By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Team Hoiberg falls of the cliff. Plus: RealFeeling The Bears and Joe Maddon Fails To Embrace The Target Of Accountability.
Posted on December 17, 2016
TrackNotes: What’s He To You?
By Thomas Chambers
Affinity for anything is all in the mind, a matter of degree.
Grandiose obsession or mere admiration. Controlled emotion, or not. Tears, or no. All-knowing smugness about “your guy,” or a healthy detachment.
Pete Rose the gambler. Tiger Woods the Lothario. Rae Carruth the murderer. Ray Lewis, the who-knows-what.
Teddy bears at the accident scene, only to have Streets and San clean up the next rainy night. Chalk on the bricks on Waveland or Sheffield, and the million-psi power washer stealing all that soul just hours later. Being told to get lost in an autograph request to a player you just knew you knew, and love(d). People just want to belong, to something.
You’ve got to be careful with all this.
Posted on December 16, 2016
Michael Jordan Wins Trademark Case In China
By Adam Jourdan/Reuters
SHANGHAI – China’s highest court has ruled in favor of former basketball star Michael Jordan in a long-running trademark case relating to a local sportswear firm using the Chinese version of his name, overturning earlier rulings against the athlete.
The former Chicago Bulls player sued Qiaodan Sports in 2012, saying the company located in southern Fujian province had built its business around his Chinese name and famous jersey number “23” without his permission.
In 2015 a court ruled in favor of Qiaodan Sports over the trademark dispute, a ruling which was then upheld by the Beijing Municipal High People’s Court. After that ruling Jordan’s legal team said they would take the case to China’s top court.
Posted on December 16, 2016
The Blue & Orange Kool-Aid Report: Yo, You Holding?
By Carl Mohrbacher
I can’t figure out if the Bears are tantalizingly close to being good, or the Lions are just that close to being bad.
One thing is for certain: The Bears excel at losing close games.
Six of their 10 losses have been by one score or less.
We’ve seen comebacks fall short and leads blown late, but this loss was of the particularly painful variety in which a solid overall performance is marred by penalties.
The Bears committed them early, they committed them often, they committed them in the house, they committed them with a mouse, they committed them in a box and committed them with a Fox.
Posted on December 15, 2016
Doping Probe: ‘Unprecedented’ Russian Corruption
By AP
A World Anti-Doping Agency investigation says Russia, backed by the government, corrupted the 2012 London Olympics on an “unprecedented scale.”
The head of that probe said Friday more than 1,000 Russian Olympic athletes are now linked to doping.
Posted on December 13, 2016
The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #131: Rebuild City
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
The Hot Stove League is scorching. Including: White Sox Ditch Drake LaRoche Fan Club; Cubs Always Closing; Dusty Maddon; John Fox Is Officially A Clown; Hoiberg vs. Thibodeau vs. Popovich; and Marian Hossa, MVP.
Posted on December 9, 2016
The Blue & Orange Kool-Aid Report: Slurpee-esque
By Carl Mohrbacher
You win some, you lose some. And sometimes you lose when you win.
So say many a sportswriter throughout the Internet.
Despite a convincing victory against the 49ers on Sunday, the Bears managed to draw the ire of their fan base by lowering their chances for a top three pick in the 2017 draft.
Posted on December 8, 2016
Sale, All Smiles, Sold
By Roger Wallenstein
His face said it all. The beaming smile was one of a man who looked as though his first child had just been born. Or maybe he had just closed a deal for his dream home.
Chris Sale was free at last. His image on social media Tuesday with five buddies, including his college baseball coach, appeared to be one of relief, of a young guy full of future aspirations and more than ready to leave throwback uniforms and children in the clubhouse in arrears.
Chris Sale’s college coach just sent me this. Says he’s so excited to join @RedSox pic.twitter.com/l3mThCWn1t
— Chelsa Messinger (@ChelsaMessinger) December 6, 2016
Posted on December 7, 2016
Why People Delude Themselves With Sports Rituals & Superstitions
By Keis Ohtsuka/The Conversation
What do LeBron James, a lucky coin and a smelly goat have in common? They are all part of a rich tradition of sports superstitions.
Both athletes and fans alike have looked towards these superstitions, rituals and curses for explanations about failures and successes. What is the science behind the belief that external forces can affect the outcome of a game?
Posted on December 6, 2016
SportsMonday: Barkley Buoys Bears
By Jim Coffman
How often during the past several years were Bears fans told by the local sports commentariat that they were stuck with quarterback Jay Cutler because “Who are they going to bring in who’s better?” They must have repeated that mantra 10,000 times.
But there was always one primary problem: No one knows what a guy can do until he gets a chance. And with the easily offended Cutler in the way, no one was getting a legit chance with the Bears (although Brian Hoyer probably would have this year if he hadn’t broken his arm).
There was one exception: Josh McCown showed what he could do with a decent offensive line and some awesome talent at receiver during eight starts when Cutler was out injured in 2013 (among other things he threw 13 touchdown passes against just one pick).
But local professional sports analysts convinced themselves that Cutler would be better going forward. And when McCown signed in Tampa and then struggled the next year, oh how they loved to tell his supporters how wrong they were. That was a Tampa team, by the way, with absolutely no playmakers of note.
Now Matt Barkley is getting a chance behind a makeshift offensive line and a receiving corps that is without its three top talents (Alshon Jeffrey, Kevin White and Zach Miller). And right off the bat let’s say that, of course, the Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers (who the Bears beat 26-6 on Sunday) aren’t the most vigorous competition. And yes, yesterday’s completion-less first quarter was downright ugly.
Posted on December 5, 2016