O'Donnell: Dick Clark, Fidel Castro and Ozzie Guillen mesh amid the Ins and Outs of July

IF DICK CLARK WAS still around to host "The Pyramid," the clues might be:

"An All-Star break ... NFL preseason projections ... Major golf live from Scotland at 5 a.m., Central."

The category?

"Sports Things That Are Frivolous"

Against that cheery backdrop, presenting yet another monthly installment of "An Insouciant Guide's to Current Sports Ins and Outs":

In - Rooting for "Chicago White Sox Theater" to continue indefinitely - One billion percent absolutely. ... This is some of the best locally produced drama since Dick Wolf arrived in town with all of those Chicago-based TV shows ("P.D.," "Fire," "Med," et al). ... Jerry Reinsdorf deserves the Snidely Whiplash share of the credit for his brilliant miscasting of Tony La Russa as "The Manager."

Out - Any thought of restraining Ozzie Guillen - No, no, no-no. ... Viva Zapata! ... The Chatty Senor may soon be quoting from both Fidel Castro and Simon Bolivar on the NBC Sports Chicago "Postgame Show." ... Came perilously close to touching the third rail late Tuesday night when he lobbed out an ad-lib that host Chuck Garfien unwisely spun toward anti-Semitic.

In - Pipe dreams of the Bears making the playoffs in 2022 - As long as the pipe is officially Cheech and Chong certified. ... To hear the experts tell it, this may be the worst Bears team since John Fox met Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley in 2016. ... The kind are calling it "a honeymoon season" for Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus. ... If it is, they're getting a leaky suite at The Sybaris.

Out - Predicting flaws in the sophomore season of Justin Fields - Who'll be able to tell? ... The projected O-line appears as solid as current gas prices. ... For a pregame psych-up tune, maybe Fields has a relative familiar with the Beatles and "Run For Your Life." ... Besides, when's the last time a QB from Ohio State made it in the NFL? ... When Art Schlichter was laying the points against his own Colts?

In - Failing to attend a Cubs game this year - Double guaranteed: You won't miss anything. ... The 1965 Cubs of Vic Roznovsky and Don Landrum were more exciting. ... Given the recent composition of crowds at Wrigley Field - extremely visitor-centric - the organization should be answering to The Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. ... It's a surprise that Cubbie hazmat suits remain optional.

Out - Watching anything on The Marquee Sports Network - Wrigleyville's new "Fernwood Tonight." ... If this is evidence of what the second-generation Ricketts can manufacture on their own, it's amazing all four aren't assistant Costco managers somewhere in the Omaha-Lincoln corridor. ... No one represents the "network" better than Jon "Bored" Sciambi, who has all the on-air bada-bing of an Orange Julius vendor at a Premier Lacrosse League game.

In - Properly toasting "the end" of Tiger Woods, superstar - As long as he agrees to end it. ... Play The Masters as long as the pins hold out and call it a prime-time. ... As his rough trip to Old St. Andrews underscored, TW is in the Michael Jordan/Washington Wizards phase of his career and that ain't good. ... And if the Saudis come calling with a few hundred mill, why should Tiger have to pass on hyper-capitalism? ... It's the American way.

Out - Thinking the LIV tour is going to go away - Not gonna happen. ... If anything, the sneaky sheikhs and their filthy lucre will come back more polished next year. ... And three years down the fairway, Greg Norman and the LIV rebels will be seamlessly integrated into the rhythms of big-time international golf. ... Along with a significant live presence on American TV.

In - Belonging to a fantasy football league - The smartest way to have some vested interest in the week-to-week shenanigans of the NFL. ... Sociability, intelligent analysis and limited losses - unless Tommy Pham has to beach slap a foe again before an MLB game. ... Once the province of pocket-protected nerds, it's a great vaccine against the encroaching avarice of Big Gambling.

Out - Making regular game bets or even worse, in-game bets on contemporary sporting events - Quack, quack, quack. ... As the esteemed Steve Schillinger - a pioneer of online gambling - once said: "A smart man's ultimate goal is to be the house." ... All other ducklings, please leave your money here. ... Old stooges have every right to tell new stooges - in the long run, you have no shot of beatin' 'em.

• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.