The High Price of Fame
So Alex Rodriguez makes more money than the entire Florida
Marlins team. Must be pretty hard to
live up to such high expectations - especially in a bullying market like
Sure, it all started out quietly, you know, like that hushing wind that breezes across the plains accompanied by purple skies right before the big storm. So the Detroit Tigers/Hillary Clinton comparison I made was masterfully quoted on the MLB.com homepage - big deal. Just doing my bloggin' thang... fillin' the role I was meant to fill because all my sliders hung and I couldn't get around on a 65 mph fastball. Some are born to play ball, some are born to rant on ball.
And then it happened. At 5 a.m. this morning I got the call:
PHONE CALLER GUY: Hey, is this Jeff Lung?
ME: Yes.
PHONE CALLER GUY: Whoa, it's really you?
ME: Yes, it's me. What do you want? It's 5 in the morning.
PHONE CALLER GUY: Wow, I can't believe it's really you.
ME: Who are you and what do you want!?!
PHONE CALLER GUY: Your picture is on MLBlog's homepage and I just wanted to pick your brain about what it's like to be on the internet underneath Jose Reyes?
Life hasn't been the same since.
I walked out of my Southside apartment this morning to a deluge of paparazzi. I smiled and nodded, answered some questions from my fans but I must be honest: it was tiresome, and I still have a day job, so I had to punch (WHAM!) one of them (one of the paparazzi, not one of my fans) to get away.
On the 29/State bus it was the same: mobs of people begging
for my autograph, picture, a Jason Grilli ERA Watch report. I obliged but I gotta admit, it was tiresome, overwhelming
and downright stressful.
It couldn't have come at a worse time. Tomorrow I am going to my first game of the year: White Sox
v. Tigers at the Joan. Fearing more of the same mob
mentality from those who come within ten feet of my aura, I will do my best to 'fit in' tomorrow by wearing a disguise and I will certainly
not make any public statements. I'm sorry, but even a guy like me needs a break once in a while.
In fact, afterwards, I'll probably have to go to
So, while I'm relaxing, don't hate me 'cuz I'm beautiful...or because I'm right. Please? Okay, pretty please?
Peace,
Jeffy
Jeff, I am sending you our freshman baseball and freshman football pictures. I expect you to sign both, expressing your thanks for years of myself being a role model to you...
Report any abuse or spam
I expect that you will end up dead in a road tunnel after being chased through Paris by the paparazzi.
Report any abuse or spam
Tim -- Can't wait to compare how absurdly good looking I was then to how old and tired I look now.
Russell -- It gets real crazy when the paparazzi follow you onto a public bus and cause ruckus throughout Chicago Loop traffic. Will find out more tomorrow as I head to the Joan (on public transit) to see the woeful Tigers get beat by the Sox.
Report any abuse or spam
Once this whirlwind subsides, could you (or your aura) share why it's called "The Joan"?
Thanks.
http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/
Report any abuse or spam
Well, aren't we special? ;-)
Michael Norton - Some Clubhouse
http://www.someclubhouse.com
Report any abuse or spam
Matt -- It's called "the Joan" because people were infuriated that US Cellular bought the naming rights to the stadium and changed it from "New Comiskey". Instead of calling it US Cellular, we Southsiders call it "the Joan" for the face of US Cellular products, Chicagoan Joan Cusack. The name has stuck in retaliation of losing that hallowed moniker "Comiskey".
Michael -- Not really. No. Not really.
--Jeff
Report any abuse or spam