My random thoughts…brought to you once a week! This week…a view from Second City:

• Is every person in the Greater Chicago Area issued gear from The North Face? That little logo on the upper right corner of the back annoys the sh*t out of me. Not sure why, it just does.

• I wore my super sweet Mario Williams’ jersey on Sunday. On my morning walk, I passed an older gentleman sporting some Colts’ gear. I was able to hold my head up high and look him straight in the eye. No words were exchanged, but I could see the respect. That was the first time I’ve ever been proud to be a Texans’ fan. Things would be different from now on. They were promptly embarrassed by the Cowboys two hours later. Oh well, it was a nice two hours.

• In Chicago, they have TEAM sports bars. Like…”Hey I’m heading to the Michigan State bar or Iowa bar or LSU bar.” You get the picture. And they’re neighborhood bars. In Houston, we just have boring sports bars like Wings N More.

• Speaking of my visit to a Chicago sports bar…I randomly ran into someone I know. What are the odds…4,000,000 to 1?

• And finally, speaking of sports bars AND odds…some dude asked me if I thought the Texans would beat the Cowboys (just before kickoff). I told him, “Look at my super sweet Mario Williams’ jersey. What do you think?” He said okay and promptly put $500 on the Texans. Oops.

• Have you ever walked two miles for coffee? I have…only because it was labeled “The Best in the World”. It wasn’t, but it was d@mn good coffee.

• I’m really sick of the word “flight” as it pertains to the food and beverage industry. It’s just a cool, hip way of saying “sampler platter”.

• Just Plain Random: If you’re a clothing designer for Gap, do you get bored?