On the NBA Lockout

I have been watching with an increasingly concerned viewpoint what the owners, players and league officials are doing to this game. Now I don't know all of the details of the negotiations, and have no labor law or collective bargaining qualifications, but I can speak of this situation from a fan's viewpoint, which I definitely am.

And what I hear through the news reporting is both alarming and disgusting. I hear of owners being called slave masters, players being labeled greedy and star players bolting to play in Europe and of course repeated calls for contraction. What will happen is that both sides are intent on killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Yes, there are too many teams in the National Basketball Association. There are markets which can no longer support or justify a franchise. Greedy owners are as much to blame as the players, driving up salaries by repeatedly working to outbid each other for star players. And let's face it, there are multimillionaire players in this league; so for some of them to characterize owners as slave masters is ludicrous.

The pie has become smaller due to economic and market pressures; everybody is going to have to take a smaller slice, and I think some teams will need to disappear. It's a market correction, something we ordinary folk who buy the tickets and subscribe to the cable and satellite feeds to watch the games have been suffering from since 9/11/2001. Welcome to tough times.

Sure the big stars can jump ship and play in Europe, but what about the mid-level and minimum salary guys who don't have that option? The players association should be fighting for them, but that's not been mentioned much. I'm afraid that reality has hit the players just like it has for every other American worker.

I am not gloating; I'm saddened because we're going to see a very different NBA emerge from this turmoil - when it does. It's not the die-hard fans it will lose; it's the casual viewers. Major League Baseball had a similar crisis in the previous decade. Remember they cancelled the 1994 World Series. What saved it was the Mark McGwire - Sammy Sosa home run record chase of 1998. Ironically that was discredited by steroids - but the new fans it attracted forgave baseball and they never left the sport.

There are no such opportunities in the offing for the NBA. Players and owners are all going to have to swallow some humble pie and figure out a way to give back to their fans while attracting new ones. Hiw about starting by lowering those outrageous ticket prices? If they don't do something conciliatory we may not see an NBA game until the 2012-13 season. By then it may be to late.

The Best Meals

It's my contention that the best tasting meals are often the unplanned ones - those made up from scratch at the last minute, like tonight's meal for example. I came home today and found no meat thawing in the fridge. But I did find a package of fully cooked chicken sausage and some shaved Asiago cheese. With the fresh vegetables such as green and red peppers, garlic, onions, and the like that we always have on hand, this was a snap to put together with our dry and canned goods cupboard. Use what peppers you have handy:

Ingredients

1 pkg rotini or bowtie pasta
4 links Italian style sausage, sliced thin
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup grated or shredded cheese, Parmesan, Asiago or other Italian style
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
Dash red pepper flakes

Directions

In a large pot bring 8 cups of salted water to a boil and cook pasta to al dente, drain and set aside. Retain some of the pasta water in the pan to keep it from sticking together. While pasta is cooking heat oil in a large covered skillet and toss in all of the vegetable except the garlic. Saute until the onions are clear and add the garlic and the dried spices. Continue cooking for another minute and add the sausage, heating through. Finally pour in the tomatoes and the drained pasta, tossing the mixture to coat thoroughly. You may sprinkle on the cheeses here or wait until plating.

Cover the pan and heat until liquids have been absorbed. Plate and top with more cheese and serve with crusty white bread and a full-bodied red wine.

Home, Sweet Home Chicago!

This photo of Chicago is courtesy of TripAdvisor

What is it about Chicago that draws me back? Well I suppose that I can answer that question myself, after lived here from 1956 to 1987. It's home, of course. Filled with the whole gamut of memories one can accumulates in thirty plus years of living in any one place, from joy to pain and everything in between. As I drive through the neighborhoods (and yes, Chicago is still a city of neighborhoods, despite all of the great imagery of it's awe inspiring skyline in media images), I am reminded how working class the city really is. On practically every block of major arteries you see small business; family-owned and operated stores, shops and medical practices. And such diversity too!

For me the first thing that I think of the cuisine available here; Italian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Soul, Greek, Polish, Jewish, German, Middle Eastern - it's all represented here and in abundance. One of the most wonderful smells that I remember as a child was walking down 18th street near Halsted and smelling fresh tortillas and Mexican sweet breads being made in a tortilla shop along that street. It's still there and I'll bet if I walked there again I would still smell those wonderful aromas.

But today as it was back when I lived here, it's a dangerous city too, full of violence. If you go looking for trouble you will quickly find it. And sometimes the trouble will find you when you are not looking for it. There are certain places that you just do not go to, especially at night. That's true of any major city, for sure, but the Chicago spin on crime is particularly distinctive.

I am reminded that a major reason why we left the city (my wife was born here too), was that as a young married couple we had our apartment broken into and ransacked on the near north side. That incident was particularly troubling to us because the whole building we were living in was robbed in broad daylight. If you have ever had the misfortune of being broken into you know how violated you feel afterward.

Still, those unpleasant memories aside, the city calls for me. I have always loved it's cultures, it's sports atmosphere, it's restaurants, and of course the many great institutions of higher education here. One of which, De Paul University, is my Alma mater and which brings me to town this week to attend Reunion Week activities.

I've made my home in Tucson, Arizona, another great city that I adore - in an entirely different way. But my first home was here, in the Windy City. And I will always consider it home base, no matter how far I am away from it. Anytime come here it brings a smile to my face!

New Blog Page

Hey Everyone! Welcome to Tom's Rest Stop. This is the new place for my ramblings and recipes! Stay tuned as I have a backlog of things to post! Thanks for being so faithful!