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Bright days (and nights) are ahead for the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Apparently the team is going to have a Jumbotron. Welcome to the late 20th century. Rooftop owners will be upset. Wrigleyville will remain in business. Such was the news Thursday (July 11). It’s always fascinating to see the worlds of politics and sports working together for the common goal of seeing that all parties involved (well, the politicans and the folks with the sports franchises) benefit financially and/or otherwise.
There always is room around here for our friend April Rose.
* Speaking of the Cubs, the new plans for Wrigley Field call for brighter lighting. That means Cubs fans can anticipate an illuminating experience at the ballpark. Well, as far as wattage and not necessarily the actual performances of the players.
* All this talk about the ballpark and rooftop owners and politics, etc. tends to take the focus off the ballclub. Which probably seems like a reasonable approach if you’re part of the team’s management.
* Throwing pitches at star players (which is what White Sox left-hander Chris Sale did by going up and in to Prince Fielder after Miguel Cabrera hit a home run for the Tigers in an eventual 6-3 Sox victory in Detroit) is a good way to start a fight. Or come close to it, as was the case Thursday. When Detroit retaliated, it threw behind the back of Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez. It would appear Tigers manager Jim Leyland had trouble finding a comparable star player on the Sox to throw at.
* For those who might be going through Blackhawks withdrawal or who simply enjoyed the 2013 postseason experience, Comcast SportsNet has a five-day offering to please even the most ardent fan. Starting Sunday (July 14), CSN will televise all the Hawks playoff games. Sunday will have the first-round series against the Minnesota Wild, Tuesday the conference semifinals vs. the Detroit Red Wings, Tuesday the conference finals vs. the Los Angeles Kings; and Wednesday and Thursday the Stanley Cup finals vs. the Boston Bruins plus the victory celebration.
* Speaking of the Hawks, if we were so inclined to troll for page views, we would have a mention of Justin Bieber in the team’s locker room where he visited the Stanley Cup and walked on the Hawks logo on the carpet in that hallowed room. Walked on it as Hawks front-office folks were present. But we will not focus on any of that — in no small part because as we have stated previously, if the team doesn’t want people walking on the Blackhawks logo on the carpet, it should put the logo someplace where people do not walk. Such as on a wall.
* “Grown Ups 2″ opens Friday at movie theaters. Among the cast is April Rose, a frequent presence on these pages and one of our all-time favorite females. In the film she has the role of a ballet dancer. Which seems close enough to an athletic endeavor to justify running her photo (as if justification ever is needed as far as April is concerned). If you look closely, you will see April’s dancing skills in action.
This is not Richard Dent. In case you were confused.
In case you missed Thursday’s “Sports & Torts” show on Talkzone.com with co-hosts David Spada and Elliott Harris, well, too bad. It was another outstanding effort — by the guests and executive producer Dave Olson, of course.
The guests for July 11 were former Chicago Bears defensive great Richard Dent and July 2013 Playboy Playmate Alyssa Arce. It doesn’t get much better than that (with the possible exception of actually having Alyssa as an in-studio guest).
For those who missed the show and/or would like to enjoy an encore presentation, the program is available on podcast at Talkzone.com. You can access it by clicking here.
And here is where we go for our daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the efforts of the editorial and video departments at elliottharris.com and their broad definition of “gratuitous”):
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