Chicago -
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Exceeding expectations, even if Captain Serious stands accused of not being serious. Plus: Bulls Losing Meaningless Games Against Crappy Teams In Dead Of Winter Just Like We Wanted Them To; White Sox Convention Opens At Southwest Suburban Motel 6; and John Fox’s Former Teams Meeting In The Super Bowl.
Posted on January 29, 2016
By Angel Krasimirov/Reuters
Bulgaria’s retired double Olympic wrestling silver medalist Stanka Zlateva said on Sunday she was once offered cash to lose a world championship final but had refused to do so.
“I was offered money at a world championship but for me, it’s much more important to win,” Zlateva, who retired this month, told Bulgarian national television. “No matter how much money they would offer.”
Posted on January 26, 2016
By Jim Coffman
Fellow Blackhawks fans, work with me here.
It is time for more people to do a better job dispensing credit when the boys of winter post yet another stellar defensive performance. Our latest opportunity to do so comes in the aftermath of the home team shutting down the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night 2-0.
Posted on January 25, 2016
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Also livin’ on a prayer. Plus: Blackhawks Have Only Won 12 Of Last 13; Riverboat Ron Has Last Laugh; and John Baker Way Better Than Dusty Baker.
Posted on January 22, 2016
‘There Is Nothing Bigger In The Ski World; You’re Willing To Die For It Almost’
It’s ended careers, it’s ended dreams, it’s crushed people.
Posted on January 22, 2016
Both Heartbreaking And Uplifting
“Like millions of kids before him, Jay Williams used to pretend he was making the game-winning shot while playing basketball in his Plainfield, New Jersey, backyard,” the jacket copy of Williams’ new book says.
“Unlike almost all of those other kids, he kept right on making shots until he became an NCAA champion and two-time national player of the year at Duke and the number-two overall NBA draft pick in 2002.
“But after just one season with the Chicago Bulls, a team starved for a new messiah since Michael Jordan’s retirement, Williams destroyed his career when he suffered a horrific motorcycle accident. In an instant, the man with as fast a first step as any point guard in history could no longer do anything for himself, including walk.
Posted on January 21, 2016
By Jim Coffman
Derrick Rose plays clueless basketball in the first six minutes on Monday afternoon, hoisting numerous ill-advised shots of the sort he has been missing all season, and a fan thinks maybe those who have called for his benching recently have a point as the Bulls fall behind by 13.
This comes on the heels of Rose giving even more clueless than usual answers to questions in interviews for the last six months, leading that same fan to also wonder whether Rose will ever make the kind of commitment to a team that it must have to even begin to contend for a championship.
But down the stretch, Rose is a big part of a highly satisfying run that enables the Bulls to knock off a nemesis, the Detroit Pistons, 111-101, for one of their most impressive road wins of the season. They enter this week tied for third in the Eastern Conference, with a 24-16 record at the midpoint of the season.
Posted on January 19, 2016
By Greg Stutchbury/Reuters
World tennis was rocked on Monday by allegations that the game’s authorities have failed to deal with widespread match-fixing, just as the Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year, kicked off in Melbourne.
Tennis authorities rejected reports by the BBC and online BuzzFeed News, which said 16 players who have been ranked in the top 50 had been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) over suspicions they had thrown matches in the past decade.
Eight of those players were taking part in the Australian Open, the BBC and BuzzFeed News said.
Posted on January 18, 2016
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
So much anger for a 23-15 team. Plus: Giving It Up For The Q Man. Giggity; Cutesy Cubs Convention Convenes; and Put Jason Benetti On The Board, Yes!
Posted on January 15, 2016
By Roger Wallenstein
This is the right size and mercifully the right shape. We can sit back, relax and strap it down. Put it on the board. Yes!
Few of us had ever heard of 32-year-old Jason Benetti until he was named to the White Sox broadcast team on Wednesday. Before he so much as utters a word, though, it’s safe to say his presence and voice will be a refreshing breeze in the team’s media package. The predictable clichés, the ego-boosting hyperbole, and the “in my 55 years in baseball” of Ken (Hawk) Harrelson will be carried primarily when the Sox are on the road during the 2016 season while Benetti handles the home schedule.
Either by dumb luck or savvy judgement, the Sox have hired a young guy who wasn’t a former player ready and willing to regale fans with frequently embellished stories about his athletic past. Benetti is a Sox fan from south suburban Homewood who graduated from Syracuse University’s top-rated broadcast communications program and then earned a law degree from Wake Forest.
Posted on January 14, 2016
