Out Of Touch

This is going to be really short, as I have a massive headache (thank you, sinus infection) but somehow my life doesn't feel complete without posting something. How wrong is that?

Anyway, Mayor Daley has always been a bit of a clown in Chicago. He wields great power and has been mayor for years, but really stupid things sometimes happen on his watch. You should go Google his quotes sometime. He's got some doozies out there.

And the foie gras ban happened on his watch. And he bulldozed an airport in the middle of the night by putting big X's on the runways. Bye-bye Meigs Field!

But the latest one really has me cracking up.

I'm sure most of you have been to a sporting event at one point or another. And while there, many of you may have imbibed. Just a little, of course; you wouldn't want to overdo it. And maybe a few of you have even happened into a bar to watch a game where some imbibing occurred.

When you go to the game, they cut off alcohol sales near the end of the game (middle of the seventh inning for baseball, end of the third quarter for football, and end of the second intermission in hockey -- no, I don't do basketball so I have no idea). That makes sense to me, as when the game ends, they pretty much herd you out of there and you head on home, frequently by car. We don't want drunk drivers, so cut off the drinking. That makes complete sense to me.

Now let's pretend you're in a bar. You're watching the game. The game ends. Your team won -- or maybe it didn't win. Me, I don't immediately leave. It's a bar, and I'm having fun hanging out with my friends. We don't leave immediately.

Besides, not everyone in the bar is there for the game, right? Some people are just here in the bar in general. This is why they don't stop liquor sales in bars until closing time.

Except in Chicago. When a Chicago team is playing a series clinching game. On the north side (apparently this doesn't apply to bars where Sox fans are hanging out).

Yeah, the bars in Wrigleyville have agreed (one owner put it that there wasn't much of a choice) to cut off alcohol sales in the seventh inning of any clinching game. Mayor Daley's argument is that the bars have made enough money already. Really? Since when did he become the arbiter of appropriate profit? And our kindergarten teacher?

I'm all for no drunk driving (or even driving after drinking in general, regardless of the BAC). However, bars 365 days a year are required to monitor their patrons and not overserve anyone. Now, on the nights that they can make their largest profits of the year -- in a bad economy -- the city has essentially forced them to cut off the patrons.

Raise your hand if you see lots of hoarding and drinks slammed just before the seventh inning. Keep your hand up if you see that potentially creating a worse problem. Yeah, me, too. Way to solve a problem that didn't exist, Mayor Daley.

The good news is that after the game is over, the bars can resume alcohol sales. Wait, huh?

Of course, given that the last I heard the Cubs are down 6-2 in the first game that was the one game they were "sure to win" maybe this won't be an issue after all. It sure would be a shame if they were swept out of the playoffs for a second year in a row (says the not at all disappointed Twins fan).