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Among the sacrifices some of us make in the name of journalism — or whatever it is that we do around here — is occasionally missing a sporting event to attend to other matters. Real-life matters. And so it was that on Saturday (Aug. 11) your humble correspondent traveled to the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., to check out Wizard World Chicago Comic Con.
Scott Schwartz and Maryse chat Saturday at Comic Con. Scott is on the left.
Yes, you could say there was a sports element to the event that drew a crowd the Chicago White Sox would envy. If not a full house, close to it. Wrestlers such as Kevin Nash and John Morrison were there. So were Amy Dumas (aka Lita), Maryse, Melina Perez and the Garcia Twins – Brianna and Nicole — (formerly the Bella Twins). They were clustered in an autograph area, which made it great for wrestling fans.
Elsewhere were John Cena and CM Punk. Plus Booker T. There may have been more, but there’s only so much walking up and down aisles that a person can do.
Also at the show was Scott Schwartz, who as a child actor portrayed Flick in “A Christmas Story” and was the kid whose tongue was stuck to a frozen pole.
As usual, it was a good day for people-watching at Comic Con. And for browsing around at all the art, artists, comics, memorabilia and other assorted merchandise.
Your average patron at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con. OK, maybe above average.
My favorite purchase of the day? A swirl ice-cream cone. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that can be the best.
Still to come (another day) from Comic Con are videos with favorites Cindy Morgan and Adrianne Curry.
And, yes, the call of duty dictates a return to the event on Sunday for more interviews, along with possibly more photos and videos of the scene at Comic Con. Yes, this is what some of us like to think of as work. 
Anyway, here are a couple of videos from Saturday.
I will apologize in advance for filming too close to Maryse.
As an excuse (other than a lack of video skills), may I say the area around her booth was busy with people who made noise. Consequently, I wanted to be sure the video recorder would pick up her voice. I promise to do better with videos that are taken Sunday. Hey, couldn’t do any worse, right?
No need to answer, thank you.
Meanwhile in the world of Chicago sports, the White Sox and Cubs lost, the Bears continue to captivate the media with training camp (let me know when the regular season starts, thank you), and Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said recuperating guard Derrick Rose won’t return to play until the 2011 NBA MVP is 100 percent healthy.
In the world of Olympics, the U.S. team captured the women’s basketball gold. Candace Parker, who did not start (maybe she would have if she had played for U.S. coach Gino Auriemma at Connecticut rather than attend Tennessee), led the team with 21 points. Swin Cash, who did play at UConn and is a member of the WNBA Chicago Sky, had three points in six minutes of playing time; center/Sky teammate Sylvia Fowles had six points, six rebounds and two steals in 12 minutes off the bench.
The Sky resumes play Friday (Aug. 17) against the Atlanta Dream at 7:30 p.m. at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.
The only non-Connecticut starter on the U.S. squad was Tamika Catchings, who attended Tennessee. The other starters: Maya Moore, Sue Bird, Tina Charles and Diana Taurasi.
Not that any of that mattered in an 86-50 victory vs. France.
Having had a little while to ponder such things, I’m thinking (and we use the verb “thinking” rather loosely around here) the U.S. women should do a “Call Me Maybe” video. Hey, if the American swimmers could do it, why not? Anyway, we’ve already shown the swimmers’ version. Here’s something new:
OK, and an Olympic-themed version, too:
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