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Midweek musings: And so, now the season has begun for the Chicago White Sox. They find themselves in a pennant race in the American League Central. All it took was one game against the division-leading Tigers on Tuesday (July 9) in Detroit. The generally struggling Sox offense had 23 hits in pounding out an 11-4 victory against Cy Young winner Justin Verlander. The victory gives the Sox a 1-0 series advantage with 18 games vs. Detroit remaining. With the Sox a mere 13 games back. So if the Sox go a mere 16-2 in those remaining games, they should surpass the Tigers. OK, so it’s a rather small sample size and a rather ridiculous premise. But it has been so long since there has been something nice to say about the Sox, we thought it was the least we could do.
Playboy Playmate Alyssa Arce will be a “Sports & Torts” guest Thursday.
* Speaking of the Sox, center fielder Alex Rios had six hits — otherwise known as a good week for most of his teammates. Rios did it in six at-bats. Otherwise known as amazing for any of his teammates.
* Speaking of resurgent Chicago offenses, the Cubs hit five home runs in a 7-2 victory against the visiting Los Angeles Angels. Alfonso Soriano had two homers. He has six in July. He had three in June. Meaning any home runs he hits in August or September possibly could be with a team contending for a postseason berth (and, no, that would not be the Cubs).
* Might Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville be ready for an encore? Not another Stanley Cup and ensuing celebration. Another trip to Arlington Park for some horse racing (and perhaps a trip or two or more to the mutuel windows). Quenneville — with Stanley Cup accompanying — visited the lavish racetrack July 6. Rumor has it that he might be back this Saturday (July 13) for Arlington Million Preview Day, which features four graded stakes races. Not that Coach Q needs any practice for the Aug. 17 International Festival of Racing that features the Million. A Quenneville return trip no doubt would be with considerably less fanfare and far greater privacy to enjoy a day at the races. It is uncertain whether a Quenneville entourage to be ensconced in a suite would include Hawks analyst Ed Olczyk, whose track record of racetrack wagering includes a 2009 Pick Six payout of close to $500,000 at Hollywood Park. Given the choice between a Stanley Cup or that winning wager, we will wager more than a few Hawks fans would go with the money rather than the hardware.
If it’s Wednesday (and with reliable sources reporting yesterday was Tuesday, that seems a reasonable assumption), then we are only a day away from the latest “Sports & Torts” show on Talkzone.com. The interview program co-hosted by David Spada and Elliott Harris airs live at noon Central time. It also becomes available later in the day Thursday via podcast at the Talkzone archives (which exist somewhere out there in cyberspace).
This week’s show has a Bears theme to it. Or possibly a bare them to it. OK, both. The guests are former Chicago Bears defensive end Richard Dent, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame; and Playboy’s July Playmate Alyssa Arce.
Richard talks about his football career and what he is up to these days. Alyssa chats about her soccer skills and posing without clothes for her Playboy photo shoot. Who other than “Sports & Torts” brings together interesting subjects such as this? To catch a glimpse of Alyssa, you can click here.
And here is where we go for our daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the ever-diligent editorial and video departments at elliottharris.com and their broad definition of “gratuitous”):
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