Chicago -
By Jim Coffman
Dude, the Bears play a game that matters in a little more than two weeks!
Season-opening Thursday night football (Sept. 5)! Hosting the Packers! And . . . let’s dial it down a bit. Three exclamation points is the charm after all.
Posted on August 19, 2019
By Roger Wallenstein
Had Twitter existed in 1949 when the Yankees hired future Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel, the tweets would have lambasted the hallowed franchise’s management.
However, the world apparently was gentler and more polite 70 years ago, as exhibited by legendary sportswriter Tom Meany, who wrote in the Saturday Evening Post:
“There has been considerable speculation over the reaction of the old-line Yankees to the appointment of Stengel. It will be novel, to say the least, for them to be directed by a manager who thus far has gained more fame by his humor than by winning pennants.”
Stengel contributed mightily to his reputation by saying things like, “The secret to managing is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the four guys who haven’t made up their minds.”
But the consternation about Casey emanated from his record as much as from his behavior. In nine seasons guiding the old Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves, his teams never finished higher than fifth in the eight-team National League and topped the .500 mark just one time. His winning percentage was .455.
Posted on August 19, 2019
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Philadephia Phreakout.
Plus: White Sox Almost Sweep Astros.
And: Bears Kick Camp.
Posted on August 16, 2019
By Jim Coffman
Winning is hard.
Always remember that as the Cubs battle through the dog days hanging on to a slim lead in the division (two games over the Cardinals, 2.5 over the Brewers) heading into Monday’s action.
I opened the Tribune sports section this morning (yes, I am a dinosaur, although I will try to provide a link or two herein) to read the jump portion of Paul Sullivan’s column on the Cubs’ Sunday comeback victory and found another couple of stories of note.
Posted on August 12, 2019
By Roger Wallenstein
As the sweet music fills the background at the very end of the story, Kevin Costner says, “Hey, Dad, you wanna have a catch?” After seeing the movie at least 10 times, I’m still a basket case at this point.
Field of Dreams isn’t my favorite baseball movie. It’s my favorite movie, period. Sure, there are some close seconds like To Kill a Mockingbird, A Few Good Men, and any of the Godfather flicks, but the adaptation of W.P. Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe hooks me, reels me in, and consumes me regardless of how many times I’ve seen it.
Posted on August 12, 2019
By Jon Queally/Common Dreams
A gold medalist hammer thrower and a member of the gold medal-winning men’s U.S. fencing team staged individual protests during ceremonies at the Pan Am Games over recent days to call attention to their country’s racism, mistreatment of immigrants, and ongoing gun violence epidemic.
and a president who spreads hate are at the top of a long list.
I chose to sacrifie my moment today at the top of the podium to call attention to issues that I believe need to be addressed. I encourage others to please use your platforms for empowerment and change.— Race Imboden (@Race_Imboden) August 10, 2019
Posted on August 12, 2019
By Steve Rhodes
He doesn’t suck, but he does seem to grind up bullpens and talk a lot of shit. Plus: Cubs Media Meatheads Set The Tone; Cubs Hunger Games; Time For Theo To Move on?; Rickey Bunteria; Missing Trubisky; Boynton Beach Bingo; and Schweinsteiger!
Posted on August 11, 2019
By Thomas Chambers
Saturday was Arlington Million Day at beautiful Arlington Park.
Not really anywhere near, in location or spirit, to Buckingham Fountain.
If you saw it, form your own opinion. If you saw it, kudos to you for finding it on TV, which also means you’ve ponied up, no pun intended, for the full sports package. It was also on Altitude TV, which ran Colorado Avalanche feel-good spots.
“Veni Vidi Vici,” Chad Brown said. I can speculate that because I took Latin in high school and it was one of the best things I ever did, not that I wasn’t already a whiz speller.
Brown was effusive in his praise for Arlington Park and AP’s godfather, Dick Duchossois, and why not? Brown swept three very important turf races in a country that values dirt much more, and it sets up Brown to cash in on the grass races in the rich Breeders’ Cup, November, Santa Anita. Money is where you find it.
Posted on August 11, 2019
By Steve Rhodes
One in an occasional series tracking the movements of ex-Cubs.
1. Jake Fox.
The Cubs drafted Jake Fox in the 3rd round of the 2003 draft. He was basically one in a series of 4-A sluggers without positions (Baseball Reference lists him as a pinch hitter, left fielder and catcher) the team thrived in during that era. Between 2007 and 2009 (those two years; he did not play for the big league club in 2008), he appeared in 89 games for the Cubs and the results weren’t good. He hung around Oakland and Baltimore for a few years and then called it a career.
Fox was in the news recently because he’s launching a fashion line called The Fox Code.
“The goal of the brand is to capture the mentality behind baseball, though . . . people who don’t play baseball also could be inspired by the brand,” the Sun-Times reports.
Um, okay.
Posted on August 8, 2019
By Liz Szabo/Kaiser Health News
Washington Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer – whose back injury has prevented him from pitching since July 25th – is the latest in a long list of professional athletes to embrace unproven stem cell injections in an attempt to accelerate their recovery.
But many doctors and ethicists worry that pro athletes – who have played a key role in popularizing stem cells – are misleading the public into thinking that the costly, controversial shots are an accepted, approved treatment.
“It sends a signal to all the fans out there that stem cells have more value than they really do,” said Dr. James Rickert, president of the Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics, which advocates for high-quality care. “It’s extremely good PR for the people selling this kind of thing. But there’s no question that this is an unproven treatment.”
Posted on August 6, 2019
