It’s not even 2023 yet, and already the White Sox are under .500 for the new year.
Calling off SoxFest? Really?
That’s such a bad look, and yet another self-inflicted error for the club that led the major leagues in errors in 2022. Yet another “L” for a team that lost as many games as it won — though it felt so much worse than that — in a calamitous season that called the credibility of the organization into question.
Talk about being “mired in mediocrity,” the words general manager Rick Hahn used as the impetus for the last rebuild. Mediocre isn’t just going 81-81 and playing a barely watchable brand of baseball. It’s also eighty-sixing an annual event — canceled the previous two years out of necessity due to COVID-19 concerns — at which fans are supposed to be able to rub elbows with Sox players and other representatives of the club and have their voices heard, even just a little bit.
And Sox fans have much to say these days, not much of it good but all of it mighty important to them.
“We recognize our fans may be disappointed the event will not take place,” the team said in an insubstantial statement that attributed the decision to “several factors.”
Not explaining further than that invites the public to speculate that Sox bigwigs don’t have the stomach for being questioned and criticized, perhaps even booed as Tom Ricketts was at the Cubs Convention in 2020. Ricketts survived that day, as miserable and humiliating as it surely was. The Cubs’ 2023 event is on for Jan. 13-15 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago.
It’s easy to call off plans for an outing when things are tense between you and the friends on the other side of the table. But it’s kind of a weak move.
What about hearing from the new manager, whoever he is? What about hearing from new players? Oh, well, it would’ve been nice.
The Tony La Russa days are over, but this is reminiscent of the sorry sight of Sox players jogging down the first-base line because their wary manager thought it better not to risk some pain. Calling off SoxFest, the Sox appear to be going half-speed into a critical offseason.
THREE-DOT DASH
Is Kirk Ferentz, the dean of college football coaches, begging Iowa to fire him? It might be the only way to explain why he continues to employ son Brian as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator.
This is Kirk’s 24th season and Brian’s sixth as OC. Iowa has taken up permanent residence in the lower half of the Big Ten offensive rankings in recent years, but this season has been like something out of a Clive Parker novel. The Hawkeyes have the worst offense in the country — by a mile — and committed six more turnovers Saturday in a 54-10 loss at Ohio State.
“But we won 10 games in 2021,” Ferentz supporters say.
But that offense ranked 13th in the Big Ten, is the proper reply. …
Oh, if and when Iowa does move on Ferentz? Be prepared for alum Brett Bielema’s name to jump straight to the top of the list. Could the mayor of Champaign really turn that one down? …
Is there a less-inspiring sight in Chicago sports than Bulls forward Patrick Williams crouching behind the three-point line, not moving, waiting for a pass that probably isn’t — and definitely shouldn’t be — coming?
We have to assume Williams once was an athletic sort who loved basketball, or else the Bulls wouldn’t have wasted a No. 4 overall pick on him. He sure doesn’t look like he’s having any fun out there. …
Nikola Vucevic either makes you happy by scoring inside or makes you crazy by clanging another three-pointer off the rim. There is no in between. …
Early take on Luke Richardson’s Blackhawks: They’re playing hard and have yet to set the sport back by generations. Not terrible. …
Patriots 31, Bears 13. What, you want me to lie?
THIS YOU GOTTA SEE
Bears at Patriots (Monday, 7:15 p.m., ESPN): Or you could always watch Peyton and Eli Manning call the game on ESPN2. In between brotherly yuks, the pair of two-time Super Bowl champs ought to have some interesting insights into Justin Fields’ struggles.
“Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” (Tuesday, 9 p.m., HBO): Among the stories tonight is a look at the rampant violence referees are enduring on fields and courts of play. Then again, what could be more important than your 7-year-old niece’s flag football game?
World Series, Game 1 (TBD, Fox-32): We don’t know the combatants yet, but sources assure us neither the Sox nor the Cubs will be involved.
ONLY BECAUSE YOU ASKED
From Ian, via email:
“Doesn’t Fighting Illini Chase Brown deserve to be included in the Heisman Trophy conversation? Don’t you need this great column idea?”
Wet blanket alert: Thanks, but nah. Brown has been great, no doubt, but Illinois is winning all these games because of its defense. Two rushing yards allowed against Wisconsin. Six points allowed against Iowa. Thirty-eight passing yards allowed against Minnesota. It seems almost disrespectful to this team to pretend Brown is why it’s happening.
If I were casting my ballot today, Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker would be on it for sure, probably at No. 1. Brown wouldn’t be in my top three, but let’s see what he does the rest of the way. He has some huge Saturdays ahead of him.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
Iowa QBs: The Hawkeyes finally pulled starter Spencer Petras and sent backup Alex Padilla into the game. What did Padilla do to deserve that?
The Lakers: No, two games in isn’t too soon to heave this team into the trash bin.
Russell Wilson: We didn’t want him as Bears QB anyway, did we?
Pickleball: I’ve never hated anything more, and I still don’t even know what it is.
Javy Baez and Kris Bryant: Didn’t they get the memo that all ex-Cubs are supposed to be in the ALCS or the NLCS right now?
