Chicago -
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
New name, new uniform, new players. Plus: A-Robbed; The Rodgers Rate; At Least The Bears Are Consistent; The Bulls Have The Floor; Congratulations, George Sun!; Pretty Soon We Won’t Have Greg Brown To Kick Around Anymore; Kofi Cockburned; Rambler Women Make History; A Goth Ham; and Ryan Field Is Worse Than Ryan Braun.
Posted on November 5, 2021
By Roger Wallenstein
On their 10th try Monday night, the Blackhawks finally won a game, beating the Ottawa Senators 5-1. Patrick Kane, who had missed the previous four games because of COVID-19 protocol, scored a hat trick, while Jonathan Toews, the team captain, chipped in with three assists.
What a perfect time to dump both of them. Had the sordid sexual assault of prospect Kyle Beach, brought to light last week, never happened, trading the team’s two stars still would make sense.
Posted on November 3, 2021
By Peter Dreier/The Conversation
In his 1990 autobiography, Behind the Mask: My Double Life in Baseball, Dave Pallone, a gay major league umpire who was quietly fired in 1988 after rumors about his sexual orientation circulated in the baseball world, contended that there were enough gay major league players to create an All-Star team.
Since then, attitudes and laws about homosexuality have changed. High-profile figures in business, politics, show business, education, the media, the military and sports have come out of the closet.
Athletes in three of the five major U.S. male team sports – the NBA, the NFL and MLS – have come out while still playing, with NFL player Carl Nassib and NHL prospect Luke Prokop coming out in summer 2021.
Meanwhile, according to OutSports magazine, at least 185 publicly out LGBTQ athletes – 90% of them women – participated in this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games, more than in all previous Summer Olympics combined.
But among the more than 20,000 men who have played major league baseball, not one has publicly come out of the closet while still in uniform.
Posted on November 1, 2021
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Management and almost certainly players conspired to cover up a crime. Plus: Mystery Matt; Illinois Did NOT Play 9 OTs; Noah’s Arc; and more!
Posted on October 29, 2021
By Minky Worden/Human Rights Watch
Three years ago this month, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has marked this grim anniversary by using the Saudi sovereign wealth fund he chairs to buy Premier League football club Newcastle United for a reported £300 million. And as many Newcastle fans cheer the news, women’s rights activists and political prisoners are languishing in Saudi jails.
Hosting major sporting events is a major part of Saudi Arabia’s “sportswashing” strategy, an effort to distract from its serious human rights abuses by taking over events that celebrate human achievement. Buying a Premier League club is perhaps Saudi leaders’ most high-profile effort so far to launder their appalling human rights record.
Posted on October 28, 2021
By Stats Perform
Stats Perform Integrity and Starlizard Integrity Services have released their fourth annual Suspicious Betting Trends in Global [Soccer] Report. The report aims to provide fellow stakeholders in the sports integrity community with a significant and informative overview of current trends in suspicious football betting.
Detailed analysis was conducted on betting markets offered on 61,296 soccer matches played throughout the world in 2020. While this is down 23% on the 80,939 matches analyzed the previous year – primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing the cancellation of so many fixtures – it is comparable to the 62,250 matches analyzed two years ago.
Key findings of the 2021 Suspicious Betting Trends in Global [Soccer] Report:
Posted on October 23, 2021
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Chicago’s champions. Plus: Bears Money Is Stupid; The Cheaters vs. The Tomahawkers; Yasmanknee Grandal; Cubs Have It Their Way; Bielema Dilemma; Bulls Reportedly Trying To Be Suns; Bowman’s Blackhawks Bombing; and Red Stars Reach For Sky.
Posted on October 22, 2021
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
It’s not that Tony La Rusta was outmanaged by Dusty Baker, it’s that he outmanaged himself. Plus: Steve Stone’s Suckage; Bears On The Run; Eyes On The Sky; Cubs Can Finally Afford A GM Again; Boo Blackhawks; Red Stars Rising and more!
Posted on October 15, 2021
By Roger Wallenstein
As the Houston Astros were idled Monday by the rain that delayed Game 4 of the ALDS, we can assume that Dusty Baker and his charges couldn’t have been seen at Navy Pier or the Art Institute. Looking for them at other tourist attractions like the Shedd or the Museum of Science and Industry would have proved fruitless.
What we can assume is that wherever those athletes spent the day, the words about “sketchy stuff” uttered by Sox reliever Ryan Tepera were ringing in their ears. The profanity-laden chants aimed at José Altuve by thousands of Sox diehards throughout Sunday’s rousing 12-6 White Sox triumph were still echoing in their heads.
As if the visitors needed any additional motivation.
Posted on October 13, 2021
By Danielle McLean/The Hechinger Report
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas – Adelyn Vigil sometimes dreams of volleyball.
The 13-year-old imagines the arm movements, the sound of the ball hitting her hand. Not an aspiring star, Adelyn has enjoyed volleying the ball, informally, but doesn’t really know how to play the game. But her friends do, and she simply would like to be part of a team.
“Whenever people play sports, it looks so fun,” said Adelyn. “It looks like they are just enjoying themselves.”
She is not sure playing on a sports team will ever happen for her, though. A trans girl living along the Mexican border in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, Adelyn once participated in school-based extracurricular activities, like cheerleading and poetry club. But she dropped them when she was told by school administrators that she could not use restrooms or locker rooms that corresponded with her gender identity.
Posted on October 11, 2021
