I couldn't help but be amused Wednesday night while watching the American League's Wild Card game -- won by the New York Yankees 7-2 over the Oakland Athletics.
With such a big lead and seeing Yankees relief ace Aroldis Chapman (also a one-time Cubbie) shutting down the Athletics, I couldn't help but detect the chant coming from the Yankee faithful -- the chorus from Steam's lone hit song "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye."
AS IN THE musical chant that has been a part of the Chicago White Sox baseball scene since the days of the South Side Hit Men ball club of 1977. Has the chant (usually a way of rubbing it in to a ballclub that you're about to beat them big time!) become that generic to the sports scene.
Or will Yankees fandom try to claim they originated the chant? Who's to say! They are the ones who think their longtime broadcaster Phil Rizzuto originated the phrase "Holy Cow!," even though we all know Harry Caray was a baseball broadcaster using that phrase back when Rizzuto was just a kid ballplayer. Now, as we Chicagoans bid adieu to baseball for the season (I suspect many will give the remaining ballgames a cursory glance), here's a reminder of what we have heard on many an occasion at Comiskey Park and other homes of the White Sox. And here's hoping it won't be too long before White Sox fans will have the chance to sing it against some National League maroon in the World Series.
I’m
sure many people are hearing the spirit of folk singer Steve Goodman, what with
the Illinois Commerce Commission making a (long overdue, in their opinion)
ruling to take down the Lincoln Towing Company.
The
long-time North Side-based business has developed quite a reputation throughout
the years as an entity that is overzealous in the way it goes about towing
automobiles that it contends are illegally parked.
THEN
PUTS AUTO owners through quite an ordeal in order for them to reclaim their vehicles.
This
reputation has been around for so long that back in the 1970s, the singer
Goodman came up with his “Lincoln Park Pirates” song.
As
Goodman put it in verse, “We plunder the
streets of your town/be it Edsel or Chevy there’s no car too heavy/And no one
can make us shut down.”
Personally,
I feel fortunate to never have had to deal with Lincoln Towing (in large part
because I go out of my way to do all my in-city traveling via the “el” or bus,
along with the occasional taxicab). Although I have known people who had to
endure the Lincoln Towing menace, going back several decades.
WHICH
IS WHY the ICC actions of last year were long overdue.
The
state agency that regulates interstate commerce (including utility companies
but also services such as Lincoln Towing) has been investigating the towing
service’s activities.
They
contended there have been 831 violations of state towing laws between July 2015
and March 2016. I’m sure there are people who say that’s a miniscule accounting
of all the improprieties they’d attribute to Lincoln Towing.
That
resulted in the ICC ruling on Wednesday that the state license permitting
Lincoln Towing to operate is revoked. The company has been silenced. Decades of
the company’s victims may feel a sense of rejoice.
FOR
ALL I know, Goodman’s song may well be playing in their mental jukeboxes over
and over and over again to the point where they will become tired of the tune. Maybe they'll then switch over to his "Daley's Gone" tune that was a tribute (of sorts) to the old man, Richard J.
The
sad part of this is that this issue is not resolved. Because the Chicago
Tribune reported how an administrative law judge previously ruled that there
were “inconsistencies” in those hundreds of alleged violations and that claims of
illegal activity were actually, “without merit and not supported by the record.”
But
that administrative judge’s legal opinion amounts to a recommendation for the
ICC, one that the commission apparently chose to ignore.
Could
it be that Lincoln Towing has developed such a negative reputation throughout
the years that the ICC couldn’t bring itself to rule in their favor. Could
Goodman’s tune have been playing in the mindsets of the commission members when
they made their own decision Wednesday morning?
IT
WILL BE interesting to see how this situation plays out, because Lincoln Towing
now has the right to sue the state of Illinois to challenge the ICC ruling.
Considering that it is the only way the company will be able to continue
operating, a lawsuit is inevitable.
Will
a Cook County judge ultimately restore Lincoln Towing’s “good name?” Which,
quite frankly, isn’t all that good, because Goodman (who has been dead for more
than three decades) has proven the power of the pen being mightier than the
sword with regard to the “Pirates.” That song will influence more people than
any court ruling that could be forthcoming in future years.
It
may be the sad part about Goodman’s life and career that he died at age 36. He
did songs about the Chicago Cubs (of whom he was a fan), but didn’t live long
enough to see them win a championship.
And
he didn’t come close to living long enough to seen Lincoln Towing get its (temporary, at least) comeuppance.
