By Easton

Easton Diamond Sports, the industry leader in baseball-softball product innovation, is bringing back the most storied baseball bat in the game.
The B5 Pro Big Barrel, also commonly referred to as “The Green Easton,” originally debuted in 1978 and quickly gained legendary status with elite high school and college players in record-shattering numbers, propelling Easton to the forefront of bat innovation for over 40 years.
Now, Easton has produced a new breakthrough worthy of the B5 Pro Big Barrel name – a definitive game-changer that has arrived at a pivotal time for this generation’s top players.

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Posted on September 29, 2020

By Roger Wallenstein

First, a word from the apologists of which this writer counts himself. Maybe not hard core but certainly a member of the clan.
The apology is an oft-repeated rationale even as the dust is just settling on a historic 60-game major league baseball season. Before a game had been played, had any White Sox devotee received assurance that the team would finish 10 games over .500 and make the playoffs, they would have been head over heels excited, thrilled, and exuberant. The over-under for wins was 31.5, and the fellows won 35.
So why all the teeth-gnashing and worry, and, in some bastions, panic? Because we’ve been treated to the highs and low, the peaks and valleys these past couple of months. The Sox humiliated sub-.500 teams to the tune of 23-5 but against the better clubs, the record was 12-20.

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Posted on September 28, 2020

By Thomas Chambers

Adam Hollingsworth, aka the Dreadhead Cowboy, would be wearing a homemade cape and a bulging Speedo if he weren’t doing this.
Cosmic justice would dictate that something like this would happen to Hollingsworth, maybe just from 35th Street to 43rd, which is the next exit. That’s a lot shorter than the six to eight fucking miles he ran to beat his horse, NuNu, to within a half-inch of his life. One report had the distance at 7.5 miles.
There are very long horse races in the world, but they are carefully regulated at a more leisurely pace, and certainly not on concrete.

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Posted on September 25, 2020

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

All our teams are winning and nobody’s happy. Including: The Return Of Rickey Rentamanager; Same Old New Cubs; Gale’s Song; Bears Extend Part-Time Player Instead Of All-Pro; Mitch Cutler & The Kings Of The Tomato Cans; The Bulls Are All Growns Up; Killer College Football; Red Stars Align; and The Dynamo Stinks.

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Posted on September 25, 2020

By Mark S. Weintraub/The Conversation

Despite concerns about COVID-19, Big Ten college football is set to begin Oct. 24 – a decision that is largely driven by revenue.
University presidents and provosts effectively lost control of football and basketball when they let college coaches be paid salaries that rival those offered to those in the NFL and NBA.
For example, Jim Harbaugh is paid $7.5 million a year to coach the University of Michigan football team, although his pay was cut by 10% – dropping him down to $6.75 million for this season – as part of the university’s efforts to cut costs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the cut, Harbaugh had been the third-highest-paid college football coach in the nation.

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Posted on September 24, 2020

By David Rutter

When the history of COVID-19’s cultural strangulation is written, the soothing words of comfort will seem like shrill hypocrisy.
In the case of big-time college sports, the stated rationale that protecting young athletes was the highest priority will seem particularly empty and false.
The evidence of facts stands before your eyes.
Take Notre Dame football, for example.

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Posted on September 23, 2020

By David Rutter

While the Big 10 revs up in the bullpen, Notre Dame is the only big league college football operation at work in the neighborhood.
Whatever happens in South Bend is an object of interest even in normal times, but these days you can see patterns developing about what rules they’ll apply to their games. Notre Dame has sent unambiguous signals to the Big 10 about how to navigate the pandemic.
One of the big rules in display last weekend was deception and secrecy as a perhaps natural result of shutting down external observations.

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Posted on September 21, 2020

By Roger Wallenstein

Many years ago I was teaching fourth- and fifth-graders math, or arithmetic to be more precise. Managing to stay one lesson ahead of the eager scholars, I used the term “placeholders” to explain what to insert in the tens or hundreds column, when, in fact, there was nothing there. Not surprisingly, zero was and remains the placeholder.
I’m unaware if math teachers today continue to utilize the term “placeholders,” but the world of baseball, thank you very much, easily can embrace the concept.

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Posted on September 21, 2020

By Jim Coffman

Someone needs to put on a real good mask, grab Mitch Trubisky by the shoulders and give him a good, extended shake/pep talk while deploying extended eye contact. The message? “Dude! You’re 26 years old and you’re not just being paid to play football, you’re being paid to be the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears! And you’re 2-0!
“We know you’re feeling the pressure this year and that your performance has been uneven at best, but you need to find a way to enjoy these games man, especially the wins! You never know how many you’re going to get. And, most importantly, you need to make sure your teammates enjoy them as well. You can’t do that if you are moping around.”

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Posted on September 21, 2020

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Karma chameleons. Plus: Colin Kaepernick Still Screwed; White Sox vs. Dodgers; Cubs Somehow Still In First Place; Assisting Courtney; Red Stars Return To The Geek; and Lionel Messi Not Signing With The Fire.

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Posted on September 18, 2020