The Chicago Bulls are the Dr. Phil franchise of the NBA. They have had some strange characters play for them. Some have been wacky, like Dennis Rodman; some have been a little off like Scottie Pippen. Then, they drafted local hero Derrick Rose and Rose was a superstar, the youngest player to the win the NBA MVP award. The team’s fortunes appeared to be bright indeed; that is, until Rose began his seemingly never-ending series of injuries, which forced him to lose almost two full seasons.
The injuries unfortunately exposed the immature, ghetto man-child to adversity, the likes of which he hadn’t seen before. Even in the annals of spoiled jocks, Rose’s unwillingness to play when doctors said he was ready to play, and his concerns being able to watch his son play sports someday while looking forward to his next big contract (the Bulls signed him to a $90+ million deal when he was MVP) gave him the reputation of being selfish and narcissistic. These are two traits that don’t generally play well in the historically blue collar Chicago. Of course, Bulls fans had gotten used to Michael Jordan, a man who doesn’t like to lose ever, playing through injury and of course, the famous flu/food poisoning playoff game.
Since Rose left for New York, the Bulls signed another home town product, Dwayne Wade, a multiple NBA champion who is a solid character guy. Then they did something odd, they signed Rajon Rondo, a talented but temperamental player whose run-ins with coaches and players, both teammate and opponent are legendary. Rondo has been benched for issues with Bulls’ coach Fred Hoiberg and teammates, but injuries to Wade and current Bulls superstar Jimmy Butler forced Rondo bank into the lineup this week.
Meanwhile in the Big Apple, Rose missed a game earlier this week due to a “family emergency.” No one could find him – did he come back to Chicago? Was there something else? However, Rose didn’t tell anyone about his absence – not the coach, nor Head of Basketball Operations Phil Jackson, not even the ball boys, team managers or janitors. Considering that he is making $21 million this season to play basketball for the Knicks, I think basic common courtesy and consideration would lead one to call someone and tell them that you are going to be detained. I have made considerably less than $21 million in my work life, but I still always notified my boss or if the boss was unavailable, co-workers what was going on.
But tonight, the Bulls’ problem children get to face each other on the court. The Bulls will be at Madison Square Garden tonight to face the Knicks. Rondo will be available to play; Rose has returned after sustaining a fine, which is like being fined that extra penny you have in your pocket. Game of Thrones had the “Battle of the Bastards;” it seems that tonight’s game could have a similar moniker.

Tonight, Alabama and Clemson will play for the second year in a row for the less-than-mythical college football national championship. Alabama is undefeated and is trying to run the table again. This may be the best pure team Nick Saban has ever led, and he has history he’s trying to make – if “Bama wins, he will tie the legendary Bear Bryant with six national championships.
Clemson is no pushover however, losing only to Pitt by one point (Pitt of course lost the Pinstripe Bowl to my Northwestern Wildcats). I will probably watch a little bit of the game tonight, but I have antipathy toward Alabama and Saban and no real attachment to Clemson. So, I guess I’m hoping for a good game, and if Saban wins again, I plan to hold my nose.

So, it’s been a busy November and December for me, and as a result, this column/site has suffered from neglect. I apologize to all of the loyal readers, but I hope to do better in 2017 starting now. So, let’s catch up on all of the stories I wanted to address at the end of the year:
Two big college stars announced well in advance that they would be sitting out their teams’ college bowl games. Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette of LSU both sat out their bowl games to concentrate on their future NFL careers. All over the sports landscape, the media and pundits and coaches moaned and groaned – they were giving up on their teams; they were selfish; they were quitters. Given CTE and risk of injury, I think it was a smart move by the two young men.
There are too many college football games, it’s plain. With the preconference schedules, which are no longer against “lesser” opponents, the bug schools are playing other good teams before the first exam has been issued. Then there’s the conference season, then the useless except for generating money of the conference title games, then there are the bowl games and for four finalists, a semifinal then a final to play. College players are nearly playing a full NFL season, and in most cases, are expected to go to class and be students also.
There’s a part of me that is all gung-ho for team and all, but in this case, these young men are further exposing the NCAA’s hypocrisy. If the schools are caring for just the money, why shouldn’t the players?
Last weekend’s NFL Wild Card games weren’t worth the fans’ interest. Injuries and mediocrity abounded. The soon-to-no-longer Oakland Raiders’ starting QB and MVP Derek Carr broke his leg a few weeks ago and the backup also was injured. So they faced the Houston Texans with a QB Connor Cook, the first QB in NFL history to start his first ever NFL game in the playoffs. The Texans overpaid for Brock Osweiler who was benched in the final game of the season. The Texans relied on defense and they did just that against the Raiders, beating them 27-14.
The other AFC game was between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins and the Dolphins were without their starter, Ryan Tannehill due to injury. Matt Moore had been a capable replacement, but the rushing of Le’Veon Bell, timely passing of Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers’ usually stout defense prevailed 31-12.
The NFC was little better. The Detroit Lions went into Seattle and they came unglued against the perennial NFC title contenders. Two personal fouls at key times helped to end the Lions’ season. Finally, the big game was supposed to be the Giants and Packers at Lambeau Field. The Giants were in front early, but Aaron Rodgers continued his hot streak and they pulled away to win easily 38-13.
So, that leaves us with 4 rematches of earlier games this season: The Seahawks go into Atlanta on Saturday. The Falcons played well this season, but they are always a quarter away from being horrible. The Patriots are at home against the Texans – the Patriots easily defeated the Texans in week three with the Patriots third string QB – what chance do they have with a healthy and motivated Tom Brady? The Steelers defeated the Chiefs easily early in the season, but this time, they will be at Arrowhead and the Chief faithful will be out in force. Finally, the red hot Packers head to Dallas to play the Cowboys. Many fans hope that both teams can lose this one, but one of them will have to win.

I’m not sure that there needs to be another group who can vote people into the Baseball Hall of Fame. There’s the voting by the Baseball Writers of America and there’s the veteran’s committee. Each have their rules for enshrinement. Now, there’s something called the Today’s Era Committee, which I guess is just a new version of the veteran’s committee. Apparently, there are several committees, each focusing on a time period in the game’s history. Besides the Today’s Era Committee, there are committees for Modern Baseball (1970-1987); Golden Days (1950-1969) and Early Baseball (1871-1949).
This week, the Today’s Era Committee elected GM John Schueholtz, one of the few General Managers to guide teams to World Series Titles in both Leagues (a distinction now also held by Theo Epstein of the Cubs). This is a good pick – Mr. Schuerholz has been a major force in baseball for years first with the Kansas City Royals in the 1980s, then with the division dynasty that was the Atlanta Braves of the 1990s. Then, the committee messed up, election former Commissioner Bud Selig to the Hall of Fame.
I have always had difficulty with commissioners in the various sports Halls: they are owners’ toadies, there to expand the owners’ profits, not much else. Yes, they are the keepers of the discipline, but some, like NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, look at the players like children to be disciplined harshly.
Selig, however, took the other tack – after the disastrous lockout of 1994 which ended the season prematurely and cancelled the playoffs and World Series, he stuck his head in the sand as performance enhancing drugs took over the sport and demolished the integrity of the sport. Records that seemed to be insurmountable: Roger Maris’ 61 home runs in a season; Henry Aaron’s 744 all-time home run total fell with regularity. Big stars – probable Hall of Famers without the “juice:” Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, turned into liars and now their enshrinement is questionable at best. In many ways worse, marginal and decent players suddenly had all-star years. But the big numbers brought in the fans; people who were marginal fans came in droves and big fans, those who were mad at the sport and said they were done with it, grudgingly returned. Selig says he never knew or suspected, but baseball has employed investigators for decades. McGwire was busted for having an enhancement openly displayed in his locker.
Like the other successful commissioners, the owners’ profits multiplied, which is the only standard that they care about. The wacky ideas that Selig started, worse of all having the league winning the All –Star Game getting home field advantage during the World Series, has mercifully been eliminated with the new collective bargaining agreement. The one thing I will give Selig – after the lockout, the owners and the players’ association realized that strikes/lockouts hurt the sport more than it helped. With the new agreement, the sides have had labor peace for 26 years and counting.
The couple of things that were positives under Selig are more than outweighed by the bad, especially being Emperor Nero overseeing the game during the Steroid Era. Far Right and false news site Breitbart.com is reportedly saying that if Selig gets into the Hall, all of the Steroid Era players should be allowed in also. Let’s not go that far – I advocated for years that there should have been a six-month period in which every player that cheated could “come clean” (no pun intended), admit what they took without penalty. Then all players who came forward could be eligible for the Hall of Fame, but if they were elected, they would have that fact on their plaque at Cooperstown. My idea never gained any traction and now, too many years have passed for this to have any impact, but if you’re letting the guard in, maybe the inmates should be considered also.
Selig is a former user car salesman who got lucky. He shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame, but then again, there are plenty of others who don’t belong either.

Back when former White Sox owner Bill Veeck sat in the bleachers at Wrigley Field watching the Cubs, he was interviewed by a local paper and he was asked what he would do if he owned the Cubs. He said “build a lot of driveways at Wrigley Field.” Confused, the reporter asked him to explain and Veeck said “to back up the truck.”
This meant of course, a complete rebuild of the team, which is exactly what Theo Epstein did to give the Cubs their first World Series in 108 years. Meanwhile, the White Sox, despite a lot of talent on paper, underachieved mightily over the past few years, leading to bottom of the AL Central standings, and eventually, the firing of manager Robin Ventura.
To no one’s great surprise, with a high payroll, especially for a mid-market team in a big market dominated by the Cubs, the White Sox front office – GM Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams had their own jobs to protect and so, the breakup and rebuild has begun with yesterday’s trade of started Chris Sale to the Red Sox for four prospects including the number 1 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America – Yoan Moncada, 20 year old second baseman called “Robinson Cano with more speed,” and Michael Kopech, a pitcher with a 100 mph fastball.
Many have suggested that Sale earned his ticket out of town with his short fuse and high intensity. He ripped Williams during the Adam LaRoche incident last year and was benched for a start by complaining about throwback uniforms that he claimed were uncomfortable, and cutting up several of the uniforms before the game. Hahn says that this had not impact on the trade.
While some Sox fans have been upset, others are very happy. My friend and, to my mind, one of the most astute Sox fans around, Carl Bonasera, has long called for the team to trade Sale. He never got a big win when the team needed one, and never did what a number one starter did – take the team on his back and stop a losing streak. I have to agree.
I know that everyone is for sale (no pun intended), I think that trading the other All Star pitcher Jose Quintana and first baseman Jose Abreu would be mistakes. Both of these guys are very young and just coming into their own. Although older, I would tend to keep third baseman Todd Frazier since the team has never had a steady great third baseman since Joe Crede with the World Series Champion team in 2005.
White Sox fans are generally knowledgeable and take a wait-and-see attitude before buying tickets. I wonder if the newly renamed Guaranteed Rate Field will be guaranteed empty in May and June?

Well, lots of magazines and websites are already putting their best of lists together and so, as I do every year, it is time to post my own list. Yes, my artists tend to trend older than the usual critic, but since I’m still a big music fan/buyer, I am giving my own list.
Two notable omissions: first – since I haven’t received the new Rolling Stones CD of blues covers, I am not including it because while I’ve heard a great deal, I have not heard it all, so it’s off the list. And for those who are among the WXRT listening lemmings, there is no Live from the Archives Volume 18. Like the Stones, it’s not out when I write this, but as many people know, I detest WXRT and its roster of milquetoast singer/songwriters playing mid-tempo crap. Since I do not plan to buy the record at all, there is no way in hell it would come anywhere near this list.
Finally, the criteria is simply what did I listen to the most this year. Let’s get to it…

10. Elton John – Wonderful Crazy Night: after having released the excellent back-to-basics album with Leon Russell The Union in 2010, Elton has returned to the spotlight for new music instead of just his popular shows and occasional controversies. For Wonderful Crazy Night, he challenged his long time lyricist Bernie Taupin to write positive lyrics; to make an album that was more positive than other recent releases that handled more serious issues and emotions. Generally, Elton succeeded to make another fine record, well worthy of inclusion with his 1970s material and coming after The Union, shows that he still has chops and interesting things to say.
9. Savages – Adore Life: this one I give credit to Chicago Tribune music columnist (and acquaintance) Greg Kot. He wrote about this band, whose first disc had slid almost completely under my radar, but I listen to the second disc and I like it better than their first Silence Yourself (which was very good also). The ladies leading the band – singer Jehnny Beth and guitarist Gemma Thompson have come up with an excellent record that stayed on my playlist all year after being released in January.
8. The I Don’t Cares – Wild Stab: there are positives to being on fan Facebook sites, otherwise I might never have known that The Replacements leader Paul Westerberg had teamed up with another alternative star from the past, Juliana Hatfield for an album under the moniker The I Don’t Cares. It still sounds like a Westerberg album with Hatfield adding some duets singing. IF you like Westerberg/Replacements, it’s a worthy addition.
7. Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression: the Head Stooge says that at 69 years of age, this is his last record and if so, this will be a fitting sendoff (although the record shows that Iggy still has the energy and attitude to be a rock star). Teaming up with Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Josh Homme, Post Pop Depression gives us a vision of a man who has seen much of life, and now, nearer the end, has some things to say. Let’s hope that this isn’t Iggy’s last record.
6. Metallica – Hardwired To Self-Destruct: even though this record only came out a couple of weeks ago, I have been playing it a lot, especially the first 3-4 songs. My headbanging days are long behind me, and I prefer the most melodic “Black Album” than a lot of the rest of the Metallica catalogue, but this is a heavy CD but with some of the melodies remaining. It can get tedious as this is a very long CD with long songs, but overall, I like it.
5. Bob Mould – Patch The Sky: another guitar filled rumination on what it’s like to be Bob Mould. Fortunately however, Mould is a very interesting person, who I enjoy spending time with. It has all of the heavy guitar playing that one would expect from the former Husker Du and Sugar front man, and once again, he delivers.
4. Sting – 57th and 9th: one can put down Sting for being a foppish prig sometimes, but I’ll be dammed if he doesn’t have pop hooks coming out of his pores. For his first “rock/pop” album in over a decade, Sting gives us another bunch of songs that we will love in the short term and eventually become tired of hearing on the radio when they become staples. That’s not Sting’s fault; but at least he’s not doing lyre music or Broadway musicals.
3. Wilco – Shmilco: once again, Jeff Tweedy and the gang snuck an album out while no one was looking and this is another group of songs on numerous topics, perhaps with fewer wild musical digressions mid-song, which isn’t necessarily to the better. But it’s Wilco, the songs are very good, and they live in Chicago, so there it is.
2. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool: another critical darling, Radiohead released another group of moody, atmospheric songs. I admit that I prefer some of the older material but this got lots of airplay from me this year.
1a. Graham Parker – These Dreams Will Never Sleep: yes, he’s my friend and I’m a big fan, so this 6 CD/1DVD set gets the “out of competition” prize this year. Three disc are the first full career compilation of GP’s multi-label career, and that’s great for the uninitiated; for we fans, we have all of these songs; but the highlight/must have reason for this Europe-only box set is the 2 discs of the final GP and the Rumour concern from the O2 Arena in London in 2015. Plus other live material and a DVD of live material, this made this a constant play for me. Since I’m biased however, I have it listed as 1a, mostly because this is my list and I can do what I wish (so there)!
1. David Bowie – Blackstar: on many levels, 2016 was an unmitigated disaster, but little did we know that when the reclusive Bowie released this disc on his birthday, January 8th. I was just getting into listening to the record when the world found out that Bowie did two days later. This “final” act of performance art forced you into a deeper listen to the record and one finds reflections of age and loss and death, all there for us to grasp, if we only listen hard enough.

Here’s the list in brief:

10 Elton John – Wonderful Crazy Night
9 Savages – Adore Life
8 The I Don’t Cares – Wild
4 Sting – 57th and 9th
3 Wilco – Schmilco
2 Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
1a Graham Parker – These Dreams Will Never Sleep
1 David Bowie – Blackstar

So, in short, in music, it was an OK year, but like life, we will need our artists to help us get through the next four years starting with 2017. That’s a tough job, but I’m sure there’s lots of people up to it.

I was at the Northwestern – Illinois game on Saturday, so I didn’t see the Ohio State – Michigan battle, but there’s been a lot said and written about it. It was a thrilling classic – 2 overtimes with Ohio State winning by 3 points. We all believed it would be a great game and from all accounts, it lived up to it.
There were some poor calls/non-calls and friends of mine who are Michigan boosters cried about all of them. Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh was among the complainers and the media has jumped on his outbursts as being unprofessional, selfish, deluded, and worst of all, being a poor role model for his young men. Blaming everything on others, that’s what they say about Harbaugh, and they’re right.
Jim Harbaugh has always been a pompous, self-righteous ass. That’s not a secret – he was a jerk at Stanford, a bigger jerk in San Francisco with the 49ers. As he’s been successful, his ego, always gargantuan, has only grown bigger over time. Returning to his alma mater, Michigan and gaining immediate success there has boosted Harbaugh’s sense of self to scary level.
However, I pose the question – is he completely wrong? Now, as I say, I didn’t see the game and I have not seen the questionable calls/plays. But I do know that Big Ten officials are among the worst in the country. I have been watching Big Ten football for years and I have constantly railed against the officiating. I have even written Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany on this issue, letters that have gained no reply; they probably met the circular file, if not the shredder. I’m certain that my letters are on the “permanently do not open” list. You may think that I was just complaining because of bad calls against my alma mater Northwestern, but they’re not. I have seen calls, ridiculous calls go for NU against the other team, and I remain aghast at the calls. They young men are playing their hearts out, risking pain and injury on a football field, and they deserve referees who are the best at making the games fair. They deserve to never believe that the game is rigged, even when calls do keep teams in games, or seem miraculously, to go for the team who is more likely to have the best chance at a national championship and a bigger payday.
As usual, Delany and his minions did what they always do – they fined Harbaugh $10,000, a sum the multimillionaire wastes on a weekend getaway. Not much of a deterrent for a man who is or is rapidly becoming a coach beyond reproach. He’ll be like Urban Meyer in Columbus; like Nick Saban at Alabama, like Joe Paterno was at Penn State – men above the NCAA, above their conferences.
But maybe, like a broken clock, Harbaugh is right twice every day?