O’Donnell: All Bears aside, Cubs set to act out season atop Chicago sports marquee
WELL AFTER HIS TIME, subsequent editing turned many of William Shakespeare's most noted works from five into three-act plays.
Craig Counsell and the Cubs have as few as two — maybe three — performances on their biggest stage yet to complete 2025 drama.
That next production is called the National League Wild-Card Series. Its outcome will greatly influence whether the ensemble carries on as heroes or villains in the minds of both the golden-ticketed and the groundlings.
LET THERE BE no doubt about it:
Major League Baseball relishes the Cubs in the postseason. WCS broadcast partner Disney (ESPN/ABC) wants Wrigley Field as the historic backdrop for as many telecasts as possible.
That's why the Curious Ivies and their perilous September pushed such a large segment of the team's global fan base to streaming edge.
A most curious thing about that perception of doom is that Counsell's men peaked at 24 games above .500 — 88-64 — less than two weeks ago, following an 8-4 win at Pittsburgh.
THEY ALSO HAD the acute misfortune to return to merely above-median after a sensational spring and wind up tucked behind Pat Murphy's lovable small-market Brewers in the N.L. Central.
After a flat start, Milwaukee got healthy and then relied on other endearing micro hops like baserunning, defense and mojo.
The Cubs have battled a general perception of listlessness since the All-Star break. In more recent days, Cade Horton's cough, residuals from Shota Imanaga's hamstring strain and Kyle Tucker's nettlesome calf have further fogged the wild-card marquee.
THERE Will BE A SERIES DECISION in less than 60 hours after the first pitch vs. the Padres.
That's quick — certainly faster than the play writes and rewrites that Willie the Shakes once generated.
Now Cubs fans can only hope parting will not be such quick sorrow in the NLWCS.
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THE BEARS — BYE-WEEK BOUND — WILL SURRENDER a bigger chunk of the Chicago sports billboard to the Cubs following their late-afternoon date at Las Vegas today (3:25 p.m., CBS, AM-1000).
Over-the-air viewers in Chicago will be among less than 11% nationally who can access the game. Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta will be the junior-varsity crew manning the Fisheye booth.
The vast majority of America will instead receive the Ravens-Chiefs with overburdened Jim Nantz and overpaid Tony “Ramblin'” Romo on the call.
Ducking Romo is always a huge break for devotees of audio clarity everywhere.
REGARDING THE BEARS, even a 9-year-old fantasy player could tell that the Chicago-LV game is a match of two flawed teams.
The one that shows fewer chinks at key junctures this afternoon will prevail.
That hasn't stopped almost all written-word and broadcast Chicago NFL “authorities” from predicting a victory by B.J. and the Bears (plus-1½).
There is no greater reason to get down on carbon-dated Pete Carroll and the Raiders.
STREET-BEATIN':
Calls for the ouster of White Sox TV voice John Schriffen are like taunting Republicans outside of a voting booth in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood. Jerry Reinsdorf showed his utter contempt for play-by-play quality when he failed to intervene in the Jim Durham/Bulls disconnect in 1991. That legacy of pompous disdain continued when Jason Benetti bolted the Sox following the 2023 season. …
Disney will be missing a chip shot if the team of Boog Sciambi, Doug Glanville and Jesse Rogers doesn't wind up working the Cubs-Padres NLWCS on ABC. Sciambi is the second coming of John Rooney (a warning to Golden Corrals everywhere); the Ivy League Glanville — with a systems engineering degree from Penn — has engaging dimension that extends far beyond the baselines. …
The fringe piling-on has been ferocious as the star of Katie Feeney — age 23 — begins its ascent at ESPN. She was hired as a “Sports and Lifestyle Content Contributor” in August. Apparently potential, a fresh, telegenic look and an extremely beneficial early career break are more than enough to bring out the mean darts from the rust brigade. …
More youth being served: Jimmy Martin of Arlington Heights continues to hone his media chops as co-host of the growing “Division I Rejects” podcast. Host and founder is Kobe Manzo. The two met while pounding sleds for the Northern Michigan Wildcats. Content centers on Division II, Division III and NAIA football. They've already staged “GameDays” this season from Wisconsin-River Falls and Minnesota-Duluth. …
And A.J. Hinch, on the stunning free fall of his Tigers, told media, “It's been an absolute gut punch to the face.”
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.