Three columns for the price of one:
White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf might not have much in the way of a team, but he’s got a lot of gall.
According to a Crain’s Chicago Business story, Reinsdorf wants $1 billion in public money to help build the team’s proposed ballpark in the South Loop. He has at least two things going against him:
1) Taxpayers are tired of footing the bill for wealthy owners of professional sports franchises.
2) Fewer people are buying the assertion that the jobs and neighborhood investment that come with new stadiums more than offset the cost to pay for the buildings.
Oh, and 3) Reinsdorf’s team stinks.
That last one might seem immaterial, but Sox fans are more than a little upset about a rebuild that went off the rails, and some still haven’t gotten over the kick-in-the-teeth hiring of Tony La Russa as manager a few years ago. And now Reinsdorf is asking Gov. J.B. Pritzker to get behind a plan to subsidize a new ballpark? The Sox reportedly want the hotel occupancy tax that is paying for the Bears’ 2003 renovation extended to pay for their ballpark. Reinsdorf surely thinks state residents won’t feel the bite of that, but he’s missing the point, which is that enough is enough.
The Bears are facing resistance to their plan to build a stadium in Arlington Heights. The message seems to be: You have the money. Build your own home. Or get a loan, like the rest of us do when we take out a mortgage.
Here’s another thought for Reinsdorf and the Sox: The weather’s very nice in Nashville, Tennessee.
I don’t know what I expected from Connor Bedard in his return from a fractured jaw after an absence of almost six weeks. Some hesitancy, maybe. A few subtle indications of self-preservation, perhaps.
Getting half your face smashed in might give you pause when you take part in the same activity that brought on said smashed face, no?
No.
Bedard had three points in his first two games back, including a goal and an assist in the Blackhawks’ 3-2 victory Saturday against the Senators. The victory ended an eight-game losing streak, and if you see that as an example of cause and effect, you wouldn’t get much opposition in Chicago.
Bedard is averaging 19 minutes and 47 seconds of ice time since his return, about 30 seconds more than his season average. Not exactly dipping a toe in the water, is he?
It’s just another reminder that the 18-year-old rookie is different and that typical human behaviors don’t always apply to him. He was injured Jan. 5 on an open-ice hit by Devils defenseman Brendan Smith. He had surgery three days later. He returned less than six weeks after that, picking up an assist in a loss Thursday to the Penguins.
He’s wearing a full-face shield that looks like something a T. rex might wear after a trip to the orthodontist. Whatever it takes to keep the Hawks’ future safe. It’s a pity he missed the NHL All-Star Game. But in the deadest part of the U.S. sports schedule, it’s a relief he’s back.
One of the questions in the Sun-Times’ weekly Polling Place had to do with altitude:
In honor of Saturday’s All-Star Slam Dunk contest, who’s the best NBA dunker ever?
The results:
Michael Jordan, 48.7%
Vince Carter, 43%
LeBron James, 2.1%
Other, 6.2%
The poll was taken in the days leading up to the NBA dunk contest, and, now that the event is over, ‘‘Other’’ would like a word. That would be Mac McClung, who won the competition for the second consecutive year. The 6-2 G League player ended his night by jumping over Shaquille O’Neal for a perfect, 50-point dunk.
McClung’s vertical leap was measured at 43.5 inches at the G League Combine in 2021. I’d respectfully like to suggest that the people doing the measuring might have been out late the night before. On his final dunk Saturday, he almost hit his head on the rim. I’m eagerly waiting the new movie ‘‘White Men Can’t Jump — Except for This Guy.’’
On Friday night, one of the networks showed the 1988 dunk contest. What struck me most, all these years later, was the size and strength of Jordan’s hands. The basketball looked like a 16-inch softball when he held it. He would bounce the ball hard and catch it nonchalantly with one hand. It was as though there were glue involved.
Everybody has unique gifts, but Jordan happened to have several of them. McClung has one, and it’s spectacular. How about a revote, Sun-Times readers?
