The seven-day trip to suburban Chicago is over. I have a few more days to go before returning to work.
The Shy-town visit was highlighted by quality time with all of the immediate family. My youngest brother and I put deep dents in his couch watching the Ryder Cup on television. We also hit a couple football games.
On Friday night, we traveled to Hillside, IL for a West Suburban Conference contest between Proviso West and Glenbard West. The two schools are just 11 miles apart. Glenbard West’s student body has very few black students (5.7-percent) and sits on a hill in a neighborhood of expensive homes in the suburb of Glen Ellyn. Proviso West’s student body is just three-percent white and 55.8-percent of its students (about 2500 total) come from low-income families according to a survey compiled by the Chicago Tribune.
Why did we choose this game from a slate of hundreds across the area? Well, my brother recently moved to Glen Ellyn and the community there treats its football team with great reverence. Signs and flags bearing the school’s logo can be seen in shops and homes all over town. Glenbard West is among the best football teams in the state and has a storied history. In an effort to understand this part of suburban Chicago previously unfamiliar to both of us, how better to get a feel for this part of the world than attend a high school football game? A bus departing from one of Glen Ellyn’s taverns takes fans to some of the road contests. We drove.
Before kickoff at Proviso’s bumpy grass field with crooked painted yardage lines, parents of senior players were introduced to the crowd. Moms were handed a rose. A large cloud of smoke from barbeque grills on the home side blurred the lights shining on the playing surface. It was a cool evening without any kind of breeze. Adult admission was $5. Seniors got in free.
The Proviso stands were occupied almost entirely by people of color. The road bleachers were near full of white fans who traveled the eleven miles to get there. Blacks on one side. Whites on the other. A strange, somewhat perplexing sight in 2012, but not at all unusual in a city that seems to still live this way more than others its size.
Glenbard West routed Proviso West 41-14 with a well balanced attack. I was relieved when Glenbard removed its starters in the third quarter to prevent a display that would embarrass their opponent.
It should be noted that Proviso’s band provided the night’s best moment with a rousing, well-choreographed halftime show. As a show of respect, Proviso football players gathered and paused near the stadium’s entrance at the start of the game. With helmets off, Proviso players waited until the band filed in before making final preparations for kickoff.
The public address announcer provided many humorous moments during his descriptions from the Proviso press box. A Glenbard onside kick in the first half (recovered by Proviso) prompted the raspy-voiced PA man to declare the play “Trick-Er-Ation!” White Sox game updates were frequent.
The next day, my brother and I went to Evanston, IL for Northwestern’s Big Ten opener vs. Indiana. We bought tickets from a re-seller a block from the stadium. $15 a pop for seats on the 30 about 30 rows behind the Northwestern bench. It was a picture-perfect day and the Cats racked up 704 yards of total offense en route to a 44-29 win over Indiana. The Hoosiers had the ball down a score after being down 27 and made a game of it. NU quarterback Kain Colter operates as runner, catcher and passer in a dynamic option offense that rotates in more traditional signal-caller Trevor Siemian on passing downs. Colter ran for 161 yards and picked up 131 receiving yards.
We parked the car near the Main Street CTA stop on the Purple Line and took the train to and from the game.
During frenetic in-game signal-calling by both offensive and defensive coaches, Northwestern players hoist a large purple flag to block views of the sign-flashing from behind. This seems to be an overly paranoid attempt at secrecy.
The Saturday football game came less than 48 hours after the body of 18-year-old Northwestern sophomore Harsha Maddula of Long Island was pulled from Wilmette Harbor, just a mile and a half away. Maddula went missing five days before he was found. His mysterious disappearance and ensuing search efforts dominated newscasts during my visit. It’s still unclear how Maddula ended up in Lake Michigan but his cause of death was ruled a drowning. Both his wallet and cell phone were found on his person. You can bet law enforcement’s investigation of this tragedy will eventually spell out how such a promising life ended so abruptly.
As for the Ryder Cup outcome, I told my brother Saturday night that it was no cinch the US would score the four and a half points (from a possible 12) necessary to nail things down Sunday. The only remotely legitimate second-guess one could make about Davis Love’s decision-making was leaving the red-hot Keegan/Phil duo on the sidelines during the Saturday afternoon session. I suppose you could question why a stiff like Jim Furyk made the team, but I think the better, more cohesive squad won this Cup.
One more thing about the Ryder Cup: I can’t stand the arbitrary nature of putt concessions. There’s very little rhyme or reason for putts conceded. In a competition so tightly contested, the random displays of generosity by its participants often lack reason or logic.