Chicago Sting and Reams

[chicagoaddick]

Paul shared with me his story on a summer in Chicago watching his Dad play for the Chicago Sting in the now defunct NASL in the mid-70's.

I have finally written a post on it on my blog www.chicagoaddick.blogspot.com for anyone that is interested.

My thanks to Paul for sharing a great time of his childhood.

[leftbehind]

nice one

A good read

[reamsofverse]

Thanks very much Simon that is a cracking article.

It still feels like yesterday when I went even though it was 1975 but even as an 11 year old I promised myself that one day I would return and even though it took far longer than expected, in 2002 I finally made it before going on to Washington DC and New York.

In 1975 my Dad's debut was against the Los Angeles Aztecs and he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at Soldier field which is where the Bears play today although it has had a total refurb since and disappointingly enough it was going on 6 years ago so the stadium as I knew it was no more, it was just a shell that I got close up to.

The Ambassador Hotel Simon refers to was the most famous in Chicago along with the Drake in their heyday, and well known for the pump room restaurant and bar.

As a kid I was star gazing out there one day and persuaded Peter Cook and Dudley Moore to come the 20 yards over the road to meet my Mum and Dad and believe it or not Peter did do and I looked back with fondness how I spent 10 seconds in the elevator with him as we made our way up to the 4th floor, couldn't believe the result I had just pulled off, neither could my Mum as she screamed as she opened the door totally not expecting it.

The downside was he spent all afternoon chatting so my surprise cost us a day at nearby Oak St beach however the other way of looking at it as Peter Cook told me was that Dudley missed out too ;D

Our apartment looked straight out at the Ambassador and it was where the stars stayed in those days, we saw Ali, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra and many more.

I also remember an exhibition match between the Sting and the Polish national team who had the likes of Tomashewski, Lato, Kasperjaick, Deyna and a few more big names as it was there 74 World cup squad.

I hope to take my girlfriend there one day soon basically when I can afford it as it really is a special place that I hold in my heart and would recommend it to anybody.

it may have been a 27 year gap between my 2 visits but I remembered everything the 2nd time and knew exactly how to get around based on memory.

Chicago, a truly wonderful place