Jim O'Donnell: MLB Opening Day '22 - game is for Grandpa, drone racing is for dwindling knothole gang
THERE ARE POCKETS OF EXCITEMENT sprinkled throughout the Chicago area over the fact the 2022 Major League Baseball season begins later this week.
There are also pockets of excitement that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is giving out free gas cards, the Ravinia Festival has a strong summer lineup and the Bears will remain 0-0 for five more months.
In other words, "Grandpa's Old Pastime" is back. Shake down the ghost runners.
Hopes are high among White Sox fans. Prices are high for Cubs fans.
Vegas is predicting top-tier competitiveness from Tony La Russa and the Sox.
Vegas is predicting tedious mediocrity for David Ross and the Cubs.
MOST NEW-MILL KIDS could give a gnat's brass about anything to do with The Grand Old Game.
They'd rather be out drone racing or exploring the infinite terrain of "Minecraft."
So would some adults.
Baseball cards are high tech. Baseball salaries are highly obscene.
THE TRIGGERING PHRASE in MLB broadcast circles is "evolving sports streaming."
Before all is said and done, that means Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and Peacock will continue to nudge into a niche most recently ruled by Fox, Turner, ESPN/ABC and the MLB Network.
In that respect, what's so new?
Pat Pieper and in-park megaphones once gave way to radio, which gave way to TV, which stretched monthly budgets into cable TV. Regional sports network now command pictures and the dough of viewers and all ends when Len Kasper calls yet another White Sox game on radio.
Leaving fans wishing Pieper and megaphones still might make a comeback.
ODDSMAKERS ARE SAYING the over/under for total wins by Tim Anderson, Lucas Giolito and the Sox is 92.5.
That's a figure that's hopeful to some, daunting to others.
It suggests nothing but a smooth South Side cruise atop the AL Central.
Those same numbers folks indicate the dividing line for Jason Heyward and the Cubs is 75.5.
That suggests new Wiggley ca-chinger Seiya Suzuki may spend many early mornings having more fun watching his money grow on The Tokyo Stock Exchange.
IN THE END, one MLB team will win a World Series in November.
The other 29 will be splattered along that long, lonely base path from Pitch One to Final Out Exit-o.
American youth will marvel at more and faster drones.
The most tradition-tethered Grandpas will still man pockets of metrics-driven excitement.
• ONE OF THE ROUGHEST RESIDUALS of that unfortunate decision by University of Illinois administrators to extend Brad Underwood's contract is that Roger Powell Jr. has reached full incubation and is ready to take over his own program.
Powell - an essential on Bruce Weber's mythical 2004-05 NCAA runner-up Illini - has been an assistant at Gonzaga since 2019. The 'Zags are 90-7 during his time in Spokane.
The Joliet native, who has been an ordained minister since his teens, would be a godsend toward touching the very best of the legacy of men's basketball at State Farm Center.
As for Underwood, the first four years of his restitched six-year deal - covering 2022-28 - are reportedly guaranteed. That means the state's flagship university is on the hook for close to $16M hoping "the Ferret" grows a March Madness gear and avoids evil.
STREET-BEATIN': If nothing else, the bank account of Craig Kimbrel will always have fond personal heft (theft?) from his two modest turns in the bullpens of Chicago. (He pioneered a new positional designation while in Our Town: Direct-deposit setup man.) ...
Whatever the postseason fortunes of the Bulls, Billy Donovan's management of the team has been unquestionably resourceful. Now if only that "Curse of the Breakup" didn't preclude any NBA titles until all lingering toxic connections are gone. ...
Tim Jankovich quietly retired after 10 seasons atop the SMU men's basketball program. The Bill Self acolyte parlayed the foundation that prematurely deposed Porter Moser built at Illinois State into a solid five-year run with the Redbirds (2007-12) and then millions down in Dallas. ...
Bob Baffert continues his multi-flanged legal battle to gain back eligibility to race horses at tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. The corporation banned him for 24 months after his Medina Spirit tested positive for a banned substance after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby. (Maybe Baffert can start in The Masters instead and let Tiger Woods saddle his horses on Derby Day.) ...
As Xavier (+4½) was beating Texas A&M for the NIT championship Thursday night, ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla was choking on his microphone trying not to underscore the "inconsistencies" of the officiating. (Powers behind the dying tournament got the "thriller finish"they wanted; the most cynical bettors cashed.) ...
And Gotham poster Tommy Ameen, on the six-season, four-college run of former DePaul guard Charlie Moore to the Elite Eight with Miami: "He must be the best-educated student-athlete in America."
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears three times weekly, including Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.