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Thursday thoughts (OK, what passes for thinking at the editorial offices of elliottharris.com): The Chicago Cubs said Wednesday (Aug. 29) they are sending eight prospects to the Arizona Fall League. Not being particularly gifted when it comes to mathematics, that number would seem smaller than what the Cubs have sent to the Wrigley Field summer league.
* Speaking of calculating, don’t look now but the Chicago White Sox might have to win the American League Central to reach the postseason. Unless something wild happens in the wild-card race.
Lauren is one of the veterans returning for the 2012-13 Chicago Luvabulls.
* The Cubs named Brandon Hyde their new farm director. Wondering how much fertilizer product will be involved in touting prospects. Guessing the process will be something of a game of Hyde-and-seek.
* The NFL has announced it will use replacement officials for at least the first week of the regular season. Wondering what’s the over/under for bad calls that affect bettors’ wallets? And what are the odds that the replacements will be better? You would think the league would be concerned about the health and welfare of the folks who keep the NFL going (meaning not the athletes but the bettors).
There is a lot of talk about Chicago teachers possibly striking and things like that. So, as a public service, here is something that can serve as a quick quiz in case students are deprived of being tested (and even if they aren’t):
1. Wednesday (Aug. 29) was memorable for:
a. Darwin Barney setting a record for consecutive errorless games by a National League second baseman (114)
b. Dylan Axelrod pitched the White Sox to an 8-1 victory at Baltimore as a replacement for Gavin Floyd, who is on the disabled list
c. The 2012-13 Chicago Luvabulls dance team was selected
d. All of the above (with the Luvabulls being the most important event as far as the editorial staff at elliottharris.com is concerned)
2. For a good (or is it bad?) example of misleading people, you can:
a. Listen to political speeches at a convention
2. Listen to a football coach discussing personnel issues, such as the health of a particular player
3. Listen to Ken “Hawk” Harrelson assess umpires (it’s simply amazing how at least 99 percent of bad calls go against his beloved White Sox)
4. All of the above
3. If Cubs rookie Brett Jackson has 36 strikeouts in 71 big-league at-bats (which he does after striking out twice Wednesday in a 3-1 loss to Milwaukee at Wrigley Field, to break Sammy Sosa’s team season record of 177 how many more at-bats in 2012 would Jackson need at his current rate of whiffiness?
a. 284
b. 354
c. 142
d. More than is humanly possible in a season with 33 games left — whew!
The 2012-13 Chicago Luvabulls dance team that was chosen Wednesday night.
Speaking of the Luvabulls (as we were moments ago — and even if we weren’t), the final dance squad selections for the 2012-13 team were made. The results: 17 returning members and eight newcomers were chosen. Congratulations to all who tried out for the team. As Luvabulls director Cathy Core tells the young women, it is only an audition and not the end of the world if they don’t make the squad. From what your humble correspondent observed (and, yes, some of us actually get to call that work), the candidates who were part of the final session all were worthy. I was just happy to be there and even happier not to have to make the call on who was on the team and who was not.
As promised, here is some video from the action Wednesday at the University of Illinois-Chicago (and, yes, there will be more videos in the days to come — including a chat with all eight rookies and one with Erika, the senior member of the squad):
April Rose is to appear on "Sports & Torts," though not in this outfit.
If today is Thursday (which it is unless you are reading this on a day other than Thursday), then it’s time for the weekly installment of “Sports & Torts” with co-hosts David Spada and Elliott Harris at noon Chicago time on talkzone.com.
The guests for the Aug. 30 show are actress/model April Rose and new football hall of fame member Jack Butler. For those unable to tune it for the live presentation, the program will be available later on podcast.
April has been a longtime favorite, going back to the days when your humble correspondent was the Quick Hits sports columnist in the Chicago Sun-Times and she was the 2007 Loop Rock Girl. Interesting to see how far everyone has advanced in those few years.
The hope was to have April in studio for the “Sports & Torts” interview, but her schedule might preclude that. The show’s co-hosts do have a rain-check for a personal appearance on the show. That seems reasonable. Hey, we thought we were doing well to find a week when April wasn’t jet-setting about to one job or another.
You know your life needs greater organization when you reach the point where you make excuses for not attending events because you didn’t have the time. Such was the case with the Midwest Pole Dancing Competition Aug. 24-26. Thankfully, someone else made it there and shot some video:
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