Random thoughts while wondering why Adam Dunn is so good for the Chicago White Sox this season and why he was so bad last season and whether any of that will make a difference in reaching the postseason this year:
* The Chicago Cubs won the bidding rights to Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler. They reportedly signed him to a nine-year deal worth about $30 million. Soler is 20. An anagram for “Jorge Soler” is “err jog lose.” Which doesn’t sound all that optimistic. An anagram for “Soler” is “roles.” Which he could mean he will play a role in the team securing its first World Series title since 1908. Then again, his last name also is an anagram for “loser.” Which some might say is more fitting for a team that last was in a World Series in 1945.
* Speaking of Cuban athletes, who would have imagined that island’s dictator Fidel Castro would outlast the country’s greatest boxer Teofilo Stevenson? Stevenson won Olympic gold at the 1972, ’76 and ’80 Games. The Associated Press reported Stevenson’s death Monday. He was 60. He never had the chance to fight Muhammad Ali, although fight fans drooled at the thought. Because Cuba (which was and is Castro) insisted he maintain his amateur status, the fight never occurred. Stevenson won world amateur titles in 1974, ’78 and ’86. He retired in 1988 when Cuba skipped the Seoul Olympics (Cuba did not attend the 1984 Los Angeles Games). Of staying in Cuba and not turning pro, Stevenson once said: “I prefer the affection of 8 million Cubans.”
* Speaking for formidable forces in sports, LeBron James and the Miami Heat face Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday. Anyone who thinks the Chicago Bulls with a healthy Derrick Rose could defeat either team in a best-of-seven series is overly optimistic (a nice way of calling someone delusional) and/or a Bulls employee.
* The trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky began Monday in Bellefonte, Pa. Sandusky, 68, faces 52 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years. If the first witness for the prosecution is any indication, Sandusky’s defense team might need to call the ghost of former Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno. There is talk by Sandusky’s lawyer that Sandusky might take the stand in his own defense. Given what the public knows, for him to do so might be analagous to playing football without a helemt.
* Speaking of football, Chad Ochocinco has signed with the Miami Dolphins. It is unclear why he would want to play for the Dolphins or why the Dolphins would want the veteran receiver. Well, other than the fact — sheer coincidence, no doubt — that the franchise will be featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series.
On the bright side for those folks who enjoy going to Wrigley Field, here is some more Roger Waters from the June 8 concert Friday (you weren’t expecting anything baseball-related, were you?:
Coming attraction: Jenny McCarthy, whose sister JoJo has appeared on “Sports & Torts” with David Spada and Elliott Harris, is scheduled to be the cover girl and in a nude pictorial (you mean there are pictorials that aren’t?) in the July/August issue of Playboy. The Chicago native also is the host of NBC’s “Love in the Wild,” which has a former Chicago Blackhawks Ice Crew member — Yanina — among the show’s cast. With a little luck, one of these weeks, “Sports & Torts” will have Jenny and/or Yanina. And, yes, this is my idea of hard work, thank you very much.
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