My schedule has been very hectic lately, and I had planned on talking about the Minnesota Vikings-Adrian Peterson verbal battle last week, but time got away from me. Of course, everyone knows that Peterson was charged with abusing his son with a switch, and Peterson, rightly I think, didn’t feel a lot of love or support from the Vikings during his nearly one season suspension from the NFL.
I also understand the Vikings position – they are a very public entity, football fans are rabid, but it is hard to support a man who beat a child to the paying public. After sitting out most of the season, Peterson pled guilty to a lesser charge and was reinstated by the NFL. (Honestly, it is very hard legally for a league to deny a man an ability to earn a living if he is healthy and not jailed.) Peterson had a bad taste in his mouth over the incident and he and his agent lobbied hard to get the Vikings to trade Peterson, preferably to Dallas, near where Peterson grew up and lives in the offseason.
Now, let’s remember that Adrian Peterson is not just any football player. He is one of the best running backs in the game – a threat to go all the way on every carry. He is one of the top 10-15 players in the whole league, and he’s a player who puts fannies in seats. Considering that the Vikings have never won a Super Bowl in their history and haven’t even been close since the days of the Purple People Eater defense in the 1970s, the Vikings aren’t going to part with such a valuable commodity for nothing.
Plus, Peterson signed a lucrative contract extension before the abuse incident, so Peterson can ask for a trade all he wants, but, as Head Coach Mike Zimmer said last week, Peterson has a choice – play for the Vikings or retire. He has no leverage to force the Vikings’ hand, and since the Vikings are still looking for a franchise QB (Teddy Bridgewater showed potential as a rookie without Peterson; now the Vikings have to see if he is ready to take the next step, or if a sophomore slump is imminent). With a back like Peterson, the run threat will keep defenses honest and make any quarterback better.
So, with very little if any other choice, Peterson has returned to the Minnesota Vikings’ voluntary practice after skipping practices last week. He said in an email to the AP that he still has love for his team after nine months away. Peterson reportedly missed the practices due to family obligations, but he tweeted that he was looking for more long-term security on a contract that has three years and roughly $45 million left on it, none of which is guaranteed. Peterson and his agent received no assurances from the Vikings that they were open to changing his contract, so that left the sides at an impasse.
I know that most of the time, I side with the player, but not in this case. Peterson signed the contract, and his own conduct got him into trouble. Football is a business and in the very public world of football at the same time that video of Ray Rice knocking his then fiancée unconscious in an elevator made backing Peterson a not very appealing proposition.
So, I would have been like Zimmer – play under the contract you signed for the Vikings or go retire. But as we found out as a result of this incident, Adrian Peterson has a lot of illegitimate children and baby mamas around the country along with his own wife and kids, so he probably needs the $45 million.

For the first time since 2000, both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs will go to a decisive game 7. The Tampa Bay Lightning will be at historic Madison Square Garden tomorrow night for their final game against the New York Rangers. Then, Saturday night, my beloved Blackhawks will be in Anaheim California to play the Ducks.
I have written this before, but there is NOTHING better than the Stanley Cup Playoffs and very little matches the drama of GAME 7 HOCKEY!!!!

One of the parts of sport that the casual fans like to ignore is the perceived corruption of various sports’ governing organizations. While we know that Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL all work in their own best interests in terms of generating revenue, it’s the other sports that are renowned as being a dirty as sewers. The “alphabet bunch” of boxing governing bodies are all considered shady along with the promoters like Bob Arum and Don King. The International Olympic Committee has been rumored as being dirty with IOC members taking money, favors (including sexual ones) and kids’ scholarships in return for a favorable ruling on where Games are to be held. Brides were an important factor in Salt Lake City getting the Games in
However, while politicians remain in love with the idea of spending money under the table to give them the ability to build huge infrastructure and stadiums for billions of dollars, etc., that 1) will leave the city/country in worse economic shape because ht IOC collects all of the money and doesn’t share it. Add the fact that 2) all too often, the municipality/country can
T afford such a gargantuan expenditure. Money that could be used on poverty or housing or schools, gets spent on massive white elephants, edifices that never get reused and become dilapidated eyesores.
Along with the IOC, the organization with the worst reputation is FIFA, soccer’s international governing body. Stories on 60 Minutes and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel have shown the waste and corruption that goes on between governments, outside boosters and businessmen and organizations like FIFA, but due to the international nature of these organizations, there was always one big sticking point: in which jurisdiction should investigate potential crimes and who should try and eventually punish the organizations if found guilty.
Enter the U.S. Department of Justice and the Swiss government. A Swiss investigation into World Cup bidding and the other a sweeping U.S. indictment homing in on what America’s top justice official called “corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” in FIFA has rocked the organization. Swiss authorities raided FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich at the same time that they announced an investigation into the last two awarded World Cup bids — to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 — both of which had come under fire.
However, the more troubling issues for FIFA arise from the Department of Justice, which announced the unsealing of a 47-count indictment in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, that details charges against 14 people for racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. They include FIFA officials accused of taking bribes totaling more than $150 million and in return providing “lucrative media and marketing rights” to soccer tournaments as kickbacks over the past 24 years. “The defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world,” FBI Director James Comey said in a news release. “Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks and bribes became a way of doing business at FIFA.”
The investigators used Chuck Blazer, a former FIFA official who reportedly wore a wire in meetings which are the bedrock of the case. Blazer himself pled guilty to racketeering, conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and income tax evasion. He forfeited $1.9 million at the time of his plea and also resigned from FIFA at that time.
Six people were arrested in Zurich with help from Swiss authorities, among them Jeffrey Webb, a FIFA vice president and head of CONCACAF, the FIFA-affiliated governing body for North America and the Caribbean. FIFA President Sepp Blatter is not one of those arrested or facing charges by U.S. authorities. At least, not yet: reports are that he was among those investigated, and officials say that part of the probe continues. Blatter seems to be trying to just act as if these indictments are just business as usual. He is said to still be planning travel to Canada, which has an extradition agreement with the United States if the DOJ wants to arrest him also. The “ballsiest” move is that Blatter is still running for a fifth term as President. The election is scheduled to occur tomorrow despite questions raised by Greg Dyke, the head of Britain’s Football Association, among others in light of this week’s developments.
The plans for future World Cups in Russia and Qatar, the latter of which has been criticized for its treatment of foreign workers rushing to build stadiums, are still on as well, according to FIFA officials (at least the non-indicted ones, anyway). One of the loudest calls against the indictments has been from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who says that the U.S. move shows overreach. Possible, but Putin is like most Republicans in Congress: anything that the Obama administration does is wrong. Plus, one would think that if his country was being fleeced for millions upon millions of dollars, Putin would want to get it back? (That is, unless of course, Putin and his friends and cronies are among those who engaged in illegal activity.)
And there is certainly a question as to whether the U.S. Department of Justice can arrest and charge international officials? Of course, countries try to come after criminals in other countries all the time, which is what forms the framework of extradition treaties around the world.
For decades, bicycle racing was known as the most corrupt sport n the world taking the title from boxing, only due to the decline in interest in boxing. All of the public opinion occurred despite rumors of high level corruption at the highest levels. Bicycle racing was probably considered more heinous because it was the players’ doping that challenged the integrity of the sport. Besides, it is “sexier” to cover Lance Armstrong and his ilk than to cover the money changing hands in boardrooms all over the world.
World sports organizations are already fighting a battle over the current business model. Bidding for the next Olympics, usually a process with multiple cities literally falling over themselves with money to give to the IOC has shown very few bidders. Boston was reportedly the next America city vying for an Olympic Games, but support of politicians and the public has been muted at best.
Futbol is the most popular sport in the world, and so international tournaments are still extremely popular, more so than even the money losing prospects of Olympic Games (at least for the host cities and countries). This story has just hit, causing an earthquake in FIFA in particular and the entire sports world in general. I will certainly be watching to see how this turns out.

After suffering through the entire 2014-2015 NBA season with rumors of strife between the Chicago Bulls front office and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau, the team fired Thibodeau today despite the fact that he had two years and roughly $9 million remaining on his deal. This is unusual for Chicago sports franchises that generally don’t like to pay two coaches at the same time.
The firing comes on the heels of the Bulls’ second-round playoff exit to the Cavaliers. Thibodeau did one helluva job with the Bulls however, especially considering the injuries that the teams stars, particularly Derrick Rose, suffered in his tenure. Thibodeau won Coach of the Year honors in his first season in 2010-11 and went 255-139 for a .647 regular-season winning percentage in his five seasons, becoming the fastest coach to 100 victories in NBA history. However, the Bulls only went 23-28 in the playoffs and never topped reaching the 2011 Eastern Conference finals in his first season.
Thibodeau’s relentless attention to detail and repetitive practices quickly organized and focused the Bulls after Vinny Del Negro’s two-season stint in charge. Rose became the youngest most valuable player in NBA history in Thibodeau’s first season. Luol Deng blossomed into a two-time All-Star. Joakim Noah later won a Defensive Player of the Year award and earned first-team All-NBA center status in 2013-14. Jimmy Butler won the league’s Most Improved Player award this season.
But it was more than just wins and losses that went into this decision; Thibodeau’s style also raised questions of burnout, both mentally and physically. Deng and later Butler led the NBA in minutes per game. Shoot-arounds upwards of 75 minutes were the norm in his first season before he dialed back. The first public signs of trouble between Thibodeau and management came when Thibodeau took months to sign a contract extension that Forman announced in October 2012 at the media-day event opening training camp. Thibodeau initially blamed the delay on lawyer issues; however, sources later said he was upset over management’s personnel moves that involved losing Kyle Korver and Omer Asik for nothing.
The final straw broke his year. With Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah coming off knee surgeries, management imposed minute limitations on those two players and a consecutive-minute limitation on Kirk Hinrich. Thibodeau, who wanted to impose his work habits on the team never did like the policy. Last January, former head coach and now ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy, who hired Thibodeau for his Knicks’ and Rockets’ staffs, said that Bulls’ management undermines coaches. Multiple sources said the Van Gundy incident upset Reinsdorf, who had served as an occasional peacemaker in the stormy relationship between Thibodeau and General Manager Gar Forman and VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson.
It is said that the world is moving faster. It isn’t scientifically, but with a supersonic pace of change, news and technology, everything does seem to be moving at light speed. And with the pace of change, patience is at an all time low, especially patience for championships. More often than ever before, coaches with winning records are being fired left and right. Back in the day, a coach had to field losing teams, and sometimes for more than one year, before they got fired. Here in Chicago, we have seen coaches like Lovie Smith fired by the Bears after a 10-6 record but no playoff success. Current Bear head coach Jon Fox was fired in Denver despite two Super Bowl appearances in three years
To my mind, the first major firing of that kind started again, here in Chicago. Despite playoff appearances and the best player on the planet, Michael Jordan, the Bulls fired Head Coach Doug Collins and replaced him with future Zen Master Phil Jackson. The excuse was that management did not think the Bulls could get over the final hurdle under Collins. That was a call that worked gloriously of course, with the Bulls winning six championships in eight years.
Or it could work disastrously, like the hiring of Marc Trestman to replace Smith. Iowa State coach and former Bulls guard Fred Hoiberg is widely considered the front-runner to replace Thibodeau. Will that be the difference as the firing of Blackhawks Hall of Famer Denis Savard to be replaces by Joel Quenneville was six years ago? Only time will tell.
Now that Thibodeau is free, don’t expect him to be jobless for long. Both the Pelicans and Magic could show interest in Thibodeau now that he is free from the Bulls, but sources said Scott Skiles remains the frontrunner in Orlando. Or he could just relax for a year with $9 million to keep him company; but that seems like a long shot for a Super Type A personality like Tom Thibodeau.

I was one of the only people who didn’t blast the Chicago Bears when they signed former San Francisco 49ers Lineman Ray McDonald. McDonald, who was released by the San Francisco 49ers last year amid allegations of sexual assault after he had been arrested in a domestic violence case against his pregnant fiancée. For whatever reason, prosecutors dropped the charges for lack of evidence.
Yes, I know that very often battered spouses are very reluctant to press charges beyond the initial 911 call for help. However, until someone is convicted or is even standing trial, you can’t suspend someone unless the evidence is compelling as in the Ray Rice case. And, according to reports, McDonald was vouched for by new Bears/former 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and was interviewed by GM Ryan Pace and others in the Bear front office. They even reportedly made calls to McDonald’s parents. Learning from mistakes and being given a second chance is part of America, like it or not.
So, when it became apparent that McDonald hadn’t learned his lesson, getting arrested at his home in California yesterday for domestic violence and child endangerment. McDonald is accused of physically assaulting a woman while she held a baby. The Chicago Bears however, did learn their lesson, releasing McDonald less then six hours after his arrest.
GM Pace was quoted in a statement from the team,” we believe in second chances, but when we signed Ray, we were very clear what our expectations were if he was to remain a Bear. He was not able to meet the standard, and the decision was made to release him.”
Now, lots of people are already taking pot shots at the Bears for even taking a chance on McDonald, but the Bears made a gamble – hope that he had matured and with help from the team, could keep him out of trouble. The defense, which has been uncharacteristically porous over the past three seasons, needed lots of help. And, the Bears did have good luck with Brandon Marshall, at least with the police (Marshall’s “me-first” attitude wore on the players in the locker room, which is why he was let go.)
Domestic violence is a horrible crime, but until McDonald was at least tried, there was no legal reason to not take a chance. He didn’t cost much and there was little to lose by the Bears except from a PR standpoint, and let’s be honest, Bear fans tend to love the team no matter what.
The Bears took a chance that didn’t pan out. McDonald won’t get another chance more than likely and that’s appropriate.

Every Detroit hockey fan knew that Head Coach Mike Babcock, who has led the team for 10 years and won two Stanley Cups in Detroit was leaving. The Red Wings wanted to keep Babcock who has kept the team in contention in years when they should have been out of the playoffs with youngsters and the twin stars Henrik Zetteberg and Pavel Datzuk, but they weren’t going to break the bank to keep him.
Detroit was arguably the team most hurt by the post lockout salary cap. Owner Mike “Little Ceasar’s” Illitch was not above spending more money than the other teams in the league for the best free agents, and it worked – four Stanley Cups and a streak of 24 consecutive playoff appearances, a streak that is still alive. It is however, no coincidence that the Red Wings last title was in 2008, after the salary cap, but with the stockpiled stars acquired before the cap was implemented.
But the time was right for Babcock – several teams had coaching vacancies (and some successful franchises like Montreal who suffered earlier than expected playoff exits were considered possibilities to let their current coaches go because they couldn’t win a Stanley Cup. Babcock is 53 and probably wanted a new challenge, but more than that, this was his chance to really cash in.
It appeared that Babcock would land in Buffalo which lost the Connor McDavid sweepstakes, finishing last in total points during the regular season (amid rumors of “tanking”), but finishing second in the draft lottery to Edmonton. Still the Sabres should be getting Jack Eichel, a top center man, but not the transcendent talent McDavid is. The Oilers were obviously out of the running when they hired Todd McLellan yesterday. The Canadiens stood pat with their coach Michel Therrien. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the most valuable franchise in the NHL with a huge, rabid fan base. They had the money to spend, but there was no word that they had even spoken with Babcock or his agent.
Lo and behold, money talks and BS walks, and so the bigger money won: a reported eight year, $50 million contract, the highest in NHL history. It probably didn’t hurt that the President of the Leafs is Brendon Shanahan, Hsoon to be Hall of Fame defenseman who, not coincidentally, was coached by Babcock. The two should know each other well enough to have a similar philosophy on the team, the talent, and what the Leafs need.
Of course, minus Eichel, the Leafs have better overall players than Buffalo, and so, the road to legitimacy is easier for the Leafs. Plus, Babcock is from the Thunder Bay region of Ontario, the same province as Toronto, but far west, nearer to Minnesota. There is a homecoming angle to this, but also, there is another factor. The Leafs are the Chicago Cubs of the NHL; while they don’t have a century of non-championship play, the Leafs have the longest current streak of Cup futility, since 1967. And lured by the challenge like Cub big name managers like Don Baylor, Lou Pinella and Joe Maddon, the idea that the man who could lead the team to a championship could rule the city as emperor if he wanted.
Leafs fans are even more rabid than Cub fans. Even when it was apparent that the team had no chance of winning, the old Maple Leaf Gardens and the current Air Canada Centre are always filled to capacity. Canadian friends of mine looked down at the riots that broke out in Vancouver lost Game 7 of the Cup Finals three years ago, but I told them that if Toronto won the Stanley Cup, the ensuing celebration would eclipse Vancouver’s riot 10 to 1. Babcock obviously sees himself as the man to end the 49 year Cup drought.
I know one thing, Joe Lewis Arena (and the new replacement arena that is being built) will reign down with boos when the Maple Leafs come to town. Since Original Six matchups don’t need much to stoke the rivalry.

So far, the Ricketts family’s ownership of the Cubs has been a Pr disaster. The worst three year record in the club’s already miserable history. Paying for commercials in the last Presidential election that smeared Mayor Rahm Emmanuel’s former boss and made him very angry. Engaging in a legal and legislative battle with the rooftop bar owners and the local alderman across the street involving new scoreboards. Angering the neighborhood with the sound and dust of rehabbing the bleachers (and the resulting homelessness of many rats who found that they needed to find new living quarters, in nearby houses).
So, it came as no surprise this week when dozens of personalized Wrigley Field paving bricks were found in a downstate landfill. The team launched the program in 2006, charging fans $106 each for bricks to be paved into a walkway outside Wrigley Field. The purchase also included a replica brick for the buyer to keep.
For once, the Cubs PR team seemed to jump on this story. The Cubs released an email stating that they had told buyers earlier this year that the bricks, advertised as permanent fixtures, would be replaced by next season. The email said: “as we communicated to paver owners in March, due to the Wrigley Field construction schedule, it was required we remove some of the original pavers. It was also apparent that many, if not all of the pavers, would be damaged during the removal process, which is why we did not make them available to owners and committed to providing new personalized pavers.”
In March, the Cubs sent another email informing those who bought pavers that all of the roughly 12,000 bricks would be replaced by 2016’s Opening Day outside the Budweiser Bleachers along Sheffield and Waveland avenues. The story broke early Tuesday, when the Daily Leader of Pontiac reported that some of the bricks destined for an area landfill were springing up around that city. (Pontiac is located about 100 miles southwest of Chicago.)
Cubs officials weren’t sure how many of the bricks were involved. Republic Services, a company the team hired to dispose of the bricks, said it will conduct an internal investigation into the matter though it believes they were taken from the landfill “by unknown individuals without authorization.”
Republic’s report continued: “We understand that the pavers have significant sentimental value. For many fans, the pavers represent personal tributes or memorials to loved ones.”
Growing up in Englewood, I remember seeing people stealing bricks from demolition sites (and from some new construction sites as well), so it doesn’t surprise me that some enterprising junk men got hold of some of the bricks, selling them for various purposes.
This story is also a tempest in a teapot if the team did send the March email telling people who spent good money on the memorial bricks that the bricks would be replaced at no additional cost to those families. However, if I were someone who had purchased a brick paver, I would be cautious believing that my loved one’s new brick would be placed at Wrigley Field until I saw it myself personally. Trust but verify as they used to say.
The Ricketts owned Cubs have broken promises in the past, after all.