New Year Wishes from the SportsWise Team

Russ: Let me on the mic, fellas. Look, my first wish is to attend more games with The Crew. I’m always working or taking care of things at home, so, this year—until I can get back to a game with the Crew—I’m going to a Blackhawks game with one of my customers.

Patrick: When was the last time you were at a game?

Russ: Shoot, the last time me and you went there, met up with a few others, and watched the White Sox get smashed in the last game of the season. That was my last game.

Donald: Well, I love the holiday season. The snow. The carolers. The same cartoon specials that come on every year. “Inside warmth” after the snow-love, decorating the tree, spending time with family—I enjoy it all. In regard to sports, it seems to be a hustle-bustle of activity going on during these months, which I dig. I dig watching the NBA teams play on Christmas Day, plus the general shift in sports us regular folks play—

John: Don, what sports are you playing? (Laughter.)

Donald: I play sports in my head all the time, and I’m still damn good. But, no, my holiday wish is that everyone— sports-related or not—enjoy this season. Allow the hustlebustle to ease and the holiday cheer to float around and into us.

Russ: Ok, here is my second wish: for those who don’t have cable TV to be able to watch some of these sporting events. If you don’t have cable TV, you won’t be able to watch Thursday Night Football, and I don’t think that’s right.

Patrick: So, mine is that the Bulls and the Lakers get it going solid. The Bulls started out somewhat well, in the sense that we could tell they had some talent on the team and could be better than last year. Something happened, though, to that positive feeling. Doesn’t seem to be a connection there amongst the team.

John: You’re right. They have a few nice pieces, but the championship is not coming through Chicago.

Patrick: Not at all. Now, with the Lakers, they began horribly, it continued on that path… but, then, things changed a bit and the Lakers began winning. They have a tough December in store, so I’m monitoring the situation through the New Year.

Donald: The Lakers won’t do much of nothing. The Bulls either. But since this is your wish for the season, then I’ll send good vibes for those two teams to solidify…but only a lil’bit for the Lakers.

Patrick: Deal. So, John, what about you? What’s your holiday wish?

John: I’m going to piggyback on Russ’s wish. Folks should be able to watch some of these sporting events they no longer are able to watch. We know it’s all about the money. These events are shows we would have been able to watch for free not that long ago; now, we have to have cable. And cable ain’t free by no stretch of the imagination.

Russ: I know, right?

Patrick: I know this is a SportsWise venture. However, my wish is just outside of that. I want for us—the city, the county, the state, the country, the friggin’ planet—to work toward a 100% no-homeless world. The wish is that we—at the very least—progress toward this ideal.

Russ: Simple enough.

John: I like it.

Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org