respublica

Who has the fatter fans, Cubs or Sox?

Inter-league play is going on this weekend and even though sports media types on the east coast seem to believe the entire country is fascinated by a Red Sox-Yankees series, the truth is Illinois/Chicago is host to a better match-up.

Cubs versus White Sox at Wrigley. 

Both teams are in first place in their respective divisions, the Sox lead by 4 1/2 and the Cubs by 3 1/2.  It should be competitive and combative.  By the fans.

It is so insanely competitive up in Chicago this weekend that Tribune columnist, John Kass, himself a White Sox fan, took it upon himself to try and find out which fans are fatter.

Answer:  Cub fans.  They eat to ease the pain of not having had a World Series win since 1908.

The MAtH (man about the house) a lifelong White Sox fan, is looking forward to a weekend of watching baseball.

Discomforting sports reporting

Descriptions of things change these days, especially in the words used to describe pro athletes' injuries.  A case in point is how someone in the Cardinals organization or in the sports writing media chose to describe closer Chris Carpenter's elbow injury.

"Former Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter was examined in St. Louis on Friday after experiencing renewed discomfort in his surgically repaired right elbow...

"Renewed discomfort?"  Now that's different.  What does this really mean?

Mizzou's Coach McGuire

Vahe Gregorian of the Post-Dispatch has written a terrific feature on University of Missouri track coach, Rick McGuire. 

We got to know Coach McGuire when our daughter ran track and cross country at Mizzou and can say without any hesitation at all, that every word in this story is spot on. 

"The most important win in Coach McGuire's life is winning the kid," MU assistant track coach Brett Halter said as McGuire was presented the Faurot award.

Winning the kid is reflected on the track and in the classroom, where McGuire's teams set the standard for all of MU athletics. It also is evident in what his protégés will take with them in every endeavor."

The audacity of hope at Oregon State

Sports Illustrated's George Dohrmann has a profile of new Oregon State basketball coach, Craig Robinson.  Robinson just happens to be the brother of Barack Obama's wife Michelle. 

Your morning's trivia.

Chicago, one of four

The International Olympic Committee announced today that Chicago is one of four cities still in the running to host the 2016 Olympic games.  Three contenders were eliminated: Prague, Dohar (in Qatar) and Baku (in Azerbaijan)

The other three cities are Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.

The winning city will be announced on October 2.

Kahoks baseball and the Super-Sectional

The Collinsville Kahoks baseball team played their way all the way to the state final 8 and into yesterday's Super-Sectional game in Champaign.  Alas.  They lost 5-0 to Naperville Neuqua Valley.  Congratulations to the team for a great season, filled with many memorable moments, some of which are highlighted by a photo gallery on the Journal web site.

When I saw they would be playing Naperville, my heart sunk.  Who won the boys state cross country championship?  Naperville Neuqua Valley.  Who took third at the boys state volley ball championships?  Naperville Neuqua Valley.  Won won the class 8A football state championship?  Naperville North.  Second place in state Water Polo?  Naperville Central.  Not Neuqua Valley, but still.  Who took second place at the state soccer championships?  Naperville Neuqua Valley.  Who took first place in the state swimming and diving championships?  Yes, they did. 

But here's an interesting point on the Super-Sectional baseball games.  Collinsville was the only team in the final 8 not from the Chicago suburbs.  The Kahoks, in effect, were the only team left to represent the entire state other than the Chicago suburbs.  This is quite the feat, but troubling on one level.  How can Collinsville, way down state near St. Louis, be in the same sectional as Naperville, a western suburb of Chicago?

Everyone should be proud of the Kahoks and their success.  Well done.

Rams for sale?

Yahoo Sports is running a story today that claims, "although it hasn't been publicized in the wake of longtime owner Georgia Frontiere's death earlier this year, the St. Louis Rams are on the market according to NFL sources."

The main source for this story seems to be coming from former San Francisco 49ers owner, Eddie DeBartolo, someone who also appears to be interested in buying the Rams.

According to Fox 2 in St. Louis, the Frontiere's son and co-owner, Chip Rosenbloom, denies that the team is for sale.  "In a written statement, Rosenbloom says the owners have been approached about a possible sale. But he says he and his sister "have every intention of keeping the Rams in St. Louis."

Fact or fiction?  The city is buzzing that's for sure.

Baseball money

From Forbes, how all baseball teams rank in order of value.

Numbers one and two are from New York.  The Cubs are number 5 and the Cardinals are number 9, the White Sox are number 14.  The two least valuable teams are in Florida.

Also, a discussion of the business of baseball.  How much money is in it and who's getting it and for what.

Via Ron

Photographs and the IHSA

The Illinois High School Association wants to have a monopoly on any photos taken at tournaments in order to produce and sell their own, and forbidding anyone else from doing so.  That anyone else is normally newspapers. 

Some news outlets offer reprints of photos they publish for a small fee and the IHSA wants to make it illegal for them to do so.  The Quad City Times lays out all the problems with the IHSA's way of thinking.

The state senate has passed a bill which allows the IHSA to continue its enterprising foray into the photo reprint business, but it forbids them from kicking out any existing competitors.  It is now in the hands of the state House. 

This bill, however, does not appear to protect individuals (like family of competitors) or bloggers:  "For the purposes of this Section, "news media" means personnel of a newspaper or other periodical issued at regular intervals, a news service (whether in print or electronic format), a radio station, a television station, a television network, a community antenna-television service, or a person or corporation engaged in making news reels or other motion picture news for public showing."

Clinton calls for a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremonies

Via Politico and a Drudge exclusive:

Part of the Clinton statement:  "The violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for Presidential leadership. These events underscore why I believe the Bush administration has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy towards China. At this time, and in light of recent events, I believe President Bush should not plan on attending the opening ceremonies in Beijing, absent major changes by the Chinese government."

But it doesn't appear as though she is calling for a full boycott ala Jimmy Carter in 1980.

"Americans will stand strong in support of freedom of religious and political expression and human rights. Americans will also stand strong and root for the success of American athletes who have worked hard and earned the right to compete in the Olympic Games of 2008."