There’s nothing more important to the NFL owners and Commissioner Roger Goodell than the television ratings. It is the great driver behind the multi-billion dollars printing press called professional football. More than ticket sales, more than jerseys and beers and parking, the television networks rule the roost. So, lots of people are concerned that ratings for the NFL are down, and the league is trying desperately to find out what it is.
Some say that the toxic election and television coverage of it is having a ripple effect on the football games, but that doesn’t make sense – football is often a balm on frustrated and upset people, especially men. Others say that the Colin Kaepernick protest is turning people off, but honestly, once the national anthem is over, does anyone even care? Kaepernick is starting on one of the worst teams in football, outside of San Francisco and PO’d conservatives, who even cares? And let’s not forget the Thursday night games. Playing on 3 days between games, the players are tired and still beaten up from the previous game. No wonder the games have been as exciting as watching grass grow. Some say that as teams have shed older, more expensive players in factor of cheaper players the quality of play has suffered. This may be truer than we know, but I think it is in tandem with another issue.
I think that it is the curse of Pete Roselle, the NFL Commissioner as the television era became the Frankenstein monster of the sport. Roselle was always pushing parity – lots of evenly matched teams who could beat any other team on any given Sunday. In the past, this has worked alright, there were a couple of great teams, a few good ones, some mediocre teams, a couple of bad teams. Mismanagement, bad drafting and injuries have led to more truly bad teams that ever before. The Bears are terrible; the Lions aren’t good despite being 3-3. Last year’s Super Bowl runner up, Carolina is 1-5; and the 49ers are rebuilding. Philadelphia is a lackluster 3-2 and the N.Y. Giants are .500 but haven’t impressed anybody.
In the AFC, there’s the Browns at 0-6; the Jets are 1-5; the Dolphins are 2-4. Jacksonville was expected to be bad – why else have them host one of their home games in London every year? Because they’re so bad, they can’t sell out at home, so as a novelty, the Jags play across the pond once per year. The Colts were expected to be better, but they can’t hold a lead either – they’re 2-4 along with the Jags. Perennial playoff team, Cincinnati is 2-4 also. Only the AFC West shows signs of life with only the Chargers under .500 at 2-4 and who knows how good they would be if they could hold onto a 4th quarter lead.
Just taking a quick rundown of the league, I have 11 teams in the Poor category, 12 in the mediocre category and only 9 in the good category. Looking at who I have as mediocre, you have Green Bay, Detroit, Washington who lost the first 2 games of the season before winning 4 in a row; the Eagles who got off to a fast start but now can’t beat anyone; and Giants and the Rams and Cardinals in the NFC. The AFC mediocrity is Houston, who is leading the weakest division in football without J.J. Watt and with a horrible offense, Tennessee, Baltimore, Kansas City. None of these teams other than the Cardinals are particularly interesting and more likely to drop a clunker game as a good one.
Among the “good teams” who’s interesting other than New England and a PO’d Tom Brady? Buffalo is 4-2 but the jury is still out on them. Pittsburgh has been good, but with QB Ben Rothlesburger having knee surgery, they are a question mark. Oakland is better but see my comment on Buffalo above. The defending Super Bowl champion Broncos still have that defense, but while I am openly cheering for Northwestern alum Trevor Siemein at QB, there’s a big question there. In the NFC, Minnesota has as good a defense as Denver, but again, can QB Sam Bradford, replacing the injured Teddy Bridgewater, show that he’s for real? Dallas has rookie QB sensation Dak Prescott replacing the oft-injured Tony Romo. As Romo gets healthier, the conventional wisdom is go with the veteran, but Prescott has the ‘Boys 5-1 and moreover, he doesn’t make the crucial turnover with the game on the line, which has been Romo’s trademark. (I think you stay with the date that “brung ‘ya” – stick with Prescott.) That leaves Seattle – are they about to return to the elite teams or fall short as they’ve done ever since the Super Bowl interception?
In short, not many good teams with compelling players. Too many “meh” teams. Instead of parity, we have parody. Inconsistent effort and play abounds. Excellent matchups (what few there are) end up being one sided slaughters. I don’t know what can be done, but something should happen soon.

A couple of weeks ago, I was going to write this piece, but then the Bears up and won a game for the first time all season, beating the just as hapless Detroit Lions. But that win gave fans here in Chicago a glimpse of hope where there had been none before. Unfortunately, the Bears lost winnable games to the Colts and last weekend to the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars. Fans at Soldier Field booed and there was a notable number of fans disguised as empty seats. It is obvious that the Bears are aiming for the number 1 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft as the Bears next play the angry Packers Thursday night at Lambeau Field, then they play the division leading Vikings the week after.
Obviously, hope is gone for the Bears (and the Browns and the Jaguars, and a few others) only six games into the season. As the Ricketts family and Cub President Theo Epstein, hope is the coin of the realm, the dreams and promises that keep people coming through the turnstiles. The Cubs were the worst team in baseball, losing over 95 games per season, but Cub fans have that special kind of hope (insanity?) that not having a championship in 108 years brings. Now, they are being rewarded, the Cubs are in the NLCS for the second consecutive year and are tied with the Dodgers going into tonight’s game 3 at Dodger Stadium.
However, even Cub faithful refused to buy as many tickets are the team used the losses to build higher draft picks and better players. Other teams have to sell hope and faith, because a championship is a long shot. Too many things would have to go right for many teams to seriously contend for championships. In baseball, last year’s Kansas City Royals showed that the previously moribund, perennial losing franchise can catch lightning in a bottle and win. It probably saved the team in Kansas City for at least another 15 years.
While football is certainly the true National Pastime, and Bear fans are among the most loyal, this year’s team has never shown any fire, any true passion. What talent GM Ryan Pace has been able to amass has not shown on the field due to injuries. A thumb injury to QB/perennial scapegoat Jay Cutler has kept him off the field and his replacement, nomadic backup Brian Hoyer has been able to throw for lots of yards, but no touchdowns and the offense plays so conservatively, one wonders if NU Coordinator Mick McCall is calling the plays from Evanston.
Offense really doesn’t matter to Bear fans anyway – they have been weaned on tough defenses; units that while the other team wins the game, they will win the fight. The defense is a shell of its former self – better than in previous seasons, but still not good. Worse, the team has squandered leads in the 4th quarters of several games during this tailspin, grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory.
I don’t usually pass out “I told you so-s,” but Rick Telander, Hub Arkush and I were the only ones around here who questioned Coach John Fox’s fire in the belly. Fox was fired after taking a team to the Super Bowl behind soon-to-be Hall of Famer Peyton Manning without winning. The next year, Coach Gary Kubiak led the team to a championship. All of the pundits talked of Fox’s trend in previous head coaching jobs to take teams to the Super Bowl in his second year in charge. The problem with this argument is: first, Fox’s teams lost both Super Bowls; and the rebuild of the Bears is going to need someone enthusiastic, not grandfatherly. It’s easy to pick on Fox, but he was never the answer.
Thursday night’s game is going to be ugly; the Packers just lost at home to the dreaded, hated Cowboys and they need a win to keep pace with the Vikings. Plus, there’s nothing that Head Coach Mike McCarthy and QB Aaron Rodgers LOVE to beat the Bears and the worse the beating the better, and after last Thanksgiving’s upset in Green Bay, the steely knives will be out. But part of a great rivalry is passion among the fans, and I don’t think Bear fans have any passion, because there’s no hope.

If there’s one thing that Chicago Bulls and Chicago white Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf values, it’s loyalty. Players coaches, and front office staff have gotten/retained jobs because they were “good team players.” Of course, when the player underperforms, or the team doesn’t play well for the coach, or the GM makes a number of bad moves, Reinsdorf is reluctant to pull the trigger and get rid of the person, especially coaches and front office members.
With the White Sox limping to the team’s fourth 4th place finish in a row, the vultures were circling around manager Robin Ventura. Sports radio callers, while universally saying that Ventura is a good man, said that change was needed. A valid argument could be made that GM Rick Hahn and VP for Baseball Operations Kenny Williams were as much to blame for the four years of losing, but it was obvious that there had to be a scapegoat. The critics were upset late last week when it was reported that the White Sox had offered Ventura an extension “if he wanted one,” but Ventura wasted no time after the Sox lost their last game of the season to the Minnesota Twins to announce that he would not be returning as manager next season.
By then, the word that Ventura would not be returning and that bench coach Rick Renteria would be replacing him, so it was fait accompli that Ventura was out. This season has been a strange one, even by White Sox standards. It started with the Adam and Drake LaRoche incident where the overpaid slugger retired rather than have the 13-year old limited in the amount of time spent in the clubhouse with the team. Staff ace Chris Sale took LaRoche’s side, but in the end, the LaRoche’s were gone.
Then the team streaked to a 24-10 record, which was nearly identical to the record the crosstown Cubs posted over the same period. As we all know now, the Cubs continued to blow through baseball, ending up with a league leading 103 wins. They await the start of the playoffs on Friday. The Sox went into a tailspin, falling back below .500 over the next 40 games. The controversy wasn’t over – Sale didn’t like that the team was wearing 1978 throwback uniforms one Sunday when he was scheduled to pitch and he went through the locker room with a knife or a pair of succors cutting up several uniforms. This got Sale suspended, but in this instance along with the LaRoche situation, Ventura tried to maintain neutrality at least publicly. All of these things may have led us to this point, but the 375-435 record, which is the worst record for any Sox manager with more than five years managed.
I don’t know if Robin Ventura will get another chance to manage at the major league level. Perhaps he doesn’t want to, but I’m sure that Jerry Reinsdorf will find a position for him. Ventura bailed the front office out after getting rid of loudmouthed Ozzie Guillen, which was tough since he was the only man to bring a World Series championship to town in almost a century at that point. Ventura was the calm after the storm; former standout Sox third baseman, respected by the fan base – a man who could calm the Guillen supporters. After a second place finish in his first year, the team underperformed mightily, and once again, Ventura took the heat off the front office by falling on his sword and quitting. He may have a job from Reinsdorf for life.
The White Sox promoted Rick Renteria from bench coach to manager. Renteria managed the Cubs in 2014, the last year of the team “tanking” to get the best draft choices. Many felt (myself included) that Renteria did the best he could with the talent, and with the maturation of Anthony Rizzo and promotion of Kris Bryant, Reneria would have a full deck for 2015. However, Joe Maddon tied of Tampa Bay and the Cubs leapt, signing the manager despite the fact that Reneria was signed for another two years. Reneria was fired, spent 2015 out of baseball and returned to Chicago as the bench coach for the White Sox. Renteria was silent on the Cubs and was frank that he was not looking for Ventura’s job. While seemingly as stoic as Ventura, it was obvious that the White Sox need a different voice in charge. I’m glad for Renteria – getting another chance, which isn’t guaranteed for first time managers, especially minority candidates.
I’m sure this won’t be the only change in store for the White Sox, but I have to wish Reneria luck and I have more respect for Robin Ventura.

I was unable to watch last Saturday’s game between Northwestern and Iowa, but I did listen to the radio as I ran around doing errands. I didn’t expect much, the Cats have looked bad up to now, especially on offense where Coordinator Mick McCall continues to steal NU’s money at again the offense is predicated on Justin Jackson breaking a long run and the rest of the offense being just as predictable.
Surprise, surprise when NU put on their best performance of the season, upsetting Iowa and their homecoming 38-31. While there is little better than beating Iowa, especially in front oft heir hick fan base (even more for Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald, who not so quietly hates Iowa), in listening to the game, Iowa has no one but themselves to blame.
NU was winning 17 – 7 based on some solid punt returns by both teams leading to 1st and goal situations. Iowa was able to take the lead 24-17 on touchdowns including one set up by an uncharacteristic fumble by Jackson. NU came back on two long TD drives to take a 31-24 lead. At that point, I was listening, and NU apparently got away with a facemask call on a third down play by the Iowa offense. This caused water bottles and other debris to rain down from the Iowa faithful. Now, since as long as I’ve followed Big Ten football I have railed against the poor officiating, even to the point of writing Commissioner Jim Delany one a couple of occasions, missives that have yet to be answered (at least Pat Fitzgerald had the balls to write me back when I wrote him about McCall). I have little doubt that one of these goofball officials missed the call. This level of incompetence is embarrassing to the conference and a personal affront to the players coaches and fans, but as long as the Big Ten keeps printing money from the fans and off the backs of the still unpaid labor, nothing will happen.
Anyway, here is where Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz and his assistants failed. No one tried to calm the players down, and so bad things happened. Iowa punted and on the first play from scrimmage, an Iowa player committed a face mask of his own. Of course, the retaliation always gets caught and the personal foul was called. Then a player complained at the end of the play and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called. So, instead of having the ball just outside it’s own 20, NU had a first and 10 at the Iowa 48. NU marched down to score the game winning touchdown (this score put them up 2 TDs, and Iowa scored one near the end of the game to make it close).
From what I heard and read, it appears that Iowa wasn’t as good as advertised, especially with their best receiver, Matt VandeBerg, out for the season with a broken foot suffered in practice. As I wrote earlier, its always good to beat Iowa (hell, it’s good to beat anyone most of the time), but in this case, someone needs to explain to the Iowa players that Big Ten officials suck and you have to deal with it and your emotions.

For the entirety of his seven year tenure as starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears, I have been a supporter of Jay Cutler. When the Bears got him from the Denver Broncos, I thought he had the big arm and gunslinger mentality to be a superstar.
Mediocre years, bad offensive lines, injuries, I, like most Bear fans, awaited his ascension into the top tier of NFL QBs. Suffering another thumb injury leading to more time on the sidelines, and now, it’s time to admit defeat. Jay Cutler will never be a top flight NFL starter. He is just too aloof, maybe coming from Vanderbilt he’s too smart to be a top QB?
Whatever it is, the bad fumbles, the drive killing interceptions, the vaguely daft Cutler-face that he shows on the sidelines, in press conferences that makes fans just dislike the guy? (Some say it’s the Hollywood wife, who had made comments about the lost acting/celebrity opportunities she’s lost because Cutler plays in Chicago instead of the East or West Coasts. My response – doesn’t seem to hurt Olivia Munn or her Green Bay Packer boyfriend Aaron Rodgers. And vaccinate your kids please.)
What is worse is that there is no hope among Bear fans. Three games into the sixteen game season, not even 20% of the season complete and Bear fans see no hope, which is the worst thing that can happen when you are trying to sell tickets and merchandise. Yes, the season tickets have been sold, but they will be going at a discount on Stub Hub. The only thing that saved the White Sox season this year was the 24-11 start. People got excited, and while the team went south, there was still hope that the team could turn it on and play like they did at the start of the season. Sox fans, notoriously standoffish, did come out until it was obvious that the team wasn’t going to play well enough to contend. (The Cubs of course, have to be given credit for their season; expected to be a great team and they’ve come out and showed that they deserve all of the attention.)
I don’t like to say “I told you so,” but Hub Arkush, Rick Telander and I were the only ones who said that hiring John Fox as head coach was a bad idea. Yes, he took two teams to Super Bowls, but lost both times. Was he a step up from Marc Trestman, a coordinator who didn’t have the chops as an NFL head coach? Yes, but most coaches would have been better than Trestman. So, GM Ryan Pace seems to have improved the talent on the team, but letting go big name players like Brandon Marshall, Matt Forte, and Marcellus Bennett on offense hasn’t exactly set the faithful’s hearts aflame.
So, should the Bears tank the rest of the season in hopes of drafting Deshaun Watson from Clemson or Chad Kelly of Ole Miss? I don’t know, but since the Bears lose no cap money if they cut Cutler before spring 2017, its time to say goodbye. Cutler will never play in a Super Bowl except on the Madden NFL game.

Summer is officially over. We’ve had Labor Day; the Autumnal Equinox came and went. Football is in full swing; baseball is winding down, especially for the non-playoff teams. Fall is a time of winding down, the respite before winter descends. Start packing up the summer stuff, get the winter stuff out. Transitions, and not all of them good.
Endings are times of change and often sadness. When someone reaches the end after a storied life and/or career, we are sad, but just happy that we were able to witness the greatness and wish them well on their way. Yesterday two sports legends left us – golf great Arnold Palmer died at the age of 87 and it was the final broadcaster of Vin Scully.
Young people are always surprised by stories of the past – what it was like for us growing up (with or without embellishment), and even though I have never played a round of golf in my life, we all knew Arnold Palmer. He seemed like an affable guy even beyond the commercials that supported him and his family financially and was the result of his golfing success. Before Palmer, golf was a truly elite sport (yet, more than it is now). The average Joe didn’t play golf – that was for the rich and their country clubs. But Palmer made one want to play – telegenic in the early days of television, he was friendly and made you want to root for him. More than Jack Nicklaus, a Type A personality who just had a dogged determination to win. (It was only later, in his later years that Nicklaus was revered, but I don’t think he will ever be as beloved as Palmer.)
We know that everyone is going to die eventually, but it’s still sad when it happens.
On the other hand, we are sad when someone retires, but also happy that they will have time to themselves. That is how I feel about the gentleman that is Vin Scully. A consummate pro, Scully called his last Los Angeles Dodger game this past weekend after 67 years in Brooklyn and then Los Angeles.
Long time readers probably get tired of me telling stories about who I’ve met, but Vin Scully was special. Back when he and Joe Garagiola did the Saturday Game of the Week broadcasts, they would come through Chicago especially to Wrigley Field (Old Comiskey always had night games on Saturday’s so I don’t remember ever seeing them there). I don’t remember how this happened, but Garagiola and I would tease each other – we both had some very good laughs at each other’s expense, and Vin would play straight man, egg us on and quietly chuckle when one of us got a good one in.
On screen and off, Vin Scully was absolutely genuine. What you see is what you get; a gracious gentleman who could paint the television or radio with the intricacies of the game along with decades of stories that he told without ego, without placing himself at the center of the story, which he surely could have done.
Of course, Vin isn’t deceased – he’s retiring and I hope he has a long, healthy retirement. To those who were fans of Arnold Palmer – sincerest condolences.

In the previous piece, I wrote about saying goodbye to two legends who we have watched for decades: Vin Scully and Arnold Palmer. While it’s sad to say goodbye to anyone, it is natural for it to happen to people in the Autumn of their lives. When it’s someone young – in the prime of life, snatched away from us it is so unfair. Yesterday the baseball world lose Miami Marlins pitching phenomenon Jose Fernandez. Fernandez, one of the best pitchers in baseball dies at the age of 24 when the boat he was in hit rocks and flipped over killing the pitcher and two other men.
Fernandez was a great story – stealing away from Cuba to the U.S., trying three times to defect, the last time, his mother fell overboard and Fernandez jumped in to save her. The family moved to Tampa and Jose was a standout, before being drafted by the home state Marlins in 2011. Fernandez was an All Star twice (in 2013 and 2016) and finished his career with 38 wins and 17 losses with a 2.59 ERA, 589 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.05.
Fernandez leaves a pregnant girlfriend, along with family and teammates and opponents. Lots of tears are being shed and deservedly so. Jose Fernandez will long be remembered, mostly for being a baseball player, but as I thought of that yesterday, I thought of all fo the other young men, black, white, Hispanic who are dying all around us. Yes, those taken by crime, those who are innocent bystanders, and of course, those shot by police. Their names are only famous because of what happened to them (or recordings of what happened to them). They won’t leave behind as many people: no fans, little is any media attention. They won’t have numbers retired or worn in their honor. But their deaths are just as tragic.
So this piece is for the memory of Jose Fernandez and all the other young men whose lives ended this past weekend, their life flames snuffed up much too soon.