| « As the Bulls Turn: Worst. Loss. Ever. | Hawks look to play Grinch to Central foes » |
Feature Tue Dec 22 2009
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
If you're like me, you've had your Christmas shopping finished months ago...in your head. You know what you what to get the folks on your list, you just haven't, well, gotten around to actually getting out there and purchasing it, which I believe is a key component in the whole gift-giving process.
So for us last-minute people who also happen to be sports fans, consider a new book by local author Anbritt Stengele that offers an insider's guide to Chicago sports with the traveling fan in mind.
"Sports Traveler Chicago" is a pretty comprehensive guide to everything Chicago sports. Stengele, owner of the sports travel business Sports Traveler (hence the name), has used the knowledge gleaned from more than a decade in the business to include such key info as how to get to the various sports venues by bus or car (and where to park is you do drive), how to get tickets, stadium overviews (with seating diagrams), where to stay, where to eat outside the ballpark, where to eat inside the ballpark and, most importantly, where to drink once the game is over.
The slim, backpocket appropriate book (co-written with sports writer Lydia Rypcinski), covers not only the Big Five (Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Hawks), but the Fire, the Wolves, Chicagoland Speedway, the Chicago Marathon, as well as area minor league and women's sports teams (Windy City Thunderbolts in Crestwood, anyone?).
To help you blend in with the regulars, it offers a cursory-but-informative overview of Chicago sports history (so you don't response to a discussion of Nellie Fox with comments like, "Who's she?"). And if you DON'T want to blend in with the regulars, it includes a listing of visting team-friendly bars around town.
