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Random thoughts while wondering why they don’t have horses in Olympic water polo and whether a bikini/lingerie women’s field hockey league might be something to consider (yeah, it was one of those days for some really deep thinking):
* Chris Sale pitched eight strong innings for the Chicago White Sox in a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday (Aug. 6) at U.S. Cellular Field. All this against a backdrop of shutting him down and John Danks having season-ending surgery. For once, you can credit pessimistic/fatalistic thinking by Sox fans on something other than inferiority complexes and/or paranoia.
Former WWE Divas champ Maryse will be at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con. Anyone expecting a photo of a Cubs rookie such as Brett Jackson or Josh Vitters here instead should know better than that.
* Brett Jackson, Anthony Rizzo and Josh Vitters went 0-for-4, 0-for-4 and 0-for-4 in the Chicago Cubs’ 2-0 loss to the Padres in San Diego. Jackson struck out all four at-bats, Vitters twice and Rizzo once. On the bright (?) side, the trio did lead the team in number of pitches seen: Jackson, 24; Vitters, 19; and Rizzo, 15. Of course, you don’t judge the Cubs’ future off one game. Well, unless they do well and the team wins.
* Giving a tax break to Americans winning medals at the Olympic Games would make sense if the athletes weren’t receiving significant dollars for their success ($25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze). Legislation has been introduced in congress to exempt the earnings from taxes. The White House said President Barack Obama would sign such a bill, and presumed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is in favor of the concept. Of course, Romney isn’t particularly big on paying taxes, but those are usually his own. And, also of course, the athletes probably could achieve the goal of not paying taxes if Romney were to give them the name of the accounting firm that handles his returns. I could be wrong but police, fire-fighters, teachers and military folks — among many others — pay taxes on their earnings. Elite athletes should be no different.
* Speaking of elite (well, the folks probably think of their beloved football program as such), the Penn State Board of Trustees is appealing to the NCAA because of the sanctions imposed on the school’s football program because of the child sex-abuse scandal that involved former Nittany Lions assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and the school’s higher-ups — including then-football coach Joe Paterno — failure to take steps to stop Sandusky. The Board argues the sanctions are “excessive and unreasonable” because they inflict “permanent damage to an entire generation of student-athletes and coaches who were innocent of any wrongdoing during their time on campus.” Sorry, Board of Trustees. When the institution permits the crime, the school — and that includes the cherished football program — has to do the time. If this is the way Penn State goes about changing the culture at the university, then maybe the “death penalty” for four years or so would be better than the sanctions the university’s president agreed to. Penn State students, faculty, alumni, supporters, etc. should be able to comprehend what occurred under Paterno’s reign. And they should take this learning opportunity to show how adults in position of responsibility behave in the best interests of everyone — and not merely in the best interests of a football program.
* On a somewhat lighter note (and what wouldn’t be than that previous paragraph?), among those scheduled to attend Wizard World Chicago Comic Con Aug. 9-12 (Thursday-Sunday) at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., is former WWE Diva champion Maryse. Which explains why her photo is featured today. As if there needs to be justification for any of that. Or for the following classic video:
A couple of Playboy.com videos with Casey Connelly and Alyssa Marie:
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