Our Soxfest Weekend
January 14-16, 2005

**Credit where credit is due... The pictures aren't mine.  They're Christine's and if you want to see more from the weekend you can see them at her site.

        This was it.  We were finally able to go to Soxfest.  That scheduling conflict the team had with the hotel was good for us if not for them!  As the day got closer, Matt was probably the most excited, which is really how it should be.  I mean, he’s 14, plus the punk got to stay home from school on Friday because of it.  Christine hadn’t been as excited about it as she had thought she’d be and finally figured out why.  It related back to reading this statement “…and Mark Buehrle have personal responsibilities and family commitments that won't allow them to make the trip to Chicago.”  Ah, yes.  It was suddenly so clear.  Apparently the thought of Neal Cotts just wasn’t cutting it.  Sorry, Neal.  I tried.

        I, on the other hand, had been getting “cold feet” of sorts because it was my last weekend at home for Winter Break.  But I was spending it downtown with the White Sox instead of with my family.  Those players better appreciate that!!  :-)  I was told that I was being ridiculous for my apprehension.  (Mothers.  They think they know what’s best… ;-) )

        Soooo anyway, Mr. Fallara was nice enough to take us to the train station.  We did the math and the train plus cab route was cheaper than the Hyatt’s valet parking.  ($39/night!  Eek!)  It was pretty nice being able to just sit back on the train.  Hailing a cab, on the other hand… We gave that job to Christine since she was the only one with experience.  I can’t tell you the final count of cabs that passed us by, but we finally got one when it stopped at a red light.  And don’t ask me how we got to the hotel.  I was trying to pay attention but he had me so twisted around by the time we got there...  However, we got there nonetheless and that’s what matters.

        Upon checking in, we found out that we were in the West Tower.  We joked that it was convenient because Connie’s Pizzeria was right around the corner from the elevators but it actually was a nice landmark.  Let me tell you that if left to myself, I’m sure I would’ve gotten lost at least once in this hotel.  It’s a great place and a neat design but a little confusing.

        Once we got to the room, we freshened up and called home.  It was during my conversation with Mom that Matt and Christine discovered the amusement of attempting to toss Mini Teddy Grahams across the room into each other’s mouths.  This is when I decided that I was in for a looong weekend.  (;-)  I love you guys!)

        We eventually made it down to the Fest and thus began the “cattle experience.”  We kept saying it was like Disney World except that we were being deprived of a ride at the end.  We “watched” the Opening Ceremony, and I say “watched” because I couldn’t see crap.  Every once in a while if I stood on my tiptoes and people moved their heads in just the right way, I could make out one of the guys.  Matt and Christine could probably see better but I don’t know how much.  I guess that’s what we get for not getting there at 5AM or whatever time the “diehards” get there…

          After the Opening Ceremony, we went to stand in our first autograph line.  Willie Harris and Juan Uribe.  Not bad, both were pretty pleasant.  Juan seemed kind of excited, actually.  He’s a fun guy to watch play.  Willie seemed a little indifferent but he always comes off as sort of an “I’m too cool” bad-boy.  Personally, as long as he hits the ball and crosses the plate, I don’t care.  And he was nice to the little kid next to us on Photo Day so he’s ok with me.

        We pretty much got out of that line and into another.  Let me explain what happens.  There is a limit as to how many people can be in line for each autograph session.  To ensure you get a place in line, they hand out wristbands for the specific number of people allowed.  Then you wait until they say you can get into line.  This is usually right away, but it depends on how fast the previous line is going.  Here’s the thing, the wristbands only guarantee that you can get in that line; how soon you actually get in line determines how soon you get your autograph and can jump into another line or get to see other stuff.  This is why we always tried to get in line right away.  Ok, now back to the story.

        This time, we were waiting to get wristbands for Jamie Burke, Neal Cotts, and Ben Davis.  While we waited, we got the first of our “Mystery Bags.”  For $10 you got a random paper bag with Sox stuff in it, sometimes even autographed stuff.  Christine and Matt split the cost of the first one.  There was a yearbook, an All Star Game lanyard, pencils, a Home Run Derby hand towel, and stuff like that.  There was also a signed 8x10 of José Valentín.  I think if Christine gets any more José autographs, she could head his fan club!  I went and got one then.  I got a hat and shirt from the ASG.  I think it’s what the workers wore.  The rest was pretty much the same other stuff from the first bag.  We ended up getting two more bags Saturday that we shared among us.  I got a long sleeve Sox shirt, Christine got a knit hat, etc.  Our duplicate stuff was set aside for Alison, who was originally supposed to go, too.

        So, we were pretty close for the autograph session, which was cool.  The guys were all nice.  We kinda felt bad for Jamie because he had just been assigned to Triple-A Charlotte, but he seemed to be taking it well.  And he still gets to come to Spring Training and compete for a roster spot, so that’s cool.

        After we got those autographs, we wandered a little bit.  We went upstairs to see what they had to offer.  We saw the new green seats- pretty nice.  The color is not obnoxious which I think will look good aesthetically, but frankly, my fanny doesn’t care what color they are when it sits in them.  We decided to go rest and watch one of the clinics.  It was outfielding with Joe Borchard and Ross Gload.  It was funny because the whole time, it was “Ross, you wanna take this one?”  “No, that’s ok.  I think you might be better at explaining this” and “Anything you want to add?”  “Nope, that pretty much covers it.”  I was like “Well, it’s a good thing you’re both up there…”  Also, apparently Joe was wearing cowboy boots.  The California Cowboy?  Maybe…

        So after the clinic, the guys stuck around to sign autographs.  We already had Ross’ from the zoo signing so we joined the group swarming Joe.  The security guy with him informed us that Joe would sign as he walked so we should make a path.  Joe was being really good, trying to get to everyone, but the security guy was being kinda pushy.  Joe finally said “You know, I don’t have anything else tonight, so you could just go.”  “Oh, no, that’s ok.”  Joe was just like “Ok…”  You could tell he was thinking “No, really.  Go!”  But we eventually got our autographs and headed out.  It was almost nine, which was when the fest ended that night.

        We decided it would be a good idea to go to Connie’s for dinner.  Apparently so did every other guest!  We were a party of 3.  We were told 45 minutes.  Almost 2 hours later, we were seated.  While we were waiting, we saw a group from Soxtalk.com waiting as well.  They eventually pretty much seated themselves after waiting just as long as us.  We thought it was kinda funny.  They asked Christine the next week online why she didn’t say hi.  They didn't realize that we were the loonies sitting in the booth next to their table.  We were laughing about every little thing and acting kinda goofy.  Apparently being overtired and over hungry can do that to a person.  But it actually felt really good to have that kind of night.  From me banging my head on the back of the booth sliding in to Christine threatening to eat the table to us devouring our basket of fries appetizer before the guy could bring us the ketchup.  And the pizza was really good.  And I don’t think it was just that we were so hungry because it tasted just as good the next night.

        Saturday, we got up and got ready to go downstairs.  We wanted to be closer so we could get in faster.  We had our battle plan and we were ready to execute!  Apparently, we weren’t fast enough…  But it was ok.  We were closer than the night before and we still made it into our first line on time.  It was two new guys, Scott Podsednik and Jermaine Dye, so it filled up fast.  Scott seemed like a super nice guy and Jermaine was pleasant enough.  He wasn't originally scheduled to be there because his wife was expecting, but she had the baby early so he felt he should come and meet his new teammates and fans.  Very admirable.

        After that we jumped in line to get wristbands for our next autograph and then got in line.  And that’s where we were… for the next two hours.  But, in our defense, it was Tony LaRussa so we figured it was worth it.  We even ate lunch in line and played cards.  We played a lot of cards that weekend.  Mostly Matt and Christine played and it was mostly Speed and War.  We only played war because it was easy to pick up and move if the line started moving.  Because we were in line for Tony’s 2:00 session, we missed the wristbands for Ozzie’s 3:30.  But we figured we could get his anytime.  He’s the kind of guy who would hold a 20 minute conversation in the grocery store line.

        Tony was really nice and was chatting it up with everyone.  There was a “suggested” $5 donation for his animal research foundation.  This session was special, too, because Matt asked him to sign a birthday card for Kyle, and he did.  Actually, he didn’t even let Matt explain really.  He just said “Sure” and signed it.  See, we were missing Kyle’s first birthday party that night and felt kinda bad about it so this is how we were going to make it up to him.  By the time he’s old enough to really understand, Tony LaRussa may mean nothing to him and his friends but it’s still really cool!

        After we got out of line, we looked around at the vendor booths.  There wasn’t really anything we wanted.  Christine and I were looking for a Paul Konerko shirt.  All we found was Billy Koch…  Matt got something, though.  He got a black bat in a tube so he could get it autographed now that his ball is full.  Those look really cool because they sign them with silver metallic pen.

        We had pretty much done everything we wanted to do that day so we went back to the room.  We hung out there for a little while and then went to dinner.  It was much less crowded this time and we were much more civil about stuffing our faces.

        After dinner we went back up to the room for a little bit longer and then headed down to the Family Party.  It’s supposed to be a family oriented party for the guests, and players and their families have come in the past.  Not this year.  It was also a little disappointing.  The band was ok but not great.  In the past, they’ve had a Beatles tribute band.  But the Sox executive who was in it is no longer with the Sox.  Oh well…  We were actually there for quite a while considering how little we were enjoying the party.  Ok, maybe we just stayed to hear the door prize raffle announced during the band’s break.  Can you blame us??  When we didn’t win anything, we left.

        We went to check out the bar.  We couldn’t go in with Matt, but it was ok.  It’s not actually a room.  It’s a completely open space so you can look into the entire bar and seating area.  It called the BIGBar and they aren’t lying.  The bar was sooo long.  And the drinks were huge!  We couldn’t see any players but it may have been too early.  Or we’re just blind.

        We continued in our wandering around the hotel.  Eventually, we ended up on the bottom level somewhere.  We found the spa, the gym, the convenience store-type thing, and… videogames.  Ms. PacMan and a Cruisin’ World or some version of that game.  Christine got really attached to Ms. PacMan but soon ran out of quarters.  The foreign guests that passed by kinda gave us funny looks.  I'm not sure why; we weren't being that obnoxious.

        So that was pretty much Saturday night.  I think we probably just watched some TV and went to bed.  Ok, I am leaving out the weird “conversation,” I guess you could call it, that took place but writing it out just doesn’t do it justice.  Ask one of us one time.  We’ll be, well maybe not glad, but we’ll probably explain it.  “Good Blimey!”

          Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.  The last day.  *Insert collective “Awww” *  Today we decided to stop at the snack bar so we’d have a better breakfast than Saturday’s, which was nothing.  I know, I know!  I mean we did eat some Teddy Grahams before we left and we had Pringles and other small snacks with us.

         So there we sat in the ballroom (that’s where they kept us everyday until the doors opened), me with my orange juice and teddy grahams, Christine with her frappuccino and animal crackers, and Matt with his Pepsi and pretzel sticks.  Delicious and nutritious!  We had planned to start off right away with Freddy Garcia and Neal Cotts.  Unfortunately, Freddy wasn’t there that weekend due to visa problems.  So, no offense to Neal, we’d been there, done that so we changed our plan a little.  There was nothing else we wanted to do at that time so we got in line for the first session at Stage 4 – Joe Crede and Ben Davis at 11.  Let me tell you, we were close for this one!  But this time we took turns getting up and leaving.  Matt and I eventually both went and bought Ben Davis baseball cards so he’d have something different to sign than on Friday.

        Finally, the time came.  Ben showed his hometown spirit by wearing a Philadelphia Eagles’ McNabb jersey.  The little kid in front of us informed him that “The Eagles (were) gonna lose.”  However, he was smart enough to say it after Ben handed his ball back.  Ben had this shocked look and went “What??”  I’m sure he didn’t expect something so defiant from a little kid.  But hey, Sox fans don’t hold back much, regardless of age!  Hahaha!

        Joe, on the other hand, looked like he was sitting there going “How much longer do I have to do this?”  He’s not much of a ‘sit here and interact will all these strangers’ kind of person.  I feel for him.  But he’s still nice about it.  He also looked a little tired.  I’m thinking hanging out at night with your friends + a 14-month-old daughter + Soxfest activities all weekend doesn’t make for a very good combination.

        So after that, we jumped into a line at the Comcast Sports Net booth to see Hawk Harrelson.  It got really long.  I don’t know if they didn’t expect that or what, but they had to keep rearranging the line before they finally had to cut it off.  It was stretching all over the main floor area.  He was only supposed to be there for 45 minutes but I’m sure he went over.

        After seeing Hawk, we jumped back into Stage 4’s line.  This time we were waiting for Cliff Politte and Jon Adkins.  It was our final line.  They were both really nice.  Of course, Cliff is from St. Louis so he’s got that Midwestern style.  Jon seemed to be in a good mood, but we were at the very beginning so he may have turned into a grouch by the end.  (Probably not.  He was the same way at Photo Day and we were near the end of that line.)  He was saying hi to everyone in one way or another.  Well, not me.  He just kinda smiled at me while we were waiting for the line to advance so I could get his autograph.  But, a smile works for me.  I mean, he could’ve been like Jon Garland.  I read online that he was entertaining himself by making trumpet noises when a girl walked up for his autograph.  He’s special, isn’t he?

        So, anyway, we got our autographs and headed out- for good.  It was only a little after one but we had done pretty much everything.  Christine went to get our luggage from the bag check while Matt and I made a quick stop in the Garage Sale.  There were a couple of things we had seen the night before that we wanted.  He got an Old Comiskey brick and I got a 2004 Highlights DVD.

        As we met Christine upstairs by the doors, she pointed out Kenny Williams literally running to his car.  (A Mercedes, by the way.)  We then went outside, got in a cab, and headed for the train station.

        It was a fun weekend, but now we have a lot of experience if we ever go again.  For instance, next time we’ll go to more seminars and clinics and not waste time standing in line.  Although, as Mom pointed out, we have almost the whole team’s autographs anyway.  Hey, we know how to get things done, ok?  =)  Oh, and next time, someone stands by the elevators when we check in so we don’t get charged for an extra person.  We still don’t understand why they sell packages for 4 but the room rate is only for 2, but I digress…  What else?  Maybe more aimless wandering at night to find the action.  Oh yeah – And get to Connie’s WAY earlier!  Or just have them deliver to the room. ;-)