If you want to come to Wrigley Field, you have to pass through Wrigleyville.Temperance advocates might choose to avert their eyes. Some South Side critics of the Wrigley Field experience call the place the worlds largest beer garden (though folks in Munich might beg to differ). Wrigleyville is one of Chicagos wettest neighborhoods, with dozens of bars clustered around the ballpark.And with attendance up at the park, the local watering holes are busier than ever.Back in the day, when the area was just East Lakeview, the boozing scene around Wrigley focused on the four corners adjacent to the park: Rays Bleachers, now Murphys, at Sheffield and Waveland; Sports Corner at Sheffield and Addison; Cubby Bear (and Sluggers) at Addison and Clark; and Bernies at Clark and Waveland.But as the Cubs became pretty good in the 1980s, and the neighborhood gentrified, more fans meant more bars. Dozens of joints fill the storefronts, and Clark Street is a Chicago Mardi Gras 81 days a year (and once the team opens its new plaza on Clark, only God and the Illinois Liquor Control Commission know how big the party will be).The neighborhood is a first-apartment-out-of-college destination, so the demographics skew young, loud and looking for love.But fragments of the old neighborhood, as historic as the ballpark itself, still survive. So if you want a beverage before or after the game, and want to have your eardrums remain mostly intact, Id recommend Nisei Lounge on North Sheffield, two blocks south of the park. It boasts of being Wrigleyvilles oldest baseball bar and is definitely a historic survivor of Chicagos ethnic bar culture.Back in the proverbial day, Chicagos ethnic immigrants clustered into particular neighborhoods. After World War II, thousands of Japanese-Americans whod been interned during the war moved to Chicago, looking for work and community.And someplace after work to have a drink and socialize with people who shared their worldview, their experience, their background.Many of these nisei -- pronounced knee-say, the Japanese word for the generation of Japanese-American immigrants first born in the States, the children of immigrants from Japan, issei -- settled in Lakeview, and the Nisei Lounge was their hangout starting in 1951.Now its a baseball bar somewhat by accident, because its a five-minute stroll from Wrigley. The Red Line rumbles past just outside its back door, and the current owners have left it pretty much as it always was: an unpretentious and relaxed joint that older generations would recognize. The low brick building was constructed in 1914, the same year as Wrigley.I met up with Pat Odon, whose official title is Director of Beer and Baseball Operations, and Liz Garibay, a historian who gives public tours focusing on Chicagos bar and brewing history.Garibay shares my aversion to the main scene on Clark Street, a strip of straight-from-central-casting meat markets. The only bar on Clark Street Ill go to is G-Man, Garibay says. Avoid the bro-bars and go to Nisei or Sheffields, places she says she values because theyre unpretentious, full of locals and have great beer lists.These bars, perhaps especially Nisei, also exhibit the sense of continuity and history that makes bars valuable aspects of an urban community, not just someplace to celebrate a victory or drown your sorrows after a loss.Odon admits that everything in the bar business is a trade-off. Unlike most neighboring bars, including two next door, Nisei lacks a kitchen. Wed make more money if we had food, but then its not the bar your dad and granddad went to if you can get wings and a chicken sandwich. But its worth it: People dont want white tablecloths, he says, but they want history, and thats what we have.The bar has made other trade-offs, keeping things cheap. We announced that we would only raise prices after a season where the Cubs have a winning record, Odon tells me, and I did some math. His people bought the joint in 2010, and did not raise prices, thanks to Theo Epsteins rebuilding plan, in 2010, 11, 12, 13 or 14.Talk about taking one for the home team.After last season, they finally raised a few prices, but a 16 oz. Old Style tallboy remains $4. Value! Odon says. He also admits to going slightly upscale in terms of beer selection, now serving 71 beers instead of 12. If young people want different beers, we can make that happen.But a classic Chicago Old Style sign still hangs over the door.Nisei connects their promotions to Cubs baseball in a detailed way. A sign by the dart boards congratulates Chicago Tribune baseball writer Paul Sullivan and Cubs radio play-by-play man Pat Hughes on recent awards.We were talking the other night, and as we chatted, the White Sox beat the Twins, and some patrons at the bar cheered.Sox fans? I asked.Oh, we always have Sox fans in here, Odon replied. They spend money on alcohol and work nights. The bar plans to put on a McCuddys promotion for the Cubs-Sox series in late July. McCuddys was the ultimate White Sox bar, located across from the original Comiskey Park on 35th Street. Babe Ruth went there for beers and hot dogs between innings of Yankees games.The politicians who demolished old Comiskey promised that the bar would be rebuilt, but it never was. (Imagine that: Illinois politicians lying!) Odon, a collector of historic bar and baseball stuff, plans to put up a picture of longtime owner Ma McCuddy, as well as old Sox paraphernalia, to welcome fans of the Cubs foes.Nisei has more in common with the much-missed McCuddys than with most of its Wrigleyville neighbors. Says Odon: An old baseball bar is an old baseball bar.So, regarding the cliché that Cubs and Sox fans are mortal enemies?Everyones welcome, Odon says. So come on down. Cliff Pennington Jersey .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Anthony DeSclafani Jersey . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. 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Jonathan Davies described how Wales silenced their critics after they concluded their November schedule with a record victory against hapless South Africa.A 27-13 victory at the Principality Stadium was only Wales third victory over the Springboks in 110 years, and it secured a 75 per cent autumn success-rate following earlier wins against Argentina and Japan.It was Wales best autumn return since 2002, but unquestionably a better achievement than 14 years ago, when their scalps were Romania, Canada and Fiji.And while critics have been quick to condemn Wales style of play for chunks of the November schedule, they have ended 2016 on a three-game unbeaten run and with momentum going into this seasons RBS 6 Nations Championship.I think it has been an upward curve, Wales centre Davies said. We have always said that traditionally we get better as a team when we stay together longer, and I think it showed.There has been a lot of criiticism over the way weve played.dddddddddddd In parts (against South Africa) we showed we could silence those critics. Whatever they think, it is their own opinion obviously, but we have beaten South Africa, and thats the most important thing.They are a Rugby Championship team, one of the best teams in the last couple of years, and we have to make sure we beat what is put in front of us, regardless of the form they show.Weve beaten South Africa, and there were 13 players in our changing room who have now beaten South Africa twice (Wales also toppled them two years ago), and we can take a lot from that.Second-half tries from hooker Ken Owens and flanker Justin Tipuric eased Wales home, while full-back Leigh Halfpenny moved past 550 points for his country by kicking five penalties and a conversion. 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