By Steve Rhodes
“Baseball Furies is a documentary that explores the complex relationship between baseball, music, and artists who reject the cookie-cutter parameters of the American Dream.”
Posted on January 29, 2020
TrackNotes: Mucho Despicable
By Thomas Chambers
I did worse(!) than Rosie. Sat down just in time to see Zulu Alpha win the Pegasus Turf at 12-1 or so. $176 Exacta and nearly $900 Trifecta.
The Pegasus was just what we thought it would be.
Chalk 3-1 Mucho Gusto way outside in the gate, 2019 Eclipse Award winner as top jock Irad Ortiz, Jr. sent him and crafted the win. Why not? With these pretenders, what are they going to say? Look out for . . . Oh, just GO! They said afterward he’s booked for the Dubai World Cup. Can’t wait.
Posted on January 25, 2020
The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #288: Comical Cons
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Rickey and Ricketts. Plus: The Houston Asterisks; The Green Bay Packers Are Not In The Super Bowl; The Byzantine Bears; The Blackhawks Might Be Back!; Is Zach LaVine An All-Star?; Bulls Attendance Finally Rightsizing; Illinois Hoops It Up!; and TrackNotes: Death, Destruction & The Pegasus.
Posted on January 24, 2020
TrackNotes: Death, Destruction & The Pegasus
By Thomas Chambers
Lemmetellyasomethin’.
This horse racing game is really rough, and that does not include the bad beat bets.
In this installment, pay attention up top, because I may not be in the mood to elaborate the crap in the scroll down.
Posted on January 23, 2020
Mansplaining To A Millionaire
SportsMonday: The Blackhawks Might Be Back!
By Jim Coffman
The Blackhawks have done it. They have won five in a row.
Their reward? They have pulled within three points of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. Is that all, you say? Well, it is a lot better than where they were when they started the streak.
Posted on January 20, 2020
The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #287: The Houston Asterisks
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
The rules were clear. Plus: Pathetic Playoff Picks; Louisiana State’s Universe; Bye Bye Bourbonnais; Is Jonathan Toews Back?; Bulls Midseason Report: It’s The Underachieving That Stands Out; Red Star Rachel; Klopas Is Back; and Illinois Starts To Hoop It Up.
Posted on January 17, 2020
Olympics Warns Athletes That Kneeling, Fist-Raising And Other Political Actions Will Be Banned At The Tokyo 2020 Games
A Boing Boing/Common Dreams Joint
The International Olympic Committee – long a swirling cesspool of corruption, censorship, and reputation-laundering for repressive regimes – has attained a new low, issuing guidance to athletes competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that no political protests will be tolerated, specifically banning kneeling or raising fists.
Protests by Olympians – particularly Black Americans – have made political history, from the raised fists of John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the 1968 Mexico City Games (with Peter Norman standing in solidarity) to Jesse Owens’ thwarting of Hitler’s propaganda dreams for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Posted on January 14, 2020
Tech In, Garbage Out
By Roger Wallenstein
We called him Pickles, although I never knew why. It might have been his last name. He was a kind old gentleman, positioned behind home plate shielded by one of those balloon chest protectors. He worked alone, calling not only balls and strikes but also the bases for Little and Pony League games of my youth.
One evening there was a close play at second base that challenged the eyesight of Pickles, who never strayed much from his post behind the plate. Before making a decision, he meticulously strolled toward the center of the diamond to summon the baserunner and the second baseman.
The infielder claimed he put the tag on the kid before he reached the base. Turning to the runner, Pickles inquired about the veracity of this initial testimony. In that age of innocence, and because Pickles was an adult whom kids respected, the youngster reported that he was, indeed, out. He jogged toward the bench with a clean conscience without even a whisper of protest from coaches or parents in the stands.
Posted on January 14, 2020
SportsMondayTuesday: The Rules Were Clear
By Jim Coffman
All sport has is its rules.
When disputes arise, and I had the delightful responsibility to try to adjudicate arguments about rules in a number of tricky situations when I was president of the Welles Park Parent Association youth baseball and softball leagues, you go to your rules and hope desperately that they show a clear path forward.
Posted on January 14, 2020