'Chicago Sun-Times' Offers Wake-Up Call Of Cubs Recap By Columnist Mariotti

By: E&P Staff For many Chicagoans, the prospect of a wake-up call from love-him-or-hate-him Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti might seem a service offered by Motel Hell.

But come Thursday morning, Mariotti will be rousing sleepy fans who couldn't stay awake for the entire first National League playoff game with the Chicago Cubs starting late Wednesday night against the Diamondbacks a time zone away in Arizona.

To the consternation of many Cubs fans, the game does not start until 9:07 p.m. Chicago time, and will be televised only on the cable network TBS, and not on the broadcast/cable superstation WGN-TV, owned, like the Cubs, by Tribune Co. The flagship Chicago Tribune will be offering running commentary during the game on its Web site at www.chicagotribune.com, plus posting an in-game box score. It print also warned that some editions of Thursday's paper may not have the final score of the playoff games, or may be delivered late.

The free wake-up call was announced in the Sun-Times Wednesday:

"Can't stay awake for the night owl games? Let Jay Mariotti and the Sun-Times help. Sign up for our Cubs recap wakeup service below and get the first word from Jay first thing in the morning - right to your phone! It's the best way in town to find out how your late-night heroes finished in the wee hours."

Fans can sign up for the free wake-up call by clicking here

A disclaimer on the snoozester site says the calls are "while supplies last, which may be limited to 25,000 calls at Chicago Sun Times' sole discretion."

Oh, and don't let the wake-up call replace your alarm clock for catching the commuter train, the paper warns: "The Chicago Sun-Times cannot guarantee the exact timing of scheduled wake-up calls and takes no responsibility for wake-up calls not received for any reason."