The Daily Parker

With record temperatures in Chicago today (now at 29°C), organizers have halted the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon:

Reports of inadequate supplies of water were frequent along the route, and many of the 36,000 runners competing stopped early.

The men's race appeared more like a track finish than the usually tactical marathon finish, with Kenyan Patrick Ivuti winning the closest race in the 30 years of the Chicago Marathon. In a photo-finish, Ivuti edged out Moroccan Jaouad Gharib by 5/100th of a second.

Both were clocked at 2 hours 11 minutes 11 seconds and appeared to break the tape at the same time. Ivuti is the fifth consecutive Kenyan to win the Chicago Marathon.

Ethiopian Berhane Adere recorded one of the greatest race comebacks, repeating as champion in 2:33:49. Adere fell behind by about 25 seconds late in the race, but managed to sprint to the finish and overtake unsuspecting Romanian Adriana Pirtea.

The Cubs, meanwhile, spent the day cooling their heels.

Cubs just got swept. Predictable. And sad. Guess I'll just work tomorrow, or wander Lakeview aimlessly with Parker.

Plus, Danielle has to return the Game 4 tickets, so I won't even get a souvenir of the post-season.

Next year, I suppose. For the 100th time.

Sheesh.

Yesterday I said that the Cubs need only win one game of the NLDS to ensure they play Game 4 (to which my friend got tickets). That's not, strictly speaking, correct, and it assumed the only way the series would end in 3 games would be if the Diamondbacks swept the Cubs. My cousin pointed out the flaw in my reasoning. It's possible (however unlikely) that the Cubs could sweep the Diamondbacks, with the same result for Sunday's game.

So, to revise and amend my comments, as long as each team wins at least one game of the next three, I'll go to Game 4 on Sunday.

My friend Danielle scored tickets to the National League Central Division Series Game #4, at Wrigley Field this Sunday.

Of course, since it's a best-of-5 series, if the Cubs get swept, there won't be a Game #4. But if they win just one game in the post-season, we're going on Sunday.

I may be getting NLDS playoff tickets...stay tuned...

With two games to go in the season, the Cubs clinched the National League Central. Now they only have to get past three markedly better teams to get to the World Series...

Marcel Marceau died yesterday.

So did the St. Louis Cardinals, who were mathematically eliminated from the post-season.

The Cubs and Brewers remain tied for first place, one game ahead of the Cardinals, in the National League Central pennant race. I should point out that the Cubs and Brewers are one game above .500; the Cardinals, at .500. So, yes, the NL Central pennant will go to a mediocre team this year.

Sigh.

A larger-than-usual bunch of news stories piqued my interest this morning:

• Scientists may have a break in the case of the mysterious bee die-offs;
• The Cook County, Ill., Clerk is putting public records online all the way back to 1871;
• A German company has started piecing together Stasi documents the East German security service shredded in the final hours before the Berlin Wall fell; and
• An Australian comedy troupe successfully infiltrated the APEC conference by—how else?—dressing up as Osama bin Laden and walking in the front door.

We're looking forward to another lovely day in Chicago: 25°C, sunny, light breeze, crystal-clear skies. What more perfect day to wake up with the news that, not only are the Cubs still hanging on to first place, but also Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has finally resigned, no doubt to spend some quality time with his defense lawyers:

Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation, submitted his to President Bush by telephone on Friday, the official said. His decision was not announced immediately announced, the official added, until after the president invited him and his wife to lunch at his ranch near here.

The official who disclosed the resignation today said that the decision was Mr. Gonzales’s and that the president accepted it grudgingly. At the same time, the official acknowledged that the turmoil over Mr. Gonzales had made his continuing as attorney general difficult.

The turmoil has made the job difficult? Kind of like someone shooting his parents and then bemoaning his lot as an orphan, isn't it?

Well, with 512 days and 3 hours (or less) remaining in the worst administration in history, the President can still do enormous harm to the country, but with Gonzales back in Houston he'll now have none of his original cronies to help.

Update, 10:25 CDT: Does anyone else find some irony in his last day being September 17th?