It's Labor Day weekend, which usually signals the last chance for a vacation before the grueling fall and winter months ahead. So, I am celebrating by heading to Chicago for the weekend. It got me thinking: why don't I do that more often?
Chicago is a great resource for a ton of activities and festivals. This weekend alone: there's the Jazz Festival in Grant Park and the Taste of Polonia, not to mention all of the Labor Day festivities going on a Navy Pier.
I'm not entirely sure why I don't use Chicago as a resource for a good weekend as much as I should. I mean sure, I'll make it up to a Cubs game or five each year, but there's a ton of other events going on every week. We all should be taking better advantage that the Second City so close is to us. Why not go up there once a month?
So, on the optimistic note that this should be a great (and long!) weekend, I give to you The Links of the Week:
In one of those "We are paying all of these basketball writers, so what can we have them write about late in the summer?" articles over at ESPN.com, several basketball writers were polled about where the big free agents of next summer (i.e. LeBron James, D'Wayne Wade, Chris Bosh, etc.) will go. Most commonly, the athletes are picked to stay in the current homes, but let's hope its not the case for all of them. Here's to D'Wayne Wade joining the Bulls in 2010!
I am convinced this video is why YouTube exists.
Southwest Airlines has an idea for a new source of revenue: charging individuals $10 each to board the plane early if they want. After this, I think the next logical steps are to replace the ticket taker with a bouncer, start playing loud music, and charge a $12 minimum for drinks on board.
As a PC Guy, anytime there is news that is anti-Apple, it makes me happy. I don't know why. Take that, iPhones!
Time Magazine offers 10 Lessons Learned from the 2009 Box Office. I'll offer to you #11: Loud Noises = Lot of $.
ESPN's Jerry Crasnik breaks down the Top 9 Deadline Deals that will have the greatest effect down the MLB stretch. Crasnick has a great niche over at ESPN; its his job to break down the Top 9 of something in baseball every month, and every month its a great read.
CNBC Sports Guy Darren Rovell offerers his Top Ten Twitterers in the month of August. Don't worry, @brett_fuller will be in there in September.
As a Purdue alum, anything that blasts Notre Dame football makes me a little happy. This made me really happy.
Yahoo's Michael Silver breaks down who the best and worst owners are in the NFL. Surprisingly, he selects the Bears' owners as the 30th best (or 3rd worst, depending on how you look at it). One owner in the article said "...they get less for what they've got than any team in the league". I have to say part of me feels blasphemous for even bringing it up, but the guy does have a point...
Until next week!