He didn’t fire.
Although California Chrome realistically would not have beaten Arrogate in the first Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park Saturday, his 9th place finish in the $12 million race, the richest in the world, was a disappointment to his many fans seeking at least a showdown between two of the best horses on the globe, if not an outright win.
But ‘Chrome had an excuse. After the race, trainer Art Sherman and ‘Chrome’s connections revealed that the six-year-old experienced fluid and swelling in his right front knee. A possible bone chip, the injury is treatable. He has had the issue before.

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Posted on January 30, 2017

By Jim Coffman

Does Dwyane Wade understand yet? He attended practice on Saturday after the team’s younger players called him out for skipping it so much. And that practice certainly seemed to help as the Bulls bounced back from an embarrassing loss to the Heat on Friday night with a decisive 121-108 win over the Sixers on Sunday. The Bulls are now 24-25.
But Wade also spent time whining over the weekend about people having unfair expectations for how much work a 35-year-old basketball player should put in.
Let’s try one final time to make something clear to the veteran shooting guard: You and Bulls management can work out what your best schedule should be. I happen to think it is ludicrous for a player who is making $23 million this year to skip multiple practices, but that’s just me.

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Posted on January 30, 2017

By Thomas Chambers

I’ve had God, and the gods, on my mind lately.
Last week, I got Matt “Guitar” Murphy’d when a Beachwood reader criticized my review of Disney’s Secretariat: The Impossible True Story”from 2010.
“Why do you have a problem with the Christian element? It made the movie that much better . . . just because you don’t believe in God does not mean others don’t . . . get over it,” she said.
For me, the review stands for itself, so I’m putting a halt to all of this right now before it goes totally whack.

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Posted on January 27, 2017

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Wherein Gar Forman comes out the biggest loser and Rajon Rondo is the least bad guy. Plus: Fred Hoiberg’s Tie; Jets Outfly Hawks; Pay The Woman, Sky; and Coffman All In On The Patriots.

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Posted on January 27, 2017

By Reuters

Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA said it had not admitted to mass doping in the country’s sports system and that a report in the New York Times which suggested it had was a distortion of its position.
The U.S. newspaper reported earlier that RUSADA officials had for the first time admitted there had been an organized conspiracy to dope in Russia.
It cited Anna Antseliovich, the acting director general of RUSADA, as making the admission in an interview.

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Posted on January 25, 2017

By Jim Coffman

In the coming month, the Blackhawks could make a trade to give Jonathan Toews some help. The deadline is February 28 2 p.m. on March 1st.
Or Toews could just start playing better.
That was what he did Sunday evening, when the Captain assisted on the first two goals, took advantage of maybe the Hawks’ luckiest bounce of the season (off the boards behind the net) to knock in the game-winner late in the third and then set up Marian Hossa for an empty-netter. It all added up to a 4-2 victory over the improving Canucks. It was Toews’ first goal since January 6 and only his eighth this season.

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Posted on January 23, 2017

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Annoying start for The Score’s new host. Plus: Setting The Super Bowl Table; The Sad Sack Exchange; Bears Drafting Too High!; Cubs’ Neverending Caravan; Hall Of Fame Shame; Bulls On Verge Of . . . Something; and Concern Trolling The Blackhawks.

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Posted on January 20, 2017

Another Beachwood Thought Experiment

It’s too late now, but Beachwood Labs was working on a list of potential new partners for Score sports talker Dan Bernstein that we still like better than, respectfully, Jason Goff.
To wit:
* Woodward & Bernstein.
Now with twice as many anonymous sources!

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Posted on January 18, 2017

By Lisa Rapaport/Reuters

As soccer has soared in popularity in recent decades, concussion rates for youth players have also surged, a U.S. study suggests.
Researchers examined data on high school soccer players from 2005 to 2014 and found non-concussion injury rates declined for boys and were little changed for girls. But concussions increased in both male and female players.
The significant rise in concussion rates “could be mainly due to a better recognition of concussion by medical and coaching staff,” study leader Dr. Morteza Khodaee, a sports medicine researcher at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said in an e-mail.
The research team looked at injuries per minute of athletic exposure, which includes both practices and competitions, for U.S. high school athletes.

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Posted on January 17, 2017

By Jim Coffman

The Bulls still have a long way to go (exactly 40 more regular season games) this season. But respectability (a playoff berth and a competitive first-round series is the minimum qualification) is within reach, and that would be a significant step forward for the franchise. I know the “championship or bust” people don’t agree with me, but I’ll try to persevere and make my case anyway.
The local team hung on last night to knock off the Grizzlies in Memphis 108-104 to even their record at 21-21, good for eighth in the Eastern Conference. It was one of their most impressive wins of the season, and it capped off a brutal stretch of schedule in which they went 2-3 in only seven illness-ravaged days. And even in the losses, the Bulls remained competitive despite obvious excuses for less-than-stellar efforts.

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Posted on January 16, 2017