O'Donnell: A new Robert Reich video suggests slow brakes on any tax money for the Bears
WHILE IT WOULD BE REFRESHING to take a short weekend break from the mounting drama over the possible move of the Bears to Arlington Park, that sanctuary doesn't come easy.
No less than Robert Reich - a Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration - recently lobbed in a brief to be considered with the release of a five-minute YouTube video "The Sports Stadium Scam."
Reich is now a professor of public policy at Cal-Berkley.
He hammers home the utter folly of any taxpayer money being directed to the construction of a new sports colossus for a private multibillion-dollar athletic entertainment corporation.
AMONG OTHER POINTS, REICH RESURRECTS the enduring quote of economist Allen Sanderson, the University of Chicago sage:
"If you want to inject money into the local economy, it would be better to drop it from a helicopter than invest it in a new ballpark."
Given the runaway gaga-ism beginning to loosen the golden faucet between Arlington Heights and Springfield, Reich's caveats are upstreaming against official regional panting.
But they are there, waiting for the more rationally restrained to view.
• • •
THE DEATH OF TIM MCCARVER brings to an end one of the most intelligent, facile baseball careers of the sport's prime TV age.
Few remember that McCarver made his MLB debut at age 17 in 1959 alongside Stan Musial, young Bob Gibson and other St. Louis Cardinals of Gateway distinction.
Many more will recall McCarver's remarkable broadcast career (1980-2019). He worked for all four networks and served as lead national analyst on 23 World Series. He was quite rightly honored with Cooperstown's Ford C. Frick Award in 2012.
Off mike, he retained a tirelessly civil knack for discussing points of the game.
IN SEPTEMBER, 1998, a conversation about whether Roger Maris should be in the Baseball Hall went on for more than an hour.
McCarver - a teammate of Maris on two title teams in St. Louis, one a World Series champ (1968) - won game, set and chat when he said:
"One hundred percent 'yes.' Forget about this 'magical season' (stuff). I saw the subtle things that made him an incredible addition to a championship baseball group. People also forget that he played in more World Series - seven - than any other player of the '60s."
Maris never made it to the Hall. McCarver, via the broadcast wing, did.
Most deservedly so.
<h3 class="leadin">STREET-BEATIN':</h3>
Boo "Baba" Buie and Northwestern are suddenly one of the most electric college basketball shows in the land. They're winning thrillers. If the streaking Wildcats can get past visiting Iowa today (BTN, 5:30 p.m.) and triumph at Illinois on Thursday night, Chris Collins has all but sealed the 2023 Porter Moser Memorial Award for breathing fresh air into local D-I hoops. ...
Mike Pereira - the FOX rules guru - told Rich Eisen after Super Bowl 57 that the league's replay technology is beginning to swallow the competitive flow of too many games. One solution might be a "decision clock" on time allotted to reviews. Ben Franklin and America's Founding Fathers didn't take four minutes to discuss elements of The Constitution. ...
Charming nugget from the SB halftime show was the decision of techno-trapper Rihanna to open her droning set with "(Expletive) Better Have My Money." Wasn't that tune among Meredith Willson's final trims from "The Music Man?" ...
In conjunction with Lydia R. Diamond's "Toni Stone" - about the first female to play professional baseball with the Indianapolis Clowns of The Negro League - the Alice Center of The Goodman Theatre is hosting a free discussion about women in sports media today at 4:30 p.m.: Panelists include: Shakeia Taylor (Chicago Tribune), Cheryl Raye-Stout (WBEZ-FM), Sarah Spain (ESPN) and moderator Zoraida Sambolin. ...
Jerry Reinsdorf's White Sox are facing sensitive off-field issues, none more prominent than the accusations against free-agent signee Mike Clevinger. Jay Mariotti - who else? - takes Reinsdorf and Rick Hahn to a fiery wall in a weighty column at substack.com titled "A Vetting Debacle." ...
Confirmation that Dan McNeil will be reunited with old mates Harry Teinowitz and John Jurkovic for a one-off on WMVP-AM (1000) March 24 only furthers speculation that McNeil is headed back to the station in an expanded presence. Teinowitz continues to fight the good fight against an array of serious medical maladies. ...
Tonight's ragtag NBA All-Star Game (TNT, 7:30 p.m.) joins the NHL's All-Star Weekend and the NFL's latest soft-serve version of its Pro Bowl as evidence of the sinking sports swill of February. Charles Barkley sumo wrestling against dinner-bell selectees from a Taco Bell drive-through would be more entertaining. ...
And Elliott Harris, on pro football's most AARP-adverse QB: "Until he officially filed his papers with the NFL, I thought '80 for Brady' was going to be a documentary on the number of times Tom retired."
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.