Chicago -
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
One of the game’s best managers turns in perhaps the worst managed game in history. Plus: Call Crane Kenney A Wahmbulance; Matt Maddon’s Chicago Bears; Hawk’s Doc; Thibodeau Putting Bulls Back Together; NU Worse Than Duke; Elena Delle Donne’s Mystics Get Swept in Finals.
Posted on September 14, 2018
By Alan J. Kellner/The Conversation
In July, I was walking with my parents through the newly constructed Titletown District in Green Bay, a new community development across the street from Lambeau Field, where the Packers play their home games. It features a local brewpub, a boutique hotel, free outdoor games like foosball and shuffleboard, and a large practice field where kids can play football.
At one point, I heard my dad say, “I know who this is.” He had picked out the Packers’ president, Mark Murphy, hurriedly making his way through the swarming crowd of people. Murphy kindly paused to shake my father’s hand and then my mother’s and then my own.
As Murphy moved on, my dad’s next reaction was interesting to me as a political scientist.
“The Packers are the only team with a president instead of an owner,” he said, turning to me. “You know, with every other team in the NFL, all that money the team makes, that goes straight to the owner. The Packers don’t have an owner. All that money goes back to the community, the fans. It builds stuff like this,” motioning toward Titletown.
Posted on September 11, 2018
By Jim Coffman
It was a last hurrah.
The conclusion of the Aaron Rodgers era is coming fast, and while of course he had to kick the Bears and their fans in the gut at least one more time, the guy will not be around to torment us forever. The end might not be nigh but it will get here faster now that we are in the Mack era. And when it arrives, won’t it be awesome not to have to hear any more about how incredible he is?
Posted on September 10, 2018
By Roger Wallenstein
Why so glum, Sox fans? The ballclub to which we swear allegiance has won the World Series exactly once in the past 101 years. If you were born after 2012, you’ve never experienced a .500 season, which could be a reason why children being raised in a White Sox household don’t like baseball. The greatest hitter in team history, Joe Jackson with his .356 lifetime average, will never be in the Hall of Fame.
On the other side of town, “Lovable Losers” was bandied about until a few years ago. Never would a team created within smelling distance of the Union Stockyards be tagged with such a defeatist attitude. With its blue-collar reputation playing in cavernous Comiskey Park, Sox fans have been strong, resilient and realistic. Comiskey Park. Wanna feel better? Write those two words side-by-side. Better yet, say them out loud.
So Michael Kopech can’t pitch next season. Big deal!
Posted on September 10, 2018
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Ryan Pace in his fourth year of trying to win now. Plus: This Year’s Surprise Team In The NFL Will Be A Surprise; We Don’t Care About College Football Yet; Cubs A Total Mindfuck; Eloy Jimenez And Dylan Cease Working On Defense In Their Backyards; and Onto The Mystics.
Posted on September 7, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
One in a series of posts catching up with former Cubs.
1. 53-Year-Old Rafael Palmeiro Is Out-Hitting His Son By 50 Points In Independent League.
That’s kinda being a dick!
Posted on September 5, 2018
By Jim Coffman
Football lives. In fact it thrives – especially in Chicago.
That much is crystal clear after the Bears went all-in Saturday on their “Drafts Be Damned” strategy. They traded a giant two first-round picks for the 27-year-old 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack (and a draft upgrade in 2019 – receiving a second round pick from the Raiders for a third, and a possible one in 2020 – a conditional fifth for a sixth). Then they made him the highest paid defensive player in the NFL with a $90-million (the part of the contract that is guaranteed) deal.
Chicago, and the entire league, is still buzzing about this absolute blockbuster three days later and will be for a while longer. In case Oakland doesn’t have enough that ails it, now its football team has announced it isn’t just moving to Las Vegas, it is tanking all the way there. The ridiculous Raiders, led by legacy owner Mark Davis, paid their coach (Jon Gruden) $100 million but they wouldn’t pay their best player. And Bears fans thank goodness for that.
Posted on September 4, 2018
By Roger Wallenstein
You’re always looking for that unexpected gem on a rebuilding ballclub, a guy no one ever heard of, a ballplayer devoid of the hype surrounding athletes with names like Jimenez, Kopech and Moncada. General managers’ lives are filled with plots, schemes and strategies aimed at building a system that will spit out players who will lead the franchise to the promised land called post-season play.
Every now and then a bit of luck plays a part such as the case of Daniel Palka.
Posted on September 3, 2018
