* David Bernstein on Chicago lawyer Robert Gifford, who’s leading a $1.2 billion 9/11 property-damage lawsuit.
* Ben Joravsky on some of the aldermanic runoffs, and also how politics works in Chicago:
The local reaction to the project varies according to one’s worldview. There are those who think the project is another example of TIF abuse. (Count me in.) Others think TIF abuse is just the price you have to pay to get some affordable housing. (Count a lot of my liberal friends in there.) And still others hate it because they don’t want any more low-income housing in Uptown. In short—more class warfare.
Oh, yeah, then there are those who know nothing about nothing, especially TIFs, but just love that Target. Based on conversations I’ve had over the years, I’m starting to think that this faction is the majority.
* Douglas Goetsch on Ring Lardner, the Black Sox, and the troubled (if not synthetic) history of early baseball. Oh, and labor (via longform.org):
“For once in the history of the world,” wrote essayist Charles D. Stuart, “the interests of the financier and the people are one”—whereas the interests of the ballplayer, belonging to neither of these groups, are ultimately at odds with those of his sport. The player is loved by the fans, not as a person with economic rights and needs, but as a soldier “drafted” onto their city’s team. His individuality mustn’t ever transcend the importance of the uniform he wears that bears his city’s name. As comedian Jerry Seinfeld put it more recently, “You’re actually rooting for the clothes, when you get right down to it.”
* 30 Sandwiches, 30 Days. Currently wondering if I can fake Xoco’s Choriqueso with the Gunthorp Farms chorizo I saw at Green Grocer yesterday, and some bread from Farmer’s Pride (which has an excellent bread selection, including Labriola and D’Amatos).
* Brent Morel, the Sox’s slick-fielding young third baseman, 2/5 so far with two RBIs and a run today.
* Lee Bey: "A trip on the Metra reveals vast emptiness on the South Side."
And some sports gear for Opening Day and the NBA playoffs:
Low Marks’s "Why Not ‘D’ for MVP" shirt:
Chi-Town Clothing’s "Asik & Destroy" shirt (I really like Omer Asik):
And Ebbets Flannels’ Chicago Whales fungo shirt and 1915 home jersey:
