O’Donnell: Buoyant Sox, confusing Cubs two teams passing in a murky May weekend
FAITH, HOPE AND CLARITY ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT TRIFECTAS surrounding the Cubs and White Sox this weekend.
Hope abounds around the South Siders. The moribund of 2023-25 are suddenly the gratefully resurrected of 2026.
A record teetering above .500 can do that for a fan base far too accustomed to 100-loss seasons in recent years.
Memories of the sleepy Tony LaRussa seem as long ago as the Chicago mayoralty of Lori Lightfoot.
THE FACT THAT the underperforming Tigers are guesting at Rate Field through Sunday does nothing to rain on the West 35th Street parade.
Davis Martin has gone from an arm in the crowd to a speedball bayou 8-1. The big bat of Munetaka Murakami is waking up the echoes of the powerful Frank Thomas and Jim Thome.
The organization is so buoyed that no less than Bob Costas checks in on June 9 to call play-by-play alongside Steve Stone for a Sox-Braves game on Chicago Sports Network.
A Red Rush hologram may be next, complete with Gonnella Bread crumbs.
IT ALL HINTS AT AN ONGOING PULSE, a vital sign sporadic at best with the Cubs in May.
The 20-12 of May 1 entered the weekend at St. Louis 31-26.
The password around the Wigglies — a code known to all “W” flag wavers from ages 8-to-80 who care — has become “streak.”
Blocks of 10 — two winners, one loser — can do that to the most deeply vined of the ivy faithful.
CRAIG COUNSELL IS SURROUNDED by much mitigation — again — in season three of his $40 million managerial reign.
Depleted pitching is way up there but so are the unpredictable bats of Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson and the blue-mouthed Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Their series with the Cards gets national micro-section capped by featured status on “Sunday Night Baseball” (6 p.m., NBC, Peacock).
JASON BENETTI BOLTS HIS DAY JOB with the Tigers to call that one, joined in the booth by Albert Pujols and Jim Deshaies.
Having Deshaies serve as a network ambassador to the world for Chicago baseball seems cheesy and tame, like Rod Blagojevich co-starring in a “Blues Brothers 3.0.”
But such is the demi-reality and trifecta unpredictability of a Chicago baseball spring chasing faith, hope and clarity.
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NO LESS THAN ARCHIE MANNING TOOK TIME to comment on George Bork, the all-time Arlington High/Northern Illinois quarterback legend who died this week at age 84.
“George Bork helped revolutionize the passing game in the early 1960s,” said Manning, who serves as chairman of the National Football Foundation. “More than six decades after leading the Huskies to an undefeated season and a national championship, Bork remains one of the true pioneers of the modern passing game.”
A native of Mount Prospect, Bork achieved national loft as the flingin' QB in coach Howard Fletcher's innovative “Shotgun Spread” offense.
IN THAT 10-0 TITLE SEASON OF 1963, Bork became the first college quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards (3,077). The “small college” Huskies capped that campaign with a win in the Mineral Water Bowl.
His acclaim was such that Sports Illustrated dispatched staff to DeKalb to profile Bork and ace open-prairie receivers Hugh Rohrschneider and Gary Stearns.
Many — including young Chicago American columnist Brent Musburger — expected Bork to be a high selection in the 1963 NFL draft.
Instead, because of his comparatively small size (6 feet, 170 pounds), Bork wasn't drafted at all.
HE WOUND UP SPENDING four seasons with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League before capping his throwing career in 1968 with the semi-pro Chicago Owls.
Bork then went on to a long and distinguished career as a coach and educator in local High School District 214.
It's universally acknowledged that the current Huskie Stadium is “The House That Bork Built.”
During his days under Fletcher, the NIU band would form at halftime to spell out “B-O-R-K” as it played “You've Got To Be a Football Hero.”
George Bork was.
STREET-BEATIN':
Jalen Brunson and the Knicks enter Game 1 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night as the first team in league history to face nothing but Game 7 survivors in the final three rounds. That's prompted more than 12 full days of extra rest for New York. Still, Tracy Morgan's favorite team is an underdog. …
Speaking of longshots, a $100 bet on unheralded Juan Manuel Cerundolo at the lowest points of his upset of top-seeded Jannik Sinner at the French Open would have netted $50,000. As Sinner was wilting in the heat, the fact that tournament officials allowed a medical timeout was outrageous. …
NBC's return to NBA coverage this season boasted excellent production values and extremely uneven talent. Reggie Miller was easily best of the bunch; longshot Jamal Crawford, a former Bull, struggled to establish presence as a game analyst. And those touted interview snippets with Mike Tirico patty-caking Michael Jordan had as much sizzle as an extended Zach LaVine retrospective. …
Aggrieved neighbors recently posted 41 yard signs on their lawns around St. Viator High School protesting the possibility of a new football stadium on the school's campus. Within three nights, all 41 were stolen. Arlington Heights Police canvassed the 'hood. A new batch of 100 was scheduled to arrive this weekend. …
And Charles Barkley, after the Knicks closed out a sweep of Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals with a 130-93 win: “Lisa Salters and Malika Andrews were talking about the Cavs players saying that they believe. Well, I believed they were going to get their (rear) whooped and that's exactly what happened.”
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.