Chicago -
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
What the Cubs and Trubisky have in common. Including: Maddon’s Post; Fixing The Unclutch (Another Word You Could Use Is ‘Chokey’) Cubs; The White Sox Core Is No Joke; Run, Mitchell, Run; Blackhawks Czech Line: Wendell Carter Jr.’s Rule-Breaking Strip Club Visit; In Other Words, The Fire Have No Shot At The Playoffs; and Red Star Sam Kerr Is A Star.
Posted on September 27, 2019
By Jasmine Harris/The Conversation
The California state legislature has approved a bill that allows college athletes to earn money through athletic endorsements starting in 2023. The governor hasn’t said whether he’ll sign the bill into law. Jasmine Harris, an expert on student athletes, addresses how the bill, known as the Fair Pay to Play Act, would alter college athletics if it gets signed into law. Her edited comments are below.
1. The Fair Pay to Play Act mentions preventing the exploitation of student athletes. Just how are student athletes being exploited?
Posted on September 24, 2019
By Jim Coffman
How’s that tank job working out for you, Theo?
As the Cubs go down in flames in spectacular fashion to wrap up the fifth season of their post-tank era, it is time to assess many of the assumptions that have surrounded the team and its management during the club president’s eight-year reign.
Posted on September 23, 2019
By Roger Wallenstein
There is no shortage of critics when it comes to White Sox general manager Rick Hahn for making what many fans interpret as bone-headed moves since he became GM back in 2013.
He’s really taken it on the chin for the free agent signings of Yonder Alonso and Jon Jay prior to this season, purportedly to entice Manny Machado to join his brother-in-law and close friend, respectively. Of course, Machado opted for the multi-millions in San Diego where he’s hitting .251 while Alonso was released in early July after being a colossal flop for the Sox. Jay battled injuries before and during the season, earning his spot in White Sox lore as another failed free agent.
Then there was Ervin Santana, a veteran who had won 16 games two years ago and was trying a comeback after being injured most of last season. Santana’s tenure on 35th Street was good for about a month in which he started three games without lasting more than five innings in any of them.
Posted on September 23, 2019
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
The autumn of our discontent. Including: Mitch Falsbisky; Only Person In Chicago More Unpopular Than Mitch Trubisky Is Craig Kimbrel; Cubs Lab; The Undertaker; These Cards Will Run!; The Amazin’ A’s & Yankees; The White Sox Are Still Playing; Chicago Joe Fire; The Sky Is Crying; and The Red Stars Try To Lock Down A Playoff Spot This Weekend.
Posted on September 20, 2019
By Jim Coffman
One thing we have learned about coach Matt Nagy over the last six months or so: If the man isn’t careful he tends to wander into the intersection of obsessive and compulsive.
He did it with the Bears’ search for a kicker early in the summer, and his play-calling very much had that feel on Sunday as the Bears pulled out a heart-pounding 16-14 victory over the Broncos. Paging Andy Reid! I know you have plenty to worry about with the Chiefs (although they look like they are going to kill just about everyone again this year), but we Bears fans sure would appreciate it if you would have a chat with your protégé in Chicago about maintaining an even keel.
Posted on September 16, 2019
By Roger Wallenstein
“We were shooting truthfully to be .500 or better,” White Sox manager Rickey Renteria said a week ago. On Sunday, his team suffered its 84th loss in what will be its seventh consecutive losing season.
Renteria might be excused for his optimism for this season after last year’s edition, losers of 100 games, went 29-38 after the All-Star Game, a stark improvement over the first half of the season. And his bright and bushy prognostication looked reasonable when the action halted for the annual mid-season classic this past July as the Sox stood at 42-44.
However, just when we thought that .500 was within reach, the White Sox have had trouble beating almost anyone. After losing series’ last week to the Royals and Mariners, two teams with a combined 117-183 record, Renteria’s bunch sunk to 19 games under the break-even mark, thanks to a 23-40 showing in the second half.
Posted on September 16, 2019
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Winter is here. Plus: After Over 70 Years, The Cubs On WGN Is Coming To An End; Tim Anderson Chases Obsolete Award; I AM SO SICK OF MITCH TRUBISKY; Ryan Pace Had One Job This Offseason And He Failed At It Miserably; ‘Scuse Us While We Kiss The Sky; Blackhawks Open Training Camp Again!; A Chicago Bull Is Dominating The World Cup; Really Good Chicago Fire News Broke While We Were Recording This; and Chicago Red Stars Rolling.
Posted on September 13, 2019
By Andre Perry/The Hechinger Report
Few things are as ensconced an American tradition as football – except the exploitation of black labor and police harassment of black folk. Black people make up 13 percent of the population but comprise 31 percent of the people killed by police and 39 percent of people killed while not attacking, according to a Vox analysis of FBI data. Regardless of educational level, blacks are consistently paid less than whites. Black exploitation is American as apple pie.
And black men make up 70 percent of the football players in the NFL.
There’s a disconnect between the cultural and economic power that black athletes wield and the way they are treated – and it’s time that they ignored critics and leveraged that power to boost black communities.
Posted on September 13, 2019
By The Positive Coaching Alliance
The Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), the leading non-profit dedicated to transforming youth sports to provide character development in youth athletes, announced Monday that Chris Moore will succeed the organization’s founder as CEO.
With leadership experience at some of the country’s largest and most influential youth sports organizations, Moore will continue to build on founder Jim Thompson’s mission since he established PCA two decades ago: to transform youth sports so sports can transform youth.
Posted on September 10, 2019
