North: Spotlight too bright for Lochte?
The Rebel Inside I see a similarity between Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding.
Harding might have been a terrific skater, but she is known more for her involvement with an attack on fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan than her performances on the ice.
Harding saw Kerrigan as an obstacle to her success. While her ex-husband, her bodyguard and two other men served time in prison for the attack, Harding pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder prosecution and was banned for life by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.
The most decorated Olympian of all-time, Michael Phelps, is like Kerrigan and has stood in the way of Lochte - who might have been considered the greatest swimmer ever if it wasn't for Phelps. (My apologies to Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.)
Lochte has never tried to harm Phelps, but with his quest for notoriety, Lochte now has become a sideshow, a carnival barker, resembling Harding. From reality shows to dying his hair gray to the so-called robbery in Rio, Lochte appears to be vying for the limelight.
Either way, this robbery story of Lochte and three other swimmers being robbed at gunpoint isn't going away anytime soon, especially after video footage surfaced of the swimmers returning to the Olympic Village in the wee hours of the morning and showing no signs of distress.
When Brazilian officials thought something smelled funny about their story, they wanted to question the athletes, but it seems Lochte was already gone.
The others were trying to leave town, but were detained in Brazil.
When a U.S. consulate member says, "No comment," you can be sure it will take awhile for the real truth to emerge, but the unraveling has begun.
Will Robin be back?
The Chicago White Sox never got over the hump this year and many people are saying Robin Ventura should go as manager.
My take was and still is: if he finishes .500 or better he should be brought back, but not if he doesn't.
Plain and simple.
The White Sox don't change faces frequently, and loyalty is always a factor for Jerry Reinsdorf, but so is discipline and sometimes that wasn't the case in the locker room this season.
We will see what happens.
NL Central figures:
Pennant races are in full swing, but not in the NL Central division with the Cubs holding a healthy lead over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals.
It's nice to see they still have the pedal to the metal and are giving 100 percent. There's no room for slackers because there will be playoffs to plow through.
And that's where the Cubs will be tested. Let's face it, the playoffs have never been kind to the Cubs.
All I can say to this young team is this: go get 'em, men!
Program notes:
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• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.