Late December Meanderings on Unfortunate Moments and Mark Prior

“I cringe at the Bartman references”* * *I was trading text messages with my friend TK about the Holiday Bowl, Texas versus Arizona State. You probably saw the highlight of the guy—reported to be coach Mack Brown’s son-in-law, Chris Jessie—coming onto the field and probably touching the football with his thumb while it was still in play on account of what turned out to be a backward pass and therefore a lateral, a live ball, by ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter. Not long after, deconstructing the replays, the announcers referred to that other interference play. The one Cubs fans remember all too vividly. Especially those of us who were at the game.

And of course, if you search Google today for “youtube chris jessie” the first clip is captioned “The Holiday Bowl Bartman.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEAoTlzCbIE.

I’ll admit that I was already thinking about the 2003 NLCS moment, pleading in my mind, “Please, please don’t go there,” even before the announcers went there. Game 6 exists for me not only as a memory of sight and smell and sound—remembering how it was to watch Mark Prior pitch with the will of over 40,000 people within eyesight and millions more around the globe behind him, ballpark smells mingling with chilly Autumn air, and cheers growing louder, promising the ultimate crescendo—but more, a memory of emotion, the utter nauseating turbulence of having some of your strongest hopes dashed in a matter of minutes. This feeling, or its memory, does not leave you. (continue...)

The View From Wrigleyville


The Eye Of The Beerholder


Westside Wavelength