Chicago Design League

The Chicago Sun-Times asked its readers yesterday; "As the Bears appear to focus their new stadium hopes on Arlington Heights... what would you like to see happen with Soldier Field (which is a Chicago Park District facility for those that don't know)?

Reader Jill Murtagh offered what's undeniably the best idea... and by a longshot;

"Soldier Field would be a remarkable place to hold all those massive, expensive festivals that currently damage public parks and make them inaccessible to residents. In cool weather, think school football/soccer championships, drum line band competitions, Oktoberfests, Christkindlmarkets and exhibition ice hockey."

The big concerts could stay too I suppose ;-)

Power Construction - 2018

Having just concluded their 12th Design League season... Power Construction grabs their first Design League Title with a 9-3 win over the Ruder Group in this year's Championship Game. Power's incredible run began in the late game on June 7th, directly following their annual forfeit for a company event... from that point on, they ran the table on the regular season, winners of 7 straight... and then carried that momentum into Tournament Day running the table once again going 5-0, allowing 26, scoring 60... even more incredible, they did it on the road... changing diamonds twice on the path to a Championship... all congratulations to Power Construction, winners of 12 in a row to take the 2018 Chicago Design League Championship.

An awesome story sent to me by one of our faithful...

Shutting down Grant Park softball may be Rahm's political mistake 16-inch Chicago-style softball leagues that have competed for decades in Grant Park have been banished for the 2017 season. Considering that tens of thousands of Chicagoans play softball, closing some of the city�s biggest leagues is a shocker.

Better late than never right? One way or another, sorry this post took so long... feel free to tag yourselves, teammates, etc... and I big thanks to Patricia Rotondo as always for grabbing all of these, some great shots mixed in...

Wow... this car blew up directly behind Diamond 1 on Upper Hutchinson.

Crash splits Lamborghini in two - CNN Video One person was injured after a Lamborghini crashed into a light pole and burst into flames near Chicago's Grant Park.

Dobbins Group - 2016

Having just concluded their 6th Design League season... the Dobbins Group employed top shelf defense and an onslaught of long balls to take its 2nd Championship over Clune Construction 12-5... they accomplished this year's title going 5-0, allowing 23 runs while scoring 64 runs... this was the 4th time the 1 & 2 seeds have faced off in a Championship Game since records began being kept in 2001... and even though the only net advantage would be Clune having to switch diamonds for the Championship Game, makes you wonder as to the significance of these two teams trading the top two seeds in the final week of the regular season. When all was said and done though for this season... all congratulations go to Dobbins Group, Final Four finishers in 5 of their 6 seasons and owners of the 2016 Chicago Design League Championship.

16 years of organizing the Design League Tournament... it wasn't until tonight I noticed myself mindlessly packing my back pack for the day the same exact way I do every Tournament Day Eve... a once a year task, completely subconscious at this point... scorebook, permit, rules printout in the 1st compartment... change of clothes, towel, 2 caps, sunglasses in the 2nd compartment... gum, seeds, keys, wallet, pens, sunscreen, cheater glasses, finger tape, headphones, tylenol, water and the special lock and cable that I use only on this day every year to lock the whole lot of it to the canopy so that it doesn't walk away... all from pure muscle memory...

2016 Big Board, ready to go...

I'm jealous.

Lollapalooza's coming... the view from Upper Hutchinson tonight.

Alright... the long winter is over and it's time to play ball... Opening Day for the 2016 Design League season going down tomorrow in Grant Park, 6:30 game starts... single games for the next 3 Thursdays. Good luck to all.