By Jim Coffman

Who remembers who the Cubs traded for Anthony Rizzo several years ago? It couldn’t have been anyone valuable, could it? Theo Epstein wouldn’t have given up a real asset to acquire a player he was most interested in for sentimental reasons, would he?
Rizzo was a kid that Theo and his boys had drafted into the Red Sox organization in 2007. And he earned the admiration of one and all after he battled cancer and emerged victorious shortly thereafter. But when the opportunity arose for the Red Sox to acquire stud first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres, San Diego insisted that a certain prospect in particular be part of the transaction. Rizzo was shipped to the Padres in the blockbuster that resulted in Gonzalez moving to New England.
The next year, Rizzo got the call. The young first baseman who had beaten cancer was on the verge of claiming a spot in the middle of a major league lineup. But he was a bust. Rizzo barely batted .100 before San Diego finally gave up on him after a couple months in the majors.

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Posted on March 31, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

The Cubs aren’t even fun to hate-watch anymore.
Every last ounce of joy has been sucked out of this franchise. Goodbye Dioner Navarro, you were the last Cubs legend.
The team is even celebrating the death this year of Wrigley Field (1914 – 2014).
Goodbye, Wrigley. Now you’re just a gum company again.
It’s gonna be one boring season, from Sleepy Jim Deshaies in the booth to charisma-deficient Anthony Rizzo as team leader. Some interim coach we can’t even work up an opinion about is managing the team this year and we don’t even have a closer identified yet whom we can pour our frustrations onto.
The Opening Day pitcher is nicknamed the Shark but his performance is more akin to imitation crab.
Some predictions:

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Posted on March 31, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

My favorite cold-weather baseball story actually comes from a high school game.
I was teaching and coaching at the posh Francis W. Parker School in Lincoln Park when the athletic director was a soft-spoken, wonderful guy named Bob Steffens. Before becoming AD, he coached a number of sports, including baseball, during his long career at the school.
Parker, in its continual effort to bolster the self-images of its students, had a no-cut policy. Anyone who wanted to play on a team could do so, although there was no requirement that everyone got playing time.
Parker’s home baseball field was what could best be described as tundraesque during April in that triangle at North Avenue and Lake Shore Drive. When the wind blew from the east – which it tended to do every time we played at home – there was no stopping it.

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Posted on March 31, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

“The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago, Peter Sung Ohr, ruled Wednesday that Northwestern University football players are university employees and entitled to an election that will determine whether they can form a union,” ESPN reports. “The blockbuster ruling and Ohr’s reasoning raise significant legal questions.”
Let’s take a look.

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Posted on March 28, 2014

By Dan O’Shea

Spring training is wrapping up in the next day or two, leaving fantasy baseball team owners a few days without baseball to ponder whether they made the right draft decisions.
As you do so, don’t let spring training stats weigh too heavily on you. Will Mike Moustakas hit .467 for the next six months? Probably not. Will Madison Baumgarner go unscored upon for the entire regular season, as he did through four spring training starts? Unlikely. Will Luis Valbuena lead the league in HRs, as he did for spring training? Well, perhaps in a parallel universe.
Those questions, of course, are unrealistic questions, but here a few a few real ones to ponder as the table is set for the regular season (or the rest of it, since MLB insisted on already playing two games last weekend).

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Posted on March 26, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

The relationship between athletes and their fans has always been more or less a double-edged sword for the men and women who play the games.
Seattle’s 12th Man propelled the Seahawks to the NFL championship. It’s become de rigueur when players in winning locker rooms and clubhouses thank “the greatest fans in the world.” Fantasy camps let fans hobnob and play catch with current and former stars. Offseason conventions like SoxFest enable fans to mix with the likes of Ron Kittle, Tony LaRussa, Gordon Beckham and Paul Konerko.
On the other hand, boos will echo throughout the Cell when Adam Dunn strikes out yet again with guys on base. Ryan Braun will be rudely treated this summer in ball arks across America. And whatever you do, don’t invite Moises Alou to the same dinner party with Steve Bartman.

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Posted on March 25, 2014

By Jim Coffman

Even if it wasn’t March, it would probably be time to take a break from pro sports in this town this week. We will have all summer to bash the profits uber alles Cubs after all. The Bulls are in the midst of a sluggish stretch that most recently saw them barely eke out a couple wins over the awful Sixers sandwiched around a tough loss to the Pacers. The Patrick Kane-less Hawks had no answers for the going-nowhere Nashville Predators last night, losing 2-0.
And the portion of weekend morning sports radio I happened to hear featured a conversation about the Bears’ back-up quarterback situation. I was proud of myself in that it only took a couple minutes before it occurred to me that maybe it was time to take a break from Bears talk for a little while (then again, only 45 days ’til the draft!).
Clearly it was a series of signs. I almost always focus on pro sports in our major leagues-obsessed town but today even I will have to take a look at the Tournament and note that the first three-and-a-half days (before a series of boring blowouts late Sunday) were about as good as it gets in terms of basic sports drama.

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Posted on March 24, 2014

By Perianne Boring/RT

“It’s March Madness and basketball fans are going mad over Quicken Loans’ billion-dollar bracket challenge. The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, has promised $1 billion for the perfect bracket. Buffett is one of the most successful investors in the world. What could he be getting out of this? The answer: Your data.”

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Posted on March 20, 2014

Don’t Be Fooled By Inflated Lines

Sixty-one of the Cubs’ 96 losses last season came with one of their top three starters on the mound – the same top three that return this season.
Apparently some Cubs fans haven’t gotten the message about how bad their team really is, according to SBRForum’s Doug Upstone. Consider:
* Opening Day starter Jeff Samardzija is their best pitcher and on any other team he’d be a No. 3 starter at best – and a No. 4 on a quality team.
* The bullpen hasn’t improved.
* The rest of the roster is so weak, they’ll give the Astros a serious run for worst team in the majors this season.
So the serious value is with betting against the Cubs – as usual. Here’s Upstone’s report:

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Posted on March 19, 2014

A Docu-Drama For The Ages

What if I told you, he wasn’t the greatest?
That sometimes, it is a matter of life and death?
That no one can outrun the truth.

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Posted on March 18, 2014