I know that he is a very successful football coach (he could join the only two coaches to win a national championship in college football and win a Super Bowl – barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson), but Seattle Head Coach Pete Carroll is sleazy. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Potash this morning was almost genuflecting to Carroll that he “bends” the rules. Besides escaping USC before the NCAA could finish its investigation of Carroll’s program, the findings of inappropriate payments to Reggie Bush and his family which led to his subsequent relinquishing of his Heisman Trophy, this casts a serious doubt on Carroll’s oversight of his program.
He has taken to breaking the NFL’s rules too. Potash cites that Seattle was forced to forfeit two offseason practices because Carroll held impermissible live-contact practices. He also violated rules by allowing Terrell Owens to practice in pads before he was allowed.
Potash says that these “aren’t major infractions, but they are in indication of how far Carroll is willing to go to build a winning team.” Really! Yes, these are relatively minor infractions, but where there is smoke, there IS fire. What other rules is Carroll being cavalier about? Is it okay for him to flaunt the rules he doesn’t like or agree with while other coaches abide by the rules? Aren’t some of the rules he’s breaking prescribed by the league’s CBA with the Players Union? What happens when someone gets seriously hurt at one of these illegal practices?
I don’t usually have an issue with Mr. Potash’s column, but I can never abide a cheat.

I never took a journalism class, but from various movies, I have heard that one of the cardinal sins of reporting is “never bury the lead,” that is get to the point of the story early. Well, long time readers know that I bury the lead constantly (and am doing the same thing here, alas.) My point in this case is that the problem with burying the lead is that other “stuff” clutters up what you are talking about, and that is what the media is doing for the upcoming Super Bowl.
Instead of talking about the game between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks in two weeks, all anyone wanted to talk about was the after game rant by Seattle defensive back
Richard Sherman became the focal point of attention after Seattle beat San Francisco 23-17 to win the NFC championship.
Sherman was already going to be in the spotlight for the tremendous play he made on San Francisco’s final offensive play, deflecting a potential game winning touchdown pass intended for 49er wide receiver Michael Crabtree into the air which allowed teammate Malcolm Smith to make the interception to clinch the Seahawks victory. Unfortunately, Sherman’s antics after the play have been praised and trashed.
San Francisco had rarely thrown in Sherman’s direction most of the game, but in the final minute, 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick decided to take a shot to the end zone with Crabtree and Sherman matched up one-on-one. Sherman won the matchup, staying in position to deflect the pass and have it fall into Smith’s hands, similar to a tipped interception from Sherman to safety Earl Thomas in Week 15 against the New York Giants.
Sherman ran over to Crabtree and gave him a pat on the backside, then appeared to extend his arm for a handshake, but words were definitely being exchanged. Crabtree shoved Sherman in the face, which would have been a personal foul most of the time, but instead the official penalized the Seahawks for excessive celebration. The taunt included a choking gesture in the direction of Kaepernick.
Not satisfied, when Sherman was asked about the incident afterward by Fox reporter Erin Andrews, Sherman started a rant that began: “I’m the best corner in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s the result you gonna get. Don’t you ever talk about me!” It was getting progressively worse and Fox pulled the plug on the interview. And Sherman didn’t back down later, apologizing to Andrews but calling Crabtree “mediocre,” and saying that his issues with Crabtree went back to an incident during the offseason.
Some people were praising Sherman for being honest and unfiltered, and criticism from others for being too harsh and combative. As always, the answer is yes, and yes. The 49er receivers are known for talking more than a good game. Crabtree and starter on the other side Anquan Boldin both talk much crap on the field. Part of it is to get into the opponent’s head and take them out of their game. And, as we all know, football is a game of aggression where players are encouraged to “battle” their enemies (the other team). I think often about the late George Carlin’s comparison of baseball to football and the “war” terms used in the game. So, after swapping talk back and forth for an entire game (not to mention the two previous meetings this season since San Francisco and Seattle are in the same division), I’m not surprised that Sherman couldn’t turn it off, especially right after his great play and the end of the game.
But did Sherman take it too far? Probably. There is still this quaint concept called sportsmanship. I always remember what one of the Hall of Fame NFL coaches used to say about touchdowns – “act like you’re doing to be back again.” The whole concept of celebrating plays is silly – you see players in games behind by many scores, and one makes a play and dances like he just won a championship. You still have the rest of the game to play, you jerk.
Part of it is the “look at me” world we live as a result of the Internet and the media. Too many athletes at every level make a great play and then crow like roosters in the hope/intent/expectation that they will be on “Sports Center.” One has to ask the question: did Erin Andrews “need” a quote from Richard Sherman at that point seeing how hyped up he was?
So, with this “tempest in a teapot’” the Super Bowl hype begins. New commercials featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger suggest a new campaign for Bud Light (I think). Millions of dollars will be spent on commercials, hotels in New York, tickets. The final week before the Super Bowl is one of the worst for sports fans as the media swarm over every miniscule, picayune, angle they can turn into a story. I try not to pay any attention, but now, every writer and broadcaster is going to stick a microphone in Richard Sherman’s face hoping to get a reaction like they do any athlete who has a temper or appears out of control.

For the first time in history, the woebegone Chicago Cubs revealed its first ever mascot yesterday. The Cubs reviewed surveys and fan interviews that convinced the team that it needed more family-friendly entertainment. So, this week the team introduced an official mascot who works in the community and embraces young fans.
“Clark the Cub” obviously named after the street that bounds Wrigley Field is a comic bear with ball cap turned backwards, and wearing a Cub jersey. According to a press release, Clark will make appearances at schools during Cubs Caravan or Cubs on the Move Fitness Program visits; hospital appearances, and a number of family-focused Cubs events. The mascot also will greet fans at Wrigley Field before and during games, as well as assist kids in running the bases on Family Sundays and there is a new Clark’s Clubhouse area at Wrigley that families can visit.
Of course, with 105 years of World Series ineptitude, one would think that putting a better club on the field would make everyone happy. Yes, Wrigley Field is too often the world’s largest singles bar with young people often drinking to excess, which would turn off parents of small children. But the twenty-somethings would be less restless if the Cubs were a winning team.
Clark will appear at Cubs Convention this weekend at Sheraton Chicago. If it were the White Sox convention, the management would probably get grilled over such a benign publicity stunt, and the mascot would get its share of boos. Cub fans are so docile, they will probably be lining up for pictures with the mascot instead of asking Theo Epstein what is he doing to stop the 100 loss seasons?

Long time readers know that I am a movie fan. All you have to do is look up my annual Toronto Film Festival reviews to learn that. As such, I get really annoyed when people talk in movies; I have come close to fisticuffs at various times over the year. The latest rude behavior in films is texting. A couple of years ago I scolded a middle-aged woman who was texting in the row in front of me. She seemed surprised but didn’t want to get into it with a large black man I guess (and now they have the announcements to turn cell phones off in movies).
So, I admit that there were times when I thought about having a weapon to punish the worst offenders of the quiet in a movie theater, but I admit that I would never have done it (I don’t even own, much less have ever fired a gun), just one of those malicious thoughts that one has from time to time.
Well, I can’t think that one anymore. Yesterday, at a matinee screening of the Mark Wahlberg war film “Lone Survivor” in Wesley Chapel, Florida, Curtis Reeves, a retired police officer got into an altercation with Chad Oulson. The 43-year-old Oulson was sending text messages to his daughter during the previews of a movie and the 71-year-old Reeves who was sitting behind Pilson and his wife asked him to put his phone away.
Apparently, the two men continued to argue until Reeves walked out of the theater, it seemed, to look for a theater employee to complain. When Reeves returned, he was without a manager but seemed “very irritated,” according to a witness. Oulson, got up and turned to Reeves to ask him if he had gone to tell on him for his texting, saying that he was just sending a message to his daughter. As often happens, the argument escalated, popcorn was thrown, and then Reeves fired a gun killing Oulson and wounding his wife’s hand as she raised it in front of her husband. Then Reeves sat down with the gun in his lap.
I have often teasingly said that I am in favor of the death penalty for traffic offenses, and I have gotten plenty steamed in movies with rude people, but that is ridiculous. Who brings a gun to a movie theater (unless you are a gangbanger)? That is the world the NRA and pro-gun groups have led us to, and since Florida is the state famous for the “Stand Your Ground” defense that got George Zimmerman acquitted of killing Trevon Martin, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Reeves get off (except for the fact that he killed a white man – if the texter had been black, he might not have even been arrested especially as an ex-cop).
This is where the gun zealots’ argument fails. If Reeves doesn’t have a gun, Chad Oulson would still be alive; his wife uninjured; his daughter would still have a father. Maybe Reeves would have been angry, but if someone is texting during the trailers, it’s a minor annoyance – as long as it’s off before the film I paid to see begins, what’s the harm?
But not to Curtis Reeves – texting during the trailers was a killing offense. Absolute nonsense.

First, it appears that WXRT has come to an agreement with DJ Tom Marker. Since all WXRT has left is its air talent (since its playlist sucks), it probably isn’t the smartest thing in the world to fire a DJ and piss off the listenership.
Alex Rodriguez didn’t just sue baseball over his one season suspension; he sued the Players’ Union. I guess A-Rod is not only deluded about his taking PEDs, but he actually thinks that anyone in baseball will want to be his teammate ever again.

For a long time, I’ve detailed my argument against WXRT. They are boring as hell, no fault of the DJs who I think know they are playing the same crap over and over again, but they have livelihoods to protect. That’s understandable. And there has been no impetus to listen to naysayers like myself because the station is very profitable.
However, one has to ask (like we do to the Koch Brothers, the idiot owner of Papa John’s Pizza and others) how much money do you need? Tom Marker, 30-year stalwart of WXRT was changed from full-time, contract employee with nice salary and benefits, to a man without a show, now a part-time DJ at nominal pay. No wonder Mr. Marker was free to come to my neighbor Eddie “The Chief” Clearwater’s 79th birthday party and recording at Evanston SPACE last Friday night.
It’s bad enough that the suits have turned WXRT into a bland station that plays more artists than the other stations, but only the same 1-3 songs by those artists, but to screw over one of the most beloved voices on the air to make even more profit, where will it end. How long before the other “high priced” talent get the shaft?

The arbitrator for Major League Baseball and the Players’ Union ruled on Friday, shortening Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez’s 216 game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesys scandal, but upholding the suspension for the entirety of the 2014 season and postseason.
Of course, “His Royal Deludedness” has already said that he will sue in Federal Court. What Rodriguez doesn’t understand is that he has no case. One can make an argument that A-Rod was “Public Enemy Number 1” – the player Commissioner Bud Selig most wanted to catch and punish to send a message; and one can question whether he tested positively for PEDs; one can even question the head of Biogenesys who reportedly testified that he personally injected Rodriguez with PEDs.
It seems however, that Rodriguez is going to sue based on the fairness of the arbitration process. Since this process has been part of Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement with the players for decades, and certainly it cannot be considered a rubber stamp for the commissioner’s office. (Remember Ryan Braun’s test and suspension being overturned a couple of years ago, Alex?)
Rodriguez should do what Braun and the other players in the Biogenesys mess have done – accept their punishment and move on. If he does take this to Federal Court, he had better know that there is ABSOLUTELY no truth to PED use since he tested positive for them in the early 2000s. If not, any proof that can pass muster in court dooms A-Rod finally and for all time.
In interviews, Rodriguez says that Selig is trying to take away his legacy. A-Rod, you’ve already done that yourself.