Asking For Trouble

It was announced today that the Cubs/White Sox game on Sunday, July 4, will be played at 7:05 pm CDT and be on ESPN.

Let's see.

You have a holiday weekend with many people having Monday off. You have Sox and Cub fans, who don't like each other to begin with, facing off three times at Wrigley Field, and for the third game, you're going to let them drink all day Sunday and then come to the ballpark?

If I were the city I'd get way extra police presence in the area around Wrigley Field on that date.

ESPN didn't do the Cubs any scheduling favors, either. The Sox have Monday, July 5 off and then have a home game on Tuesday. The Cubs have to now play that night game at home -- and then play a 1:05 pm game in Milwaukee on Monday.

This also means that the other two Sunday games listed as "TBD" on the schedule -- August 1 against Philadelphia, and August 29 against Houston, must become day games, because the July 4 game would be the 22nd night game listed, which is the limit for 2004. August 1 and 29 are still listed as "TBD" on the Cubs website, but I'd be surprised if they were allowed these extra night dates.

And so it goes.