The most famous New Year’s Eve celebration is in New York, with the famous ball drop. The crowd, the music, the countdown, the official start of the new year commencing when the ball reaches the bottom… it’s classic, no doubt. This concept should be used by every city for some sort of NYE celebration. I’ve heard about the Pierogi Drop in Whiting, IN I believe. We heard about a Beach Ball Drop in South Haven, MI. We were in person for the Cherry Drop as midnight struck for 2022 in Traverse City, MI; it was really fun. What other drops should be done across the country? What others ARE done?
Thinking about how to relate this to Chicago sports, what should “the drop” be for each of our teams? What represents something that you want to leave in 2022? The easy answer is a big “2022” because I think each team would agree with that, but… let’s get more creative. Maybe not something we wanted to see left behind, but something that actually did happen… maybe both. OK, let’s start.
For the Cubs, the drop should be a huge Willson Contreras head. It symbolizes much more than just our All Star catcher that wasn’t resigned, and ended up signing with the worst possible team in the majors. It represents the continued eviction of all players from 2016; only Kyle remains. It represents the fact that the Cubs refuse to sign any of “our” guys. It represents the Cubs choice to remain middle of the road in their half hearted attempt to be good again. I know this probably wouldn’t make for the best optics, but if that head exploded when it hit the bottom, that may best represent the way I felt about the Cubs 2022 season.
If we’re going to stick to that individual person concept, then it’s a really easy decision for the White Sox. However, maybe another symbol to represent Tony LaRussa, and the waste of those seasons by the front office, would be more appropriate. How about a bottle of vodka? There’s an idea btw. Do a bottle of liquor drop at NYE. Pass out mini bottles to all adults. Have them shoot it down when midnight strikes. I need to patent that. But yeah, a bottle of vodka, which I believe is TLR’s choice of beverage, both before and after games, is appropriate to symbolize the end of his final managerial run that hopefully didn’t kill the entire White Sox hopes this decade. If that exploded and vodka was sprayed on the whole crowd, with their mouths open… haha.
The Bears are easy. It should be something that represents the defense, which we have purposely ran into the ground this year, sacrificed for the future. How about the #58 jersey? The Bears still have not won a game without him. Obviously it’s not ALL because of that, but tell me there is no connection? Mack, Quinn… fine. Making a decision to not keep Roquan, regardless of how well Sanborn has played, was a real dumb one.
The Blackhawks present many choices for us. The worst team in the NHL couldn’t be further from the glory years of the 2010s. How about a big mustache? Haha… The Bulls, whew. Flushing the entire 2022 calendar year makes sense, because it avoids the start of the 2021-2022 season, which was really good. Since then, it has been a rough ride, down the stretch last year, the playoff loss to the Bucks, and now, the start of this season. How about a big bag of popcorn, a la Benny in every first quarter at the UC? That might work, and if that exploded too, and popcorn shot out across the crowd… cool… haha.
OK, well, you get the concept. What would you like to “drop” and leave in 2022? Do it. If you can’t do it at midnight, then work to get there… and good luck in 2023!
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