Chicago -
By AP
“Researchers are tackling fresh questions about a degenerative brain disease now that it has been detected in the brains of nearly 200 football players after death. As a new NFL season gets underway, here’s a look at what’s known about CTE.”
Posted on September 8, 2017
By Jim Coffman
The time has come to make a Bears prediction. The time has also come to acknowledge it is an impossible task. And not because of the excuse others will use, the one having to do with multiple major potential contributors seemingly not having made it all the way back from injuries and therefore questionable for the season.
My primary dilemma is, who knows whether this team will win two or maybe even three games? Heck, perhaps everything will go right and they’ll get five glorious victories. I fear I won’t be able to determine whether 2-14, 3-13 or good golly Miss Molly 4-12 will be the way to go (I have to narrow it down somehow and five wins is obviously the least likely). But by the end of the column I vow there will be closure.
Posted on September 5, 2017
By Roger Wallenstein
He’s a rotund, cuddly teddy bear out there on the mound, the kind of guy who should have his own rocking chair in the dugout. Perhaps the bat boy should bring him slippers and a pipe between innings.
At age 44, Bartolo Colon just keeps on throwing strikes, like he did last Thursday as his Twins trimmed the White Sox 5-4 to complete a three-game sweep of the South Siders. Leaving after six innings of work with the scored tied at 3, Colon kept his team in the game despite giving up 10 hits, not an unusual occurrence for the 20-year veteran who clearly loves to pitch and compete.
Steve Stone reminded viewers time and again that Colon throws his fastball more than 80 percent of the time. Early in his career, the Dominican righthander’s heater was consistently in the mid-90s, and he reached 92 last week.
But that’s not the story. Pinpoint control is. Colon rarely walks anyone. He’s issued 10 passes in 55 innings for the Twins this season. Against the White Sox, he didn’t walk anyone. If a fastball under the hitter’s hands is called for, Colon is your man. If an opponent tends to swing at pitches in his eyes, Colon is more than willing to cooperate.
Colon appeared to be finished in 2009 when he was a member of the White Sox. Ineffectiveness and arm woes sent him to the DL, and he actually disappeared in July. Then-manager Ozzie Guillen confessed that he didn’t know the whereabouts of his pitcher. Colon was inactive the entire 2010 season before making a comeback with the Yankees in 2011 when he was 38.
Posted on September 5, 2017
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
The Bears are who we told you they were. Plus: ‘The Cubs Are Ready To Go’; Concussion Report; Rick Hahn’s Best Season; and The Fire Go Up In Smoke.
Posted on September 1, 2017
