New year off to a bang already
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya……….
So far the year is only four days old. But in several regards, it’s already off to a flying start. At least in Chicago and the surrounding area.
First off, I want to remind you about the West 34 gig coming up at Rolling Lanes in Countryside, IL on Friday, January 15. I wrote about these guys in the December 7, 2009 post. This is the first time they’re playing this bar and the lead guitarist, “Big Wave” Dave Johnson said they are looking to pack the place–and then blow the freakin’ roof off it. Here’s the specifics:
West 34
Rolling Lanes Bowling alley (bar)
6301 Joliet Road in Countryside, IL.
Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9:30pm
I said it before, and I’ll say it again. These guys are the best band I know personally that plays out in the area. They do a wicked combination of hard rock, classic rock, and blues. They were named the house band at America’s Historic Roadhouse (formerly Walter Payton’s Roundhouse) out in Aurora where they will be the night before they play at Rolling Lanes. Check out the blistering guitar work of both Dave J. and Tim Majewski. They added a new bass player in the last three months or so and Dave tells me this guy has added yet another awesome dimension to the band that will have people floored.
Oh, the drummer kicks some major ass too. He even throws in some vocals every now and then along with Tim and Dave.
So mark this down on your calendar. It’s a “can’t miss”. There will be a large contingent of supporters from the dudeimtellinya.com website as well as LTAlumni.com —-both websites having a large following that has known Dave J. for a good twenty years.
So what other Chicago ass kickers are getting it done already in 2010?
The Chicago Blackhawks followed up a New Years Eve bitch slap on one of the two best goalies ever in the NHL….Martin Brodeur and his New Jersey Devils…….with a spanking of our rival St Louis Blues on Saturday night. The Blues thought they were going to come out and roughhouse the Hawks in the first period. It was a really fun, scrappy game to watch. Tons of scrums and penalty minutes. And when it was all said and done, the Hawks had a 6-3 victory. Then on Sunday night, they finished the weekend by spanking the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 to move to 29-10-3 on the season. They’ve won 10 of their last 12.
These guys are just phenomenal. They are so young and fast. Everyone contributes. It reminds me so much of the Hawks teams of the early ’90s. We don’t have to rely on a Jonathan Toews or a Marian Hossa to score. One night it might be Troy Brouwer. Another night it might be Andrew Ladd. We have a half-dozen guys with 10 or more goals already. Hossa scored 2 on Sunday night to give him 8 goals already in his injury shortened season. The Saturday night game marked the half-way point of the season for the Hawks. What if all seven guys finish with 20+ goals? When was the last time that happened?
It wasn’t too long ago when Eric Daze or Steve Sullivan would lead the team with 27 or 28 tops.
My brother scored a pair of tix three rows behind the glass for January 14 thru his job. So he and I will be at the United Center on Thursday the 14th and then rockin’ out with the band the next night at “the Lanes”.
A little farther south in the state down in Carbondale we have my alma mater kicking some ass in college hoops. Southern Illinois University outscored Bradley 14-2 in the final 90 seconds on New Years Day to win it. That gave them six wins in a row and left them at 10-2 on the season. This is a team to watch as they have some really talented underclassmen that are starting to blossom at the college level. At least two of these guys….and I’m thinking three….were ranked among the nation’s Top 100 recruits when they signed with SIU out of high school. That’s the sort of commitments you expect the University of Illinois or Indiana University to achieve. Or so they hope.
Hopefully SIU can return to the NCAA tournament this March. That’ll give me another reason to hook up with my old college roomie and hit the bar for a couple of coldies. He may be joining me for the West 34 gig on the 15th too. He’s a good man……..a really good guy. I mean, c’mon….he’s a fellow Saluki for chrissakes.
The NFL finished up it’s regular season yesterday. And lo and behold, the Chicago Bears won their final two games. When they upset the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football last week, it was still the waning days of 2009. But when they whipped up on the Detroit Lions yesterday, that meant they are starting 2010 off at 1-0. We’ll see how long that winning streak lasts come this September.
Factor in the Chicago Bulls pasting of the first place Orlando Magic on Saturday night and they are also 1-0 on the new year. That gave them four wins in a row and they look like they’re starting to come around. They may just reach that 41-41 mark that I prophecized in my Dirty Dozen predictions.
So no one (important) has really lost yet in the year 2010 as far as Chicago sports teams go. And with the sweet hockey tickets from bro and the band’s gig coming up soon, the year seems to be off to a pretty good start.
Now all I need is for the Bears to fire Lovie Smith and offensive coordinator Ron Turner and bring in some new blood. Sure, they won the last two games of the season, but something has got to change there. Two of their seven wins this year were against the Lions.
And that simply ain’t good enough for me and the boys.
Oh…….pitchers and catchers report in about 60 days for baseball.
Only January 4 and it just keeps getting better and better. Check out my boy’s site for more info on West 34 :