Rack o' Ribs

Our experiences on Saturday, September 12 warrant a whole post. Go grab a sandwich and a cold beer. I'll wait for you to get back!

We've had U2 tickets for the show at Soldier Field for months. The Edge got us great seats! So it was me, Jack, the Edge, and Yoshi's brother. We all have the U2 discography memorized! More to come on that event.

Anyway, I soon realized that ND was going to play Michigan in the afternoon. I don't have cable in my Chicagoland pad, so I hatched a plan to go downtown to a pub or bar and watch the game. Everyone thought that was a good idea, so we drove in early (since I conquered my city driving fears!), and found a little Irish pub in South Loop. What we didn't realize was that the whole pub was full of ND and Michigan fans. Actually, the Michigan fans were huddled at one table and they annoyingly sang the entire MI fight song every time MI did anything worthwhile. It was a riot in that pub every time ND scored or made a good play! I relished the comraderie, as we high-fived people we'd never met before.

We ordered wonderous pub burgers and loaded nachos, noshing our way through the first quarter. Then some official-looking guy came in the pub and made an announcement, asking if he could film the bar if he provided free Guinness pints! Sure, what the heck!? It was for some spotlight on ESPN's Sportcenter, and sure enough, the camera guy (who looked freakishly like Paul McCartney) strolled in with the big, fancy cameras. They filmed our party and then asked the bar to sing "Happy Birthday" to Arthur Guinness, while holding up our pints of Guinness. We complied, despite the feeling I was attending a frat party!

As the song concluded, Jack noticed the camera guy zooming in the focus, in the direction of my chest. He laughed and laughed. Looking down, I realized I was wearing my little green Guinness t-shirt. Whoops. Jack and Yoshi's brother informed me that my rack (their word) was probably going to get center stage on ESPN because of the unintentional Guinness promotion.

Great! Exactly what an aspiring hospital administrator hopes for! I just wish the Irish would have won the game!

By the way, the 2-minute spot is supposedly appearing on Sportcenter at 11pm on 9/24. Will someone please tape it for me? I'm curious to see if cameras add 10 pounds to all areas of the body!

*PS, the photo is of the Paul McCartney camera guy!