By Steve Rhodes
1. If there was ever a question as to whether the Bears had lost the faith of their fans, it was answered on Sunday in two reactions to their strange, undeserved victory that I witnessed while watching the game at the Beachwood Inn. From what I’ve read and heard, the reactions were not unique across Bears Country.
First, instead of the usual prism of seeing every play and every call through hometown eyes, the entire bar was in agreement immediately that Calvin Johnson made a legal catch to win the game for the Lions. Even as the play was being reviewed, there was no hope or cadging (even if the bar’s resident astrophysicist noted to my previous scientific objections that the Bears were in a time of superposition while the review was occurring.)
Wow. Especially after having to listen to Hawk Harrelson and White Sox fans whine about every damn ball and strike call over the last month.
Second, after the Bears were declared the victors, nobody celebrated. Nobody even wanted to claim the win. Hey, Bears fans, what happened to the usual win-at-all-costs, no-apologies, we’ll-take-it attitude I’m so used to? The post-Daley era has begun!
Even the Bears themselves must not feel too good about this win. It’s gonna be a long season.
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Our very own Jim Coffman, though, notes this in SportsMonday: The NFL Rule Book Is Ridiculous:
“[A] majority of the officials knew Calvin Johnson hadn’t lived up to the letter of the law and so did analyst Brian Billick.”
Or, as Bob Costas said, the refs got the rule right, but the rule is wrong. And a little jury nullification may have been in order to see justice done.
2. Daley rumored for next Legally Blonde sequel.
3. “But Ball says these gentrifiers weren’t the ones sustaining his bakery. People from the low-income households were the ones who kept him in business.”
4. The Mayoral Odds: Live Updates.
5. Indonesian Journal: Buying Flowers, Burning The Koran. By the Beachwood’s new Southeast Asia correspondent.
6. “It was supposed to be a cheap and easy way to steal sales from Airbus’ hulking A380 double-decker jet,” the Tribune reports.
“Boeing Co. would update its decades-old 747 jumbo for the large freighter market, which Airbus was ignoring, with cutting-edge technology borrowed from the 787 Dreamliner: powerful, new fuel-efficient engines.
“But five years later, Boeing is struggling to resolve design and technical issues with the 747-8 program that are partially a byproduct of the Dreamliner’s production woes. Like the 787, the jumbo jet is late, badly over budget and is almost certainly headed for another costly delay, analysts said.”
7. “Chicago’s next mayor will take over a city that is almost out of cash after Richard M. Daley spent most of the $3.5 billion gained from leasing parking meters, garages and a 7.8-mile elevated toll road,” Bloomberg reports.
“The third-biggest U.S. city by population projects a $654.7 million deficit in a $3.39 billion budget for 2011, a July 30 report shows. Daley balanced this year’s $3.12 billion budget partly with reserves. If he uses lease funds to fill the 2011 gap, Chicago will be left with $121 million, enough to run the municipality for two weeks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“‘It almost will disappear by the time the mayor leaves office,’ said R. Eden Martin, president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a civic group. ‘Cutting $600 million is going to be a catastrophe. It is going to be very, very painful.'”
8. “Gas prices jumped about 16 cents per gallon in the last week because an oil leak in suburban Chicago interrupted the supply to regional refineries,” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
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“AAA Michigan says gasoline prices are up 12 cents per gallon over the past week to a statewide average of $2.90 after a leak forced the closure of a Chicago-area oil pipeline,” the Detroit News reports.
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“Ohio gasoline prices are up 9 cents from last week amid a pipeline leak that has disrupted gas supplies in the Midwest,” AP reports.
9. Beachwood Exclusive: The next statues coming to Wrigley.
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Note: The White Sox Report will appear on Tuesday.
10. Go generic or be a chump.
11. Amy Winehouse or the Marvelettes?
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Marvelous.
Posted on September 13, 2010