“Johnny Football” and Lovie a Possible Draft Scenario?

With the Cubs and White Sox losing Friday, maybe it is time to talk some football (and we promise not to do so every time a double dose of defeat occurs this baseball season). Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (aka “Johnny Football”) recently visited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are coached by Lovie Smith, formerly of the Bears. A source close to those in the know about the visit told your humble correspondent Manziel impressed the Bucs. Not with anything football-related but with his demeanor. A guy known for lacking a certain degree of humility, Manziel addressed those in the Bucs organization whom he dealt with in a “yes, sir; no, sir” manner. Life is full of surprises. Of course, the Bucs drafting Manziel with the No. 7 pick in the NFL draft would be a definite surprise.

There is video below of Kasius Williams. In case you’re interested (and even if you aren’t).

* For the Cubs, Jeff Samardzija pitched well in a 4-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field. He allowed one earned run in seven innings and struck out seven. The Cubs’ plan apparently is working to perfection (or imperfection, if you happen to disagree with the way Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer & company are handling things): Samardzija’s trade value continues to rise, while the team continues to fall (and consequently will have a high draft pick).

* It would be unfair this early in the season to say the Cubs project to go 43-119. Not necessarily inaccurate, however.

* For the Sox, a 12-0 road loss to the Texas Rangers did have shortstop Alexei Ramirez extend his team-record season-opening hitting streak to 17 games. Ramirez leads the American League with a .379 batting average. Oh, look! Shiny object. Something says there could be plenty to object to this season, if the Sox can’t pitch and hit better than they did Friday. Then again, they couldn’t have done much worse.

* Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was hit with a $25,000 fine for grabbing his crotch during the team’s postseason opener Thursday against the Blues in St. Louis. Which makes you (OK, maybe not you but me) wonder what it would cost to grab someone else’s crotch.

* Former White Sox of the day: Washington left-hander Gio Gonzalez (he was part of the trade that brought Jim Thome from Philadelphia) allowed four hits and one run in seven innings as the Nationals defeated the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 3-1. Gonzalez (3-1) lowered his earned-run average to 2.88.

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