Freedom's Fidelity

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

The Cubs Curse via The Bartman Ball

Okay, I shouldn't call it the Bartman ball, at least not in a way that faults the guy for the Cubs loss. They lost it, period. He did what any fan would do and a lot of fans were reaching for the ball, he just happened to touch it. But I can't help but think that this is why they hate us:

In the final months leading up to its execution, the condemned has been talked about ceaselessly, gawked at shamelessly, photographed excessively and guarded in a manner befitting royalty.

The last days of a young but illustrious life were spent mostly in seclusion, though the final 24 hours include plans for a whirlwind tour of the city, a national television appearance, an overnight stay in the sumptuous suite of a luxury hotel and, yes, a final meal of steak and lobster.

The end will come in spectacular, undoubtedly pyrotechnic fashion at precisely 7:31 p.m. Thursday, before a local throng and a global gallery, many of whom will celebrate what they believe in all their hearts to be the death of a curse and the exorcism of demons that have haunted this city for decades.

....For security reasons, DePorter has not publicized when the ball is to be displayed and frequently has it locked in a bank vault.

"It's kind of like a President Bush appearance," he said. "You don't want to broadcast plans."

Thirteen surveillance cameras are trained on the ball inside the reinforced, tempered-glass case, with two alarms tied directly to the police station. At its peak exposure, when the ball is traveling to Wrigley Field on Wednesday, a day before its destruction, 11 armed guards will accompany it, DePorter said.

It's very strange, the event is being covered worldwide, there is a news agency from Pakistan here to cover it. (Though I haven't seen any Al-Jazeera news vans tooling around town to date.) The details of the manner in which it is going to be destroyed have been kept secret, but it is supposed to be pretty spectacular. The guy in charge of its destruction won an academy award for his special effects work on "Jurassic Park" and is also an Oscar winner. For real.

The ball was purchased by a managing partner at Harry Caray's restaurant for $113,824.16, but given the publicity the ball's destruction will garner, this was nothing short than a publicity coup for him.

Some fans suggested ways to destroy the ball. I think my favorite was to start it on fire with Harry Caray's trademark coke bottle glasses and have Steve Bartman drop the ashes over Yankee Stadium. Too funny.

In all fairness I should note that the event, taking place tomorrow evening, hopes to raise $1,000,000 for diabetes. That's a noble cause, and probably another reason they hate us.

posted by Paul  permalink | |