The Whirlwind is Over

The last nine days have been a whirlwind, but it's finally over. I don't know that I physically could have done any more and now I've used two vacation days recovering from it all.

It all started on Monday, June 18 with the Cracovia Media Dinner at Janosik. Tuesday was a run of the mill work day, as was Wednesday for the most part. Thursday I had to spend the entire afternoon driving around the city picking up tickets and money from one of our consignment partners that I'll never work with again. That night I went with the Chilean and Jen to the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal matches at Soldier Field. The United States beat Canada 2-1 in the first game and Mexico ended the Cinderella tournament run of Guadaloupe 1-0 in the second game.

I ended up getting a little drunk with the Chilean at the game and we had a good time heckling the Mexicans about our run of success over them in the past decade. Our friend Lisa had a great scarf that read, in Spanish, "Remember Korea," complete with the date and score of the Round of 16 match when we knocked "El Tri" out of the World Cup in 2002.

Friday was my big day, the Chicago Fire's match against MKS Cracovia Krakow. I got to the stadium very early, around 8:15 or so, to prepare for the game. Once gates opened at 6:30 and the game kicked off at 8:00, it was non-stop action for me. And all kinds of issues. The highlight for me was escorting the Cracovia team President Janusz Filipik down onto the field for a halftime presentation with our team President, John Guppy. I got to have my picture taken with the two team presidents and my counterpart with Cracovia, Rafal. It was weird having members of the press taking my picture, but Rafal also promised to send me an autographed jersey and I hope to have that photo framed with it when it gets here. The lowlight: probably having to talk to a client of mine that was having a rooftop party about how his employees had acted inappropriately. One of the waitresses went home crying after getting harassed up there. Yikes.









After the game I met up with my cousin, Bryan, and my Uncle Eric downtown for a drink and then headed home to bed. The weekend had really just begun. Saturday I went down to ESPNZone and goofed around with Bryan and Neil and some of Bryan's friends and then headed home to clean a little before heading down to the Bryan and Terri's wedding rehersal and dinner. I made an appearance at Eclipse, a Polish night club where Cracovia was having their goodbye party and then I was home and in bed around 2:00 am.

Sunday morning, bright and early, I woke up and drove our to Vernon Hills with my dad for my soccer game. We lost, 3-1, and I had a miserable first half, but played better in the second and had a couple nice balls setting up opportunities for us to get back into it. No dice. We drove home in a hurry and it took me only 15 minutes to shower, change and get my stuff together for the wedding. We were back in the car, picked up my friend Natalie, and took the back roads to Soldier Field for the Gold Cup Final.

At the stadium, my dad and I grabbed some Polish sausages and we made it to our seats just as the game kicked off. The first half was somewhat boring; I taunted Landicakes Donovan a little bit as he pretty muched sleepwalked through his biggest game since Germany last summer. Mexico scored first, just a minute before halftime, and I'm almost glad they did. For one, watching a sold out 60k+ crowd that was about 95% Mexican go insane was a sight to be seen. Secondly, I think it made Head Coach Bob Bradley rethink a few thinks and light a few fires.

The U.S. came out with a different attitude in the second half and halftime sub Ricardo Clark really changed the flow of the match in the midfield. Brian Ching woke up and began really battling for the ball around the penalty area, eventually drawing a penalty kick, which Landicakes calmly converted for the equalizer.

I looked down at my watch and realized that we needed to get going soon if we were going to make it all the way to my dad's hotel in Alsip, shower, change and get to the wedding on time. The longer we waited, the worse traffic would get as it was a busy weekend in Chicago. Gold Cup, Cubs-Sox on the South side, set-up for the Taste of Chicago and the Gay Pride Parade. But I didn't want to leave a 1-1 game so we held on as long as we could, eventually taking off in the 70th minute after two players collided and both teams sent stretchers onto the pitch. Just two minutes after we walked out the door, we heard a roar from the crowd behind us and my dad thought it was a Mexican goal. Natalie just said, "Nope, not loud enough...that was probably us." Sure enough, we heard my boy Nick over the PA, "United States goal scored by Benny Feilhaber!"

I missed it!

Oh well, we were on our way to the FAR South side for the wedding. We got there in plenty of time and heard all about the U.S. goal from those that watched it on TV...I was a little jealous that I couldn't stay, but happy for my cousin nonetheless. My sister and I were the two readers, me reading I Corinthians 13:4-8, my sister a poem by an unknown author about love. The wedding was great, and it was definitely amazing to see some of my family that I hadn't since Christmas, specifically my friend prego friend Simone. I had a fun time chatting with cousin Neil, someone who 10 years ago I don't think I'd ever had uttered those words. I hope I continue to get closer with my cousins over the years.

Anyways....long story short....I was running in 5th gear all weekend and I needed a couple of days to unwind and recover, so I did that my taking Monday and Tuesday off. Much needed. Now just one more day before the madness begins again. Nick (my college roommate) and the Demi (plural of Demas, friends from high school) are coming in town this weekend for my annual July 4 bash, this year in June for the first time ever.

Calm before the storm

See, now that I have a working laptop, I can post once in awhile!

As I sit in the office at 6:30 on a Wednesday night, its eerily quiet. Only a handful of busy workers remain and everyone is silent at their desks, frantically meeting deadlines. Tomorrow marks the first of a four day shit storm.

Here is what my week has looked like:

Monday, June 18 - Janosik Banquet and Restaurant
7:00 Chicago Fire - Cracovia Krakow Media Dinner

Tuesday, June 19 - TOYOTA PARK
Work until pretty late, can't keep up with phone calls about Cracovia, Gold Cup, Referee Clinics, etc.

Wednesday, June 20 - TOYOTA PARK
A little more relaxed, but still insanely busy day in the office preparing for the weekend...calm before the storm.

Thursday, June 21 - Soldier Field
6:00 USA vs. Canada
9:00 Mexico vs. Guadalupe
CONCACAF Gold Cup Semifinals

Friday, June 22 - TOYOTA PARK
8:00 Chicago Fire vs. MKS Cracovia Krakow

Saturday, June 23 - Southside
My cousin's wedding rehersal and dinner

Sunday, June 24 - ALL THE F*CK OVER TOWN
8:30-12:30 Soccer game in Vernon Hills
12:30-2:00 Go home, shower, change, pick up Natalie, drive to Soldier Field
2:00-4:00 CONCACAF GOLD CUP FINAL with Natalie, Dad - hopefully USA vs. Mexico
4:00-5:30 Drive to dad's hotel, clean up, change, get to church
6:00 Wedding
7:00 Reception
12:00 Drop dead from exhaustion

On top of it all, we fired Head Coach Dave Sarachan this morning, so I've received dozens of phone calls from clients wanting to just talk and head from someone with the team. I tell them all that I'm too busy this week and to track me down in the Stadium Club on Friday Night. Friday I have about a thousand different guests that I have to entertain. I'm going to need to clone myself for sure. Here's the list, keep in mind that this doesn't include my regular full season clients:

Hutch and Donna
Temtco Steel - Party Suite, 32 guests
Industrial Machining - Rooftop party, 75 guests
DZL Vodka - Stage Suites, 32 guests
Integra Communications - our Polish Ad Agency, 12 guests
Maxum Sports Bar and Grill - 82 guests
Zibi Photo, 20 guests
Archer Express, 21 guests
Centrum Sport
Stan Sieczka - event suite, 16 guests
Ryan Hesser, 20 guests
Tom Toczydlowski, 15 guests

I'm also responsible for the anthem singer, a Highlander band and our 50/50 raffle sellers.

Christ....am I the only one working at this game? Needless to say, I'm taking Monday off and I'll be lucky if I wake up before noon. If I find time to update before then, I will...but if not, I'll see you then kids!

Stop with the comparing....for now

Okay, so Bron-Bron could someday be a Hall of Famer. He could be one of the best basketball players of all time. He MIGHT even surpass Michael Jordan as the best player ever. But for now, can we just stop?

I understand that "King James" is only 22, and that his supporting cast is atrocious, and that he's, simply put, physically superior to Jordan. But let me ask you this: Would Michael Jordan have lost that game last night? I say emphatically, "No." Down 2-0 to San Antonio with a raucous crowd cheering it's heart out, in a city that is flat out desperate for a winning team of any kind...MJ would have found a way. He would have done just enough, instead of not quite enough. He would have imposed his will. They might have still lost the series. They may have even gone down in five games. But not last night.

As much as I have renounced the Cavaliers over the years since taking my first full time job in sports with the Chicago Bulls back in 2002, I was honestly rooting for them. It's still my hometown and I have so many family and friends that were excited to see a Cleveland team on the verge of a potential title that I couldn't help it. I even like LeBron. But then again, how could you not? He has a presence about him. Charisma.

I just want the comparisons to get put on hold, and I think they will be, at least until next spring when the Cavs are back in the playoffs. He's a great player, a tremendous athlete and a fierce competitor. Nobody is questioning that. But what MJ had is something that we may never see again.

Championship Rings and Polish Things

Well, we got our rings on Saturday after our sold-out loss to Club Deportivo Chivas USA. Pretty sweet if you ask me, I'm so proud of my first championship in sports, even if it was just the 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. We won it and it was a great night. I don't think I'll wear this thing all the time, but definitely on game days and big meetings. It's a good conversation piece because it's so damned big you can't miss it.

To update everyone on the job, I'm still with the Fire, been about 16 months now. I'm still doing the corporate sales gig, selling suites, sponsorships, club seats, etc. But lately, I've been put in charge of the majority of our Polish marketing and sales initiatives. I just hired a high school kid to make some Polish cold calls for me and sell some tickets for our exhibition match next Friday (June 22) against MKS Cracovia Krakow, a Polish first division team.

Between the Polish marketing and the Referee Development Program, this job with the Fire has opened a number of doors for me in Chicago, it's making it hard for me to ever want to leave here. I'm beginning to think that's a reality though as the cost of living and the sport's world's ridiculously low salaries (specifically for soccer) is making me broke. I think about how much money I would be putting away if I were back in Ohio, or another smaller town. I think about how even if I found the right girl, and not just the right now girl, I wouldn't be able to afford to do things right with her. I think sometimes I chose the wrong profession, as much as I do love sports and what I do.

And as for the girls, well, nothing new to report. Sadly, my life has been fairly uneventful as of late. Jen and I broke up awhile back and things have been very complicated between us ever since. I just find it hard to trust her and love her the way that I did before, which I suppose is understandable given how many times she walked out on me. At the same time, she seems genuine in her desire to be with me now. But is that enough? I wonder...

I do have the all important family wedding coming up on June 24 and I have been told to bring a date. I'm not sure that I want to because I'll face the Spanish Inquisition with thousands of questions about whoever I'm with. I don't know that I would subject anyone to an entire evening with my family at this event. "You're 23-year old cousin is getting married, what's your problem?" Yikes.

Okay, my writing is getting choppy now and I'm still at work at 8pm on a Tuesday. I'm the only one left in the office, mainly because I just didn't feel like fighting the Cubs' Night Game traffic. I should be gone now, just need to find parking. Let's see what we find....and see if anyone reads this nonsense.

Guess what!?

My laptop is finally fixed.

About three months after I bought the damned thing (last June) I was having problems with it running very slowly. Under warranty, I took it in to Best Buy and they told me that Windows was corrupted and that it would cost be $150 to restore it and another $100 if I wanted them to back everything up first. I said, "No."

I then took it to the IT person at TOYOTA PARK and she couldn't figure out how to fix it. I just suffered through it for about nine months until I started having problems with the LCD Display. This, I could not stand. So a couple weeks ago I took it into Best Buy to have them fix the screen. They sent it away and told me it would take 2-3 weeks. I told them specifically NOT to touch the hard drive. I said, " I know Windows is corrupted, but I want to back up my files before you restore it. Fix the screen so that I can do that, and then I'll bring it back."

So I pick up the laptop today on my way to the stadium for our match against Club Deportivo Chivas USA and when I get there, I turn it on, and what did they do? Yup. They wiped the hard drive. The good news is I didn't have to pay the $150 they were going to charge me and the thing is running VERY smoothly. The bad news is, I lost everything. Music, pictures, programs, every paper I'd ever written in college...everything. SO PISSED. I had like 5-6 thousand songs. Gone.

Anyways...the OTHER good news. I'm back! Let's see how long it takes ya'll to even notice and write some comments. I assume I lost you all since there has been no posting since the National Championship game back in January.