CHICAGO _ Offering unsolicited advice to athletes, executives and owners is one of the many perks of being a Chicago Tribune sports writer.
You often can get under the skin of a powerful person, as when White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf pulled me aside after I'd written a column calling for changes at new Comiskey Park, including blowing up the upper deck and replacing the blue seats with green ones.
"Why are you making such a big (expletive) deal about the seats in the upper deck?" he asked.
Years later, the Sox lopped off the top eight rows of the notorious upper deck, installed a canopy roof and changed the seats from blue to green.
The ballpark looks much better.
Perhaps Reinsdorf heeded my advice. Or maybe it was his own idea. Who knows?
Either way, my unsolicited advice is always free, which is why the following can either take it or leave it.
