By Roger Wallenstein

My friend Patrick dropped by Friday evening, enticed more by the chops sizzling on the barbecue than the prospect of watching the Sox drop the second of four straight losses to the Twins over the weekend.
Settling in front of the tube, he asked me whether I watch the whole game. “Well, yeah,” I uttered. “Of course I do,” thinking, “Don’t most people?”
My pal is also a Sox fan, but the color of his team is red, not white. So I couldn’t fault him for being more enthused about the meat on his plate rather than the chances of Hector Noesi holding the Twins in check. But still.
Patrick was long gone when the Sox tied the game with two runs in the top of the ninth only to see former South Sider Eduardo Escobar slide across the plate in the bottom of the inning as a potential win evaporated, giving the Twins the 5-4 edge. In the four games, Minnesota outscored our guys by a measly five runs.

Read More

Posted on June 23, 2014

By Steve Rhodes and Jim Coffman

In this edition: What About The Bulls? Our Hero: Jeff Samardiza. This Week In The Sky. U.S. Soccer Has Already Exceeded Expectations. And more!

Read More

Posted on June 20, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

Just like the Cubs’ major league team, The Cub Factor has been on a bit of a hiatus the last couple of weeks. Unlike the Cubs’ major league team, we’re back. The Cubs, on the other hand, won’t return until 2018 at best.
The Week In Review: The Cubs lost three of four in Pittsburgh, won two of three in Philadelphia and opened a three-game set in Miami on Monday night with a win. Winning, of course, is counter to the plan, which is to change the Cubs culture of losing.

Read More

Posted on June 17, 2014

By Jim Coffman

As the NBA finals came to an end Sunday night, one question in particular demanded an answer: How does it all impact the Bulls?!
The short answer is: Not much. NBA teams operate in realm of the possible, and it will be simply impossible for the Bulls to build a roster similar to the one that enabled the Spurs to so thoroughly dominate the Miami Heat in a way we can only dream about.

Read More

Posted on June 16, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

You tell a six-year-old, playing his first season of tee ball, to play second base, and the kid most likely will run out to his position straddling the bag in the middle of the infield. The fledgling infielder, he of the concrete mind, figures second base means second base. Same with first and third. For the little newbies, telling them to play a base means just that – go right to the base, put your hands on your knees, and get ready to field a ground ball.
Of course, the coach/parent proceeds to direct the little guys exactly where to position themselves, correcting the silly – but logical to a six-year-old – notion that the basemen play directly on each base. In the best of Little League worlds, this is done with sensitivity and love rather than, “Where the hell do you think you’re playing?!?”
This positioning of players, beginning at a tender age, is a transient concept. In the very early days of the game, fair and foul territory hadn’t been defined, so players would position themselves willy-nilly wherever they thought the ball was likely to be hit. But the genuine inventor of the rules, Alexander Cartwright, introduced in 1845 a field shaped like a diamond – as opposed to a square – along with the idea of foul lines so that just one player, the catcher, resided outside of fair territory.

Read More

Posted on June 16, 2014

By Steve Rhodes, Jim Coffman, Thomas Chambers and J.J. Tindall

The most interesting thing about the White Sox is that they’re interesting. Plus: The shocking NBA Finals, the inauspicious opening of the World Cup, the horse racing world post-Chrome, and our exclusive report inside Chicago’s bid to host the 2015 NFL Draft.

Read More

Posted on June 13, 2014

Another Beachwood Special Report

Speculation is growing that next year’s NFL draft will be held in Chicago.
The Beachwood has obtained a copy of the bid Rahm Emanuel has filed with the NFL. Here are the highlights:
* $1 million pledged to media effort led by David Axelrod to convince Chicagoans they should feel better about themselves because a bunch of rich guys are coming here to party.
* Talking points already distributed to local TV news reporters, including these suggested questions to visitors: “How do you like Chicago? Do you like Chicago? What’s your favorite thing to do in Chicago? Do you like the restaurants in Chicago? Howzabout being in Chicago?”
* Gift bags will include VIP passes to Alinea and the Admiral.

Read More

Posted on June 12, 2014

Destroying Hopes And Dreams, Though, ‘Totally Within Realm Of Possibility’

Also from Jurgen Klinsmann:
* Cubs rebuilding plan “not realistic.”
* Defeating Rahm Emanuel “not realistic.”
* Preventing climate change “not realistic.”
* Destroying hopes and dreams “totally within realm of possibility.”

Read More

Posted on June 12, 2014

By Dan O’Shea

The major league debut of Gregory Polanco against the Cubs on Tuesday night caused a run to the waiver wire in many fantasy baseball leagues, even by teams with no immediate need for an outfielder.
How can a newbie cause so much fuss? Look no further than last year’s in-season debut of Yasiel Puig – or the debuts in recent weeks of George Springer, Jon Singleton and Oscar Taveras. Puig was last year’s overnight sensation, while Springer was this spring’s, with 12 HRs and 35 RBIs in just 47 games. Singleton already has a grand slam to his credit in just a week of service.
Polanco was 63% owned in Yahoo! leagues as of Tuesday night, so there’s still a little time to get in on the action.
So, who’s next? Here are a few possibilities if you want to start the bidding before they get to The Show:

Read More

Posted on June 10, 2014

By Jim Coffman

No rational person believes that LeBron James was at fault for the cramps that tormented him at the end of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, a game his Miami Heat lost 110-95 to the Spurs last Thursday.
It was the work of the poster child for irrational sports commentary, Skip Bayless – and the response to it – that perhaps best illustrated just how ridiculous criticism of James was on Friday.
So why do so many headlines this morning say something along the lines of “LeBron answers critics with powerful performance in Heat bounce-back victory (98-96) Sunday?”

Read More

Posted on June 9, 2014