By now, everyone should know that Washington Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson in a goon for the 21st Century NHL. Wilson has been suspended for seven games this season for boarding Bruins’ defenseman Brandon Carlo, who had to be hospitalized afterward. This was the 27-year-olds fifth suspension in his eight-year career. In Monday’s 6-3 Capitals win over the Rangers, there was a scrum in front of the net in the second period. Ranger winger Pavel Buchnevich was face down on the ice and Wilson was punching the downed man on the ice several times. Rangers Ryan Strome and Artemi Panerin came in to pull Wilson off Buchnevich and Wilson pulled Panerin’s hair to pull him to the ice, hit him in the face, then grabbed him by the jersey and slammed him to the ice again. Panerin, one of the league’s best scorers and biggest stars will miss the rest of the season (only 5 games, but still…)
Wilson received a double minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, ending his evening. George Parros, a former goon himself who is now in charge of player safety gave Wilson a $5,000 fine, the most allowed under the league’s collective bargaining agreement. No suspension, no missed games, just a slap on the wrist. As one would expect, the Rangers were pissed about the chain of events and under the schedule for this pandemic season, the Caps and Rangers met again last night. It looked like the film “Slap Shot” – one second into the game, the forwards from each team were fighting. Brendon Smith went after Wilson the first time he touched the ice – 50 seconds into the first period. Some measure of revenge was dished out since Wilson did not finish the game with an “upper body injury.” Of course, there wouldn’t have been the melee if Parros had done his job and suspended Wilson for at least the rest of the season. The Capitals are in the playoffs; the games have meaning only for seeding – Wilson should have had to take a seat for at least that long, if not a 20 or 30 game suspension stretching into the playoffs and perhaps the start of next season.
But it wasn’t over. The Rangers issues a statement calling the soft penalty from Parros a “dereliction of duty” and that Parros is “unfit to continue in his current role.” Then, goofy New York Rangers/Knicks owner James Dolan fired president John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton. The team said that it was not on account of the statement, but the duo had put together a good young team that will miss the playoffs, but mostly because of a rough start to the season and Panerin missing 10 games settling personal issues related to supposedly hitting a woman in a Russian bar several years before. (It should be noted that it was a coach who went to the press and just after Panerin had comments in support of Vladimir Putin’s political rival.) So, if it wasn’t the statement, what was it?
Then, NHL Commissioner Gary “The Count” Bettman had to remind everyone of what a thin skin he and the league office have. Bettman levied a $250,000 fine on the Rangers and said in a statement “Public comments of the nature issued by the Rangers that were personal in nature and demeaning of a League executive will not be tolerated. While we don’t expect our Clubs to agree with every decision rendered by the Department of Player Safety, the extent to which the Rangers expressed their disagreement was unacceptable. It is terribly unfair to question Goerge Parros’ professionalism and dedication to his role and the Department of Player Safety.”
Bettman is throwing a hissy-fit only because the Rangers statement was public. I, for one, blame Parros for failing to suspend Wilson; first, he failed to protect Panerin, one of the game’s biggest stars and the face of the franchise in the biggest market in the country. Also, by not suspending Wilson, everyone in hockey knew that last night’s game was going to be a donnybrook. Wilson was hurt (maybe) but all the other players are subject to injury having to get revenge because the league refused to do so.
Parros was an enforcer, he knew what was going to happen. Maybe he would have suspended Wilson if the referees in Monday’s game hadn’t given him the double minors and 10-minute misconduct. Still, he failed, and for Gary Bettman and the NHL office, the truth hurts.

I admit that, as a Northwestern alum and fan, there’s this presumption that the university is cleaner than other schools. Cheat less that the rest of the Big Ten, not to mention conferences like the SEC, which has a reputation (often appropriate) for being lawless NCAA rules breakers as they bring in great athletes who shouldn’t be in college, or only plan to stay for a year or two. Let’s not even mention payments under the table or entrance scandals.
However, NU has had gambling and throwing games, a football player dying at summer practice. We have to be honest in saying that there are things we don’t know about every college and university programs; maybe there aren’t headline grabbing/NCAA death penalty threatening violations. Can any school say that they don’t violate the small, technical rules of the huge NCAA requirements? I didn’t see any involvement in the entrance for cash scandal that has sent famous actors to prison for short periods but that doesn’t mean that there was none.
As bad as all that is, can Northwestern have made a bigger blunder than in the search for the replacement for former Athletic Director Jim Phillips who has left to become the Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Phillips’ left big shoes to fill: he did a great job in supporting the football team as it got better, the basketball teams more interesting (the men for one season). and keeping the women’s lacrosse team as a national power.
However, all apparently was not as clean as portrayed. There was a party held sometime last year and this past January, a cheerleader sued the university for having the cheerleaders sexually exploited and harassed at a party held for major donors and boosters.
This didn’t seem to be a major concern as the university held a search for a new Athletic Director, but maybe it did because unlike other searches, this search was conducted under very tight security. Maybe that was necessary because the school selected Mike Polisky, who has been a deputy AD for external affairs (make your pun here) since 2011. Polisky is one of four defendants along with the university in the suit filed by cheerleader Hayden Richardson. Polisky was reportedly dismissive of her complaints about unwanted touching and comments from the men at the party. Besides being dismissive, Polisky reportedly accused her of fabricating evidence.
In February after the suit was filed, 80 female faculty members sent a letter to University President Morton Schapiro, Provost Kathleen Hagerty and other officials in February demanding greater transparency concerning the investigation into the allegations. When it was announced that Polisky was chosen as the new AD, eight of the signers of the original letter submitted a new letter to
Provost Hagerty protesting Polisky’s promotion. The letter demands greater transparency into the hiring, and they’re planning to march Friday afternoon from campus to President Schapiro’s home. Schapiro is also wrapping up his time as university president and I would think this is Schapiro’s worst nightmare.
The letter states, “we are alarmed by this decision and, indeed, embarrassed on behalf of the university. We believe that, at the very least, before Polisky is formally hired, the university must commission and make public an independent, transparent, third-party investigation that demonstrates that Polisky performed his legally mandated duties and acted with integrity when addressing the concerns of the cheerleaders and their allies.”
Of course, the monolithic university is supporting its actions; Northwestern has filed a motion to dismiss “most of the complaint, including the individual defendants,” a university spokesperson told the Chicago Tribune this past weekend. “The university has reviewed the complaint and denies that Northwestern violated any law, including Title IX.”
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, a political science professor and the Crown chair of Middle East studies, signed both letters and was interviewed by the Tribune. “Where are the facts and where is the evidence they’re basing this (hire) on? They owe us transparency. I think there’s a lot of disappointment. We want to make clear we’re not going to lie down and they can’t continually push women and people of color to the side.”
At least three members of the university search committee have expressed displeasure and multiple members of the board of trustees also are dismayed about the hire, according to sources talking to the Tribune. They have not received an explanation about the reasons for hiring Polisky or an update on the status of the investigation or the lawsuit, sources said. Sources described the search process as closed-door, muddled, frustrating and led by a “good ol’ boys” university network.
This does not surprise me one bit. Back when I was at Northwestern, campus police came to break up a party at a dorm. The party was over, we had abided by the rules of the dorm, but there was a large group of students of color and the dorm president freaked out and called the police. They were out of line, since all of the people milling in the lobby of the dorm were NU students, chatting before going beck to their rooms. I wrote a letter that was published in the Daily Northwestern newspaper complaining and I was called to a meeting with the then provost basically saying “this is not a big deal; we will handle this.” Northwestern, as an elite university often acts as though the leadership are beyond reproach. There is no question whatsoever that Polisky is too tainted to get the AD job. The search should be restarted and be openly transparent to faculty, athletes, students, and parents. The university and the athletic department are not beyond reproach.

Ever since White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf overruled everyone and hired 76-year-old, previously retired, Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa to manage his young team burgeoning with young stars, fans and the press have been skeptical. Concerns about baseball having passed him by since he hadn’t managed in 9 years were voiced. Despite the fact that he is fluent in Spanish, important for a team with so many Latin players, could La Russa relate to these young players? Reinsdorf is making up for his great regret, letting then GM Ken Harrelson fire La Russa in 1984 then go on to a Hall of Fame career managing the A’s and Cardinals. These same critics said that the 85-year-old owner was thinking with his heart, not his head. At first, the Sox had to deal with La Russa being stopped for a DUI in Florida in February at which time La Russa asked the police if they knew who he was. Then the season started and the critics’ concerns are becoming loud here in Chicago.
Managers are supposed to help teams win by making right decisions. Of course, the decisions are based on the players doing what they are supposed to do on the field. Most pundits say that a manager makes a real difference in 5-10 wins per season, which isn’t many in a 162 game year. However, those few games could make the difference in making the playoffs or playoff position. Already, La Russa has cost them three games. On April 27th, the senior citizen said that he was unaware that starter Lucas Giolito was tiring and he left his in too long, leading to a big inning for the visiting Tigers who won 5-2. In another game, he chose not to pinch-hit for weak hitting Billy Hamilton, trailing by three runs with two on and two out because he “was looking for a single.”
Yesterday however, La Russa made an error because he didn’t know the rulebook. To be fair, all of the new rules in baseball have changed the game substantially, and I don’t even know all of the rules. However, some one should have known. La Russa had closer Liam Hendriks be the runner on second base at the start of the inning, believing whoever was in the last spot in the batting order the previous inning was the designated baserunner. That was correct. But what La Russa didn’t know was another part of the rule states if that player is a pitcher, the manager can place the player preceding him in the batting order in this case, José Abreu on second.
Now, Abreu is no speed merchant and may not have scored in the 10th inning either, but it would have given the Sox a better chance to win a game they ended up losing 1-0 to the Reds in 10 innings.
To be fair, La Russa accepted his mistake. When The Athletic’s James Fegan asked La Russa after the game why he didn’t use Abreu as the runner instead of Hendriks. “Well, I didn’t know that,” La Russa replied. “We all thought Liam was going to be the runner, and that’s how I wanted it because if you want to double switch, you keep him in the game. … I wasn’t aware that Abreu could have run. I thought it had to be the guy who made the last out with that spot in the order.” However, it is not all the manager’s fault – where were the other coaches and front office people who could have informed La Russa of how the rule works.
Everyone is looking for signs that La Russa has lost the clubhouse, which would be the death knell for his tenure since this team is a legitimate World Series contender, but two of the veterans with the most clout – Abreu and pitcher Dallas Keuchel have been very upfront with their support of the manager, but how long will this last?
I thought that the jury was out on LaRussa – his Hall of Fame record and numerous World Series wins gives him the benefit of the doubt, and the White Sox are 16-13 in second place 0.5 games behind Cleveland and just ahead of the early surprise, the Kansas City Royal. Add two young stars out: Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert injured for extended periods, the young team has fared pretty well.
But the seat under Tony La Russa is warm, except in the one place that counts, the owner’s office.

The first round of the NFL Draft was already must-see TV. There were five terrific quarterbacks in play; it remains a deep draft for wide receivers. Hope springs eternal, aided by vaccinated fans, players and league officials who could actually participate live in the draft frenzy. Earlier in the afternoon however, another bombshell hit the league and potentially altered the draft: ESPN reported that reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers told various Packer management that he no longer wants to play for the Packers.
This was a league shattering announcement and I think, completely calculated by Rodgers. Last season, the Packers traded up to draft Jordan Love without notifying Rodgers at the 2020 Draft; now Rodgers was making his own noise on draft day at the expense of the Packers. Adding to that, Rodgers is still hurt over Head Coach Matt LeFluer taking the ball out of his hands late in the NFC Championship Game against eventual Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay by going for a field goal at the Buccaneers’ 8 yard-line. A TD and two point conversion and OT decides the game. Instead, after the field goal cut the lead to 5 points, Tom Brady eat up the remainder of the clock and Packer time outs to go to the Super Bowl. (A contestant on Jeopardy! Couldn’t answer a Final Jeopardy question so he made a comment about going for a field goal. Rodgers chuckled, but was there a little anger in that?)
ESPN and the NFL Network exploded with the news – the MVP was available, a historic proposition. The only two times an NFL MVP did not play for the same team the year after winning the award was due to retirement – Norm Van Brocklin and Jim Brown. This was no retirement – Rodgers still has plenty in the tank and other than plans to host Jeopardy! In the future, Rodgers became the hottest available QB in the NFL. A proven superstar, no need to be groomed like the draftees.
It has been rumored that the 49ers offered the number 3 overall pick along with other picks and perhaps players to Green Bay for Rodgers. This would make sense since Rodgers is from California and made numerous references to his alma mater, the University of California, Berkley on the game show, leading to some very funny “Go Bears” comments (Certainly not the Chicago Bears of course.)
The Packers say that they have no interest in trading Rodgers but they may have no choice. Rodgers is a bit of an iconoclast. He has not spoken to his parents in years. Long time relationships with movie star Olivia Munn and NASCAR race driver Danika Patrick before being suddenly engaged to actor Shalene Woodley. He has probably made enough money to retire, but then the Packers lose him for nothing. The best thing they could do is trade him to a West Coast AFC team like Vegas or Denver and let the Jordan Love era begin.
I think that Aaron Rodgers may be the best quarterback to ever play. He not only throws touchdowns by the bunch, but he has the lowest interception percentage in NFL history. Only a poor supporting cast on offense and mediocre defenses have kept Rodgers from winning more than one Super Bowl. Like Rodgers’ predecessor Brett Favre, as a Bear fan had to appreciate the quality of the QB play despite it being for our most hated rival. (Of course, besides the opioid addiction, sexting pictures of his member to a female sportswriter who was not interested in him, Favre’s friendship with Donald Trump and his insensitivity toward athletes protesting injustice shows that Favre is a loud mouthed good old boy who may have taken too many shots to the head.)
As a Bear fan, we know that there is no way that the Packers will let Rodgers play in Chicago. Rodgers would love it from a revenge standpoint, but the Packer faithful remember the sight of Favre in a purple Minnesota Vikings uniform. However, it is amusing to watch the soap opera going on in Wisconsin. In this case, the Packer front office has no one to blame but themselves. They can’t blame an insane owner like Jerry Jones or Bob Kraft.
It is fun to watch.

I guess there’s no motivation greater than keeping one’s job. Most Bear fans, myself included, wanted CEO George McCaskey to back up the truck and fired GM Ryan Pace and Head Coach Matt Nagy. Two underwhelming 8-8 seasons after having posted a 12-4 record made the fans restless, if not outright hostile. The blame was easy – giving up too much to move up one spot in the 2017 draft to take Mitchell Trubisky and passing over Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. Trubisky is a serviceable backup, not the savior he was touted to be and finally, the Bears refused his fifth-year option and let him become a free agent. He will be backing up Josh Allen under center in Buffalo.
Despite signing Andy Dalton in the offseason, the QB position had only the castoff and Nick Foles who had been brought in last offseason to push Trubisky with his usual inconsistent results. There were five top quarterbacks coming into the draft and it was possible that all of them would go in the first 10 picks. The Bears, picking at 20, had already attempted to acquire Russell Wilson after the Seattle QB gave a list of teams he would be interested in playing for, that included, surprisingly, the Bears. I am sure that Pace was on the phone with Houston inquiring what it would take to get Watson, who also wanted out (of course, the numerous sexual allegations made by women at massage parlors saved the Bears huge embarrassment). Still, it looked like no one would give up a high pick to give to the Bears, since the 20th pick is not that attractive. Hope was nowhere to be found.
So, the first round of the draft was last night and as expected, Trevor Lawrence went with the first pick to Jacksonville; BYU’s Zach Wilson went to the Jets. That left the 49ers, who traded up to get this pick. They took Trey Lance, a bit of a reach, but you can see a bit of Mahomes in him (including the biracial family and similar appearance). Were the Falcons ready to let Matt Ryan go? No. The Bengals already have Joe Barrow, so they weren’t going to get a QB. Same with the Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa. The Lions just picked up Carson Wentz, so no QB need there. The Panthers were interesting; they were in the market for a QB early, but just acquired Sam Darnold from the Jets and traded Teddy Bridgewater to Denver. With Bridgewater, the Broncos no longer needed a QB with the number 9 pick. Same with the Eagles who traded Wentz to give the ball to second year QB Jalen Hurts.
That left the Giants at number 11. Justin Fields and Alabama’s Mac Jones were still on the board. The Bears traded their number 20 pick, the first round pick next year, a fourth rounder in 2022 and a fifth round pick later in the 2021 draft. As I have written often, a sports franchise is selling one of two things – wins and if not wins, hopes for future wins. Pace knew this was his last chance with the Bears – a mediocre team with a 33-year-old former Pro Bowl caliber QB who is now just a backup was not going to win, and there was little hope for the future since Dalton is on a 1-year deal.
Something was up. There were two QBs on the board – Justin Fields, athletic, strong arm, just led Ohio State to the College Football Championship Game; and Mac Jones who was the QB on the Alabama Championship Team. Jones is a solid, but unexciting pick. He is immobile but makes good reads, however, considering the amount of talent Jones had on offense, the Crimson Tide could have won with Mitch Trubisky.
Now, I was nervous. I felt that the 2017 showed racial bias on the part of the league scouting apparatus and of the Chicago Bears. Trubisky was listed as the number one QB by the scouts, but Pace never even spoke with Watson (he did reportedly speak to Mahomes). How can you not even speak to a QB who had led his team to two national championship games and one win? That to me was the question that no one answered. Watson went on to be one of the best players in the league and both he and Mahomes tried to exact revenge on the Bears in games at Soldier Field (Mahomes was successful, his Chiefs thoroughly beat the Bears and Mahomes counted the number 13 on his fingers after a touchdown, the draft pick the Chiefs traded up to get him; Watson’s Texans were a dumpster fire by that point in last season).
What would the Bears do? Take the safe, white QB or take a chance on an African-American QB with excitement? Maybe I was too sensitive injecting race into the 2017 decision, but I couldn’t shake the worry. As we all know now, the Bears chose Fields over Jones (who still had a good night, falling to number 15 and being taken by the Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots). Now, the Bears can sell hope again.

Yes, a lot of people are receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, it is still recommended that people wear masks and practice social distancing. Of course, for the Snowflake Right Wingers still see this as an infringement on their rights. There are tons of videos of people having fits when a worker tells them to put on a mask. Often, you see the surprised (usually) white person getting removed from an establishment or even arrested for being unruly. Now this has turned into a homicide.
Last week, a high school hockey coach died after being punched outside of a bar in St. Paul, Minnesota, following an argument about social distancing, the Star Tribune reported. The victim, identified as 48-year-old Michael G. Ryan, sustained a fatal brain injury after being punched and falling backward down a set of stairs and hitting his head on concrete as a result. The man who punched him, 44-year-old Ryan Whisler, was charged with second-degree murder. Witnesses said that Ryan confronted Whisler about not social distancing in the bathroom, to which Whisler reacted in violence, first grabbing Ryan’s shirt and then trying to pull his mask off before punching him. Apparently, Whisler was in the bathroom at the same time as Ryan, and got upset when one of the urinals was covered with cellophane to promote distancing. Whisler punched a hole into the cellophane then took a video of himself urinating into it. While Ryan did not initially approach him in the bathroom, he called Whisler out for his actions as the two left the bar.
According to NBC News affiliate KARE11 Whisler “took a lot of verbal abuse” over the act (it does not say whether Ryan was the source, or the only source of the abuse, but obviously this is no excuse to fight someone. Witnesses stated that they tried to separate the two and a friend of Whisler attempted to direct him away before he punched Ryan in the face. Ryan fell down some stairs and hit his head on a concrete floor or step. After a friend of Ryan’s said he was calling the police, Whisler and his friend fled in a vehicle.
After being diagnosed with a brain injury at the hospital, Ryan was removed from life support on April 18. Ryan coached the Bloomington Jefferson High School girls’ hockey team. In a post on Twitter the team noted that Ryan leaves behind a hockey community that will deeply miss him, along with a wife and daughters. A day after the incident, Whisler turned himself in to St. Paul Police. He is being held at the Ramsey County Jail on $500,000 bond.
Those of us who spend any time at ice rinks even those of us that are parents of figure skaters, see the hockey parents. Not saying that figure skating parents are angels, the testosterone released at hockey games by players, coaches, referees and audiences raises the threat level significantly. Sometimes, cooler heads prevail; unfortunately, often there are fights and injuries and someone gets arrested. Once again, this testosterone and beer combined and some one is dead. A wife is without a husband; daughters are without a father; the players on Ryan’s team are robbed of a coach.
Justice was served earlier this week in Minnesota, let’s hope the trend continues.

Yesterday, I read an article in the Chicago Sun-Times sports section by Steve Greenberg. Most of the time, I either agree with his take on things, or its not egregious enough for me to respond. That is, until I saw yesterday’s article.
He makes that point that with sports betting being legal, and with many teams making agreement with the betting establishments to have betting on many major league parks, it is time to forgive Pete Rose, and I don’t agree at all.
Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 after saying that he had bet on baseball. For years, I was one of Pete’s supporters – to a point. I always thought that he knew the rules and he broke them. However, if he bet after his playing career while a manager of the Reds and he always bet on his team, he should be suspended from baseball, but allowed to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame. My argument was that a morals clause for enshrinement doesn’t make sense with Ty Cobb one of the first inductees and Ruth and Mantle weren’t exactly choirboys. His punishment would be that he can no longer make money in baseball – no coaching, no broadcasting. I knew he lied to try and get away with it, that’s natural, so I was for this hybrid punishment.
That was my stance until the evidence was released that Rose bet while playing the game. It’s bad enough to be able to affect the game as a manager, but a player definitely has the chance to throw a game. While one would think that Pete wanted to win on the field as much as anyone, you can never completely be sure. That was the final lie for me. After giving him the benefit of the doubt for years, the fact that he couldn’t even control himself while playing was too much.
Greenberg is right that it is hypocritical for gambling to be legal and in partnership with the game and punishing players for betting (as long as the player isn’t betting on his game). At this point, Pete Rose is banished because of 30 years of lying about his gambling, much similar to the steroid jockeys who cheated. We can never be sure if he threw a game to win a bet, and we can’t believe anything he says about it.
I am certain that no one in Major League Baseball or the Baseball Hall of Fame will ever admit to this, but I have a feeling that they will induct Rose posthumously. His relatives can make money off the enshrinement, but Pete has made enough money signing autographs during Cooperstown ceremonies and anywhere else he can make money. He will have to settle with that.