By Jim Coffman

The Flames flamed out. And local pumpkins and small animals need not worry about the potential side effects of magical transformations this time around. OK, OK so there probably aren’t any local pumpkins at this point in the year. Work with me here.
Perhaps we should be relieved that Chicago’s last best hope for representation at the royal basketball ball otherwise known as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bowed out last night. The UIC flames dropped the Horizon League final against Northern Kentucky 71-62 to drop their overall record to 18-17. They will not qualify for the Big Dance as an at-large team.
We can feel at least a little better because every time a local Cinderella qualifies, it potentially makes the ultimate underdog story, Loyola’s run to the Final Four the year before last, a little less memorable. When something happens all the time it isn’t terribly special now, is it?

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Posted on March 11, 2020

By Roger Wallenstein

Coronavirus might have been on my mind last weekend, but upon being introduced to people, I behaved as I always do. I shook their hands.
In the interest of full disclosure, I walked into Sloan Park in Mesa on Sunday where the Cubs were entertaining the Diamondbacks. My pal, another Roger, an avid and longtime White Sox devotee, lives in Mesa. He reserves a space for 60 of his friends each season at the Party Deck at the spring home of the Cubs. Enticing that many old folks to drive 30 miles across the Phoenix sprawl to see the Sox play in Glendale isn’t an option. He’d find no takers. So he plays host at Sloan.
Even though we intensely had been following the news, taking note that old people are most susceptible to the COVID-19 bug, when any of Rog’s friends extended their hand, I shook it.
Was that force of habit or my internal dialogue telling me unwisely that I’m feeling good and in little danger of getting the virus? I’m still trying to figure that out.

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Posted on March 11, 2020

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Yoan Moncada vs. Pedro Strop. Plus: The Daily Dallas Keuchel; Big Data Darvish; Why David Ross May Bring Back The Intentional Loss; Streaking Blackhawks On Life Support; Brad Biggs Talks Football With You; Bulls Finally Testing Paxson’s Argument; Chicago Fire Home Opener; and Illinois Hoops Nation.

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Posted on March 6, 2020

By Steve Rhodes

One in an occasional series tracking the movements of former Cubs.
1. Pedro Strop.
“This past offseason was not one to remember for the Cubs, a big-market, high-payroll team that spent a mere $3.5MM on free agents after failing to make the playoffs in 2019,” MLB Trade Rumors notes.
“The club also lost quite a few of its own notable free agents, including reliever Pedro Strop, even though the right-hander revealed Wednesday that Chicago had interest in retaining him (via Gordon Wittenmyer at the Sun-Times).

“They did try hard to bring me back. It’s just money-wise, they couldn’t, because they weren’t allowed [with] all the salary cap stuff; they wanted to try to stay below,” Strop said.

Oy.

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Posted on March 5, 2020

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Malcolm Subban is not the future. Plus: The White Sox Have A (Heads-First) Running Game: The Cubs’ Unreckoning; The Tony LaRussa Rule; Fire Ryan Pace But What Else Is New; Meet The New Chicago Fire . . . ; Bulls Might Not Win Another Game This Season; and The Glorious Women (And Some Men) Of Illinois Hoops Nation.

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Posted on March 2, 2020

By Jim Coffman

The new Fire looked just like the old Fire – except for the ridiculous new kit (uniforms) – during the season-opening 2-1 loss in Seattle on Sunday. And sorry MLS, but the 2020 league looks just like the 2019 iteration after the first weekend of the 2020 campaign.

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Posted on March 2, 2020

By Roger Wallenstein

Spring training, as every manager will aver, is a time for drill after drill, emphasizing the little things that can make the difference between a win or loss once the long campaign commences. Winning teams rarely botch hitting the cutoff man, defending the bunt, pitchers covering first, and so many other nuances and details of the game.
But once the games count for real, predictably within the first week of play, a guy beats out an infield roller to the first baseman because the pitcher was late getting off the mound. For sure we’ll see outfielders not only missing the cutoff man, but throwing to the wrong base as the runners advance into scoring position. Plays that should be backed up aren’t.

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Posted on March 2, 2020

By Corinne Daprano and Leslie Picca/The Conversation

Women have made great strides in the world of sports over the past 50 years.
Especially in some individual sports, female champion athletes today earn far more money and command a much bigger audience than their predecessors – thanks to breakthroughs by tennis champions like Billie Jean King and Venus and Serena Williams and top golfers such as Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez and Michele Wie.

We are fans of women’s basketball and scholars who study the role that gender plays in sports and the changing status of female athletes. Despite massive changes in attitudes toward women who excel at sports overall, with few exceptions we’ve observed that the disparity between what adolescent boys and girls can aspire to accomplish in professional basketball today remains enormous.

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Posted on February 25, 2020

By Jim Coffman

From early February into the middle of the month, my thinking changed regarding whether the Houston Asterisks’ 2017 World Series championship should be vacated.
I initially felt that it would be a mostly empty gesture, but as time passed it seemed to occur to everyone including me that the owner and the Houston players going essentially unpunished was untenable. I understand that commissioner Rob Manfred would like to wait for the end of the investigation into whether the Red Sox used technology to cheat in 2018 (to potentially say, “You see, several teams were doing it”) but considering the inability of MLB to conduct brisk investigations, that might not happen for months. And even if it doesn’t, who cares?

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Posted on February 24, 2020

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Cleaning up Manfred’s mess. Plus: The Unprecedented Nature Of Kris Bryant; Baseball’s New Freaky Rules; Marquee Media Moves; End Of The World According To GarPax?; Bulloney; Ben & Eddy; We’re Confused Too, Breadman; Derek Carr’s Eyelashes vs. Casey Urlacher’s (Alleged) Offshore Gambling Ring; Illinois Hoops Nation Update, and more!

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Posted on February 21, 2020