Carol got off work early, came and picked me up so I could leave early and on an ugly, wet Friday we drove downtown to the Hyatt Regency Chicago to attend SoxFest 2003.

We got there a half hour early and made our way to the event. We were in line, about 30 people from the front of the line, when we realized what had happened - there were people in front of us that had been waiting since 7am to get to the Opening Ceremony at 5pm. We were 30 people behind the cutoff to get into the ballroom. Now we had to wait for that entire event to be over and the ballroom to be cleared before they would let the rest of us go in. Now I know why the line was so long last year! We had been standing in line for almost half an hour one a gentleman walked up to me. He was Teddy Greenstein, the White Sox beat reporter for the Chicago Tribune. He came over to get my reaction to an announcement that was just made in the ballroom - Comiskey Park will be no more - it will be called U.S. Cellular Field, thanks to a 23-year naming rights deal that will pay the club for $68 million over 20 years. Oh, crap... NOOOooooo!!! Anyway, I give him a few quotes and then he moved on down the line. Damn. I'm more of a purist, I guess. U.S. Cellular Field? Like that company will be around for the 23 years of the agreement. Well, at about 5:50, we finally get inside. I check my coat and we hang around the front of the ballroom area waiting for our friend Janie, and Jeff and his sister Doreen. After about 10 minutes, Jeff & Do show up, but no Janie - she's home sick. Bummer. We just sort of wander around - checking out some All Star merchandise, and walk the show floor and actually doing some shopping. We get something to drink and we meet-up with some of Jeff's relatives. We kill a little more time and go to the only session that we are always interested in: the panel discussion with management. There were some great acquisitions this year, like Bartolo Colon and Billy Koch. There were a few things that came out in that meeting, one that I was actually hoping to hear. In a discussion on how sometimes you try to make player movements and they don't work, GM Kenny Williams said that the Todd Ritchie trade was a mistake that blew up in his face. Somehow, I needed to hear that. There was an awful lot of talk about the players still waiting to come up. One name never came up anywhere in the discussion, or anywhere else for that matter - Frank Thomas. Everyone is so focused on how good the other players are, it seems like Frank is just another player (they way it should be, in my opinion). We left SoxFest, had a quick dinner at Houlihan's in Illinois Center and made our way home. It was a long friggin' night.