Sports-wise,
there’s really nothing much on TV for me to watch or in the paper to read
about. I don’t care about hockey; the
Bulls stink; college basketball has way too little to do with college; and
today is it for football, the ultimate game until next year, as Duane Thomas
might say. Did I mention golf, figure
skating or skiing? No sane person would.
Salvation of a
sort may lie with the Sun-Times. I have
a feeling—granted, it could be no more than a delusion—the paper will be devoting
a ton of space to the White Sox, what with their special Saturday section and
all. The trick is to hold on another ten
days, when pitchers and catchers report.
Forget the Tribune. I’ve given up
on the enterprise once housed in Tribune Tower.
You may recall last
year how the Trib couldn’t be bothered to send a beat reporter on Sox road
trips last season, and things could be getting considerably worse very
soon. The paper is now under control of extreme
cost-cutters, the kind who might stoop to wire stories for home games, for
teams other than the Bears, of course. Nothing
will change in that regard.
End of the
world, with a giant meteor hurdling on a collision course with Earth, the
Tribune will print a final addition with at least one Bears’ story in it. How do I know? Just look at today’s sport’s section. Amidst all the Super Bowl hoopla is a story
on the back page literally the length of my arm. “The season never ends: Key dates, deadlines
for Bears.” Sometimes, it feels like the
meteor can’t get here fast enough.
Lucky for me I found
a couple of items of interest in the Sun-Times’ tiny type yesterday—ex-Sox
players Yolmer Sanchez and Charlie Tilson have signed minor-league contracts,
with the Giants and Pirates, respectively.
According to the Giants’ website, Yolmer passed on a number of guaranteed,
major-league offers for the chance to win the starting job at second base. Good luck, Yolmer, although I think you
project better as a super sub.
Tilson, now with
his third organization, qualifies as a journeyman (along with fellow
ex-teammate Ryan Cordell, who signed a minor-league deal with the Mets a few
weeks ago). It must be odd, and
frustrating, to know that you’re a better ballplayer than most anyone out there,
that your cup of coffee in the bigs is beyond what the great mass of high
school, college and minor-league players will ever experience. On one level, you’re all but god, yet on the
one that MLB front offices operate on you’re little more than insurance, or
Plan D.
How
philosophical I grow in the hours before Super Bowl LIV.
No comments:
Post a Comment