O’Donnell: Poles dodges key questions during soft sell at Halas Hall
SO, IF TUESDAY'S MEDIA CONFERENCE is to be correctly deciphered, Ryan Poles will pick the next head coach of the Bears with Kevin Warren, George McCaskey and select associates as shadowing as Joey Greco and snoop crew on the old “Cheaters.”
Among the mildew, three questions it would have been intriguing to hear Poles answer:
--- What best qualifies Warren to be involved in a football ops search? His firing in Detroit? His legal and administrative work with the Vikings? Or his flow-and-go as short-termed commissioner of the Big Ten?
--- Ryan, you won't tell the faithful media gathered here today your contract status. But don't you think any candidates you interview will want to know and then tell their agents, some of whom will leak it to favored media? So today's attendees are being treated as second-class citizens, correct?
--- To what extent do you view any of the other three organizations in the NFC-North as templates for what your dormant Bears should aspire to? And how in the name of Abe Gibron did you and Warren survive the past four months to still even have working employee codes to get into Halas Hall today?
As an organization, the Bears have no positive culture and Tuesday's shout-and-yammer in Lake Forest was for the meek and pliable only.
“Cheaters” might be the most appropriate name for the sort of market-monopoly people who profit off these endlessly repetitive cycles of pro football swill.
STREET-BEATIN'
Much fun with all of the hosannas flowing the way of Derrick Rose. But also a stark reminder that his playing fate remains Exhibit A of “The Curse of the Breakup.” John Paxson had done a masterful job of flipping the toxic Bulls and then boom zappo — the scorned basketball gods intervened. “The Curse” goes on. …
L-Vegan consensus that the CFP semifinal Friday night — Ohio State (-5 ½) vs Texas — is a stronger pairing than Notre Dame (-2 ½) over Penn State Thursday. Projected championship game lines (from DraftKings): The Buckeyes -7 vs. ND, -7 ½ against the Nittany Lions; Texas -2 ½ over the Irish, -3 opposite Penn State. (A Ryan Day-Marcus Freeman finale would be all about two coaches reprieved by fate.) …
Larry “Baby” Snyder is savoring retirement after a relentlessly political 42-year run as a sports producer at WLS-Channel 7. Snyder came aboard in late 1982, just as the 20-month experiment with Tim Weigel as lead news anchor was coming to an end. Snyder's backstage battles of will with Bobby Vasilopulos — Johnny Morris's “Secret Squirrel” at WBBM-Channel 2 Sports — were memorable. …
Bill Murray — America's guest — pulled a nifty New Year's Chicago sports Zelig. Murray was at the Blackhawks' 6-2 loss in the Winter Classic to the Blues at Wrigley Field. He was then courtside 24 hours later at Wintrust Arena to watch UConn (-11 ½) hold off DePaul 81-68. Son Luke Murray — an assistant to Dan Hurley — has already coached 14 seasons at six different schools, three with Hurley. …
That Winter Classic, predictably, tanked on TV. The game averaged less than 930K viewers across TNT and truTV, the lowest number in series history. The airy novelty has worn off, even if Connor Bedard did inadvertently snub the thin-skinned Jeremy Roenick. (Why does Roenick spend so much time with skates in his mouth?) …
A fresh bill winding through Springfield would establish a new harness racing track in Decatur with at least 900 supplemental gaming positions. (Maybe the Staleys can build there.) With Tim Carey and circle holding on for dear starting gate at Hawthorne, Chicago racing has never entered a year in a more decimated state. (But the casino at HAW will open any decade now.) …
Hideki Matsuyama's astounding shot-making en route to a record 35-under was the tee stopper at The Sentry on Maui. But another figure of note — especially for old-style ATOs from the University of Illinois — was the fact Will Zalatoris has added 20 pounds to his reed-thin frame. He's up to 182 pounds. Father Dan Zalatoris (Class of '76) was once an Alpha Tau Omega mainstay in Champaign. …
Amazon Prime Video has added Dirk Nowitzki and Blake Griffin to its stable of courtsiders for the premiere of its pioneering NBA coverage next October. Ian Eagle will be lead play-by-play. Adam Amin would be a natural No. 2 and it would leave the west suburban Addison native nicely positioned to succeed Al Michaels as Prime's voice of “Thursday Night Football.” …
And Bob Brooker, on watching Sam Darnold and the Vikings (+3) implode at Detroit Sunday night: “Who would of thought the Bears at Green Bay would have a better ending?”
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.