Day: October 15, 2003

Want some free popcorn and a chance to see the greatest non-superhero comic book movie since “Ghost World?”

Then this Friday, get yourself over to the San Marco Theater in downtown San Marco. A spruced up, old-fashioned theater that features lounge seating and serves both beer and dinner, will begin a limited run of “American Splendor,” the acclaimed new film based on the works of Harvey Pekar which is an absolute must-see for any comic fan.

But how and why do denizens of this website rate free popcorn? Because my eldest daughter, Shana, works there part time. She’ll be the 22 year old behind the candy counter. So just come up to her, say “Your dad sent me” and she’ll give you a bag of popcorn on the house.

Oh, and she might give you a free soda if you can prove that you’ve fled Chicago for Florida to avoid retribution because you meddled with a catchable foul ball at last night’s game. Not that she’s a baseball fan, but because you probably need all the charity you can get right now.

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So there’s the sportscasters during the ill-fated (for Chicago) Cubs/Marlins game, stating repeatedly that they hoped the fans in the stands who got in the way of a catchable foul ball would not be ill-treated by Cubs fans the next day. Meanwhile, just to make sure that everyone in Chicago can ID these guys on sight, they keep replaying the sequence at various angles with assorted degrees of close-ups.

In case you weren’t watching, the caught fly ball would have left the Marlins with two outs. Instead, because a fan practically knocked the ball out of the fielder’s mitt (the fielder was visible on camera repeatedly saying the “F” word afterwards) the batter had the opportunity to ignite a rally that sent the Marlin to an eight-run eighth inning, leaving the Cubs and their fans shellshocked. Apparently two fans, a youngster and a guy in his late teens or early 20s, were responsible for grabbing at the ball instead of getting out of the way. Technically it wasn’t fan interference since the fielder had to reach over the stands to get at it. But Cubs fans likely won’t see it that way.

Perhaps the fans involved would be well-advised to get out of town, at least until game 7 is over. If the Cubs win, it’ll be an unimportant footnote. If the Cubs lose, well…they’ll probably get a heroes welcome in Florida.

Oh…Red Sox lost. I’m not sure which is less inspiring for their prospects: That they’ve only beaten one Yankees pitcher this series, or that they’d have to take two in Yankee Stadium. Still, the Sox have done well with their back against the wall lately, so we’ll see. The game of choice for anyone with true love for baseball is Sox/Cubs. If it’s Cubs/Yankees, at least it’ll be the first Cubs series appearance since 1945, and their first chance at a win in close to a century. If it’s Yankees/Marlins, the only ones who’ll give a dámņ are Yankees and Marlins fans, and World series ratings will likely suck.

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