Chicago -
By Jim Coffman
Mired in mediocrity.
That is all the Cubs have been this season. The last month has been about streaks forward and backward, but it all adds up to average (31-31). And it is becoming ever more apparent that this is most likely who the 2017 Cubs are.
Posted on June 12, 2017
By Roger Wallenstein
Back on May 17, a post on the White Sox website claimed, “White Sox Creating Winning Culture In Minors.”
But the question is, “Can you create a winning culture by losing?”
Posted on June 12, 2017
By Thomas Chambers
There was a big day of racing Saturday at Belmont Park.
And they also ran The Belmont Stakes.
Posted on June 11, 2017
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Theo takes honest tack. Plus: Grandpa Heyward; Cubs Still Mediocre; White Sox Now Officially The Worst; The NBA’s Defenseless Finals; Pens Looking To Join Kings, Blackhawks In Decade’s Pantheon; Butler Bullshit; and Schweinsteiger!
Posted on June 10, 2017
By Thomas Chambers
If Thoroughbred horse racing had a mirror today and through this weekend, its gaze would reveal a diminished opacity, ghostly, with the demonic horseflies of fan discontent, ill-bred horses, greedy track companies, oversaturation and perverted priorities dancing about its head, without so much as a Thoroughbred’s tail to swat them away.
It would also see, standing right behind, an image frozen in time. Frozen on Wednesday, June 7, in fact. The racing “industry” will never be able to escape his eyes, his plea eternal: “I did my part. Will you now do yours?”
For today, we mourn the passing of Holy Bull, just as 12 horses – as of this writing – of questionable talent and soundness, are to be sent off Saturday in the 149th Belmont Stakes (Grade I, $1,500,000, 12 furlongs/1.5 miles) at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
Posted on June 9, 2017
By Shereen Lehman/Reuters
Male and female high school athletes have moderate levels of knowledge about concussion symptoms, but the boys are much more likely to not report concussions for fear of seeming weak, a small U.S. study suggests.
The reasons boys gave for not wanting to report a concussion tended to center around not wanting coaches or teammates to think they were weak or to “get mad,” researchers report in the Journal of Athletic Training.
Posted on June 7, 2017
By Roger Wallenstein
If you’re scratching your head after the announcement about Hawk Harrelson over the weekend, join the club.
Reducing his broadcast responsibilities strictly to road games last season, we all knew that Harrelson, who will turn 76 in September, was nearing the end of his tenure in the booth alongside Steve Stone. Always one to challenge boundaries, Harrelson abandoned home games after the 2015 season since he lives in South Bend. What reasonable person would drive 180 miles round-trip when the Sox played at home, especially for night games when he might not get on the road until almost midnight or later?
When the news first broke last week that Harrelson would do 20 games (primarily Sunday home games) next season, Hawk was in typical form.
“Living in the eastern zone and working in the central zone, after the games are getting longer, that makes my trip with my temper – semi-truck driver and my temper don’t mix,” Harrelson was quoted as saying on Fox Sports. “Not at 3:30 in the morning, especially when it’s raining because I’ve got an axe-handle in the back of my car with some mace. And I’ve literally chased some of those guys before. I’m just glad I haven’t caught anybody because one of us would’ve been knocked out.”
Whew! Suffice it to say that Hawk won’t be running for a position in the Teamsters Union upon retirement from broadcasting.
Posted on June 5, 2017
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
A lot of things, it turns out. Plus: The Good News And The Bad News About Hawk Harrelson; MLB Standings Review; Ryan Pace, Secret Agent; The Patrick Sharp Dominoes; Pens Up; Warriors Golden; and Schweinsteiger!
Posted on June 2, 2017
By Shereen Lehman/Reuters
Injury rates among elite young female athletes may be higher than what’s been reported, new data suggest.
“Most studies define injury as time loss from participation, whereas many athletes with overuse injuries continue to participate despite pain and reduced performance. When time-loss definitions are used, about 90 percent of overuse injuries appear to be missed,” researchers write in the journal BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine.
Posted on June 1, 2017
