Hello All,

As Chairman of the "Entertainment & Sports Committee" I have been doing a little bit of research for the NCAA meeting in "The Windy City" and I have spoken to a few of you already.  Airfare is close to $400 right now and driving at that time of year can be a bit treacherous and a bit of a grind.  I am proposing taking Amtrak...round trip is $108 and with cab fare probably going to be around $15 per guy each way between the train station downtown to/from our hotel.  Those that I have spoken too are in...the rest of you will need to make a decision.  Check out www.amtrak.com for more information.  Everybody will be on their own to set up travel arrangements.

We would leave the train station in St. Paul at 7:30am on Friday, January 23rd, arriving in Chicago at 3:55pm.  We should be done by Noon on Sunday which will give us plenty of time to make the train that departs at 2:15pm which will get us home at 10:30pm that night.  We can park for free and there is a Lounge and Dining Car at our disposal...I'm thinking this will be a very fun "Team Building" experience while harkening us back to an era where train travel was a very sophisticated way to go.

As far as sporting/entertainment options are concerned the only thing going on that weekend is a Bulls game vs. Toronto on Friday night, 7:30pm at United Center.  So far nobody I have spoken to was too interested in that.  Otherwise it might be fun to "network" with umpires from other areas that weekend.  Also, there are plenty of dinner and drinks options around our hotel.  Of course, as representatives of Northwest Association of Umpires, Ltd and the greater fraternity of umpires on a national level, we must conduct ourselves in an adult, professional manner.

Finally, everybody is on their own for setting up the hotel reservation and finding a roomie...some of us have already done that.  Let me know what you all decide to do.

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.  Thank you and I look forward to seeing you in January!

Andre Lanoue

Chairman

Sports & Entertainment Committee

651-226-3293