On Saturday, October 1, 2011, I rode the Orange Line into the City to participate in the first annual “Open Streets” hosted by the Chicago Loop Alliance.  The idea behind “Open Streets” is for the community to gather in an open and safe area and participate in outdoor activities.  Such activities included, skate boarding and roller derby demonstrations, break dancing lessons, relay races, and yoga sessions.  State Street was closed from Van Buren to Lake so that bike riders, skate boarders, and roller skaters could have free reign of the street. 

Local businesses and colleges participated in the event, including Robert Morris University.  I was a volunteer along with a several other students both undergraduates and graduates.  The culinary school was proudly represented by the cake decorating demonstrations.  Kids were lured to our table by the brightly colored frosting and the plain white Styrofoam blocks acting as layers of cakes.   For the teenagers and adults, RMU had mini-bags tournaments. Each participate received a prize for making a bag in and a big prize was awarded to participates who threw all four bags in the whole.   It was a fun experience and a fun day.  What stood out most for me was when foreigners or tourists who never played the game of bags came over to watch the participants with bright eyed curiosity. If you asked them to play they were eagerly willing to give the game a try.  The sheer excitement and joy they had on their faces was awesome to see.  And even though they may not have known who RMU was, they left with a fond memory of RMU who gave them their first experience playing bags.  (Stay tuned to RMU’s face book page for pictures of Open Streets).

HOCKEY UPDATE:
The season officially begins this week! The Chicago Blackhawks’s first game is on Thursday 10/6/11 in Dallas!

For feedback or more on the Blackhawks schedule, follow me on twitter @blackhawksgirl0. 
 

I was at a Blackhawks game on 10/25/11 and had really awesome seats because we bid on these seats for silent auction from a local charity. My seats were in section 103, row two and seat 6.  I was literally a few feet away from the goalie.  For any sports fan or hockey fan, these seats were a dream come true.  I will probably never sit in this section again! This was an amazing once in a life time experience.

While I was up close and almost personal with the players, I took a look around the stadium and appreciated the magnificence that is the United Center. That night 21,000 fans packed the UC to cheer on the Hawks against the Ducks.  If you have never been to a Blackhawks game then you should put it on your bucket list of things to do.  Even if you aren’t into hockey, attending a game to hear the national anthem being sung by Jim Cornelison is worth the ticket price.  During the national anthem, the crowd claps and cheers loudly, making the UC the loudest place for several minutes. The experience is indescribable and should be experienced once in a lifetime.   Hockey is the only Chicago sport that has such a moving national anthem. 

The thing about sporting events is that for several hours communities of people are united despite differences in gender and race.  They share one common goal to root for the home team.  Countries like South Africa used sports to try to unite the country after apartheid. When Nelson Mandela, became president of South Africa, he used the men’s Rugby team to unite the country when they hosted the 1995 World Cup.  The men’s rugby team won the championship that year (for more details watch the movie “Invictus”). 

After the tragedy of September 11, the National Football League, debated on canceling the start of the season.  But the league decided against it and postponed the games.  Part of the reason to postpone the games instead of cancelling them was due to huge impact football had on American way of life.  So the league decided to continue the season and showed the world that America would continue to thrive. 

So what’s the point this chick is trying to make about sports!  The point is that sports can bring a community of people together who share different backgrounds.  It can also provoke a sense of pride.  RMU has several athletic teams who would love for students to attend and show their pride for their school and support for their athletes.   If you have a chance, before you graduate, you should attend one of the many sporting events held at RMU.  It’s not too late to support the new RMU football team. There are two games left of the season. The link for the RMU Athletics page is attached.  http://www.robertmorris.edu/athletics/