Raining Cliches

The Chicago media couldn’t help itself yesterday reporting on Jerry Reinsdorf’s trip to Springfield: swinging for the fences; hit a homerun; make his pitch. You name the cliché, they used it in talking about the White Sox stadium proposal for the South Loop. Hackneyed phrasing took the place of hard analysis. The state of Illinois faces a budget deficit, and here comes a billionaire asking for a billion dollars (with a billionaire family by the name of McCaskey looking for their own handout). My kingdom for a graph or two showing why the White Sox can build their own stadium without a penny from me. The one nice thing to see, though, was Reinsdorf being Reinsdorf in front of the cameras. How the man hates to have to answer questions. How the media can’t help itself but to ask something, anything, for a sound bite. Who says bad things don’t happen to the right people?