OUR 2008
Tribune reporters reflect on the memories, good and bad, left with them this year from traveling in the name of sports coverage.
As the crow flies
Any of a half-dozen cab rides back to my hotel on Beijing’s Olympic Green, during which the cab drivers made me recall the old Maine axiom, “You can’t get there from here.” The language barrier being what it was, I was on my way to Mongolia one night until the Tribune’s then-Beijing correspondent, Evan Osnos, came to the rescue via mobile phone.
Philip Hersh
All it could be
No real contest here. Traveling to Beijing for the Summer Olympics was everything I expected and yet full of surprises. Climbing the Great Wall, standing in the middle of Tiananmen Square, seeing the Chinese people defy expectation to build and run a successful Olympics while warmly embracing its visitors made the experience an unforgettable one. Compared to Charlotte or Detroit or Cleveland, yeah, this was one cool road trip.
Melissa Isaacson
Miles to go before I sleep
I’ll always be grateful to Phillip Compeau, a 21-year-old Davidson senior, for writing an easy lead for me. After a long day of covering the NCAA tournament in Charlotte, I was already in my pajamas at the hotel when an editor and I agreed (he enthusiastically, I sleepily) that I should make the 20-mile trip to Davidson’s campus about 11 p.m. after the Wildcats had defeated Wisconsin in Detroit. I was skeptical I would find anyone celebrating at tiny Davidson, but I miscalculated the off-the-charts enthusiasm. I found what I imagined to be the entire town in the Brickhouse Tavern, including the mayor. Shortly after midnight, Compeau walked in wearing a Cinderella costume, complete with a full-length powder-blue gown, a crown and elbow-length gloves. For anyone who had grown tired of the NCAA factory, where the typical top-ranked teams of blue-chippers dominate story lines, Davidson was refreshing. For a tired reporter, it was worth the late-night trip.
Shannon Ryan
Walk a mile in my shoes
I suppose that would be when I had to walk 1 1/2 miles out of Gillette Stadium to find a cab, tripped in the dark over a chain, fell on my face and cracked a bone in my back. Yeah, that would be it.
Rick Morrissey
Head-scratching
Eating dinner in a Scottsdale restaurant at a table next to Fred Goldman and then standing behind Al Cowlings in Los Angeles three months later was bizarre. But getting hassled at a Cleveland hotel Sept. 3 by a Secret Service agent working the detail for Sen. John McCain was baffling.
Mark Gonzales
Follow the rainbow
I traveled to Louisville in late February and watched future Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody (above) drop in 40 points — including the first three three-pointers of his career — in a five-point Notre Dame loss. Later that evening I witnessed a female bartender dancing with a midget dressed as a leprechaun. I’m not sure which surprised me more. Or less.
Brian Hamilton
Riding the rails
The annual journey from Minneapolis after the Bears-Vikings game via the Empire Builder. Any long train ride along the Mississippi River is unforgettable.
John Mullin
Pathfinders
Let’s put it this way: Some of us drove from Chicago to Cincinnati, stopping long enough for some Skyline Chili dogs. Others, like manager Lou Piniella and coach Matt Sinatro, took the long route. While the team waited in the clubhouse, the Cubs’ bosses were zooming across Ohio, headed for Cleveland. While their three-hour-late arrival was good for a short pregame laugh, an ensuing sixth straight loss to Dusty Baker’s Reds was not. It was the low point of the season. Well, at least the regular season.
Dave van Dyck
No good deed …
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Covering the Big Ten means plenty of winter travel, most of it by car. With the weather deteriorating on Jan. 30, I left early for Illinois’ basketball game at Michigan State. I arrived about seven hours later, having spent much of the time sitting on Interstate Highway 94 in western Michigan, sandwiched between semis. Those who left after me made it in the normal time, no doubt thanks to the trailblazers who drove ahead of them.
Terry Bannon
That’s pitching
Carlos Zambrano tossed a no-hitter and Ted Lilly followed with seven one-hit innings in a remarkable pitching clinic against the Astros at Miller Park in mid-September. Houston was forced to switch the games to Milwaukee because of Hurricane Ike and spent the rest of the year whining about it.
Paul Sullivan
Hot in the cold
Windchill was nearly 40-below in Calgary last week, followed by record snow in Vancouver. The only saving grace was the Blackhawks’ red-hot play as they swept the Oilers, Flames and Canucks.
Chris Kuc
Worth the trip
There are no good ways to get to State College, Pa., from Chicago — only bad and worse. Still, I had to shake my head after getting stuck in an ice storm Nov. 21 while driving to Penn State’s campus from Harrisburg, Pa. The 85-mile journey took more than three hours, but there was a sweet payday: Joe Paterno promising at a pep rally that he would return in 2009 — and that his team would beat Michigan State: “By God, we’re going to win a Big Ten championship tomorrow!”
Teddy Greenstein
Up and down
Bangor, Maine, isn’t home to an NBA franchise. Nevertheless, there I sat Friday, for two-plus hours, trying to get to Boston for the Bulls-Celtics game. Snow canceled my first flight from O’Hare and delayed a rebooked flight by an hour. After we got close to Boston and circled for an hour, weather closed Logan Airport. After the Maine visit, the airline searched for any East Coast airport to leave the plane overnight. Settling for Dulles outside Washington, we neared there, circled for another hour and then that airport closed. We circled back to Philadelphia, landed after the Celtics already had beaten the Bulls, and I thought about all the great European cities I could have visited in the 10 hours I spent on the plane as I ended my night at the hotel bar.
K.C. Johnson
Breaking bread
While in Los Angeles for the MLS Cup final, I had breakfast with Fire owner Andrew Hauptman and then headed to the New York Red Bulls’ team hotel to interview ex-Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio. It was interesting to go from Hauptman to Osorio, as the two men didn’t end things on the best of terms. If only the three of us could have all had breakfast together.
Luis Arroyave
What a pastime
Making like a fan, not a reporter, I took my 14-year-old son, Dylan, to Yankee Stadium for a game, paying $175 face value for tickets. While in New York we took the Staten Island ferry to watch a New York-Penn League game at Staten Island’s wonderful new ballpark. From our seats behind the plate ($12, I think), we could see the Statue of Liberty and watch night fall on Manhattan. Then we took Amtrak’s Metroliner south to Baltimore for a game at Camden Yards and a trip to the Babe Ruth birthplace.
Phil Rogers
Not so sweet Charlotte
Record-setting rain and flooding in Chicago closed freeway entrances to O’Hare Airport as I sought to fly to Charlotte for the Bears-Panthers game. So I missed my scheduled flight and had to wait eight hours at the airport for the next one. It was almost as frustrating as the Bears’ loss.
Fred Mitchell
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The stories of 2008
The Tribune is asking for your help to select the Top 10 local and national/international sports stories of the year. The results, which will include votes from readers and the staff of the Tribune Sports section, will appear in Sunday’s Tribune. You can vote online at chicagotribune.com/2008sports. Voting will close at 5 p.m. on Christmas.