Chicago Sports Review

Normally, when the words ‘disappointment’ and ‘Notre Dame’ are in the

same sentence, the topic is football. Examples of this would be “Charlie Weis has been such a disappoint-ment as Notre Dame’s football coach.” or “I wish Jimmy Clausen wasn’t Notre Dame’s quarterback, he has been a Charlie Weis-sized disappointment.” (Maybe there’s a theme here?)

But in 2009, it hasn’t been spotty tackling and a weak running game that has lead to the demise of the Fighting Irish. It hasn’t even been in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus where the problems have taken place for the green and gold. It’s been basketball, a usual after-thought in South Bend. At the start of the season, predictions of great things were placed on Notre Dame. Instead, all it has been is disappointment.

Last year, Notre Dame was the surprise of the Big East, finish-ing 24-7 overall and 14-4 in the conference, which tied for second in the league. Leading the way was sophomore big man Luke Haran-gody, who in just under 30 minutes a game was putting up 20 points and 11 rebounds. Harangody helped the Irish to a number five seed in the 2008 NCAA tourna-ment and a trip to the second round. Following the season, the All-American announced he was returning for his junior season, and many predicted that 2009 was going to be the year Notre Dame competed for the National Cham-pionship.

Instead, as the 2009 calendar rolls from February to the impor-tant month of March, the Irish have regressed. They currently (as of Feb. 28) rest at 16-12 overall, 7-9 in the Big East and on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA tournament. But what’s the reason? Sure, the confer-ence as a whole is tougher this year than it was last, but shouldn’t Notre Dame have improved along with everybody else?

The downfall definitely hasn’t been the fault of Harangody. He’s putting up even better numbers this year, going for 24 points and

13 rebounds a game, both of which rank top ten nationally. In the Irish’s biggest win thus far this season, February 12 over Louisville, Harangody was a monster with 32 points and 17 rebounds, both season-highs. Another first-team All Big East selection is likely.

But his supporting cast has struggled. Without center Rob Kurz, who graduated after posting 13 points and seven rebounds a game in 2008, the Irish haven’t been able to get much low-post scoring. And the defense, which was a strong point a year ago, has been a weakness this season. Blocks, steals and rebounds have all decreased in ’09, and the Irish, who have averaged scoring about 79 points a game in each season, have had game’s this year where they allowed 102 point to North Carolina) and 93 points three times, to Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Not surprisingly, Notre Dame is 0-4 in those contests.

Thankfully for coach Mike Brey and his team, the month of March can redeem all past mistakes. A few wins to wind down the regular

season, then a few more in the Big East Tournament, and the Irish could be a nice dark horse in the NCAA’s. With Harangody’s all-around play and a few lucky breaks, Notre Dame could be one to watch.

But if the season continues on its current path, and the Fight-

ing Irish don’t put together the victories they need to advance into the field of 64, they will only have themselves to blame. And Notre Dame fans will have to sit around for the next five months waiting for football, thinking about the disappointment.

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page 2

by Eli KabEron

Photo by Chris Williams/iCon smiNotre Dame’s Luke Harangody and teammates watch in frustration game play against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion in Westwood, Calif. Saturday February 7, 2009. High hopes for the Irish this season have dwindled.

Fighting Irish fans’ hoops hopes fade


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JOHN RACANELLI

555 E. South Frontage Rd.Bolingbrook, IL 60440

Tel: (630) 739-4330

Fax: (630) 739-6781

Cell: (312) 301-3447

Email: [email protected]

Really, what’s the point of looking at statistics for col-lege basketball teams? There

must be a good reason numbers regarding offensive rebounds per game, defensive efficiency rating and assist-to-turnover ratio are thrown around a lot this time of year. Somebody seems to find value in examining a coach’s win-loss re-cords on neutral courts or a teams winning percentage when their opponent shoots less than 13 free throws a game. But really what’s the point? Truth is, the real ques-tion should be who’s the point?

No stat or trend plays as big of

a role in a college team’s success than their point guard. A solid ball handler, decision maker and team leader will result in a sold team, ajust as a exceptional player in those categories will lead to an ex-ceptional team. Like a quarterback in football and a baseball team’s starting pitcher, the point guard plays the biggest role in determin-ing if his squad will win and lose on any given night.

Examine two teams in the Big East, Georgetown and Marquette. Both teams shoot 47% from the field, with the Golden Eagles holing a slight edge in three-point percentage (36% to 34%) and the Hoyas narrowly leading in free

throw percentage (72% to 71%). Defensively, the teams have the exact same number for steals per game, 8.1, and Georgetown blocks one more shot a game than Mar-quette (4 to 3.1). Rebounding goes to the Golden Eagles, who bring down 36 missed shots a game compared to Georgetown’s 33. And since they play in the same league, their schedules aren’t too different. So then why is Marquette 20-3 overall, 9-1 in the Big East and ranked #10 in the country com-pared to the Hoyas, who are 13-9 and 4-7 in the league? It’s all about the point guards. Dominic James, the primary ball handler for the Golden Eagles, is a senior who has been through the conference wars before. James has 117 assists to only 42 turnovers (a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio) meaning he usually is making the smart play with the rock in his hands. It also helps that James plays on a team that has a bunch of quality scorers, a reason his nearly 12 points a game is forth among Golden Eagles. Compare that to Georgetown sophomore Chris Wright, who for the first time in his college career is run-ning the show. With only 30 more assists than turnovers and more

field goal attempts than his team’s best player, Wright hasn’t neces-sarily been right for one of the Big East’s most disappointing teams.

For proof closer to home, ex-amine the rise in play of point man Chester Frazier. Last season, when the Illini were in the midst of a 13-18 year that finished with the school missing the NCAA Tourna-ment for the firs time in nine years, Frazier was often at fault. Though he wasn’t the only player wearing orange and blue who struggled, the Baltimore native’s five points, five rebounds, three and a half assists and two turnovers a game weren’t helping too much. This year, with the Illini at 19-5, the point guard has been a completely different player. His averages in points, as-sists, steals, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and three-point percentage have all increased, while minutes and turnovers are both down. Frazier’s improved play and the team’s improved record are no coincidence.

This isn’t a recent trend either. In the past four NBA Drafts, since 2005, six point guards have been taken as one of the first five picks (Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Raymond Felton, Mike Conley, Jr., Derrick Rose and OJ Mayo). Four of those players- Williams, Felton, Conley and Rose- played in the Final Four the season before they were drafted. And according to the website nbadraft.net, the top two college point guards in terms of draft potential are Jeff Teague of Wake Forest and Ty Lawson of North Carolina, both of whom are top-10 teams.

Obviously, point guard play is not the only key to winning basketball. All those other stats previously mentioned have some meaning, and when the NCAA Tournament rolls around next month, nothing will have more im-portance on a team’s success than their matchup. But when it comes down to it, and a game is on the line, take the team with the better point guard.

by Eli KabEron

Stats: What’s the point


page 4

Aaron Heilman delivers a pitch during a spring training game against the White Sox at Cashman Field in Las Vegas Thursday March 5, 2009. The White Sox beat the Cubs by a score of 4-3 and sweep the two game preseason exhibition series.

The Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox play a spring training exhibition game at Cashman Field in Las Vegas.

Lou Piniella and Jeff Cox (8) exchange line up cards prior to a spring training game.


Page 5

a tShowdown glitter

GulchPhotos by Warren Wimmer

Cubs’ outfielder Jake Fox signs autographs prior to a game against the White Sox.

ABOVE: Chicago White Sox batter Jerry Owens lays down a bunt during the seventh inning of play against the Cubs. = White Sox pitcher Jeff Marquez delivers a pitch to Chicago Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano.


page 6

COPIER

WORLD

(773) C-O-P-I-E-R-S

NEW YORK/TORONTO/STOCKHOLM/HELSINKI – The National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hock-ey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), in cooperation with Live Nation Sweden, IMG Swe-den and Harry Harkimo/Jokerit HC Oy in Finland, announced today that the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers will open the 2009-2010 NHL regular season in Europe. The Blackhawks and Panthers will play home-and-home games Fri-day, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 3, in Helsinki, Finland, at Hartwall Areena. On those same dates, the Red Wings and Blues will play a home-and-home series at Erics-son Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Finland and Sweden are the top ranked countries in terms of overseas visitors to NHL.com.

The roster of the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings currently is comprised of numerous Swedish players – in-cluding captain Nicklas Lidstrom,

2008 Conn Smythe Trophy win-ner Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall. The Blues boast a dynamic Swedish player of their own in center Patrik Berglund, a first-round draft pick of the team in 2006 and participant in the 2009 NHL YoungStars Game on the rookie team.

The Chicago Blackhawks will be playing in Europe for the first time in 17 years. The franchise played a two-game exhibition series against the Montreal Ca-nadiens at London’s Wembley Arena in September, 1992. NHL

Premiere 2009 will be the first games ever played in Europe by the Florida Panthers organization and the first regular-season NHL games ever played in Finland.

“The NHL Premiere games are a signature event for the League, our players and our fans,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “Playing regular-season games overseas is an excellent way to further engage the passionate NHL fan base in Europe and en-courage the growth of the game of hockey.”

“The 2009 Premiere games continue an important tradition of showcasing NHL players to an international audience,” said Paul Kelly, NHLPA Executive Direc-tor. “Our members look forward to displaying their skills in front of the knowledgeable and enthu-siastic hockey fans in Finland and Sweden.”

The NHL opened the 2008-09 regular season in Europe in front of capacity crowds when the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning played two games in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ot-tawa Senators squared off in a two-game set in Stockholm. The Anaheim Ducks and Los Ange-les Kings opened the 2007-08 NHL regular season in front of two sellout crowds at O2 Arena in London. Previously, the NHL hosted three successful Game One events in Japan in 1997, 1998 and 2000.

Four NHL Teams to open upcoming season in Europe


Page 7

BROOKLYN, Mich. — When race fan David Bauer and two of his friends, David Weber and Jim Grinnell, started their journey at 5 a.m. they knew their 2 ½-hour trip would end at Michigan Interna-tional Speedway.

The three friends from the Sagi-naw, Mich., area are avid race fans and have attended NASCAR races at MIS since the early 1970s. They wanted to get to the Irish Hills track early Wednesday to take advantage of the upgrade/relocation period to obtain better seats and additional camping for the 2009 season.

Little did the trio know that other fans would show up early, too — some from Canada, and many braving icy, snowy conditions.

“This was the perfect time to

upgrade our seats in the center grandstands and get another camp-site next to the two we already have had for many years,” Grinnell said. “All three of us have been coming to MIS for a long time and we always enjoy driving down and working with the ticket office, which does a great job.”

Bauer, who resides in Zilwaukee, Mich., near Saginaw, has been at-tending races at MIS since 1972. Over time, they have upgraded seats throughout the years, hoping for the perfect view of the two-mile oval.

“We attend the June and Au-gust race weekends every year and I think I’ve only missed three races in all these years of coming here,” Bauer said. “It took a long time to

get the seats we have after upgrad-ing year after year, but it’s worth it.

Additionally, the group camps at MIS to complete the NASCAR experience.

“We love camping in the speed-way’s Brooklyn Trails Campground. It’s been fun for all of us,” Bauer added.

Many MIS race fans have had tickets since the speedway’s first NASCAR race in 1969. These longtime fans have upgraded their seats over the years giving them the best seats in the house.

Grinnell, Bauer and Weber will eventually hand their seats down to their kids after years of upgrading.

“We hope that all of us can hand our tickets down to the next genera-tion,” Grinnell said. “We’ve enjoyed

this experience for many years.”Relocation is a tradition at MIS

that race fans and MIS staff take very seriously and look forward to. Fans who upgrade seats in-person are greeted with hot coffee and a handshake from track President Roger Curtis, who tries to meet most of the fans and thank them for their support.

Fans can also call the speedway’s toll-free number during the period to upgrade their seats until 9 p.m. every day.

The ticket renewal process began last fall. Customers who renewed their seats, camping sites and/or hospitality packages now have the opportunity to relocate to better seats and campsite locations or sim-

Fans visit track to get better seats, camping

Continued on Page 14


page 8


Page 9

Skating with the Pack

Minnesota Wild left wing Peter Olvecky (28) splits the Hawks defense of Duncan Keith (2) and defenseman Brian Campbell (51) and buries the puck while both teams were at even strength. Olvecky’s goal turned out to be the winning tally at the 3:30 mark of the third period of play to make the score of 2-1. The Blackhawks would not score for the duration of the contest. The Wild would go on to defeat the Blackhawks 2-1 in regulation at the Unit-ed Center in Chicago Sunday Feb. 22, 2009. (CSR Photo by Warren Wimmer)

Page 10


UppEr lEft: Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) celebrates scoring the third goal of the night for his first career hat trick with teammate Troy

Brouwer (22). lOWEr lEft: Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (88) drives down the right wing. ABOVE: Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews

(19) is defended by Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik (44) during at the United Center in Chicago Friday Feb. 27, 2009.

magesceIFebruary17, 2008

Csr Photos by dennis WierzbiCki

Blackhawks 4 Penguins 5 OT

from the

Page 11


UppEr lEft: Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) celebrates scoring the third goal of the night for his first career hat trick with teammate Troy

Brouwer (22). lOWEr lEft: Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (88) drives down the right wing. ABOVE: Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews

(19) is defended by Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik (44) during at the United Center in Chicago Friday Feb. 27, 2009.

Chicago Blackhawks right wing Martin Havlat (24) looks to pass during play against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pittsburgh Penguins

goalie Marc-Andre Fleury

(29) stops a shot by

Hawks for-ward Patrick

Kane (88).

CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox and Univision Radio’s La Tremenda (WRTO 1200 AM) have extended their agreement to broadcast a select number of White Sox games in Spanish for a fifth consecutive season in 2009. There are 39 scheduled Spanish broad-casts of White Sox games for the 2009 season. This season will fea-ture the broadcast of a road game vs. the Milwaukee Brewers, along with home broadcasts of games vs. the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

La Tremenda will present its first Spanish-language broadcast of 2009 on Wednesday, April 8 at 7:11 p.m. (the first night game of the season at U.S. Cellular Field), when the Sox host the Kansas City Royals.

Ozzie Guillen Jr. and Omar Ra-mos will provide play-by-play and color commentary for the Spanish radio broadcasts. Guillen Jr., son of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, enters his fifth season broadcasting for the White Sox in the Spanish radio booth. The partnership be-tween Guillen and Ramos, who enters his first year in the Sox ra-dio booth and is one of Univision Radio’s high profile on-air talents in Chicago, creates one of the freshest and youngest Spanish broadcasting tandems in Major League Baseball.

“Spanish radio broadcasts of White Sox games are an impor-tant piece of the baseball experi-ence for a large portion of our fan base,” said White Sox vice presi-dent/chief marketing officer Brooks Boyer. “Latinos are an integral part of White Sox baseball – from leg-ends like Chico (Carrasquel), Min-nie (Minoso), Louie (Aparicio) and Ozzie (Guillen), of course, to the great number of passionate Latino White Sox fans that visit U.S. Cel-lular Field every summer. This sea-son, we will continue to aggressively develop and grow our relationship with the Latino community in Chi-cago.”


page 12

BRIDGEVIEW, ILL – Chi-cago Fire Soccer today announced that individual tickets for the 2009 Major League Soccer season at

TOYOTA PARK will go on sale to the public on March 12, at 10 a.m.

Individual game ticket prices for the 2009 Chicago Fire Regu-lar MLS Season start as low as $22. On March 12 at 10 a.m., in-dividual tickets will be available at

Single game tickets on sale March 12

ChiCago Fire News & Notes

white soxNews & Notes

Sox to broadcast 39 games in Spanish

White Sox Spring Training ScheduleDay Date OppOnent Site time

Wednesday feb. 25 la angels tempe 1:05 p.m. Thursday Feb. 26 Colorado Hi Corbett Field 1:05 p.m. Friday Feb. 27 Arizona Tucson Electric Park 1:05 p.m. Saturday Feb. 28 Cubs Mesa 1:05 p.m. Sunday March 1 LA Dodgers Glendale 1:05 p.m. Monday March 2 seattle glendale 1:05 p.m. Tuesday March 3 OFF DAY Wednesday March 4 Oakland Phoenix 1:05 p.m. Thursday March 5 LA Dodgers Glendale 1:05 p.m friday March 6 australia-WbC glendale 1:05 p.m. Saturday March 7 Texas Surprise 1:05 p.m. sunday March 8 la dodgers glendale 1:05 p.m. Monday March 9 CleVeland glendale 1:05 p.m. Tuesday March 10 OFF DAY Wednesday March 11 MilWauKee glendale 1:05 p.m Thursday March 12 Kansas City Surprise 1:05 p.m. Friday March 13 San Diego Peoria 1:05 p.m. saturday March 14 teXas glendale 1:05 p.m. Sunday March 15 Seattle Peoria 1:05 p.m. Monday March 16 Kansas CitY glendale 1:05 p.m. Tuesday March 17 OFF DAY Wednesday March 18 la angels glendale 1:05 p.m. Thursday March 19 San Francisco Scottsdale TBA friday March 20 san franCisCo glendale 1:05 p.m. saturday March 21 Cubs glendale 1:05 p.m. Sunday March 22 Oakland Phoenix 1:05 p.m. Monday March 23 OFF DAY Tuesday March 24 Cleveland Goodyear 1:05 p.m. Wednesday March 25 oaKland glendale 1:05 p.m. Thursday March 26 ariZona glendale 1:05 p.m. Friday March 27 Cubs Mesa 1:05 p.m. saturday March 28 la dodgers glendale 1:05 p.m. Sunday March 29 Arizona Tucson Electric Park 1:05 p.m. Monday March 30 LA Angels Tempe 1:05 p.m. tuesday March 31 Colorado glendale 1:05 p.m. Wednesday april 1 san diego glendale 1:05 p.m. Thursday April 2 Milwaukee Maryvale 12:05 p.m. Friday April 3 TBA Saturday April 4 TBA

All games are Arizona Time. Dates and times subject to change. hoMe dates in bold


BRIDGEVIEW ILL. – The Chicago Fire today announced that Mike Humes, Scott Malaga, and Becky Carroll have been add-ed to its executive management team. Humes joins the Fire as the Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, and is responsible for ticket sales, marketing and brand-ing, ticket services and retention, and box office operations. As Vice President, Corporate Partnerships, Malaga will oversee revenue gener-ation through the team’s core spon-sorship inventory and all related managerial functions. Carroll steps into the position of Vice President, Communications, and will be re-sponsible for developing strategy and executing tactics in all areas of communications, public relations, and media coverage.

“I am very pleased to have Mike,

Scott, and Becky on our executive management team,” said Fire presi-dent Dave Greeley. “All three have extensive experience in their areas of expertise and will help us share our wonderful story with Chicago-ans and fans everywhere. They are important additions as we focus on strengthening our brand and build-ing our asset base to help our team accomplish its number one goal,

which is to win championships.”Humes comes to the Fire from

Seattle where he recently served as Vice President of Global Mar-keting at K2 Sports and Executive Vice President, Marketing for the Seattle Sonics. Previously, Humes worked at the NHL’s Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jack-ets. He has also worked for the NHL Player’s Association and the

American Hockey League. Humes received an undergraduate degree in Business and Economics from St. Thomas University and a Mas-ters degree in Sports Administra-tion from Concordia University in Montreal.

Malaga joins the Fire as Vice President, Corporate Partnerships, from ISP Sports, the country’s


Page 13

Fire add three to management team

all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, through the TOYOTA PARK Box Office, by calling 888-MLS-FIRE, or visiting www.chicago-fire.com.

The Fire are also pleased to an-nounce the full slate of games in-cluded in the Ten Game Plan. The package, which is on sale now, con-sists of eight MLS regular season matches against key Fire oppo-nents, the Chicago Fire versus Club America international friendly, and the Fire’s first 2009 MLS Cup home playoff match.

Among the MLS regular season matches included in the Ten Game Plan are: the Fire’s Opening Day at TOYOTA PARK on Sunday, April 5 (2 p.m.) against Eastern Confer-ence Rival and MLS Cup finalist New York Red Bulls, the first-ever game against 2009 expansion side Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday, May 2 (7:30 p.m.), and the Fire’s match against the star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday, Aug. 19 (8 p.m. CT).

The Chicago Fire’s Ten Game Plan starts at just $170 and can be purchased by calling 888-MLS-FIRE or e-mailing [email protected].

For a complete list of the eight MLS regular season matches in-cluded in the Ten Game Plan visit [email protected].

Continued from Page 11

Cubs Spring Training ScheduleDAY DATE OPPONENT SITE TIMEWednesday feb. 25 los angeles dodgers Mesa 1:05 p.m.Thursday feb. 26 MilWauKee breWers Mesa 1:05 p.m.Friday Feb. 27 Texas Rangers Surprise 1:05 p.m.saturday feb. 28 ChiCago White soX Mesa 1:05 p.m.Sunday March 1 San Diego Padres Peoria 1:05 p.m.Monday March 2 ariZona diaMondbaCKs Mesa 1:05 p.m.tuesday March 3 oaKland athletiCs Mesa 1:05 p.m.Wednesday March 4 Cleveland Indians Goodyear 1:05 p.m.Thursday March 5 OFF DAYfriday March 6 los angeles dodgers Mesa 1:05 p.m.Saturday March 7 Milwaukee Brewers Maryvale 1:05 p.m.sunday March 8 teXas rangers Mesa 1:05 p.m.Monday March 9 Kansas CitY roYals Mesa 1:05 p.m.Tuesday March 10 Seattle Mariners Peoria 1:05 p.m.Wednesday March 11 OFF DAYThursday March 12 World baseball ClassiC Mesa 1:05 p.m.friday March 13 seattle Mariners (ss) Mesa 1:05 p.m. Los Angeles Angels (ss) Tempe 1:05 p.m.saturday March 14 los angeles angels Mesa 1:05 p.m.Sunday March 15 Arizona Diamondbacks Tucson 1:05 p.m.Monday March 16 Milwaukee Brewers Maryvale 1:05 p.m.Tuesday March 17 Los Angeles Dodgers Glendale 1:05 p.m.Wednesday March 18 san franCisCo giants Mesa 1:05 p.m.Thursday March 19 Seattle Mariners Peoria 1:05 p.m.friday March 20 san diego Padres Mesa 1:05 p.m.Saturday March 21 Chicago White Sox Glendale 1:05 p.m.sunday March 22 seattle Mariners Mesa 1:05 p.m.Monday March 23 Oakland Athletics Phoenix 1:05 p.m.tuesday March 24 Colorado roCKies Mesa 1:05 p.m.Wednesday March 25 OFF DAYThursday March 26 San Francisco Giants Scottsdale 1:05 p.m.friday March 27 ChiCago White soX Mesa 1:05 p.m.Saturday March 28 Colorado Rockies Tucson 1:05 p.m.sunday March 29 CleVeland indians Mesa 1:05 p.m.Monday March 30 Kansas City Royals Surprise 1:05 p.m.tuesday March 31 los angeles angels Mesa 1:05 p.m.Wednesday April 1 Oakland Athletics Phoenix 1:05 p.m.Thursday april 2 CleVeland indians Mesa 12:05 p.m.Friday April 3 New York Yankees New York 7:05 PM ETSaturday April 4 New York Yankees New York 1:05 PM ET

All games are Arizona Time. Dates and times subject to change. hoMe dates in bold



page 14

ply to add seats during their desig-nated relocation/upgrade period.

The relocation/upgrade period for customers who renew both NASCAR weekends is taking place until Jan. 11. After that, fans who renew just one weekend can relo-cate or upgrade from Jan. 12-16.

All relocations and upgrades can be done by calling the MIS ticket hotline at 800-354-1010 until 9 p.m. every day or by visiting the ticket office from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Ticket Director Linda Wyne said phone calls from race fans have been steady and asks guests not to get discouraged if they don’t get through to an operator right away.

“Our phone lines are open until 9 p.m. for this very reason,” she said.

“Keep calling because now is the best time to move up to some of our best seats or secure a campsite in the popular Graves Farm Campground, which has electrical hookups.”

For fans who have not secured tickets or camping for Michigan International Speedway’s 2009 sea-son, tickets will go on sale Sunday, Feb. 15 during the season-opening Daytona 500.

MIS has restructured some of its pricing for 2009 so fans who feel the economic pinch can keep MIS in their 2009 vacation planning. New in 2009 are general admission seats for NASCAR Sprint Cup races that start at just $40 in two grand-stands. Children 12 and under may come to the races for free with their families in those seats. Restrictions apply, call for details.


Steady stream of fans upgrading

largest and fastest growing major college multimedia rights holder where he served as Senior Vice President and National Sales Di-rector. Other experience for Mal-aga includes roles with Advantage International and Host Commu-nications, on top of other market-ing related firms including Kellogg Foodservice. Malaga attended Cor-nell University where he lettered in football and baseball and received his undergraduate degree in Busi-ness Management. He continued his education at Ohio University, earning a Masters Degree in Sports Administration.

Becky Carroll steps into the role of Vice President, Communica-tions, bringing 14 years of exper-

tise in strategic communications, crisis and project management, and message development, after a suc-cessful career in government and politics. Her experience in gov-ernment includes senior commu-nications management positions with the State of Illinois Budget Office, Office of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and the Chi-cago Department of Planning and Development. She has also served in senior positions on several high profile political campaigns, includ-ing National Director of Women for Obama on the 2008 Obama for America campaign, Rahm Eman-uel for Congress in 2002 and Al Gore for President in 2000. Carroll graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in Political Science and Communications.


Three bring extensive experience


Page 15

Here’s to OzzieLas Vegas mayor Oscar B. Good-man, right, compared White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillen to the first president of the United States, George Washington, as Guillen be-ing the most honest MLB manager that he has ever met. Guillen and the Sox went on to defeat the Cubs 7-6 at Cashman Field, Las Vegas, Nev. Thursday March 3, 2009. (CSR photo by Warren Wimmer)

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