By Jim Coffman

Trying to muster enthusiasm for the NCAA tournament now . . . after all, my sports-mad 10-year-old son is totally into it. As of 6:30 p.m. Sunday he had already filled out a couple brackets and had plans for a couple more. Me, not so much
Is there anyone who isn’t totally blinded by allegiance to the alma mater or to the nearby big school/only game in town who doesn’t have at least a few reservations at this point? I suppose there are also those fans who don’t know better than to take each and every cue from ESPN and its stable of simple-minded personalities. And of course there are those who only care about the gambling.
For the rest of us . . . the fact that everyone involved in major college sports at a high level gets rich except the immature, easily manipulated stars of the show, and that most of the “student-athletes” don’t receive anything even approximating a decent education, and that coaches never get fired for lousy graduation rates . . . this stuff is troubling. A knowledgeable fan tunes into Dick Vitale singing the praises of low-life, parasitic coaches like West Virginia’s Bob Huggins and, well, it is disheartening.

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Posted on March 15, 2010

By George Ofman

News flash: Milton Bradley is an idiot!
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Meanwhile, Jim Hendry got Carlos Silva from Seattle in return for Bradley and then spent some of the leftover money on Xavier Nady who underwent his second Tommy John surgery last year and still can’t throw – and won’t be able to until at least June. Just perfect! $3.3 million for a designated hitter in the National League!

TrackNotes: Showdown looms.

* * *
Get the feeling Cristobal Huet will be the odd man out again when the playoffs commence? Sure makes former GM Dale Tallon look even worse and it could make the Hawks very vulnerable since Antti Niemi is a rookie. It’s hard for me to pick the Hawks to win the Stanley Cup, let alone seeing them even getting there.

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Posted on March 12, 2010

By Thomas Chambers

These are two races players will need to tread upon quite cautiously. The query looms: Do you try to beat ’em?
Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta each run Saturday in what are really their one and only preps for their showdown in the April 9 Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park. Rachel runs in The New Orleans Ladies at Fair Grounds and Zenyatta in the Santa Margarita at Santa Anita.
The biggest taboo is to raise the specter of either one losing this week, before the two goddesses square off in Hot Springs next month. The Daily Racing Form has provided us with “What I did on my winter vacation” pieces for both Rachel and Zenyatta.

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Posted on March 12, 2010

By Dan O’Shea

First base traditionally is a position rich in fantasy baseball talent. No fewer than 11 1Bs could go in the first four rounds of most fantasy baseball drafts this year (though I only listed seven in my own top 40 picks a couple weeks ago).
Second base traditionally is a much different story. Only five players with 2B eligibility are widely considered to be in the top 40 this year.
Fantasy owners have two different ways of looking at this disparity: Some like to join the 1B rush because the best of them tend to be some of the league’s big boppers, and not draft a position like 2B with a shallow talent pool until later in the draft. Others like to go for the top 2Bs (or another shallow position – shortstop) right off the bat, figuring they can still get a decent 1B in deeper rounds.
I like the latter strategy. I wouldn’t take top-ranked 2B Chase Utley over top-ranked 1B Albert Pujols, but I probably would take young 2Bs like Ben Zobrist and Dustin Pedroia with big-name 1Bs like Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis still on the board.
With that in mind, here are some 1Bs and 2Bs to think about past Round 4:

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Posted on March 10, 2010

By Jim Coffman

Please, please, please let’s not hear any more talk about how the Bears overpaid for Julius Peppers, or for Chester Taylor for that matter. There is no overpaying in the NFL. Of course there isn’t a salary cap this year so any team can spend as much as it wants on talent. But even before that part of the most recent NFL collective bargaining agreement kicked in, virtually all NFL teams were in good position to spend plenty on free agents because they are all raking in ridiculous revenues.
Heading into last season, much was made of the Jacksonville Jaguars struggling to sell tickets. Then during the season, many of the telecasts of their home games were blacked out locally because they hadn’t sold out their stadium. The economy had taken a terrible toll on the fans in that portion of Florida, we were told, and the Jaguars were surely struggling to make ends meet.
Except they weren’t. In fact, it wasn’t even close. Jacksonville receives the same portion of the television rights pie that all the other NFL teams do and that speedily escalating payment is approaching $150 million per team per season. Teams can, of course, make more money by filling their stadium and attracting multiple local sponsors, but even if they don’t come close to maximizing those streams they are still doing fine.
No surprise then that when former Packer defensive end Aaron Kampman, thought to be the second-best pass rusher on the free agent market and therefore the second-most sought after individual talent, announced Sunday he had decided to sign a big-money new contract with a new team, it was with the supposedly cash-strapped Jaguars.

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Posted on March 8, 2010

By Thomas Chambers

Tommy Skilling might say, we’re keeping an eye on the computer models on this one.
I might say that if we’re not already in it, a perfect storm is brewing for the near total demise of Thoroughbred horse racing. It’s a slow kind of kill, and painful.
This is a sport that has never had the organization or discipline to manage itself in the modern age – or, After Simulcast – and as conditions worsen, is not structurally equipped to handle the load. It’s getting its ass kicked by everything from the NFL (check out all the Bears coverage in what is still just the beginning of the offseason) to cage fighting. I don’t think even Mike Holmes can save it now.

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Posted on March 5, 2010

Chicago’s very own Joakim Noah was one of the pleasant surprises and breakout stars of the first half of the NBA season. He has been one of only a half dozen or so players to average a double-double per game (10.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, along with a nice 1.6 blocks), and seemed destined for top 50 status in next year’s draft – until the dreaded plantar fasciitis hit.
Now, he appears to be on a program of a few games rest, followed by a few games with minor playing time (though I’m betting more of the latter if the Bulls manage to hold their current playoff slot).
Noah’s pain should be Taj Gibson’s gain, by my count. Gibson, SF/PF, has had a good rookie campaign (8.6 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.2 BPG). Though his numbers didn’t surge much after the Bulls became disenchanted with Tyrus Thomas, SF/PF, and his playing time looked to take a hit with the arrival of another SF/PF, Hakim Warrick, it’s the void left by Noah, a PF/C that has provided a boost.
Last week, Gibson averaged 11.8 PPG, 9.8 RPG and 2.0 BPG, and my guess is he’ll be averaging a double-double in another week or so. Yet, he was only 39% owned in Yahoo! leagues.

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Posted on March 3, 2010

By George Ofman

First base is a much maligned position. Some have called it the easiest spot on the field. Hard to argue, though ask Mark Grace how easy it was to handle all those erratic throws from Shawon Dunston. You don’t really notice first basemen until they make one of those fancy scoops of a an errant throw or make a diving stop and manage to toss to someone covering the bag. Of course, you do notice them when they hit, and many first basemen can hit and hit for power. Granted, it’s not a glamour position, nor have many first basemen advanced to the Hall of Fame. Only ten have been inducted and the most recent was Eddie Murray, who last played in 1997. Some players are moved there because they can no longer function in the outfield, third base, or catching.
Some though, are originals – and very good ones. And today’s crop just might be the best of the bunch. For openers, there is Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, Justin Morneau, Todd Helton, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez and James Loney.
Then there are the pillars of Chicago. Paul konerko and Derrek Lee have provided fans here with stellar play; Konerko for the last 11 years and Lee since 2004.
And both could be gone by July or, at least, by the end of the season.

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Posted on March 2, 2010

By Jim Coffman

The idea of Canada as our continent’s dominant sports power will take some getting used to. When do the next Summer Olympics start? Yes, I know the U.S. finished atop the overall medal table in Vancouver (with 37 total medals to 30 for second-place Germany), but the Canucks’ 14 golds to the Americans’ nine? Yikes.
Canada does have 33 million people, so I guess it isn’t completely surprising that a few dozen of them excel at obscure, icy sports and that some of them managed to win individual and team competitions at their home facilities. I’m just hoping that, given the whole 300-million-population thing we have going for us, maybe we can find a distance skier or two by the time the 2014 games roll around. If we can dominate men’s Nordic combined, surely we can finish in the top 10 of a cross country ski race or two.

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Posted on March 1, 2010