, 17 marathons and thousands of less-maniacal jogs later, the number of miles my father has run – and, in more recent years, walked – stands at a whopping 45,319.

Unless, of course, he’s added more today.

For some perspective, that tally is equivalent to running around the equator (24,901.55 miles) darn near twice. Or, on a more local level, the same as trotting from the Kankakee County Courthouse to Wrigley Field – and back – 344 times.

(Still without ever once seeing a World Series.)

Thinking about what my father has accomplished in a pair of Nikes is something that makes me proud – and makes my own feet hurt. Although, last weekend, it wasn’t 45,000 miles that were on my mind, but rather 4.97 as I competed in the 31st Annual Shamrock Shuffle 8K in downtown Chicago.

With a record number of registered runners (36,000), the quirky and iconic road race – considered the official kickoff for the city’s outdoor running season – was billed as the largest 8K in the world. In terms of size, it’s second locally to only the Chicago Marathon and its 45,000 annual participants.

As it turned out, only 25,723 participants showed up last Sunday morning to start the Shuffle in the 35-degree temps and fog hovering above the Loop. And, 25,567 of them – 11,523 men and 14,044 women – managed to finish.

The one to finish quicker than anyone was John Kemboi, a 19-year-old Kenyan who was orphaned as a toddler in the early 1990s and spent nine years living in a neighbor’s backyard, minding their cattle for the payment of one meal a day.

On Sunday, Kemboi feasted on the field in Chicago, breaking the finish line in a blistering 23 minutes, 39 seconds. And following his first race on U.S. soil, he reflected by saying, “I feel pretty good after this race. It is very nice here, although very cold this morning.”

Yeah, well, he should have run the Shuffle last year.

On March 29, 2009, I took part in my first Shamrock Shuffle, and it was almost my last. That morning, I stood on the “L” platform near my apartment, awaiting a train down to Grant Park as a snow globe-worthy blizzard swirled around me. I thought, “I’m going to run five miles in this?”

But, I did. And as one of only 13,399 hardy souls – out of 32,500 registered participants – to show up, I finished the winding 8-kilometer course in a respectable 43:35, despite slogging through at least two inches of slush every single inch of the way.

I think my socks finally dried out just last week.

Last year, my time put me in 3,664th place overall, which wasn’t bad. But this year – in better conditions – I was hoping to improve.

And then last Saturday, it started snowing again.

Nike’s “Run Lucky” motto for the 2010 Shuffle seemed like an oxymoron until Sunday morning, when the precipitation stopped – and didn’t start again, prompting the race’s PA announcer to announced at the start line that “the weather is allegedly better than last year.”

And as I began running alongside competitors dressed as leprechauns and even Wilma and Fred Flintstone, the weather was. Although, shortly after we the race’s start, a big clump of snow still fell directly on some poor guy’s balding head as we passed beneath Millennium Park’s serpentine BP Bridge.

As I jogged the first couple of miles, I focused on a runner ahead of me wearing purple and yellow garb emblazoned with “The University of Northern Iowa.” My goal was to beat this guy in the race, but somewhere along Mile 3, he pulled away and I lost sight of him.

Like Bill Self and Kansas, I was upset.

Things were chugging along well when, along Mile 4, I found myself being passed by a bare-legged guy who was either wearing a kilt or a Catholic schoolgirl skirt. I tried to (skirt) chase him down, but couldn’t, as I finished the race in 38:46.

That was good enough for 2,913th place out of the 25,567 finishers overall and 2,382nd out of 11,514 men. And it was almost five minutes faster than my time last year, which is all great.

But I still got beat by a guy in a skirt.

I think I’ll leave that detail out of my spiral notebook.

Last May, the Wisch List returned to print in the pages of my hometown area newspaper, the Kankakee Daily Journal.

And, today, the Wisch List returns to its own roots, appearing for the first time in the pages of The Times in Ottawa, Ill., where I originally launched the column almost eight years ago on Aug. 22, 2002, back when the newspaper was called the Daily Times prior to its merger with the Streator Times-Press.

Next week, the Wisch List will fully enter into the world of syndication, running each Saturday in the Daily Journal and The Times, both members of the Kankakee-based Small Newspaper Group publishing family. But, without any further ado, here’s today’s re-introductory Wisch List column from The Times …

Happy ‘Homecoming’: Wisch List returns to its roots

The WISCH LIST

March 20, 2010

When I was 3 years old, there were few things – save, maybe, Santa Claus, Superman and sugar – that got my motor running more than the news that company was coming over to visit.

Because, immediately upon getting word from my parents that friends or relatives were headed our way, I’d hustle off to grab my box of Crayolas and pad of construction paper so I could get down to business.

Half an hour or so later, I’d proudly emerge from the salt mines with a mess of meticulously scribbled chicken scratch. And upon our visitors’ arrival, I’d hop up on the family room couch and proceed to regale them with the elaborate story that I’d just written.

Even though I didn’t yet know how to write.

Three decades later, I like to think that big imagination of mine is still alive, but that I’ve also picked up a few new skills along the way.

Including, you know, literacy.

For those of you who already know me from the seven years (1998-2005) I spent in Ottawa writing for the former Daily Times, it’s great to be back among friends. And for you those of you who don’t, well, hey, I’m Dave.

And this is the Wisch List.

(It’s pleased to be back, too.)

Way back in the summer of 2002, I launched the Wisch List in Ottawa as the self-dubbed column about “Life – and the people who live it.” And since then, both it and myself have been on quite the wild ride.

In November 2004, I published 75 of my columns about life in La Salle County in a book entitled, “Northern IlliNOISE: Tales of a Territory.” And eight months after that, in July 2005, I took a news reporting job with the Chicago Tribune, and took the “Wisch List” with me.

There, I adapted the column into only the third-ever blog to appear at chicagotribune.com. And after two busy years of covering the city and the suburbs both online and in print, I left the Trib in July 2007, but not Chicago.

These days, I write full-time for a suburban advertising agency, live just blocks away from Wrigley Field and revel in all the wonderful things that the Windy City has to offer (as well as occasionally grumble about what it does not).

And it’s Chicago that the Wisch List is now about.

Back in May, I resurrected this column for my hometown area newspaper, the Daily Journal in Kankakee, which like the Times is a Small Newspaper Group publication. And I’m now pleased to say that the Wisch List is its return to La Salle County.

Through this column I intend each week to bring Chicago closer to home for you, sharing stories about the interesting people I meet, the sights you should be seeing, the sports teams you care about, and the issues up here in the City of Big Shoulders, Taxes and Potholes that are relevant to you. Beyond that, you’ll also find me occasionally delving into other state-related topics, as I plan to be keeping you on your toes.

As for myself, well, I’m the same guy I was five years ago when I left the small town for the big city. I’m just a little older and a lot wiser – except, of course, when it comes to putting my faith in the Cubs.

I’d love to hear from old friends – and make new ones – so feel free to get in touch with me anytime, whether it’s by e-mail me at wischlist@gmail.com, finding me on Facebook, following me on Twitter (twitter.com/wischlist) or checking in with me through my blog at wischlist.com.

You can just say hello, or, even better, pass along a column idea or Chicago-related topic that you’d like to see explored.
In many ways it’s hard for me to believe, but it was nearly 5½ years ago that I opened my book with the following passage:

If nothing else, I am an Illinois boy.

Born (in tiny Clifton) and raised (in bigger Bourbonnais). Bred (on Chicago Cubs baseball) and fed (a steady diet of disappointment. Naturally).

Through thick (winter coats) and thin (wallets, as a college student). In sickness (again, Cubs fan) and in health (the Michael Jordan Era).

For richer or poorer. For better or worse. And so on, and so on …

‘Til death do us part.

(Which, hopefully, won’t be for quite some time.)

Those words still ring true today. Although, I should add that while I consider Bourbonnais to be where I grew up, I do consider Ottawa to be where I became a man. So, for me, bringing back this column to La Salle County truly is a return to my roots.

You could even say it’s like going home again, home again …

Jiggity jog.

I think my 3-year-old self would have liked that one.

Today’s Wisch List column from the Kankakee Daily Journal …

Irish eyes on Chicago: What you might not know

The WISCH LIST

March 13, 2010

In August of 1993, I was in Colorado visiting family, and Harrison Ford was in Chicago avoiding capture.

On the big screen, that is.

That summer, the blockbuster flick, “The Fugitive” – starring Ford, Tommy Lee Jones and the Windy City – debuted in theaters. And while on vacation out west, my father, brother and I bought tickets for a matinee showing.

Seated one row behind us that afternoon was a couple on a date. And throughout the film the guy made repeated ham-handed – and factually challenged – attempts to impress the girl with his so-called expert knowledge of Chicago.

In one memorable scene in “The Fugitive,” Ford’s Dr. Richard Kimble eludes Jones’ Lt. Samuel Gerard by blending in with the crowd during the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade as it proceeds past an emerald green Chicago River.

“See how green the river is there?” the wannabe Chicagoan whispered to his date as the movie screen flickered, “That’s because it’s so polluted.”

Now, while the Chicago River has no doubt had its pollution problems, even at 17 years old, I knew this guy was full of it.

And that the river was full of dye.

The Chicago River once again turns green today in preparation for the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade (noon, WLS-Ch. 7 or WGN-Ch. 9). So to help you prep yourself, I thought I’d share with you a few tidbits about St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish and the city of Chicago that you might not already know.

Although, no doubt, the guy behind me in that theater would say he knew them all.

Orange you surprised?

The dye used to transform the Chicago River into the “Emerald Nile” isn’t actually green. It’s orange.

And its effect was discovered by accident.

In 1961, Stephen M. Bailey, a city labor leader and pal of Mayor Richard J. Daley, reportedly was watching a plumber trace a leak in the Chicago River using orange dye. Upon its placement in the water, Bailey saw the dye instantly turn green, giving the proud Irishman the bright idea to employ that trick to help the city celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

The Green Mile

In 1962, the flamboyant Bailey held a press conference announcing his plans to pour a Green River and during it declared that, “The Chicago River will dye the Illinois, which will dye the Mississippi, which will dye the Gulf of Mexico, which will send green dye up the gulf stream across the North Atlantic into the Irish Sea, a sea of green surrounding the land will appear as a greeting to all Irishmen of the Emerald Isle from the men of Erin in Chicagoland, USA.”

And then he probably raised his arms and parted Lake Michigan.

Going ‘Green,’ circa 1962

In that first year of coloring the river, 100 pounds of dye were placed in the water, which turned out to be a bit of an overkill.

It kept the river green for an entire week.

Today, the city uses 40 pounds of a secret-recipe, vegetable-based concoction that is billed as safe for environment. And, rather than keeping the river green for days, it does so for just a few hours.

The Green House

Last March, in keeping with the tradition of her hometown, First Lady Michelle O’Bama, er … Obama, had the water that flows through the White House fountains dyed green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Elect me, I’m Irish

Chicago has had 54 mayors, and 12 of them – including Richard M. Daley, the city’s current king – have been Irish. That’s just 22 percent, however, those mayors have also governed the Windy City for more than 80 combined years – or nearly half of Chicago’s 173 years of existence.

Chicago has also had several other legendary Irish politicians, whose nicknames are at least as memorable as their accomplishments. They include, “Honest John” Comiskey (father of former White Sox owner Charles Comiskey), Michael “Hinky Dink” Kenna, “Bathhouse” John Coughlin and “Foxy” Ed Cullerton.

The Irish Invasion

When Chicago was founded in the 1830s, the city had only a few hundred Irish residents. But, by 1860, it was the fourth largest Irish city in America behind only New York, Philadelphia and Boston.

In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 34.5 million Americans claim Irish ancestry – a number almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (4.1 million).

And Chicago now boasts more citizens of Irish descent than any other ethnic group, with an estimated 201,836 as of 2007. Next in line is German (200,392), followed by Polish (179,868), Italian (96,599) and English (60,370).

Lord of the Ring

Traditional Irish dancer Michael Flatley – yes, the “Lord of the Dance” – is a native Chicagoan.

And, as it turns out, a former Golden Gloves boxer.

“My family lived in a tough, racially mixed Chicago neighborhood in the mid-1970s,” the South Sider and Brother Rice High School graduate told the United Kingdom’s Guardian newspaper in 2004. “My brother and I had to learn how to protect ourselves.”

So, that’s where he got the footwork.

Float like an Irishman, sting like a bee.

Today’s Wisch List column from the Kankakee Daily Journal …

Expansion? The Big Ten Dozen’t need it

The WISCH LIST

March 6, 2010

Just outside Chicago, not far off the Kennedy Expressway and within buzzing distance of O’Hare Airport, sits a nondescript two-story brick building neighbored by a cluster of modest homes and the machine yard of a suburban snow removal company.

It’s pretty safe to say that, upon first glance, the headquarters of the Big Ten Conference in Park Ridge isn’t quite what you’d expect.

In fact, the place kind of looks like it could use an expansion.

To which I’d tell the Big Ten, go for it.

Just leave the conference itself well enough alone.

In recent weeks, newspapers, talk radio and the Internet have been atwitter with reports – and wild rumors – regarding the proposed expansion of the Big Ten from 11 schools to 12.

Well, the Big Ten Dozen’t need it.

Not unless that new school is named Notre Dame or Texas, at least.

On Tuesday, media outlets reported that an initial Big Ten expansion study prepared by a Chicago-based investment firm had suggested to conference officials that expansion could be financially worthwhile.

The study analyzed whether five schools – Missouri, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Rutgers – would generate enough additional revenue to justify their inclusion in the Big Ten. Reportedly, the study concluded that by adding the right school, the league could indeed become wealthier.

And I don’t doubt that with the “right” school it could.

But, the only two schools that I feel fit that criteria – academic and athletic powerhouses Notre Dame and Texas – are longshots, at best, to shuck independence and the Big 12, respectively, and join the Big Ten.

If either did, the reason would be the same one behind most business decisions: Money.

According to ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” Big Ten schools in 2008 received a whopping $242 million in TV revenue from ESPN/ABC and the Big Ten Network, which breaks down to $22 million per university.

That big number looks even larger when compared to the $78 million generated in TV revenue by the Big 12, of which most members are said to receive about $6 million. Texas and Oklahoma reportedly receive larger shares because of more TV appearances.

Notre Dame football’s famed NBC TV contract, meanwhile, reportedly is worth $9 million a year – well short of Big Ten payouts.

Because of haughtiness (Notre Dame) and traditional rivalries (Texas), neither the Irish nor the Longhorns are expected to join the Big Ten.

But if they won’t, then why bother expanding at all?

With the other rumored candidates, risks outweigh potential benefits. Penn State’s membership makes it questionable whether Pitt would increase the Big Ten footprint in terms of recruiting and exposure. Missouri almost certainly would not.

This week, the Chicago Tribune reported that many officials believe Rutgers – the oddly named state school of New Jersey – would be the best fit for the Big Ten.

But I’d argue otherwise. For one, it’s Rutgers. There’s no cachet. And to say the addition of the Scarlet Knights – or fellow northeastern school Syracuse – would significantly extend Big Ten fandom and recruiting into New York and New England is pure folly.

Kids growing up out east dream of Madison Square Garden, not Madison, Wis. It’s the same here, where Midwestern kids fantasize about catching touchdowns at the Big House, not in the Carrier Dome.

Has having DePaul in the Big East increased that conference’s exposure in Chicago? Hardly. And it likely has hurt DePaul in recruiting local athletes who were raised on Big Ten tradition and are unfamiliar – or uninterested – with the Big East’s.

Ohio State University president E. Gordon Gee recently told his school’s student newspaper that, along with financing, the main reason for Big Ten expansion is “an inelegance in having 11 teams. We can’t play each other quite like we want.”

He likely was referring to the league’s inability to split into two divisions for football and hold a conference championship game. However, even if you assume each school would garner $1 million-plus with a conference playoff, I’m still not convinced of that game’s value.

In nine of the last 12 years, the Big Ten has placed a second school in the BCS series – and earned an extra $500,000 for all 11 members – largely because the league’s top two teams haven’t had to knock the other out in a conference title game.

With a league championship, that dual-berth regularity would vanish, while the difficulty of reaching the BCS title game would multiply with teams needing to win an additional conference game.

Without a conference championship, some feel that the Big Ten falls off the national radar during December and that its teams suffer from the monthlong break before bowl season.

But that’s just a convenient excuse for failure.

This past season, the Big Ten’s top four teams went 4-0 in bowl games, showing no signs of supposed rust. Fact is, if Big Ten teams are good enough, they’ll win bowl games.

And, barring the addition of a Texas or Notre Dame, the conference is already good enough as is. So, don’t add a lesser school, Big Ten.

No one wants to see a Dirty Dozen.