Team Saturdazzle the one with the 5k and the bobble head

Can't beat fun at the old Saturdazzle

 

Welcome to our first post A to Z Challenge Team Saturdazzle of the year. 

I am on the road today so I am literally phoning this post in. I am emailing this directly to my blog from my phone. 

This morning Amy Charlie and I participated in the Northern Illinois Foodbank 5K. It was a lot of fun. We all finished in less than an hour. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to run the entire race without walking but I was able to.

 

In the A to Z challenge this year in the A to Zs of me J stood for Jester and I was in full jester mode at the race. Where my self designated task was to bring fun and merriment wherever I went. I would make jokes as I passed people and say things like don't these Saturday DMV lines get longer every year. When I ran past the 2 mile marker I told one of the many volunteers encouraging us along the path to ask me to tell her a Broadway themed 5 k pun when she obliged. I said 1 mile more and I'll be less miserable. 

The Jesting did not end after I finished the race.  I waited for Amy to near the finish line and let the audience in on the big reveal...

After the race Amy and I grabbed some lunch and drove to the Rosemont L station where we took a blue line train then a red line train to Comiskey park in Chicago. Now in fairness it hasn’t been called Comiskey since 2003 it’s now on it’s 3rd name change I’ll just call it Sox Park.

 

Today the White Sox played the Astros and despite getting 5 strong innings from their starter and scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the first for an early lead they lost to Houston 8 to 3.

 

This is not what brought Amy and I to the ball park today. Amy went because she’s always up for an adventure and I went for the commemorative Dick Allen bobble head.

 

In The Box

Outside The Box

Photo by John Iacano/Sports Illustrated

The Bobble head was modeled after the iconic 1972 Sports Illustrated cover of Allen juggling in the dugout in his first season with the White Sox.  By the 1970's public perception was already changing about smoking.  Allen was reprimanded by the White Sox for the incident.  The bobble head is true to the SI cover except Allen is not smoking.  

As I’ve said in these pages before, as recently as W is for White Sox fan, Dick Allen is one of the main reasons I became a Sox fan.

 

Allen was at long last posthumously elected to Baseballs Hall of Fame earlier this year. Several members of Allen’s family were on hand today for the celebration and will be in Cooperstown in July when Allen will be inducted into the Hall. It was really quite a day. 

Thanks for joining Team Saturdazzle today.  

K is for Kilometer , King Kong and Krill

 Good Evening and welcome to day 11 of the A-to-Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. Due to the incredible busyness of my week I am posting more than 16 hours late today.  Usually I would post at 4:13 a.m to coincide with the date 4/13.  Speaking of 4/13 stay tuned and I will have a special 17th birthday shout out for someone who was born today.  

Part I: A to Z Limericks

our This limerick was written 3/20/22 about an hour after I finished the Shamrock Shuffle, a Chicago 5 mile run.  Special 17th birthday shout out to my niece Olivia who ran in that race much much faster than I did and is celebrating her birthday today.

 Just finished my first 8 K

A 5 mile race, so they say

I'll admit it was fun

But I'm glad that it's done

No more runs for a week and a day

Actually I have not run for 3 weeks and 2 days.  Although I have taught some gym and played some full court basketball.  I hope to get back on track (Oh boy, was the pun intended!) soon.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

When I think of Dave Kingman, I think of Wrigley Field.  Kingman only played for the Cubs for 3 years (1978-1980) but during that time hit 49 home runs at the friendly confines.  When not with the Cubs he hit 20 more home runs at Wrigley as a  member of the visiting team. Kingman once hit a home run 550 feet.  

Kingman played from 1971 to 1986.  In the era of 1976-1987 he hit 329 of his career 442 homers, 3rd most of that era. Only Mike Schmidt (1st with 437) and Jim Rice (2nd with 341) hit more in that time period.  During that time King Kong belted  118 homers with the Mets, Creamed 100, for the A's,  hit 94 dingers with the Cubs.  He also hit 11 for the Padres, 4 for the Yankees and 2 for the Angels.  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My opening word for K on March 11th was Krill

K R I L L  - There was something fishy about that guess not netting letters

G H O S T-  I didn't get spooked by my first guess and got h and t on the second , but in wrong places.

H A U T E - this guess got A in the right position and added h to t as letters in the wrong position

W A T C H - got it in 4

This morning I started again with Krill and like last month guessed the wordle in 4 guesses.  

I better call it a night. Hopefully I can finish my 3 l topics before 4:14 tomorrow morning.  For more A to Z challenge click here.  

Shamrock Shuffle Part II

 On Saturday March 19th, I ran in a 1 mile race in Chicago.  The mile at the Shamrock shuffle is a precursor to the 8k (5 mile ) shamrock shuffle run on the following day. I had not run in a timed mile race since 1980 when I was a freshman in highs school.  On that day I finished with a 5:50 mile.  

On the 19th in the cold and rain I ran it in about 9:45.  

My wife and I stayed overnight in Chicago on Saturday and I ran in the 5 k as well.  My 16 year old niece ran the 5k with a faster mile average than  my 9:45 and I finished my 5 k in less than an hour somewhere in the 11:30 mile range.  I achieved my only goals of finishing both races without walking.  I hope to run in a few more races this year.  I'll keep you posted.  Here are some pics from Sunday. 

Start of the race

My wife kept tabs on my location during the race

Me finishing the race. ( I'm not paying the outrageous fee for a copy of this picture, which is why the company logo is all over it.)

Pre (or possibly post)  race craziness

Shamrock Shuffle 1