By Steve Rhodes

“Through more recent friendships with Puffy Combs, Sammy Sosa and others, I’ve had the chance to learn firsthand about the diversity of American culture.” – Donald Trump in his book The America We Deserve
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This passage is getting quoted a lot these days in light of Trump’s racist statements on the campaign trail. I thought I’d document the public record on Trump’s friendship with Sosa.
December 10, 1998, Tribune:
“One night after hitting the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, jet- setting Sammy Sosa was in New York, having dinner with Donald Trump, who said, ‘Sammy told me he thinks he can equal or surpass what he did last year.'”

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Posted on June 7, 2016

By Jim Coffman

Really, Cavaliers? That’s all you have?
The team’s 110-77 loss Sunday night to the Golden State Warriors put them in a 2-0 hole in the NBA finals and in danger of being swept. And I was left rooting for Shaun Livingston to pile up some points in garbage time to improve his case for a possible Finals MVP.
Local angle (kind of!) Livingston is the pride of Peoria, a proud graduate of Central High School. How cool would it be if Livingston won the Finals MVP a year after teammate Andre Iguodola, the pride of Springfield (Lanphier), Illinois, brought home that trophy?

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Posted on June 6, 2016

By Marty Gangler

The weirdest thing about this historic Cubs season is dealing with the losses. Every loss makes you think, well, how the heck did that happen? These guys lose a series to the Giants two weeks ago and then win 10 of 11 games going in to Sunday. And then they lose the Jake Arrieta game to make it a 10-2 stretch of games. Really? The Jake Arrieta a start? And sure, 10-2 is super awesome and impressive, but really, how the heck does that happen?
And then you think, you know, this same ridiculous thing could happen in the playoffs. And that makes you crap your pants. Because what else is there worry about right now? The Cubs are up 9 1/2 games over the Pirates and it’s the first week in June. It could be a 15-game lead by July.
Well, it could be a 3-game lead as well, but are we really worried about that right now? No. Not really, and why should anyone be? According to the nerds, the Cubs have actually won fewer games than they should have. They’ve actually been UNLUCKY this year.

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Posted on June 6, 2016

By Roger Wallenstein

He’s tough, durable, consistent, an innings-eater. He’s back in the American League playing for a contender. He’s a presence in the clubhouse.
These labels and descriptions all have been applied to James Shields the past two days since he became the newest member of the White Sox on Saturday. All general manager Rick Hahn had to barter were pitcher Erik Johnson – owner of a 7-6 record and a 4.50 ERA in 18 big league starts – and 17-year-old prospect Fernando Tatis, Jr. Such a deal!
From the early reaction and reviews, it sounds like the second coming of Jack McDowell, not Jeff Samardzija.

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Posted on June 5, 2016

By Ellis Cashmore/The Conversation

On October 2, 1980, Muhammad Ali, then aged 38, and Larry Holmes, the heavyweight champion of the world, entered a temporary arena built at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. A gate of nearly 25,000 had paid $5,766,125, a record in its day. “It wasn’t a fight; it was an execution,” wrote Ali’s biographer Thomas Hauser. After 10 sickeningly one-sided rounds, Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee signaled Ali’s retirement. Ali’s aide and confidante Bundini Brown pleaded: “One more round.” But, Dundee snapped back: “Fuck you! No! . . . The ballgame’s over.”
In a way, he was right: one game had indeed finished. Ali fought only once more. His health had been deteriorating for several years before the ill-advised Holmes fight and the savaging he took repulsed even his sternest critics. Ali the “fearsome warrior,” as Hauser calls him, would disappear, replaced by a “benevolent monarch and ultimately to a benign venerated figure.”
And now that venerated figure has died, aged 74.

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Posted on June 4, 2016

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Higgs to Boson to Chance. Plus: The Cubs Are The Best Baseball Team On Earth; Fat Albers; The State Of The Standings; The Pride Of Peoria Could Be The NBA Finals MVP; ICYMI, The Stanley Cup Finals Are Happening Right Now; Elena Delle Donne’s Silent Supremacy; and The Chicago Fire Did Not Do Anything This Week.

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Posted on June 3, 2016

Plus: BMX Legend Afflicted; Soccer & Rugby Next

“Walter Peat, 64, the head saw filer at a sawmill here in the suburbs of Vancouver, worries every day about the son he barely recognizes. He worries mostly that Stephen will be another N.H.L. enforcer dead before turning 50. The list, just since 2010, includes Bob Probert, Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien, Wade Belak, Steve Montador and Todd Ewen,” the New York Times reports.
“The Peats cannot be sure, but they presume that Stephen’s problems are rooted in concussions. Perhaps, like several of the dead enforcers and roughly 100 former N.F.L. players, one day he will be found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head.
“For now, it cannot be accurately diagnosed until death, but Peat and his father worry that he has it. The symptoms often associated with C.T.E. – memory loss, depression, impulsiveness, addiction, headaches – are part of Stephen Peat’s daily life.”

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Posted on June 2, 2016

By Dan O’Shea

Sure, you want to talk about the waiver wire, or which prospects might have their MLB debuts this month, but I’ve got other things on my mind this week. Here’s a sample:
* For fantasy purposes, someone needs to start tracking which players are about to become fathers. At least three times this season, one of my fantasy lineups has been hosed by a player’s last-minute addition to the paternity leave list.

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Posted on June 1, 2016