Why are my posts signed Sherm Lollar?
It goes back to 1956. My uncle, Manny Opper, had a TV show where he conducted funny interviews with Sox and Cubs players. Uncle Manny and Sherm became buddies and my love for the Sox was born. When we won the pennant in 1959, I was on cloud nine. Little did I know that it would take 46 years for that to happen again. Somehow, last year seems to have made it worth the wait.
Why keep track of the Magic Number this early in the season?
In April 2005, The Chicago Tribune online edition published my guest column, which as a joke indicating how great a start the Sox had gotten off to, asked "So what's the White Sox Magic Number?" At the time it was 141. From the time it was published, I started emailing my Sox fan friends Bob and Les updates on the Magic Number. The content expanded to include commentary on the games and the season, and the list of email addressees expanded to include so many that my computer warns me that the Update email might be a worm. (Don't worry, it's not.)
How do you calculate the Magic Number?
It involves very complicated math formulas and computers with industrial-strength capacity so don't try this at home. Remember, I am a trained stunt math whiz. But seriously, folks, you just start with 162 (the number of games), subtract the number of Sox wins, subtract the number of other team losses, and add one (to break the tie). For example, today's number vis-a-vis the Tigers is 84 -- 162 - 53 Sox wins - 26 Tiger losses + 1 = 84.
Why am I asking myself questions that my current Update readers already know the answers to?
On the fanciful notion that someone outside the current addressee list will stumble on the blog while searching for info about the Sox.
It goes back to 1956. My uncle, Manny Opper, had a TV show where he conducted funny interviews with Sox and Cubs players. Uncle Manny and Sherm became buddies and my love for the Sox was born. When we won the pennant in 1959, I was on cloud nine. Little did I know that it would take 46 years for that to happen again. Somehow, last year seems to have made it worth the wait.
Why keep track of the Magic Number this early in the season?
In April 2005, The Chicago Tribune online edition published my guest column, which as a joke indicating how great a start the Sox had gotten off to, asked "So what's the White Sox Magic Number?" At the time it was 141. From the time it was published, I started emailing my Sox fan friends Bob and Les updates on the Magic Number. The content expanded to include commentary on the games and the season, and the list of email addressees expanded to include so many that my computer warns me that the Update email might be a worm. (Don't worry, it's not.)
How do you calculate the Magic Number?
It involves very complicated math formulas and computers with industrial-strength capacity so don't try this at home. Remember, I am a trained stunt math whiz. But seriously, folks, you just start with 162 (the number of games), subtract the number of Sox wins, subtract the number of other team losses, and add one (to break the tie). For example, today's number vis-a-vis the Tigers is 84 -- 162 - 53 Sox wins - 26 Tiger losses + 1 = 84.
Why am I asking myself questions that my current Update readers already know the answers to?
On the fanciful notion that someone outside the current addressee list will stumble on the blog while searching for info about the Sox.
posted by Sherm Lollar at 2:50 PM
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