TAP and Sports

Believe it or not, Minooka TAP and sports have crossed paths a few times.  You wouldn’t think that a group that’s dedicated to studying history and culture would have athletics pop up all that often, but they really have.

Kevin Hannon goes up for a rebound in the middle of Berlin.

There was one night in Berlin, actually the first TAP night ever that a few of the boys found a basketball court and had an impromptu game of round ball.  It was hilarious, especially since we were running around shooting layups, making passes, and blocking shots, but we didn’t actually have a ball with us.  The lack of proper equipment didn’t stop us.  We found a court, so we wanted to play – which was great, because two of the boys, Mike O’Rourke and Kevin Hannon, actually played for Mr. Curtis on the 6th grade basketball team a few years earlier, and there they were, on a court 4,400 miles away running around like they had back in the old Siron Gym at the old Minooka Intermediate School.

Sports showed up again a few times the next year, when our Greece group found a basketball court on the cruise ship and filled some of the down time with a game of knockout.  This time we actually had a basketball to play with, and that group included several basketball coaches, as well as some of Minooka’s best b-ball players, but our Greek tour guide Elaini showed us the true meaning of home court advantage.  Floating around in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Elaini – who had never touched a basketball before that day – knocked out Mr. Curtis, Nick Casimir-Lang, and Annemarie Bachmann to win the game.

The Pythian Games were an ancient sporting contest that was kind of like the Olympics BFF.  Held in Delphi every four years, the Pythian games featured running races and a chariot race.  Back in the day, TAP was led by five teachers who were all also track coaches, so it was pretty cool for them to visit the site of those games and see what an ancient track looked like.  Let’s just say, none of us complained about the condition of the track back home for quite a while after seeing what 2,000 years and a few angry Poseidon earthquakes can do to a track.

In Ireland, our first stop in Dublin was Croke Park.  Croke Park is kind of like Dublin’s version of Chicago’s Soldier Field, only instead of football, they play the Irish sport hurling.  What is hurling?  I don’t even know how to begin to explain it other than to say there’s a big open field with goals on each end, and the athletes run around out there playing a game that’s best described as a combination of football, hockey, and organized murder.

There’s tons of political and athletic history there at Croke park, so and it was tons of fun to take a tour of the facilities – stopping in the locker rooms, training rooms, out on the field itself, and even up in the press box.  Afterward, we were able to wander through the Croke Park museum, which told the story of all sorts of Irish sports like hurling, boxing, and Gaelic football.

The sports just keep following us too.  In Seville this year, we’re going to get a chance to tour one of Spain’s oldest and most famous bull fighting rings, and next year in Japan, we already have plans to attend a Japanese baseball game in Tokyo.

Sports are a big part of a country’s culture and peoples’ everyday lives, so for a group that loves to study history and how people live, sports can be a great way to learn more about a foreign country.

This may not be what the scoreboard looks like, but we're hoping.

So, it’s really about time TAP did something sports related here at home.  We’re happy to announce another fantastic outing for this summer –  Minooka TAP and Chicago White Sox Family Night.

That’s right, we’re working with the Chicago White Sox to provide a cheap night out for anyone associated with TAP.  Teachers, kids, parents, family, friends, neighbors, that hobo that lives in the bushes behind your shed…  The Sox have set us up with a block of tickets for the game on Wednesday, August 17th.  The game is at 7:10pm against the Cleveland Indians.  It also happens to be Police and Firefighter night.

This outing is for everyone.  Sox fans will have a great time if their team wins.  Cubs fans can buy a Cleveland hat and cheer for the Tribe (hey, we’re from Minooka, we’re used to cheering for the Indians).  Best of all, Even if you don’t like the Sox, we’re going to get the tickets cheaper than you can get them on your own, so taking the family to a big league ball game will be affordable.

We’ll sell packages in groups of 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, and 15.  Packages start at $27 per person, but go down the more people you have in your group.  Each person gets a $27 dollar game ticket and a food voucher (an $8 value).  Right off the bat, that’s a huge savings, but if you gather up a large group of friends, the prices go down.

In addition to game tickets and food, you also have to opportunity to purchase BaseballMania raffle tickets (with a chance to win $2,750) and special TAP/Sox t-shirts.

Sox Night Flyers are available here online, and need to be turned in by May 15th.  The tickets are limited, so turn your orders in earlier to make sure you don’t get left out.