‘W’ at Wrigley Likely Will Stand for ‘Wildcats’

February 6, 2013 @ admin → No Comments

Midweek musings: Northwestern University and the Chicago Cubs are partnering to have up to five football games played at Wrigley Field, the two parties announced Tuesday (Feb. 5). Which is one way to have a locally based winning team playing there.

Nina Agdal appeared in the 2012 SI Swimsuit Issue.

* Speaking of the Cubs, it appears St. Louis pitcher Chris Carpenter’s career is over. The Cardinals right-hander, who was rehabbing from injury, will miss the 2013 season — at the very least. Not sure there are any Sabremetrics for any of this, but the Cubs will be able to contend this season if their division rivals each suffer approximately six similar setbacks.

* The NBA made Chcicago Bulls center Joakim Noah leave the bench during Monday’s game at Indiana because the injured all-star reserve was not suitably attired. He was able to return in the second half after he switched from a sweater that did not comply with the NBA’s code of conduct. If he’s not careful, Noah is going to end up on that TV show “What Not to Wear.” Either that, or Joan Rivers is calling the shots in the league’s offices.

* Speaking of the Bulls, Comcast SportsNet will debut a weekly series “Full Court Press” on Feb. at 5 p.m. with co-hosts Mark Schanowski and Kendall Gill. CSNChicago.com’s Bulls reporter Aggrey Sam also will appear on the show. If anyone does a similar show in Los Angeles regarding the Lakers, they might want to title the program “Full Court Mess.”

* Speaking of CSN, it is celebrating “Black History Month” with features Sunday nights on “SportsNet Central” at 10:30 p.m. The subjets are Marshall girls basketball coach Dorothy Gaters on Feb. 10, Chicago native and football pioneer Fritz Pollard on Feb. 17 and Cubs icon Ernie Banks on Feb. 24.

* For those of us who are beginning to tire of winter, is there a better week than the one that we will have next week when pitchers and catchers report to spring training and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue comes out (not necessarily in that order of immediate gratification)? OK, somebody cue the swimsuit photo and/or video.

Tara really is a pleasant person — away from the wrestling ring.

* Speaking of attractive and talented females, Lisa Marie Varon — one of the stars of Total Nonstop Action’s Impact Wrestling as “Tara” — will be signing autographs Thursday (Feb. 7) from 6-8 p.m. at Jerseys Pizza and Grill (2360 Lakewood Blvd., Hoffman Estates). She also might be sampling the competition because she is scheduled to open a Chicago pizzeria restaurant, The Squared Circle (2418 N. Ashland), in mid-March.

* How do you like this: Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler landed near the top on a Nielsen/E-Poll ranking — of the most disliked athletes. Lance Armstrong and Manti Te’o led the poll, followed by Tiger Woods, Cutler, Metta World Peace, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Vick, Kurt Busch, Kobe Bryant and Tony Romo. To be fair, the list ranks the athletes with the least appeal. Just because you don’t like someone, it doesn’t necessarily mean you dislike them. Does it?

***

Model Nina Agdal is said to be the leading contender to appear on the cover of the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. We will find out fairly soon. Until then, there’s this:

Speaking of SI swimsuit models: