You don't ALWAYS have to agree with a journalist to respect his ways. Thank you, Jason. As for 16 inch ball, the arthritis in the two broken knuckles ALWAYS remind me that softball was meant to be played with a glove, like most of us pussies do, or did.
I couldn't possibly watch enough documentaries of sports-loving people, like Royko, in legendary beer halls, like the Billy Goat, relating impromptu stories of sports-lore, like this one. Great, great post spaceman. As an avid writer, an avid softball player, and an avid video producer, I was trebly inspired.
I used to read Royko all the time when I was in college at Southern Illinois and think, "What the hell is so special about this guy?" until I finally realized why he was so popular in Chicago -- because he was Chicago. He wrote how Chicagoans talk and think and feel, and this clip just bears that theory out. As for 16-inch softball, I played it competitively for a couple seasons, but I could never get past that awful dull "thuk" the ball made when you hit it squarely. Sounded like someone smashing old canteloupes. That, and you just can't make the cool diving stops at third without a glove.
That clip epitomizes working class Chicagoans. My Mom was an avid Sun-Times reader and Royko fan. A day would hardly go by without her asking "Didja see what Royko wrote today?" Thanks for the post.
