I used to work at Wrigley Field and old Comiskey Park back in the 1970s and the 1980s, and my last baseball season as a “full time” worker was in 1985, when I worked 160 out of a possible 162 home games for the Cubs and White Sox. That season, I was co-chief usher for the best seats in the house: the Club Boxes at Wrigley and the Golden Boxes at Comiskey. Such proximity to the field allowed me unrivaled access to many players. Most of them were pretty cool – most f the home players were cool because they saw you all of the time, and even many visitors were nice, and many were funny. However, I never did like the New York Mets of the day.
At the time, with lots of young talent, it was expected that the Mets would make many playoff appearances after winning the World Series in 1986, but they made one playoff appearance over the next decade. However, I always thought they were surly and unpleasant people. I remember coming between Darryl Strawberry and a fan in 1985. I looked right into Strawberry’s face and told him that all the fan wanted was to get him into a fight, ejected from the game and liable for a lawsuit. He never even said thanks, but then again, he had drug addiction and lots of “baby mammas” in his future. And with additional future felons on the roster – namely Lenny Dykstra and Dwight Gooden along with the history of baseball, the stories that former Mets’ pitcher Ron Darling detailed in his new book are not a big shock.
The Wall Street Journal published an excerpt from Darling’s book, “Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life;” in which he wrote how a number of his teammates used amphetamines and drank beer in the middle of games during the team’s title run. Darling explained that players used amphetamines to help them get through the physical and mental rigors of an MLB season. The details aren’t particularly revelatory, since amphetamine usage has a long history in baseball. “Greenies” have been mentioned quietly in clubhouses since at least the 1950s most notably investigated during the Pittsburgh drug trials of the 1980s, when players testified they received the stimulants from Willie Stargell, Bill Madlock and even Willie Mays. All three men, who denied either using or supplying, later were cleared of wrongdoing by the commissioner’s office.
The stimulants have been steadily mentioned ever since, but almost never by anyone in the primet of his career. Once he retired, the late Tony Gwynn spoke openly of baseball’s amphetamine problem in 2003, estimating for The New York Times that 50 percent of position players were using them routinely, many of them before almost every game. Gwynn was blasted by the players at the time, not for lying, which no one said, but for telling stories “out of school.” Another player, Chad Curtis, said after he retired that there was pressure on fielders not to play the game “naked,” that is, not to play without speed.
I do admit that I was surprised that Darling says that Mets players were drinking beer in the middle of games, even while playing that day. According to the pitcher, the players had it down to a science with precision timing. The player would poke a hole in the can so the beer would flow shotgun-style, and they would time it if they were due to hit third or fourth that inning. They felt that the that rush of beer would jump-start the amphetamines and get the edge back that they had earlier in the game. Being a depressant, I’m surprised that the players would want this in their system – I would think that the beer would slow their reactions. Then again, many people vividly remember Mets captain Keith Hernandez chain smoking cigarettes in the clubhouse whenever he wasn’t scheduled to hit.
Of course, as I wrote earlier, Strawberry, Dykstra and Gooden have had additions, rehab stints and in Dykstra’s case, long term imprisonment on embezzlement and other charges. Still, this case makes the 2011 stories of Boston Red Sox players having fried chicken and beer in the clubhouse seem like a molehill instead of a mountain. At that time, the Boston Globe reported that starting pitchers John Lackey, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett would drink beer, play video games and eat fried chicken on their off days in the clubhouse during games. Of course, they were doing that on non-pitching days and in these days of specialization there was almost no chance that one of the starters would pitch “off their rotation.” (Still of course, Lackey and Lester are now Chicago Cubs and if the team is winning, manager Joe Maddon will probably buy the chicken and beer and wish he could have one with them.)

For the first time since 1970, there will be no Canadian teams in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. On top of the devaluation of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar due to the huge decline in oil prices, none of the seven teams that call the great white north home will be playing any hockey after the season ends this weekend. This is a big surprise since five of the seven teams made the playoffs last season and expectations were high for more success this season.
Other than not being good enough, all of the teams have their own reasons for their dismal season:

Eastern Conference

The biggest disappointment has to be the Montreal Canadiens. They defeated Ottawa in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last year, 4 games to 2, then were beaten in the second round by the eventual Eastern Conference Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the best goaltender on the planet in Carey Price, the Vezina Trophy winner for best goalie and Hart Trophy winner for league MVP, the lack of scoring didn’t seem a huge obstacle. The team jumped out to a 9-0-0 start and looked to be rolling, but then Price got injured in November and didn’t play much thereafter. Pressure is always high on the team in Montreal and the Cup draught since 1993 has made the fan base even more impatient. Perhaps as a result of that, the seat under Coach Michel Therrien is especially hot, and at various times, he threw his star defenseman P.K. Subban under the bus. The front office did little to add scoring talent last offseason, and without Price in net, the defense was good but not awesome. Expect a coaching and perhaps front office purge as soon as next week.
Ottawa used a big stretch run last season to eek into the playoffs, but another mediocre start with no late season push despite the acquisition of defenseman Deon Phaneuf wasn’t enough to get them into the playoffs.
Toronto made the biggest splash in the offseason last year, but it wasn’t for a player – signing Detroit Head Coach Mike Babcock to the richest deal in the league. Babcock was clearly in the first year of a turnaround plan, first getting rid of Phaneuf and Phil Kessel and playing lots of youth. The Toronto faithful were hoping that with lots of money available under the salary cap, they could lure upcoming unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos away from Tampa, but the season ending blood clot in his arm now clouds Stamkos’ situation.

Western Conference:

Let’s get the easiest team out of the way first. Despite having 4 overall number 1 draft picks in the lineup including the wonderkind Connor McDavid, Edmonton is once again in the running for the number 1 overall pick again. A long injury to McDavid and more underachievement from the rest of the team leads them to await the new stadium which replaces the Rexall Center next year.
Calgary made the playoffs last season, beating Vancouver before losing to Anaheim. There is a lot of young talent on this team, but goaltending seems to be their Achilles heel. Vancouver is an old team, with the Sedin twins over 34 years of age. There is talent there, but it is never easy to ease into a rebuild. The Canucks’ window of opportunity closed a few years ago and there hasn’t been enough of a turnover of talent to mature into a contender.
Finally, Winnipeg also made the playoffs last year, but was swept by the Ducks. Again, expectations were high but the team never was able to win consistently, and with the team’s salary cap under consideration the team decided to give a long term, big money contract to former Blackhawk Dustin Byfuglien, basically saying that they couldn’t afford another former Blackhawk – Andrew Ladd. So they shipped Ladd back to Chicago, where he is playing left wing on the team’s top line, having two goals for the Hawks last night as the Hawks try to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions.

The outlook is not good in my opinion. I believe that the Canadiens will be under new leadership next season. With a stagnant or barely higher salary cap, I don’t know if they can bring a big scorer or two to the Bell Centre. Toronto is years away. Ottawa may be in rebuild mode.
In the West, will Edmonton finally get a high draft pick that breaks them out of the doldrums? I don’t know. Vancouver should be in full rebuild mode now. Calgary needs to improve their consistency and goal tending. It may happen – they have young talent there. Winnipeg has some talent but will the new pieces and draft picks they picked up from the Ladd trade and other trades help build them into a solid contender?

Still, we are a long way from next season. There are always surprise teams who contend and teams who disappoint. I can’t say that I expect a repeat of this year’s Canadian complete absence from the playoffs, but it is very clear that all of these franchises have a lot of serious work to do.

It seems like for every step of progress made, there are people who just want to move the society backwards. I think that it’s funny that the current hot topic in sports is pay equity for women at the same time that politicians, the Tea Party and the Donald Trump followers would like to return women to subservience, shackled to the kitchen, bedroom and nursery. There were two stories that came out while I was away that I wanted to mention, but first, women’s tennis (U.S. Women’s Soccer is next).
Tennis is the one sport where there was an argument against women getting paid the same as men – in the Grand Slam tournaments, men play best 3 of 5 sets while the women play best 2 of 3. However, the women are as popular as the men – they put just as many fans in seats as the men, are at times more popular than the men. Logical, right? Not to the latest old fogey willing to play the Bobby Riggs role: Raymond Moore. This Cro-Magnon man had been the chief executive of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, and tournament director of the BNP Paribas Open which was played over the April 25-27 weekend. Before those matches began, Moore said that women were riding “on the coattails of men” and, “If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport. They really have.”
On hearing Moore’s comments, Serena Williams, the women’s number one player in the world was notably upset, “there’s only one way to interpret that. ‘Get on your knees,’ which is offensive enough, and ‘thank a man’? We, as women, have come a long way. We shouldn’t have to drop to our knees at any point.” She also expressed shock that anyone would question pay equity after the excitement surrounding last year’s U.S. Open. Williams’ Grand Slam bid caused tickets to the women’s final to sell out before the men’s final for the first time in tournament history. “I’m sorry, did Roger play in that final?” Williams asked. “Or Rafa, or any man, play in that final that was sold out before the men’s final? I think not.”
Even men’s number 1, Novak Djokovic couldn’t help but insert his foot directly into his mouth after winning the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Sunday. Djokovic called Moore’s remarks “not politically correct.” However, while praising the women for their efforts on equal pay, Djokovic said that men should “fight for more.” “Obviously it’s a very delicate situation,” he said. “Women deserve respect and admiration for what they are doing. You know, equal prize money was the main subject of the tennis world in the last seven, eight years. I applaud them for that, I honestly do. They fought for what they deserve and they got it. On the other hand I think that our men’s tennis world, ATP World, should fight for more because the stats are showing that we have much more spectators on the men’s tennis matches.”
Currently, female tennis players are paid significantly less at women’s-only events when compared with men’s events of the same size. Comparatively, number-one male player Djokovic won $21.65 million last year, while number-one female player Serena Williams won $10.58 million, according to the BBC and let’s remember that Williams was one match win from a calendar Grand Slam, something that hasn’t been done since Steffi Graf did it for women in 1988 and not for men since the Greatest of All Time, Rod Laver did it (for the second time) in 1969.
Fortunately, the idiot Moore resigned his positions with the tennis club and with the tournament, but what world was he living in? Federer and Nadal carried the sport? What about the Williams sisters? Going back in time, the list of women’s champions who were big draws are almost too numerous to mention: Steffi, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Martina, Chris. In the days when the men’s game was a game of just blasting aces on every serve, the women’s game has often been much more interesting than the men, especially when many of the men weren’t particularly interesting people on top of it.
I’m very glad that Raymond Moore gets to sit at home without a paycheck because his 15th Century thinking is no longer in vogue in this sport. Too bad he can’t take more of his ilk with him.

Lots of times, lawsuits come out of labor negotiations. We’ve seen it in baseball, the NBA, the NHL, the NFL. We fans have seen the lawyers called out whenever labor and ownership can’t come to an agreement. So it appeared to be business as usual when the governing body of soccer in the states, US Soccer, sued the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team Players Association last Feb. 3, right on the eve of Olympic qualifying. US Soccer was attempting to block an assumed attempt at a work stoppage prior to the impending Summer Games in Brazil.
A couples of weeks ago, the players’ union, led by prominent members Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn, filed a wage discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against US Soccer. The lawyer representing the women, Jeff Kessler, claims the timing of the suit was dictated by US Soccer’s admission in collective bargaining agreement negotiations that the women would receive less than the men.
Of course, US Soccer says differently. US Soccer lawyer Russell Sauer denied that claim to a small group of journalists on Thursday night, “I can tell you categorically along with the other US Soccer participants that statement or anything even remotely along those lines was never said,” said Sauer, who was present at all three CBA meetings, the latest in March.
Still, unlike many pay disparity cases, which are very hard to prove, this case looks open-and shut. The women are paid between 28% and 62% less than the men depending upon certain variables. The members of the U.S. women’s soccer team receive $72,000 for playing 20 regular season games, compared to the men whose members each make a minimum of $100,000 for playing 20 regular season games. These amounts only represent base salaries. Women can make a bonus of $1,350 for winning a game, but receive no bonus for losing (yet men do).
Essentially, if a member of the U.S. women’s soccer team wins all 20 games, she will earn $99,000. Depending on the variables, if a U.S. men’s soccer team member wins all 20 games, he would have the potential to earn $263,320, essentially $164,000 more than a U.S. women’s soccer team member. If a U.S. men’s soccer team member loses all 20 games, he would still earn $100,000.
That is just on the pay side – the women’s team are vastly superior to the men’s in terms of success and revenue generated. In 2015, the U.S. women’s soccer team generated $20,000,000 more in revenue than the U.S. men’s soccer team. Of course, the women’s team won the World Cup in 2015, while the U.S. men’s soccer team finished 11th overall in 2015; and the championship game of that World Cup on July 5, 2015, was the most viewed soccer game in American television history.
I am so happy that the women have taken this step toward gender equity. It is LONG overdue and I think that despite what US Soccer claims, there’s no way to defend the practice in either a court of law or the court of public opinion.

Expectations are high on Chicago’s North Side – Cub Nation thinks that this is the year that the 107-year World Series Championship draught will be over. This is Opening Day, so there’s this one main sticking point in all of the blinding optimism – the 162 games that the Cubs have to play this season.
The other issue is – it will be damn expensive to watch a Cub game this season; in fact, the second highest ticket in Major League Baseball. According to website GOBankingRates.com, a game at Wrigley Field for two people including one beer and hot dog apiece, tickets and parking will set you back $116.06. This breaks down to two tickets for $64.06; two hot dogs for $11.50; two beers for $15.50; and parking for $25.
GoBankingRates.com calculated ticket price by averaging the cost-per-game for the five cheapest season ticket prices advertised on the official website of each team, according to its press release. The costs of parking, dogs and beers were gathered from the April 2015 Team Marketing Report. Only Fenway Park in Boston is more expensive – $157. The Cubs are even more expensive than the Yankees, which is $109.40. Hot dogs are really cheap at Yankee Stadium at $3.
Looking to the other Chicago team, it costs about $48 more to root for the Cubs at Wrigley Field than to cheer on the White Sox. U.S. Cellular Field was ranked the 16th most expensive ballpark. It costs $68.45 for two people to go root for the South Siders, according to the study, including two tickets, $27.45; two hot dogs, $8; two beers, $13; and parking, $20.
If you’re asking, the five cheapest ballparks are: 1) Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Los Angeles Angels, $47.60; 2) Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Dodgers, $55.10; Chase Field, Arizona Diamondbacks, $57.93; Coors Field, Colorado Rockies, $59.30; and 5) Target Field, Minnesota Twins, $60.40.
Considering the teams, the Angels, Dodgers and even the Diamondbacks are a relative steal.

It’s Spring and most of the talk in the baseball world is of the coming summer and anticipation of the season. That is, everywhere except with the Chicago White Sox who are the center of the baseball news world since earlier this week.
Out of the blue, first baseman/DH Adam LaRoche retired early in the week, saying that he would say why later. OK – he is 34 years old and had a horrific 2015. After being signed as one of the big money free agents during the 2014-15 offseason, LaRoche hit only 12 home runs and drove in 44 RBI’s while hitting .207 as the team finished 10 games under .500. Expectations were much higher after LaRoche, Melky Cabrera and Jeff Smardzija were signed after two consecutive losing seasons.
As a Sox fan, ok – LaRoche was finished and he quit and saved the team $13 million. Great! There was much more behind the story however. LaRoche retired because of a conflict over his son Drake. The 14-year-old LaRoche was a constant presence on the road, in the clubhouse, at Spring Training. He was known as the 26th man on the roster. Apparently, Sox Vice President Kenny Williams asked LaRoche to “dial in down a bit” in terms of Drake’s presence. According to a statement made today by LaRoche, at first he was told to reduce Drake’s presence, then he was told not to bring Drake at all. Forced to choose between his family and the team, LaRoche chose his son.
My first reaction was, why isn’t a 14-year-old boy in school. It’s March – the Indignant Daughters are closer to Spring Break than the end of the school year. It turns out that Drake is at least partially home schooled and the LaRoche family is very religious, which I have to admit makes my skin crawl. Home schooled kids, in my opinion get indoctrinated into dogma and often have problems dealing with other kids in general and people from other faiths particularly. However, it is not my place to raise other people’s children, and according to all reports, Drake is a quiet, respectful young man. Adam LaRoche was raised by his father, former major leaguer pitcher and current coach in the Mets’ minor league system, Dave LaRoche. Adam and his brother Andy both followed in their dad’s footsteps.
On the other hand, the team does have a right to make rules for its workplace. Despite being one of the most family friendly teams in baseball, maybe they thought Drake’s never-ending presence was too much? I have had the older daughter at work and it is difficult to get anything done. I still need to get the younger one to work – lots of people want to see her in person, and she wants to see my cubicle. Still, they would get bored without constant stimulation and would miss other kids their own age. Plus, a sports clubhouse can be a place of tough language and behavior. Even if I had a son, I’m not sure I would want his subjected to a clubhouse.
Still, this whole story might have blown over if Williams had kept his mouth shut later. While LaRoche filed his retirement papers, the team still has yet to file them with Major League Baseball, so the team thought that they could get the first baseman to change his mind. Williams had a meeting on Wednesday with the team and that’s when the excrement hit the rotary oscillator. The team, who had apparently bonded very well this spring, was upset with the sudden departure of their teammate and the kid, who they had come to like and were used to having around. Williams, in interviews and in the team meeting said that there were some players who had complained about Drake and the team needed to have some order fort he next player who wanted to bring his kid(s) with him for an extended time period.
Somewhere in this discussion, the team’s pitching ace Chris Sale said that Williams was a liar – that no player had complained about the young LaRoche’s presence. This inflamed the situation so badly, that the team had planned to boycott the exhibition game scheduled for Wednesday. According to reports, Manager Robin Ventura was the reason that the team played that day: Ventura was asked for his opinion on the matter, a difficult position for a manager who was a player on the very team he managed. Ventura said that he would go along with whatever the players decided. As Ventura is in the last year of his contract and has one of the hottest seats in baseball – a slow start and he’ll be fired, so the team played. Adam LaRoche says that the team reneged on an agreement that they made with him about his son being allowed to stay with his father on the team, and as of now, remains retired.
A team, especially a baseball team, doesn’t have to be in love with its manager or front office to be successful. The George Steinbrenner – Billy Martin – Reggie Jackson years were filled with turmoil, but those teams won World Series championships. The Michael Jordan Bulls all hated GM Jerry Krause but they won six titles. The question now is whether the team will pull together and bond more against Williams, or if they will refuse to play well? Robin Ventura is the hero in the midst of this – his move didn’t embarrass his bosses – Williams and owner Jerry Reinsdorf, but he did make a stand with the players, so now, the low-key manager may have cemented the loyalty of the team.
Or the team may fall apart. The team is a veteran squad and for Sale to openly blast his bosses is troubling. They could decide to thumb their noses at the team and not play hard, but then Ventura would surely get axed. It is also possible that Williams is pulling a Machiavellian move – as I said before, LaRoche had an abysmal season in 2015 and would save $13 million if he remains retired. If so however, Williams is taking a big risk; he’s already been called a liar to his face – he had been considered for other jobs in baseball but Reinsdorf worked to keep him with the White Sox, but if the team lays down and plays poorly out of the box, does Ventura and Williams get fired? Who would want to hire Kenny Williams then?
What a mess! It’s not over yet either – let’s see what happens next.

The rumors have been swirling around even before the last NFL regular season: Detroit Lions superstar wide receiver Calvin Johnson was considering retirement. Well, the 30-yard-old receiver whose nickname is Megatron made it official today by retiring after nine seasons in the league with the Lions. He had reportedly told some teammates entering last season that it would be his last and told coach Jim Caldwell after the season that he was retiring.
Like Lion Hall of Famer Barry Sanders before him, Johnson did not make the announcement himself – he released a statement: “let me assure you that this was not an easy or hasty decision,” Johnson said. “As I stated, I, along with those closest to me, have put a lot of time, deliberation and prayer into this decision and I truly am at peace with it.”
The 6-foot-5 Johnson was the second selection overall in the 2007 NFL Draft out of Georgia Tech, and he helped set the standard for the big receiver, allowing a quarterback to throw a ball high in his general direction and allowing Johnson to reach over helpless smaller defensive backs. This past season, Johnson had 88 receptions for 1,214 yards and nine touchdowns despite playing with lingering injuries. For his career, he has 731 receptions for 11,619 yards and 83 TDs. Johnson broke one of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s records with 1,964 yards receiving in 2012, a total Atlanta’s Julio Jones approached last season.
As I wrote above, Johnson leaves Detroit in a fashion similar to that of Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, who was still in his prime when he retired from the Lions shortly before the 1999 season after he had 1,491 yards rushing as a 30-year-old running back the previous year.
Sanders was always a bit different, so while his retirement was surprising, it was certainly in character. Johnson has been such a force in the game, and still one of the top receivers in the league, it is a little surprising that he is retiring.
However, perhaps this is the new normal: with the threat of brain injury, dementia, depression and other ailments from CTE, perhaps more NFL players will hang it up early, before they lose a step and take even more hits than usual. I don’t think the ever shy Johnson will ever open up on exactly why he retired now, but he certainly has earned his reputations as one of the best receivers of his time. He should be joining Sanders in Canton when the time comes.