When one becomes rich, I guess there’s a break between two types: those who want everyone to know who they are, and those that don’t. If you are in the former, you want to be seen, and known and quoted, and the easiest way to become a celebrity is to own a sports franchise. Besides being famous, you get to be in a very exclusive club. According to Forbes, there are 2,153 billionaires in the world (by net worth), but there are only 30 teams in Major League Baseball, 32 teams in the NFL, thirty teams in the NBA, 31, soon to be 32 teams in the NHL. Not counting soccer and other leagues outside of the US and Canada, there are 124 franchises available, or one franchise for 5.76% of billionaires, and there are franchises like the Chicago Bulls and White Sox who are owned by the same man.
One of the perks of being rich is that you believe that the rules don’t apply and that you can say anything you want, and it must be listened to, and often followed. Again, if you’re an extrovert, there’s no better way to be constantly quoted in the media than to own a sports team. That is, until you can’t. Realistically, as a sports owner, you are a salesman (or woman); you are selling wins, the possibility of championship(s). If you can’t sell wins, you have to sell hope that your team is building to start winning those games. Usually, owners keep their bluntest beliefs to themselves because your comments can come back to hurt you, either by the fans, and sometimes, but the league itself.
No one has put his foot in his mouth more frequently that beforementioned Jerry Reinsdorf, owner on the White Sox and Bulls. I used to feel sorry for the PR people for those teams because once per year per team, Reinsdorf would sit for an interview and invariably, he would make a comment that the fans hated. There was the time in 1997 after the famous “white flag trade” when the Sox traded three major pitchers to the San Francisco Giants in return for six minor leaguers. The problem was that the trade was consummated on July 31 with the White Sox only 3 ½ games behind the division leading Indians. At the time, Reinsdorf was quoted that the “white Sox weren’t going to catch the Indians anyway.”
Comments attributed to Reinsdorf surfaced this week. According to former Miami Marlins President David Samson said that Reinsdorf gave him advice – the secret to success is always to finish second. “Finish in second every single year because your fans will say ‘wow, we’ve got a shot, we’re in it.’ But there’s always the carrot left. There’s always one more step to take.”
Reinsdorf’s spokesman says that the 83-year-old has no recollection of making the comment and says that Reinsdorf’s record of trying to win stands for itself. However, there are a lot of fans who will never forgive Reinsdorf for the trade, for blackmailing Illinois to build Guaranteed Rate Field, and breaking up the Michael Jordan championship team. To me, Reinsdorf’s comment sound plausible and remind me of a quote attributed to late Blackhawks’ owner “Dollar” Bill Wirtz. The story goes that when Craig Hartsburgh was interviewing for the head coaching job with the Hawks, Wirtz said “don’t go after Stanley Cups, they’re too expensive.” (I believe that Wirtz may have said that; he often acted that way when managing the team, but I somehow don’t believe that he said as much to Hartsburgh because who would want to work for an owner who openly didn’t want to win, especially since Hartsburgh was coach from 1995 to 1998.)
It is ironic that Reinsdorf’s comment is coming to light at the time that another owner’s comment is bringing attention to himself for political reasons. It started when Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets posted a comment on Twitter “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” a comment that did not go over well with the NBA. Rockets’ owner Tilman Fertitta denounced the comment, and Morey deleted the post. The N.B.A., fiercely protective of its image especially in a huge market where there is money to be made issued a statement saying that it was “regrettable” that Morey’s tweet had offended people, but that “the values of the league support individuals’ educating themselves and sharing their views on matters important to them.”
Like most of these comments, they gain a life of their own on social media leading to other rich owners to weigh in. Joe Tsai, a Taiwanese-born billionaire who recently became the primary owner of the Brooklyn Nets replied on Sunday night. Tsai known in China as the man behind Jack Ma, the founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, posted a lengthy open letter on Facebook, referring to the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong as a “separatist movement,” an echo of language from Beijing. Tsai also criticized Morey, calling his Twitter post “damaging to the relationship with our fans in China.”
While NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that the league will not sensor employees’ comments regarding political issues, the billions of dollars waiting to be gained in China where basketball has become a very popular sport, does give the league a good reason to suppress comments, especially with a Chinese owner now among the old boys’ club.
Jerry Reinsdorf is closer to death and has stayed out of the public eye for the past several years. In the court of public opinion, Reinsdorf has put his foot in his mouth numerous times. True or not, this is just another comment that will either be forgotten by fans or continue to fuel the hatred that many fans have for Reinsdorf.
Suppressing the political statement is more troubling. As a country, we are supposed to permit free speech, even when it is unpopular of unprofitable.

Everyone knows that I am on a crusade to see Northwestern football Offensive Coordinator Mick McCall find himself unemployed sooner rather than later. This past weekend, the offense spoiled an inspired effort by Mike Hankwitz’s defense in the 24-15 loss to Wisconsin that held Heisman Trophy candidate Jonathan Taylor to 117 yards rushing, much of which came late in the game. Wisconsin QB Jack Coan was a pedestrian 15-24 passing for 113 yards, no TDs and 1 interception. (No, I am not going to get involved in the incredibly stupid 2 attempts at two-point conversions late in the game as infuriating as they were…)
Over the past several seasons, I have used final offensive rankings to show McCall’s ineptitude, but I recently found that NCAA.com posts the rankings on the Sunday after the games have been played. Currently, Northwestern ranks 126th in total offense; 121st in Passing Offense; and 128th in Scoring Offense – with 130 teams in the FBS. Usually, that would be sufficient to get me on my soapbox, but insidenu.com has provided a breakdown of the first half of the game…
Northwestern has averaged 3.6 yards rushing per carry so far this season. However, the Wildcats opened the game by running on first down in eight of their first eleven drives. They continued the onslaught: “Excluding the 4th quarter (which saw a substantial difference in play-calling), Northwestern ran the ball on 11 out of 18 first down plays. The average of the first down gains were 6.54 yards per carry. However, once you eliminate the 31-yard run by Drake Anderson and Hunter Johnson’s 25-yard scramble, the average falls to an anemic 1.77 yards. Also, when the Wildcats ran the ball to begin drives, which they did on six of their first eight attempted treks downfield, they gained just 0.83 yards per carry.” This goes to my point that NU leads the nation in 2nd down and 8 yards to go situations.
The offensive play calling didn’t suddenly become better on second down. “Crucially, of the aforementioned 11 first down runs, eight possessions included a run on second down. The average 2nd down yards gained in a run-run combination was a horrendous 1.125 yards. Eight of the 11 drives that began with a first down run ended with a punt (with a ninth ending in a field goal). Six of the eight run-run drives followed the convention of run-run-pass. Of those six, four ended with punts, and only one, which resulted in a field goal, included even a single first down. Both times Northwestern ran the ball three times, they punted.”
I have always believed that the offense has one big advantage over defenses – they know where they are going whereas defenses are in general reactive. They are following or trying to stop the offense from doing what they want to do. Part of the job of the offensive coordinator (actually any coach) is to put your players in a position to succeed. This is where McCall fails. First, his play calling is so vanilla and predictable that fans (like myself) can call the play before it happens, and if I can do it from Row 34, what will defensive coordinators, who are paid to do this, call. Second, McCall seems to think that execution is more important than scheme. On this, he is right, but only up to a point. Against easier schools (which NU loses too also too often), you can do what you want and not care of they know. (The second half of the UNLV game this year was a good example; that defense was gassed.) Against one of the best defensive units in the country in Madison this past Saturday, attempts to run were stopped repeatedly, but still McCall made the same calls.
Good coaches adjust – between games, at halftime; great coaches pattern their units toward the talent they have, not try to put square pegs in round holes. Mick McCall does neither, which is why he is an embarrassment.
They only question left is: what blackmail material does Mick McCall have to remain employed?

Pat Fitzgerald has now crossed the line. What was perceived as loyalty, especially to his embattled Offensive Coordinator Mick McCall has turned into a belief in his own infallibility. Long term readers know that I have been an opponent of McCall’s for the past several years, including writing Fitzgerald a letter in 2016 and emailing McCall this past summer. Both missives were respectful, but pointed:
… for the past three college football seasons, I have called for the firing of Mick McCall. Having been fired, I am very cautious in calling for anyone to be fired… He has been in Evanston since 2008 and in his time, his major move has been to continue to run the spread offense. Yes, he coached some good QBs: Persa, Colter, Bacher, Kafka and Siemian, but in my opinion, it has been more the result of the QB’s ability to operate in McCall’s never changing offense than McCall’s coaching.
The best coaches craft their scheme and game plan toward the strengths of the players they have, not try to fit square pegs in round holes forcing players to do things that aren’t natural to them. NU is running essentially the same spread offense whether the QB is mobile and can run the option (Colter, Persa) or more standard drop back passers (Bacher, Kafka and Siemian).
Yes, the Cats went 10-3 this season but the offense, as you well know ranked 115th out of 130 FBS teams. Each year for the past four years, the offensive rank has declined. We went 10-3 because our defense was VERY good – perhaps the best unit we’ve fielded since you were playing middle linebacker.
How much worse would the offense have been without Justin Jackson? Perhaps they would have been 127th? Jackson was the centerpiece of the offense, but he carried the ball more than any running back in the nation, and with Solomon Vault moving to wide receiver, one has to wonder if McCall is going to kill the kid. Yes, he’s very good, but a little diversification (along with some help) should make the team better.
This season, McCall anointed red shirt Clayton Thorson as the starter, but the play calling was as vanilla as snow and predictable as a train schedule. Thorson looked good in short stretches, but I had my section, especially my fellow season ticket holders, in stitches as I yell out a dive play up the middle to Justin Jackson on first down, then, like clockwork, that is the play that was run.
Based on his record of fitting players into his scheme regardless of their strengths and weaknesses, it appears to me that McCall believes that the problem is simply execution. ‘We can run the same play; it will work if we block better or run better,’ is the message I see. However, when the defense knows what you are going to run, the best you can expect is a minimal gain and Big Ten defenses are among the best in the country. Far too often, the offense is faced with a 2nd down and 8 yards to go (or worse) after running the same dive play again and again. A lot of people criticized Thorson but I don’t see an offense suited to him.
Another gripe – quarterbacks get hurt, and almost every season, NU’s starter has lost anywhere from a portion of a game to a game to multiple games due to injury. When this happens, the second string QB never looks ready to play and it takes a couple of games before the kid even appears confident on the field. That is the QB coach’s responsibility and you know better than anyone who the QB coach is?
While Northwestern’s website hails McCall as an offensive innovator, over the past three years, his play calling has become more and more conservative. The playbook has become a pamphlet with the offense running many of the same plays over and over. In the 2014 season, calls for McCall’s job were out there, but you stayed with McCall, citing loyalty. Many alums, myself included, were upset and skeptical.
There is a season ticket holder who sits in front of me who has a radio and listens during the game. Running off the field at one halftime, you told the reporter that the team needed to throw more on first down in the second half. Then the team came out and ran on nearly every first down. Who is running the show, Coach; you or McCall?
During the season I saw comments on insidenu.com that McCall’s play calling is conservative because he doesn’t have confidence in his offense. WHAT??? This is HIS offense. I think it means that he doesn’t have confidence in running his “off-the-shelf” offense, and he is unwilling or unable to adapt to the talent he has.
The Mick McCall era should have ended at the end of 2014. It should have ended at the end of last season, but loyalty and the smokescreen of a 10-3 record appears to have once again blinded you and AD Jim Phillips to the reality – our offense is just not good enough. Our defense deserves an offense it can be proud of… You say that you’re a builder of young men; that your players have to be held accountable for their play on the field and behavior off the field – all noble goals and the correct thing to teach your team. When will Mick McCall and the coaching staff be held accountable to the same degree?
On the Internet and Facebook, I pointed out that after last week’s humiliating loss to Michigan State, the offence is now 121st in the FBS in total offense; 123rd in passing offense, and 128th in scoring offense (out of 130 teams). Once again, the critics are out with their steely knives (myself included). Fitzgerald held his weekly press conference yesterday and he proved that he thinks that he is beyond criticism (which is impossible in the very public sports world).
Fitzgerald was asked if he was happy with his offensive game plan, and if it was just a case of tightening up the execution after the Wildcats loss. This response was “Yeah, I go into every game plan expecting it to work,” Fitzgerald said. “To be quite honest with you, I understand there are 40,000 experts on Twitter that can call plays for me. My email address is hashtag I don’t care. So, shoot that out.”
First of course, hashtag is a Twitter conduit, not an email one, but I’m surprised he even knows what Twitter is. As a season ticket holder who pays money to watch this team, I am incensed at his cavalier attitude. A friend tells me that as long as Pat Ryan and his wife are alive, Fitzgerald is untouchable, and he has been the most successful football head coach in school history (although other than Ara Parsegian, that bar is pretty low). However, no football coach outside of Saban can just flip off the naysayers.
Plus, this is Northwestern – the Ryans aren’t the only rich alums/donors. There’s a lot of rich season ticket holders sitting in the prime seats on the West side and in the boxes attached to the press box. I’m not one of those “I pay your salary types” (although my season ticket money paid over the past 20 years should count for something). I have paid my money and came to games in rain, in snow, in bad seasons and good seasons, and in any other situation, the cries would ring out for Fitzgerald’s job.
This is the point I don’t understand about Fitzgerald. Yes, the team has turned in some 10-win seasons and won more bowl games than ever. When you look at the numbers however, the offense has been lagging for years. The defense has been carrying the Cats through the good times. It seems that Fitzgerald along with Athletic Director Jim Phillips operate that since we win more than we lose, we shouldn’t try to get better. Companies go under with that philosophy.
I’ve seen companies that operate profitably, but there’s a unit or division that does not operate as well. These companies make changes, either at the top of the underperforming division, or closing the division altogether. THAT is how successful organizations operate. As I written almost everywhere, Mick McCall is incompetent. He would have been fired from every other program in the nation. He might be a nice guy, the players may love him, but the ultimate gauge is performance.
I predict that Phillips will get Fitzgerald to issue a public semi-apology. The Fans and alums cannot be publicly called out no matter how many wins you have in the past.

What do these men have in common: Mitch Trubisky, Jim McMahon, Rick Mirer, Jack Concannon. Bob Avelini, Sid Luckman, Jay Cutler, Kyle Orton, Bobby Douglas, Bill Wade, and Jim Harbaugh? What do these men have in common: Vince Evans, Moses Moreno, and Henry Burris? The answer to both questions are the same to a point: all of these men have played quarterback for the Chicago Bears. The first list is comprised of all Caucasian men; the latter are men of color.
I am not saying that this is a pattern (but there might be), and of course, the Bears have a dismal history of play under center no matter the skin color of the men there (with the exception of Luckman and McMahon of course). I cannot think of another team who has consistently had mediocre to bad quarterbacks. Maybe it’s a tradeoff? The Bears have an exceptional record of drafting linebackers and running backs. Never QBs however. If you look at the great QBs over the past few years, they all have a confidence, a swagger, that Bear QBs other than McMahon in my lifetime don’t have. Trubisky looks like a deer in the headlights most of the time.
Anyway, you may be asking me a question: what am I getting at? It’s a fair question since I regularly commit a cardinal journalistic sin: I “bury the lede.” Although Mitch Trubisky played much better last night against the banged-up and woeful Washington defense, Bear fans, myself included, are not sold on him being a franchise quarterback. I disagree with the comparisons that fans make comparing Trubisky’s pick to Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, two of the best QBs in the league and picked 8 and 10 spots later in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft (it also doesn’t help that Bear GM Ryan Pace paid a high price to trade up one selection to grab Trubisky).
Here is my point: even if the Bears had drafted Mahomes or Watson, the Bears have never been able to play well behind a mobile QB. Yes, Trubisky is known for being able to run, but not like Watson (Mahomes is more of a pocket passer, but he is elusive). Just because we would have drafted either of these exceptional players does not mean that they would have had the same success in Chicago. While I do think that Matt Nagy is the strongest offensive mind manning a Bear sideline, part of what makes a college quarterback excel in the NFL is the coach/scheme he plays under. Mahomes may be the best QB to come along since Brady or Rodgers, but it is Andy Reid’s scheme that allows him to prosper. Any of the three would have suffered in the John Fox regime (and Trubisky was hurt having to change schemes when Nagy was hired).
I’m not saying that Pat Mahomes and Deshaun Watson aren’t better than Trubisky at this point in their careers; the numbers say it all. I’m not saying that maybe the Bears made a serious mistake on Trubisky; time will tell on that one. However, let’s not get carried away with that analysis: for one thing, it’s done – get over it; second, the other guys might not play well here in Chicago either.

It is generally agreed that the quarterback position is the most important single position on a football team. They touch the ball on every offensive play; they are responsible for getting the ball to the receiver or handing off to the ball carrier to get the most yardage and score points. Quarterbacks are paid millions of dollars; millions more are spent to pay linemen to protect them; more millions are spent on getting them the best targets and runners to surround them; and millions more are paid to get the right Head Coach/offensive coordinator to put them in the best scheme to succeed. Of course, if you don’t produce on the field, you are going to be benched, eventually cut. Here in Chicago, it is said that the most popular player on the Bears is the backup QB.
Still, with all of that money flowing, quarterback controversies still rage, or worse, teams have to look to backups when starters get injured. We are only two weeks into the NFL season and already there are quarterback concerns all over the place:
• Jacksonville spent a lot of money to sign Nick Foles away from the Philadelphia Eagles, but Foles broke his collarbone in preseason. He will be out at least 2 months.
• Mitchell Trubisky isn’t exactly setting the NFL on fire after a nonexistent preseason has led to two mediocre performances, first against the Packers, then yesterday against the Broncos. The only redeeming factor yesterday was that Trubisky led the Bears to an improbable win with a terrific 25-yard pass to Allen Robinson at the end of the game leading to Eddy Pinero’s 53-yard field goal to win 16-14. The only thing that is keeping the fans calling for Trubisky to ride some pine is that backup Chase Daniel looked only passable during training camp himself. The jury remains out on Trubisky for sure
• Meanwhile in New York, Giants management says that it is too premature to bench Eli Manning for Daniel Jones. So far, it doesn’t look like the 0-2 Giants problem is under center, it looks like a train wreck in all aspects of the game. Putting in Jones for cannon fodder for opposing defenses, might not be the best thing. However, it appears that the Giants have no wins, and no prospects for wins. I appreciate loyalty to the man who won two Super Bowls for your team, but you have to give fans some hope…
• The worst thing to have happen is when you lose your starting QB for an extended length of time, even the entire season. The Saints will be scrambling to replace future Hall of Famer Drew Brees on offense. Brees hurt his thumb on a defensive player and is expected to miss up to 8 weeks. The Saints look to former Vikings signal caller Teddy Bridgewater to keep them relevant until Brees returns. Bridgewater has a great deal of experience including leading a playoff run, so they may be OK…
• On the other hand, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be relying on Mason Rudolph at QB after two-time Super Bowl Champion Ben Roethlisberger recovers from a season ending elbow injury suffered in the second quarter of the Steelers’ game against Seattle yesterday. With 15 years in the league and an injury that is being compared to Tommy John surgery which often takes 18 months to recover from, people are wondering if Roethlisberger has taken his last snap in Pittsburgh…
With all of this uncertainty, still Colin Kaepernick’s phone isn’t ringing. Makes one hate the NFL (or at least the owners)…

Obviously wide receiver Antonio Brown has to be one of the most talented players in all of professional football. Coming from Central Michigan after growing up in Miami, Brown was one of the best in the league amassing 10,000 yards, but then he started to complain in Pittsburgh. Prompted by the holdout of Steeler running back Le’von Bell, Brown requested a trade after last season when he didn’t want to practice among other transgressions.
Finally, he was traded to the Raiders in return for a third and a fifth-round draft choice in this past year’s draft. Once he got to Oakland, all you heard about was that he wanted to wear his old helmet, which does not meet the league’s standard for safety. Brown petitioned the league twice, both times being denied. The Raiders, who for decades had the reputation for taking in difficult personalities eventually gave up on Brown and released him, getting picked up by the Patriots. Before he could even suit up in New England, there were reports that a young woman was accusing him of sexual misconduct after a reported $2 million settlement agreement fell apart.
Of course, the league is looking into the allegation, which is not too good for Brown since the league may just be getting tired of dealing with him over the helmet situation. Brown came out and had a fine game for Bill Belichick’s team yesterday, 4 receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown, but how much more Brown will play could be limited.
Worse is the fact that the Patriots are renowned as having a very joyless atmosphere. Yes, they win but there seems to be much less exuberance on the team, hidden by a “just do your job” mantra. Of course, the Patriots have a history of having receivers who make questionable choices.

Long time readers know that my “Daddy only” trip is to TIFF, six days out of town for the first half of the festival. This is my 19th TIFF; over those years, I have seen some of the most interesting, controversial films over the past 21 years. This year I saw 13 films. Here is my annual review of the films I saw by day…
I usually watch only one film on Friday so that I can spend time with the lovely family that allows me to stay with them. Usually, its fairly easy to pick one afternoon film, but this year, there were three movies that I could only see on Friday. The first was Red Penguins, the story of Russian hockey players who were recruited to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a story filled with oligarchs, gangsters and strippers. The film was directed by Gabe Polsky, whose film, Red Army about the Russian Army teams of the 1970s who eventually came to play in the NHL is a fine documentary and a favored memory from TIFF – I saw the world premiere back in 2014. As big of a hockey fan as I am, this would figure to be high on my list.
Another film showing around the same time was “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.” Bob Dylan’s former backup band were Canadian, which made this a big draw at TIFF. While I’m not a huge fan of the Band, I am a huge fan of members Robertson and Levon Helm. Still, not my final pick.
Coming into it late, over the past few years, I have become a big fan of filmmaker Armondo Iannucci. His television shows: The Thick of It in the U.K. and Veep for HBO here are classics. The film from The Thick Of It was “In The Loop” which furthered the story of British Minister Malcolm Tucker, foul mouthed, irreverent and played with glee by Peter Capaldi before becoming Doctor Who. Two years ago, Iannucci directed “The Death of Stalin” the end of his reign as written by Monty Python. It is still one of my favorite films and one of the funniest films I’ve seen in the past decade. So, it was no great surprise that I would choose his latest film, “The Personal Story of David Copperfield.”
Dev Patel stars as the title character, and he brings a charm and personality to the role. A cast full of superlative actors including Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Ben Whishaw, Gwendoline Christie and Mr. Capaldi along with a cast full of actors of color. IT’s been decades since I read Dickens, so my memory of the story was foggy, but it came back to me, and isn’t important to those who don’t know the book. While not as funny as “Stalin” it is very funny and charming. The actors were uniformly terrific.
Mr. Iannucci and Mr. Patel and the other screenwriter, producers and a couple of the actors attended the Q&A session I was able to meet MR. Iannucci after the Q&A to ask if there was most to the story of Malcolm Tucker. He told me that Tucker was in jail. Bummer.