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The Chicago Bears began their exhibition season Friday (Aug. 9) with a 24-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C. Quarterback Jay Cutler was 6-of-8 passing (with a seventh caught — by an opposing player on Cutler’s first throw of the game). If the goal of the opening exhibition was to keep enthusiasm from becoming too great, new coach Marc Trestman can consider it a success.
Quarterback Heather Furr is one of the key players on the Chicago Bliss.
* Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton suffered a concussion. Which means rather than causing opposing offenses headaches, he has to be careful about his.
* The White Sox played a day/night doubleheader. The outcomes were not as different as night and day. The Sox lost both games to the visiting Minnesota Twins. Reliever Brian Duensing was the winning pitcher in both games. Meaning the Sox have one more victory in their last 10 games than Duensing recorded Friday.
* Duensing is the first pitcher since 2007 to win two games in one day. The Cubs accomplished something even rarer (for them, at least): a shutout victory in St. Louis. The last time they blanked the host Cardinals was 1997. Not quite as rare (though perhaps close), Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo had a two-run single off a left-handed pitcher in the 3-0 victory. He is batting .197 against left-handers and .181 with runners in scoring position.
* Also meaning the Sox (43-71) are well on their way to losing 100 games. If they go 19-29 in their remaining 48 games, they would reach the century mark. And 19-29 is a winning percentage of .396, which actually is better than the Sox have at the moment (.377).
* On the positive side for the Sox, they were able to trade outfielder Alex Rios after the Texas Rangers put in a waiver claim.The Sox obtain a minor-league shortstop in the deal. The bottom line of the trade, though, is the Sox are able to wipe away Rios’ sizable contract from their bottom line.
* The Chicago Sky posted some impressive numbers in its 77-61 victory against the host Connecticut Sun. The victory means the conference-leading Sky (14-7) has as many victories this season as it did in 2012. Epiphanny Prince had 23 points (including 3-of-5 three-pointers) and Elena Delle Donne 19 (4-of-5 three-pointers). What’s interesting about Delle Donne’s performance is she played only 21 minutes. Although the mathematical-computation department around here has the weekend off, reliable reports — not to mention a little digital handiwork on the calculator — indicate that’s almost a point a minute. Impressive. Plus she should be rested for Sunday’s 5 p.m. showdown against Western Conference leader Minnesota at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.
* The Chicago Bliss of the Legends Football League (formerly the Lingerie Footbal League) travels to Green Bay for a game Saturday. A victory would give the Bliss a postseason berth with a playoff doubleheader set for Aug. 17 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. In case you were wondering why there is a photo of a Bliss player accompanying today’s effort.
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