By Jim Coffman

It may not have mattered in general, but it mattered to the Titans.
Most years, at about this time in the NFL preseason, we remind ourselves that It Just Doesn’t Matter. What happens in the Bears preseason has so little to do with what happens once the real games start in another two weeks.
The “IJDM” mantra is always true, even after a game in which two Bears quarterbacks performed well. Two! So many more than usual. I refer of course to the Bears’ 19-7 thrashing of the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Sunday.

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Posted on August 28, 2017

By Thomas Chambers

Fearless Leader has always said that if you’re doing the same things journalistically in years two through nine as you did in year one, you don’t really have 10 years’ experience.
It’s easy to feel that way in Thoroughbred horse racing, as you annually go through the same races on nearly identical dates at the same tracks across the land.
But one difference between racing and, say, the Super Bowl is that the horses and competitive complexions and resultant wagering possibilities are so varied year to year in a particular big race. It’s not no stinkin’ New England Patriots every year. Even Super Bowl betting is monotonous.
But once again, August 26, 2017, I’ve got great news and good news. It’s Travers Stakes Day! It’s going to be as memorable a Travers card as we’ve seen. Or is it that we can remember? That’s the great news. The good news is that I’m not going to repeat today the history or the many reasons I love this big summer day from Saratoga. But if you’re interested, it’s all here, so I’ll save you the search.
With one helluva race day looming, this is a good time to reflect on the racing season so far. One reason, as you’ll see, is that it’s all sorta coming together in this Travers.

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Posted on August 25, 2017

By Karin Kamp and Jessica R. Calderón/BillMoyers.com
A BillMoyers.com post this week on the significance of Colin Kaepernick’s on-field protest and the fallout it has created for the quarterback hit a nerve with our readers, leading to more than 6,000 comments on Facebook (and counting).
During the 2016 football season, Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem to express his concerns about racial issues in America. In “Why Colin Kaepernick Matters,” columnist Samuel G. Freedman describes how Kaepernick, who is now a free agent after six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, has been essentially blacklisted by the NFL for his nonviolent political protest.
Here’s a sampling of the (lighted edited) comments that we received after asking our Facebook community what they thought of Kaepernick’s protest.

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Posted on August 23, 2017

By USA Table Tennis

“The Edgeball Chicago International Open is a table tennis festival, fun-filled weekend with music, cheerleaders, dancers, magician, games and raffles.”
The event was held in Libertyville earlier this month.
*
Highlights of the open singles final of the 2017 Edgeball Chicago International Table Tennis Open between Joao Monteiro (POR) and Thiago Monteiro (BRA).

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Posted on August 22, 2017

By Roger Wallenstein

It’s just baseball, but I take these weekly communications fairly seriously. Over the course of seven seasons, regardless of whether I’m here in Chicago, California, in Seattle visiting grandkids, or in Northern Wisconsin enjoying the north woods, I have managed to string together enough information, facts, history and stories pertaining to our White Sox in order to entertain whoever chooses to read these words.
This week is different. The insidious, gnawing thoughts in the back of my mind as I write this, and as I tune into Sox games, stir an uneasiness which was foreign to me just seven days ago.
These feelings have little to do with baseball. Instead I’ve been asking myself, “Should I feel guilty if I become wrapped up watching a ballgame after a band of despicable people chant ‘Jews will not replace us’ half a continent away? How can I ignore what happened in Virginia in order to see if the White Sox can win a road game?”
The fact is I can’t.

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Posted on August 21, 2017

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Apparently all is forgiven. Plus: This Just Does Not Seem Like The Cubs’ Year; Kenny, Ozzie, Jerry & Ricky; Chicago’s Best Sports Columnist Somehow Under The Radar After Long, Distinguished Career; and Schweinsteiger!

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Posted on August 19, 2017

By Samuel G. Freedman/BillMoyers.com

Every year at about this time, I veer away from most of the liberal aesthetes with whom I mingle in the chattering classes. My newspaper reading and smart-phone clicking takes an unexpected detour from politics, opinion and arts. The pro football season is approaching, and my guilty pleasure, my second religion, must be indulged.
By now, into my early 60s, I know all the logical reasons why my usual comrades refuse to share my passion. Football uses strategies and lexicon straight out of the military. Going back to Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, conservative politicians have appropriated the sport as their own. Elaborate presentations of the national colors by honor guards and flyovers by fighter jets have long been standard parts of pregame festivities. And now an epidemic of dementia and other brain injures among former players has left the National Football League with a medical scandal on its hands and a massive financial settlement on its balance sheet. Hardly any young parents of my acquaintance would let their child play organized tackle football, as I did in middle school.
So I don’t expect that the name Colin Kaepernick will mean a great deal to a great deal of you reading this essay. Or perhaps it will provoke some head-scratching, a game of charades with yourself, as you wait for that next clue that will lead you to the answer. But you ought to care about Colin Kaepernick. Colin Kaepernick matters, for reasons that have everything and nothing to do with football.

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Posted on August 16, 2017

By Thomas Chambers

I paid my annual visit to Arlington Park on Saturday for the 35th Arlington Million, but for those of you who gang TrackNotes and consistency in the same sentence, I did not Metra up there. Thank the magic of television, which turned out to be a real trip itself.
I’d finished setting up the new Forbidden Fruit BozoPuter which, I’ll tell you, becomes real murder when you can’t remember or find your WiFi password. I should at least get some free DeVry credit.
Ready for HORSE racing, NBCSportsNet pops on with B-level NASCAR road racing from Pocono. Rant as I did, we have to swallow the fact the ponies don’t have the clout for a no-preemption clause if things run late somewhere else.
And don’t forget, Churchill Downs Inc. didn’t care and Arlington had no pull, so The Million had been relegated to local WGN-Channel 9 in some sort of time-buy deal for a number of years previous to the 2017 jump to NBC. We suffered through Dan Roan, Rich King and AP shill Howard Sudberry for what can be called Chicago’s Very Own Dark Ages. “For those of you new to the game, this is a horse,” we often heard.

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Posted on August 15, 2017

By Jim Coffman

I will go to my grave believing that Ryan Pace ridiculously overpaid to move up a spot and take Mitch Trubisky at the draft a few months ago. And to all the people who say “It won’t matter if he turns into a star,” well, get back to me after the Bears have an injury or two this year and are exposed as having no quality depth at virtually any position.
Oh and while we’re here, they still don’t have good enough starters at multiple positions in the defensive backfield, receiver, linebacker . . . you hear what I’m saying. The Bears overpaid because Pace got paranoid and they will pay a price for it, this year and beyond. And there is a great chance that the Bears’ myriad weaknesses will impact the speed at which Trubisky can develop.
But hey, the kid looks like he can play!

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Posted on August 14, 2017

By Roger Wallenstein

We love underdogs. Especially when they’re right in our backyard on the South Side. Watching the White Sox, the American League’s worst team, sweep the league’s top ballclub, the Houston Astros, in three games last week was a welcome antidote for the losses that have been piling up in near-record fashion.
Houston invaded with a 71-40 record, while Rick Renteria’s outfit crawled along at 41-68. Only the Phillies and Giants have performed worse than the Sox this season. Nevertheless, the Sox won all three games with a combination of timely hitting, improved defense, and strong starting pitching, a commodity lacking in availability this season.

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Posted on August 14, 2017