June 1--Fine Entertainment

Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they? 
--The Scarecrow, "The Wizard of Oz"

    I have mentioned in previous posts how much I love the regular Cubs announcers, Jim Deshaies (JD) and Jon Sciambi (Boog). They are ages 64 and 55 respectively. Being those ages, topics will come up that only folks of a certain age would understand (think rotary-dial phones). Yesterday's broadcast wandered to "The Wizard of Oz," and Boog admitted that the flying monkeys freaked him out as a kid. (Note: the game was not boring, they just touch on a huge number of topics during a game.) This led me to wondering--that movie is a classic, a huge part of my upbringing--do they still show it? The flying monkeys are nothing in comparison to some of today's horror movies. My life would have been so different without the repeating pleasure of "The Wizard of Oz," "Gone with the Wind," and "White Christmas." I remember when our sons were younger that we had them watch "2001: A Space Odyssey" with us, and they thought it was the dumbest movie ever. Old or not, there is a tremendous amount of metaphysical wisdom in the "Wizard."

    Yesterday's ballpark giveaway was a headband with hair that looks like the thick, curly locks of Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson. Those are modeled in the photo below, along with "Boog's Paperweight" (a brick to keep papers from blowing away in the gusty Wrigley Field wind) and the oven mitt. Players wear oven-mitt-type gloves when sliding to prevent hand injuries, so someone sent Boog a real oven mitt made with baseball fabric. Note that this is useful as a hand-warmer in the booth for chilly early-season Chicago temperatures.  

    The moral of my story? Never a dull moment watching these two!

    I LOVE BASEBALL!!!

        Leta

JD, left, Boog, right... great announcers and
superior entertainment