Entourage, Episode 604 and 605 and Ballpark Review

The Meatballs made a trip to Chicago to watch the pinstripes.

ENTOURAGE RECAP(S)

I can only hope Ashley's character gets so pissed at E for calling her Sloan at the end of the last episode (instead of flattered that he would mistake her for a dime piece) that she leaves him and starts dating someone, anyone else so long as they are not on this show. I liked the Brady cameo and it reminded me how much this guy looks like Brady.

Believe it or not, I was on E's side for most of the last episode. I get why he was upset with Sloan for her putting the manager maven (her godfather) in E's foursome and pitching E to him. Once upon a time, I was involved in a relationship with a woman with a family member in a powerful position that happened to be in my industry and I, like E, prefer to earn things, rather than have people hand them to me. I was very reluctant to get a handout, layup, etc. from this person even though both the girl I was with and her family offered it to me many times. However, now that I'm out of that relationship, I see that moment in my life as one where I was too proud and should have accepted the head start as that's how business is done in America. So with the knowledge I have now, I wanted to jump through the screen and tell E to take advantage of Sloan's help.

The season is shaping up to be a good one still and I have definitely been digging the cameos, Brady, Wahlberg, 50, Tambor and so on. As a huge Arrested Development fan, I love seeing what George Bluth is doing now.

NEW COMISKEY AKA US CELLULAR FIELD AKA THE CELL

Concessions

Terrible. The hot dog I had was good but the vendors bust your balls a bit when you want it plain w/mustard and ketchup instead of Chicago Style. The only beers I could find were High Life, Miller Lite and Corona. While I enjoy Corona, I'm at a ballgame, I want an American beer and I am normally opposed to drinking any Miller product because they taste like urine. I ended up settling for a miller lite on Saturday but regretted it immediately. I thought it was very caste-y, sort of like the new Yankee Stadium when I wasn't allowed to go to any other level than the one my ticket was for. Pelle and I were in the 500 level on Sunday and wanted to hit the fan shop and found a semi-decent there, but wanted to see what else was out there in the way of gear. We walked down the ridiculously long exit ramps to get denied at the 300, 100 and field level entrances when all we wanted to do was check out another fan shop and spend money in the stadium.

Getting there

Ehhh. It is right off the EL, so it's not too bad but was completely on the other side of the city from where I was staying. Getting there on Saturday was a breeze, but Sunday, one stop from the ballpark, the conductor announced that the train became an express at that stop. This led to 90% of the passengers jumping off and being forced to wait for the third train to get there since the next two were also sardined with fans of blue and black pinstripes. I yelled 'THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN NEW YORK' and caught a few evil eyes from Chicago natives.

Location

Wrigley Field is in an amazing neighborhood aptly named Wrigleyville whereas The Cell is stuck next to the highway, facing away from the city and a pretty skyline. They had to position it this way to avoid a constant sun in the players' eyes, so I'm told, but it's a real shame because the skyline is only seen when you are on the outer concourse.

Price

Great, but confusing. While I didn't pay for my ticket to Saturday's game, it was an incredible value. 100 level seats for $54 is incredible - or maybe Yankanomics have jilted my point of view on these things. We were a couple dozen seats off the field for a very fair price, but on Sunday - when I did pay for my seat - we were on the 500 level, wayyyy up there (maybe five or six rows from the top) and the tickets were $35. Great value/bang for buck down low, but not so much up high.

Fans

Pretty Good. I saw flashes of passion, heard some legit trash talk after the home team won the first three games and didn't see the normal 50/50 or better distribution of Yankees fans that you see in Tampa, Baltimore, Texas, etc. However, my opinion on White Sox fans took a negative turn when upon exiting the park, a fan yelled "Munson Sucks" at my group of friends (all clad in #15 Thurman Munson jersey tees) on the 30th anniversary of The Captain's death. Classless.

Overall

I liked it. Good ballpark to watch games, good crowd and each concourse had an open feel, but don't try walking to another level.

LIVE BLOG TOMORROW-FIRST EPISODE OF HARD KNOCKS

-Jesse