The Daily Parker

Politics, Weather, Photography, and the Dog

Well, that's traffic, I guess

As I woke up this morning to Abby Ryan's traffic report on Chicago Public Radio, I didn't know what to make of this: "...Inbound Stevenson, it's 35; if you're going to Midway all ATA flights are cancelled today because it filed for bankruptcy; the inbound Edens from Lake-Cook, that's 42..."

I'm just imagining what it's like to hear that your company doesn't exist anymore—on the morning traffic report.

Unrelated to that: yesterday's Cubs game started with the first pitch launched onto Waveland Ave. Guess who won.

It's official: 2007-08 one of the worst winters ever

From Chicago Tribune weather forecaster Tom Skilling:

Chicago's 2007-08 snowfall tally eased above 153 cm Thursday, making it one of only seven season to reach or exceed 60 inches. ... Thursday's 4.3 cm at O'Hare became the city's 43rd day of measurable snow. No season since 1978-79 has recorded more days of measurable (2.5 mm) snow.

Skilling yesterday gave the cheery forecast that the Cubs' home opener Monday will get rained out.

Finally, did you know the U.S. government patented the atomic bomb? This suggests a tactic we can use against North Korea: sue them for infringement! Forget the 82nd Airborne, send the patent attorneys!

Marathon cut short because it's the middle of Octogust here

With record temperatures in Chicago today (now at 29°C), organizers have halted the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon:

Reports of inadequate supplies of water were frequent along the route, and many of the 36,000 runners competing stopped early.

The men's race appeared more like a track finish than the usually tactical marathon finish, with Kenyan Patrick Ivuti winning the closest race in the 30 years of the Chicago Marathon. In a photo-finish, Ivuti edged out Moroccan Jaouad Gharib by 5/100th of a second.

Both were clocked at 2 hours 11 minutes 11 seconds and appeared to break the tape at the same time. Ivuti is the fifth consecutive Kenyan to win the Chicago Marathon.

Ethiopian Berhane Adere recorded one of the greatest race comebacks, repeating as champion in 2:33:49. Adere fell behind by about 25 seconds late in the race, but managed to sprint to the finish and overtake unsuspecting Romanian Adriana Pirtea.

The Cubs, meanwhile, spent the day cooling their heels.

Math difficulties, pessimism, or what?

Yesterday I said that the Cubs need only win one game of the NLDS to ensure they play Game 4 (to which my friend got tickets). That's not, strictly speaking, correct, and it assumed the only way the series would end in 3 games would be if the Diamondbacks swept the Cubs. My cousin pointed out the flaw in my reasoning. It's possible (however unlikely) that the Cubs could sweep the Diamondbacks, with the same result for Sunday's game.

So, to revise and amend my comments, as long as each team wins at least one game of the next three, I'll go to Game 4 on Sunday.