By Carolyn Crist/Reuters

Injuries fell by half and concussions were reduced by almost two-thirds after Hockey Canada banned body checking for players younger than 13 years old, researchers say.
“Concussions are among the most commonly-occurring injuries in youth recreation, and although many recover quickly, some experience ongoing symptoms,” said study author Kathryn Schneider of the University of Calgary Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre in Alberta.
“The goal is to reduce the public health impact of this by preventing injuries from the start,” she told Reuters.

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Posted on April 19, 2017

By Roger Wallenstein

Rebuild, baby, rebuild. If this is what it looks like, the White Sox should have done it years ago.
Led by strong starting pitching, a near-perfect bullpen, and timely late-inning hitting, the Sox surprised a lot of people possibly themselves included by taking two road series’ last week in Cleveland and Minnesota to raise their season record to 6-5.
How can this be?

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Posted on April 17, 2017

By Jim Coffman

What the heck just happened?
We went into the holiday weekend enjoying one local baseball team’s great start and looking forward to more. At the same time our winter sports stars dove into a playoff series we were confident they would handle successfully.
We exit the weekend with the other local baseball team sporting a winning record and the other winter team having begun the playoffs as successfully as possible.
The White Sox take a 6-5 overall record into this week’s action and the Bulls swiped home court advantage from the Celtics with a 106-102 victory early Sunday evening.
Meanwhile the Cubs fell back to 6-6 after the Pirates swept through town. And the Blackhawks on Saturday suffered one of the most dispiriting losses I can remember, falling 5-0 to the Predators after the 1-0 loss that opened their first-round playoff series two days prior.
Sports are weird.

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Posted on April 17, 2017

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

The Blackhawks and Bulls enthusiasm gap. Plus: Cubs Got Cool-Ass Rings; South Side Rumors; The Lessons Of Cameron Lee; Delle Donne Is Out; Schweinsteiger Is In; and Weekend Advice From The Coach.

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Posted on April 14, 2017

By Roger Wallenstein

Will he or won’t he?
We’re talking about White Sox right fielder Avisail Garcia, the sculpted Venezuelan once tabbed as Little Miggy because of his likeness to fellow countryman Miguel Cabrera when Garcia broke in with the Tigers five years ago at age 21. After three solid minor league seasons, Garcia entered the scene in Detroit just in time to go all the way to the World Series where the Tigers bowed to the Giants in four games.
Garcia was the Tigers’ starting right fielder in two of those games and apparently had a bright future in Detroit. But the very next season when Detroit needed a shortstop, Garcia came to the White Sox in exchange for Jake Peavy, who was then peddled to Boston while Red Sox shortstop Jose Iglesias landed in Detroit where he remains to this day.
Now in his sixth season, the question is whether Garcia will be part of the White Sox future. By all accounts, this will be the pivotal season for Garcia, and if he can fulfill his early promise, he could be a fixture on the South Side. If not, he can join fellows like Thad Bosley, Dan Pasqua, Brian Anderson and many others, all busts in White Sox annals.

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Posted on April 10, 2017

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Coach is excited. Plus: Bulls Screwing Up In Reverse; The D League; Drama-Free Blackhawks Almost Forgotten; Awful Shooting, Awful Reffing In Awful Venue; and Schweinsteiger!

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Posted on April 7, 2017

By Jim Coffman

Baseball! And playoff hockey starting next week, and probably playoff basketball right after that.
It’s the most wonderful, time, of the year, except for the opening of the football season. Maybe.
Surely we can agree that both times are sweet and given that this one is accompanied by the promise of spring weather . . . enough said.
We enjoyed a preview of the next month (or two, come on Hawks!) on Sunday: The local hockey team lost 3-2 to the haven’t-clinched-a-playoff-spot-yet Bruins, the Bulls pulled out an impressive 117-110 victory at New Orleans (we can be impressed with a specific win and still be completely skeptical that a team will have any sort of success in the playoffs), and the Cubs opened their season with an exciting 4-3 loss to the Cards.

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Posted on April 3, 2017

By Roger Wallenstein

Let the losing begin. As if it hasn’t already.
I mean, we really should be prepared for this thing called “rebuilding.” As recently as 2013, when the R-word wasn’t part of the White Sox vocabulary, the club stumbled and bumbled to 99 losses. The over/under for wins this season is 68.5. If the team hits either side of that number, it still will outshine – OK, poor choice of words – that team of four years ago.
Sports Illustrated has rated the Sox the worst team in the American League. The magazine says the final record will be 65-97. Vegas odds put the Sox at 500-1 to win the World Series. (My pal Bud called from Laughlin, Nevada, where he said the Sox are 300-1 at Harrah’s. For some strange reason he was excited.) At least they’re not alone at the bottom of the pack. The pitiful Padres join the Sox as the longest of the long shots.
Historically bad ballclubs on the South Side have been a custom rather than an aberration. Long before the fellows on the other side of town were tagged “lovable losers” playing in the Friendly Confines, the other team in Chicago was the prime example of ineptitude.

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Posted on April 3, 2017

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Don’t believe the March Mirotic. Plus: The Bullshit Bears; Something About The Blackhawks’ Gas Pedal; The Cubs’ Smug Factor; White Sox Not Even Good At Being Secondary; The Chicago Fire Now World Cup Contenders; and NCAA Tourney Notes.

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Posted on March 31, 2017

The hour is growing late, and the Cubs are about to embark on their defense of the 2016 World Series Championship, so these are my final pre-season rankings. Two more Cubs herein, and even a pretty good Pale Hose hurler (though he’ll probably be hurling elsewhere soon).
76) Billy Hamilton, OF, CIN; OF Rank: 25 – During the first half of last year, his value tanked as he couldn’t get on to steal bases and was hit by injury, but he hit .293 with a .369 OBP after the All-Star break and ended the year with 58 SBs. No other value here, but maybe he’s turned the corner.

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Posted on March 31, 2017