North: Random thoughts on winners and whiners
Time for some random thoughts as our two baseball teams move in different directions.
• After a bad star following the All-Star Game break, it looks like the White Sox season is over. Executive vice-president Kenny Williams and general manager Rick Hahn's player acquisitions have not performed like the organization had hoped.
• Kyle Schwarber, the 22-year-old Cubs catcher, is stealing some headlines from rookie sensation and third baseman Kris Bryant. Schwarber is hitting .409 with 3 HR and 11 RBIs in 13 games and if his defensive game can catch up with his offense, he could be the starting catcher for this team for awhile. Bryant, who has experienced some recent ups and downs, is still the stud on this team. Remember, third baseman and Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt hit only .186 in his rookie season with just 18 home runs, so Bryant is still way ahead of the game.
• The Bulls are basically bringing back the same team as last year. Apparently they didn't believe any more pieces were needed to dominate the NBA. Yet contending teams like the San Antonio Spurs picked up LaMarcus Aldridge and the Los Angeles Clippers picked up Paul Pierce, but in fairness to the Bulls, there weren't many guys out there that would help this team.
• Jordan Spieth, after narrowly losing The British Open to Zach Johnson, is still the overwhelming favorite to win the PGA Championship in August at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. While the tournament at St. Andrews in Scotland was a grind, it still was a five-day fest of great competition between big names and a few amateurs - all struggling with high winds and rain.
• In college football, the SEC should now be called the Whiners Conference. Between Alabama's Nick Saban and Auburn's Gus Malzahn, the whining about fairness or what other conferences do is unreal. In the meantime, Urban Meyer, who has done some whining in his day, is laying in the weeds for another Big Ten title and national championship for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
• After the U.S. men's soccer team was upset 2-1 by Jamaica in the Gold Cup semifinal, we won't be seeing the magical ticker tape parade in the Canyon of Heroes in New York any time soon.
• I always thought that Pat Summitt, the former women's basketball coach at Tennessee, would have made a great choice as the first woman coach in the NBA. But Becky Hammon just won the summer league in Las Vegas for the Spurs as head coach, and some people think she could be a head coach as soon as this year. With a little more seasoning, I think she'll be ready in 2017 because coaching veterans is much different from coaching in the summer league with mostly 19- and 20-year-old players.
• The Chicago Blackhawks convention was an overwhelming success. Didn't the season just end? These guys don't get much time off, but there are tougher things than being cheered by a big room filled with fans, and you don't hear any of their players complaining. See ya!
Program notes:
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