Athletes are famous, popular, and often the targets of governments and other organizations when the athletes speak their minds. Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Billie Jean King, LeBron James and most recently Colin Kaepernick, and so many others have faced anywhere from public rebuke to threats of jail and suspensions from their sport as a result of being outspoken about a cause. Internationally, it could be even worse, or in this case, one really doesn’t know what to believe.
A week or so ago, a former coach of now New York Ranger superstar (and former Blackhawk) Artemi Panerin told the press in Russia that Panerin had struck a woman in a bar fight and hit her numerous times in 2011. Under ordinary circumstances, people would investigate the incident, certainly try to talk to the woman in question, and then, if true, issue some kind of reprimand to Panerin. However, it is curious that the allegation comes out after Panerin makes several statement critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Panerin has made favorable comments about opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned, recovered, returned to Russia and was promptly arrested leading to mass demonstrations and violent reaction from the authorities.
Panerin has taken a leave of absence from the team to address the concerns. He has to protect his reputation, and perhaps his life, but also his family members and friends left behind. This reminds us of what all of the Russian NHL superstars face – any comments or actions are scrutinized, potentially threatening themselves and their loved ones. Ovetchkin has reportedly made pro-Putin comments in the past; Egveni Malkin has been quiet on the subject. All make millions here in the NHL, do they risk life and fortune to take a political stand?
There may be no easy answer here. Is Panerin a woman abuser (also need to investigate if there’s any similar instances in his life before and since)? Or is this some “right out of the Cold War, James Bond, John LeCarre” kind of espionage? We discuss and treat sport like it’s really important. The word “fan” is short for “fanatic;” it is often taken too seriously. We often talk about it like it’s life and death; unfortunately, occasionally, it is.

Yesterday, Tiger Woods suffered serious leg injuries in a single car accident. It has not been revealed what may have caused the accident, but it appears that alcohol or other substances may not have played a role. Of course, one must think back to the Thanksgiving car accident outside of the house he shared with his ex-wife and children that brought Woods’ world low. The adultery, the double life, all of it exposed of one of the most famous athletes and spokespeople in the world.
Even before the first accident, the wear-and-tear of decades of golf on his body, especially his back had slowed Woods’ previously amazing run of PGA tour wins as did Woods’ quest to beat Jack Nicklaus’ all time major tournament record. Back surgeries limited him play, but it Is crazy – Americans’ drive to tear down their idols, then to root for them to return to the top. To redemption perhaps? Woods’ win in the 2019 Masters and consistently solid play, if not back to his earlier legendary success, the return of the Black/Asian/Nike greatness and tons of fans, die hard and casual rooted for him.
I admit that I was one of the casual fans who, while never a huge fan, was rooting for Woods to come back. If I were to stop rooting for an athlete because of personal indiscretions of adultery or personal drug use where no one else is harmed, I would never be interested in sports at all. If you hadn’t guessed it, I was raised in a time when Black people rooted for Black people to do well, especially in traditionally White activities. Tiger brought people of color to golf at a time when the game has suffered huge losses in numbers of players, television viewership, in short – cash.
It’s weird that HBO recently showed the Tiger Woods documentary, and as usual for HBO shows, it was well done and it was very illuminating. It was the story of a Black military man with an Asian wife and a son who was a golf prodigy, and grilled him like his military men to become the best golfer in the world. With that, the son was exposed to his father’s infidelity; like father like son. I have to admit, I ended up feeling sorry for the talented, rich, spoiled golfer.
Now, Tiger has suffered another setback, this one even more serious than the back. There remain a number of questions about the latest accident. One thing appears certain, the chances of Tiger Woods returning to the pinnacle of golf re longer than ever.

I have been very busy – too busy to regale you with my take on the world of sports, but I’m back now there was one story I couldn’t leave alone:
I wasn’t surprised when new Jacksonville Head Coach Urban Meyer went back into the “Good “Ole Boys Network to hire former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle to join the team. This wouldn’t be news except Doyle lost his previous job because a large number of former players came forward with credible allegations of bullying and racist language toward Black players. Since the NFL is about 66% African-American, the hiring would be questionable and the backlash led to Doyle’s resignation the next day. Unlike college football, coaches are not Gods. Doyle’s hiring had consequences, especially since Meyer left Ohio State after supporting an assistant coach who regularly beat his spouse. I still think that Meyer will suddenly get sick if Jacksonville is not successful. At least, he won’t be responsible for recruiting young men to go to a college and learn nothing.

Today, my old friend from The Sportswriters, Rick Telander wrote an article about the upcoming Super Bowl and the fact that both the starters: Tom Brady of Tampa Bay and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs – maybe the old GOAT and the up-and-coming young GOAT could have been acquired by the Bears. No one needs to be reminded that Bear GM Ryan Pace blew it by trading up one pick to draft Mitch Trubisky instead of taking Mahomes or other great QB Deshaun Watson. It is possible that the Bears could have signed Tom Brady as a free agent after leaving the Patriots. Honestly, are the Bears that attractive a spot? I wrote Rick an email which is comprised by some of this post.
Would Brady want to come here? The Bears traded for Nick Foles, the streaky QB who looks mediocre when given the permanent starter job, but has shown streaks when he is absolutely amazing, as he did in the 2018 Super Bowl, being named MVP of the game as Foles played for an injured Carson Wentz. It wasn’t completely definitive as to whether Mitch Trubisky had some upside or could be officially considered a bust. Yes, the Bears had shown a good defense, but Tampa’s is also very good. The Bear defense had stepped back from the outstanding 2018 season after DC Vic Fangio left to become Head Coach in Denver. The Bucs had some very good young wide receivers – the Bears have (soon to be “had?”) Allen Robinson and little else. No one knew that Darnell Mooney would turn into a quality receiver. Finally, if you have the chance to play in cold Chicago or warm Tampa, where would you want to play? Especially after having played 19 years in New England which is also cold – Giselle probably had a big say.
However, it is time to get off the Bears for the draft. I have stopped criticizing the Bears over the Trubisky vs. Watson/Mahomes pick. Let’s be honest – with the Bears’ history with quarterbacks, we would have screwed up either of the two more athletic quarterbacks. The Bears can’t do anything with a fairly mobile Trubisky. Can you imagine what John Fox would have done with Mahomes? I can’t see that team opening up the offense to a young QB. Mahomes had the ability to watch behind Alex Smith and he had Matt Nagy for one year and NU alum Mike Kafka coaching him. Nagy has not done much with Trubisky. Most important, the Chiefs have Andy Reid, who must now be considered one of the finest coaches in all of football.
It can’t be ignored that the Bears passed over two QBs of color. When Vince Evans is your all-time best Black QB, there’s a message there. The Bears shouldn’t be held accountable alone – Mel Kiper and many scouts rated a white quarterback with 13 career starts (and an 8-5 record) over Watson who had played in two National championship games, winning one, and Mahomes, who Andy Reid was willing to trade up just to get him. In light of the NFL hiring head coaches that people have never heard of rather than hire a Black coach, it’s no coincidence that the scouts have biases too.
Even though it would never happen, the Bears trading for Aaron Rodgers is the dream of every Bear fan. After the disastrous decision by Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur to go for a field goal in the NFC Championship Game down 8 points to Tampa Bay, and having the probable MVP QB Aaron Rodgers and the team with the best TD percentage in the Red Zone, it appears that the coach choked big time. Rodgers, already unhappy with the team drafting a quarterback in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft when maybe that extra player makes the difference in winning a second Super Bowl title. Rodgers has looked dejected and down ever since the field goal unit came on the field Sunday. It doesn’t make sense: even if you fail on 4th down, you give Tampa the ball deep in their territory and you have three timeouts left. By kicking the field goal, you still need a TD and if you kick to Tampa, they have the ball, but at the 25, not in the shadow of their own goal.
Of course, there is no way on Earth that the Packers would trade Rodgers to the Bears, although I could see Rodgers trying to score 100 points every time the two foes meet. It would be fun to see.
However, back in the real world, the Bears are in need of a franchise quarterback again, and even if Pace had drafted Watson or Mahomes, the Bears would have screwed him up.

Adding to the sheer malevolence that was 2020, it was all of the Baseball Hall of Famers that passed away. Six members of the august group died just in 2020 – Tom Seaver, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, Whitey Ford, and Joe Morgan, the most since seven members died in 1972.
While there has been much more reason for hope so far in 2021, the death toll of Hall of Famers has continued. Just a few days ago, Don Sutton, the Dodger pitcher who amassed 324 wins in 17 years in the majors, passed away. He spent his entire career in Los Angeles and it was noted that he started his Dodger career as a teammate of Sandy Koufax and ended his career as a teammate to Fernando Valenzuela. We also lost knuckleballer Phil Niekro this year. I’ve always loved a Niekro quote – after being eligible for the Hall and not getting in, he was asked about being the only pitcher with 300+ wins not enshrined. Niekro said – how many do I need? I can get a couple of wins now.
Then today, we lost the Home Run King Hank Aaron. To some, Aaron remains the leader in all-time home runs since Barry Bonds’ 762 home runs were PED aided. Aaron hit 755 home runs, in second place. There were players who might have had more innate talent, or were flashier like Willie Mays or Roberto Clemente, and Aaron gets shafted because he never hit 50 home runs in a year, never played in a World Series, never won a title. There is always the argument as to are players who attain high numbers from playing a very long time compared with players who generate big numbers in specific or a short number of years (a good example being Eddie Murray versus Ichiro). That said, Aaron also has the third most hits of all time behind Rose and Cobb.
Aaron was so quiet that I think that Aaron was never loved like Mays or Banks, even among Black people. He was never flashy; there was no “The Catch” like Mays, but Aaron commanded respect from everyone even people who would have stood in his way years before. Let us not forget the blatant racism Aaron had to face in his time in the game. Segregated lodging early in his career, people threatening his life as he got close to breaking Babe Ruth’s all time homer record. Most don’t remember the extreme security measures implemented when he played just so he wasn’t killed. Everyone remembers the two white fans who ran out onto the field at Fulton Country Stadium after he hit 715. I’ve always wondered why the police didn’t run out an get those guys – they could have turned a triumphant moment into tragedy. Aaron could have hit the guys or done something else, but instead, the men ran with him and he seemed to barely give them any notice. Here was a man who had seen white privilege up close and personal and Aaron just showed class as usual.
Moreover, he seemed to bring a Southerners’ charm and common sense to the baseball world. He stated his opinions on the game and the Hall of Fame, but it wasn’t shouted. You could disagree with his opinion, but you respected the man, his accomplishments, and his point of view.
We have lost a lot of classic baseball players, most of whom I was able to watch, at least on television. With each death, it feels like a little bit of my youth, of my cherished memories from that time are being whittled away.
Rest In Peace Hammerin’ Hank. You were one of a kind…

In this case, however, they sure can’t play a mean pinball…

Again, catching up with stories that I never had a chance to opine on before. Right after the dispiriting loss in the playoff game in New Orleans, the Bears’ “Brain Trust” met with the media. Earlier in the season, mired in a six-game losing streak that appeared to take them out of playoff contention, the fans were livid. Disappointing play by Mitchell Trubisky had the fans ready to run him out of town on a rail. Ryan Pace, the befuddled GM who traded a number of draft picks to move up one place to take Trubisky in the 2016 NFL Draft surely had to take the blame for 5 seasons of mediocrity broken up only by the surprise 12-4 season in 2018 which ended on the double doink missed field goal by Cory Parkey.
The 2020 Bears started out with the least impressive 5-1 start you’ll ever see (and were lucky that game inning balls were dropped by Detroit and the Giants and the Falcons that allowed them to win). Then came the losing streak; Nick Foles, the streaky former Super Bowl MVP was brought I to push Trubisky and he did replace Trubisky but went in his starts leading Trubisky to return. The defense still missed Vic Fangio, the former defensive coordinator who left to be a mediocre head coach in Denver. Still, the defense kept the team in games, albeit without the multiple turnovers that made the 2018 squad elite. On the offensive side however, things were truly grim until the schedule gods gave the Bears the Texans, Jaguars and Vikings. Suddenly, the offense scored 30 points a game; they could run the ball; and Trubisky was better – he still looked like a deer in headlights and he still threw stupid interceptions. The Bears finished being outmatched by the Packers and Saints – end of season.
Head Coach Matt Nagy, the offensive guru who was supposed to bring an effective scheme like that of his mentor Andy Reid, led the team to another disappointing finish statistically, near the bottom of the league in all categories. What about President and CEO Ted Phillips, did what he was supposed to do since first hired – get a renovated Soldier Field and negotiate better rates of return off parking and vending from the Chicago Park District. In that, Phillips succeeded mightily. Since then, however, Phillips, known as a non-football guy, has still been involved with the football related decisions to disastrous results.
During the losing streak, the only question was “where would the ax fall?” Trubisky’s fifth year option has already not been picked up, so he’s a free agent; Nagy and Pace deserved a great deal of the blame and Phillips must have nude pictures of someone in the McCaskey family to keep a job. Unfortunately, Bear fans’ worst nightmare were realized. Instead of looking at the Bears as the woeful tem hat stepped on the field during the six-game losing streak, Chairman George McCaskey was fooled by the three-game winning streak, never mind that it was against three of the worst defenses in the NFL. So, other than Trubisky, who some people believe that the Bears should keep because picking 20th in the first round and not much in the free agent market, they won’t find a better replacement., the other Three Stooges – Pace, Nagy and Phillips are all returning, meaning another year of, at best mediocrity.
Every Bear fan knows that it’s the ownership that should be replaced. Virginia McCaskey, nearly 100 years old and the last living child of George “Papa Bear” Halas, will never sell the team, at least as long as she’s alive. Her offspring were given control and the late Michael McCaskey showed ineptitude on top of a weaselly reputation; other son George says all the right things, but he has shown as much football acumen as his brother did.
The 2021 Bears, unless there is a blockbuster deal, bring back the same team that posted 8-8 records in the last two seasons. Without wins to please the masses, they would need hope, but they have ruined that. I firmly believe that one or more of the grandkids may like to see a billion dollars in return for selling the team; it certainly won’t happen with Virginia and George alive. Or maybe there’s a savvy kid in the family somewhere who might choose the right people and get out of their way (hey it worked for the Blackhawks). Not any time soon however.

Maybe it was the way I was raised, but a man never touched a woman inappropriately, and certainly never showed a woman your “naughty bits” as Monty Python called the male genitalia. With technology, apparently men think it’s OK to send pictures of their penises to women. If the woman is okay with it, its fine, a little weird, but its fine. But to do that to a woman you barely know is truly sick.
Was surprised when a friend mentioned Monday that the Mets were looking for a new GM. I know that the Mets have ben trading and spending money like crazy and may have put together a true World Series contender, so I was surprised hen the friend told me that general manager Jared Porter had been fired, less than 24 hours after ESPN reported that he had sent explicit, unsolicited texts and images to a female reporter in 2016 while he worked for the Chicago Cubs.
The woman, a foreign correspondent who had moved to the United States to cover Major League Baseball, said at one point she ignored more than 60 messages from Porter before he sent the final lewd photo, a picture of an erect, naked penis, Apparently, the text relationship started casually before Porter, then the Chicago Cubs director of professional scouting, began complimenting her appearance, inviting her to meet him in various cities and asking why she was ignoring him. And the texts show she had stopped responding to Porter after he sent a photo of pants featuring a bulge in the groin area.
What is the very worst thing about this story is that the woman never came forward with the story because the woman feared for her position in the industry. It was only after she had left sports journalism that she came forward. When you see all of the knowledgeable women reporters, in the newspapers, on television, one can only imagine the harassment these women had to face, and the fact that they continued to report to a high standard on air, in print, on the Internet says a lot for these courageous women.
That it took the Mets nearly 24 hours to fire this pervert is problematic. In many sports, there is still this machismo, god old boys’ network and wall of silence as pervasive as the one used by police officers protecting bad and sometimes killer cops. Further, parents of boys and those of us who come into contact with boys have to make everyone understand that this behavior is not appropriate and will not be tolerated. Like cops and white supremacists.
Not to be naïve, but maybe the Biden inauguration will really lead to change. Perhaps it was only after seeing how poorly people can treat each other that society will finally draw some lines for behavior that is beyond the pale. Only in this way will we really stamp out racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, and anti-LGBTQ speech and action. In addition, let’s hope that sexual harassment is a thing of the past.