Heads & Tails #13

This week's theme -- in honor of April 1 -- is "fool." The first thing that popped into my mind was "The Fool on the Hill," originally on the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. I've heard Paul perform this live, and I'm still touched by the purity of his voice on the "round and round and round" part. (Dear God! I'm starting to sound like Paula Abdul on Idol!)

Here are the lyrics:

Day after day,
Alone on a hill,
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still
But nobody wants to know him,
They can see that he's just a fool,
And he never gives an answer,

But the fool on the hill,
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning 'round.

Well on the way,
Head in a cloud,
The man of a 1000 voices talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him,
Or the sound he appears to make,
And he never seems to notice,

But the fool on the hill,
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning 'round.

And nobody seems to like him,
They can tell what he wants to do,
And he never shows his feelings,

But the fool on the hill,
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning 'round.

Ooh, ooh,
Round and round and round.

And he never listens to them,
He knows that they're the fools
They don't like him,

The fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning 'round.

Ooh,
Round and round and round

For more information, or to play along yourself, visit the Heads or Tails site.

I couldn't turn my back on them

It's after 6:00 and I'm just now leaving the office. No, I wasn't especially swamped with work on this, my first day back from vacation. I just couldn't leave espn.com until the outcome of Opening Day was decided and the game went into extra innings.

Ok, so we lost. And on Ernie Banks Day at that! Let's not forget that it was just the first game of a long and sure-to-be entertaining season. I'm just glad my boys are back.

"Nobody deserves this more"

So said Cubs All-Star third baseman and radio announcer Ron Santo at the unveiling of Ernie Banks' statue today, Opening Day, right in front of Wrigley Field.

Ernie was the first Cub player I ever "knew," my first baseball hero when I was just a tiny gal. His stats were impressive -- including 2 consecutive MVP awards and 512 homeruns. But most of all, it was Ernie's enthusiasm and charm and sportsmanship that enchanted me.

"Let's play two!" he would announce on even the cloudiest days, or even during the longest losing streak. He's the one who christened Chicago's enduring tabernacle of baseball "the friendly confines of Wrigley Field."

I love Ernie Banks, my mom loves Ernie Banks, and I'm teaching my nephew to love him, too, just as my dad and my grandparents are loving him from heaven. The whole city loves him, that's why the Mayor declared today "Ernie Banks Day." He typifies what being a Cub fan is about. And Ronnie's right, no one deserves an honor at that ballpark more.