No Morrissey support
NAPERVILLE — Based on his Joakim Noah column (Tribune, June 29), Rick Morrissey is a moron. He probably never watched a Florida Gators basketball game.
Joakim Noah is a winner. And from now on, when I open my Tribune, I’ll be reading ABR (Anybody but Rick).
— Janet Torrey
Hey, Maybe Rick was right
LONG GROVE — Regarding the goofy Joakim Noah, I agree with Rick Morrissey wholeheartedly. This was as great a pick as was Brad Sellers. We know how that one turned out.
— Ed Barczak
Obvious: Bulls pick winners
WINONA LAKE, Minn. — As a Bulls fan, I would much rather have seen the team select Spencer Hawes than Joakim Noah, but since Hawes won’t be that good either, who cares? And since it’s also pretty obvious that Noah will never put on a Chicago jersey, instead being packaged for Pau Gasol, it’s probably not worth getting into a frenzy about it.
Rick Morrissey probably shouldn’t have been too surprised by the Bulls’ selection, considering they’re on the way up thanks to John Paxson’s decisions to pick collegiate players from winning programs. The procedure worked with Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Chris Duhon. So for the Bulls’ selection to be a shock, then here’s another: I bet Saturday will come after Friday.
— Anthony Gadson
Lets get this right!
CHICAGO — The injured football players Mike Ditka is crusading for have serious, chronic injuries they will carry for life, and they deserve the best medical care just like any other human being. My complaint is that Ditka wants only to blame the players union for not properly taking care of these retired athletes.
My question is, what was the advice from the team and team doctors during these players’ careers? It would seem obvious these men sustained serious, multiple injuries during their playing careers. Did these doctors tell them they should not continue with football or they face the prospect of a lifetime of pain? Once this advice was given, what was the role of the owners and coaches in the decisions for these players to continue playing?
And ultimately, after all the advice, the players made the decision to continue in a violent occupation with a history of debilitating injuries.
It seems as if Ditka is laying the blame only where it is convenient. He can bluster and call people names and make it personal, instead of addressing the actual merits of the dilemma. And I’m not sure how or why this problem rates a Congressional hearing. I would think the Congress has more telling problems to address than overpaid athletes who willingly engaged in a violent occupation after sustaining multiple serious injuries.
To further my frustration, I just read a story about Sgt. Eric Edmundson, an injured Iraq War veteran who was given up as a vegetable by the V.A. His father saw the conditions this young veteran would have to endure, given how the government often treats its returning heroes. On his own, his father brought Eric to the Chicago Rehabilitation Institute, where he took his first tenuous steps since an IED destroyed his Humvee in Iraq. It is stories like this that I would like to see some more bluster about.
Let’s get our priorities straight here, America.
— John A. Scanlon
Cubs TV crew tops Sox
ST. CHARLES — Regarding the TV play-by-play crews on Sunday’s now infamous “Juan Uribe obstruction of Angel Pagan” play, I was fortunate to be listening to Cub announcers Bob Brenly and Len Kasper while the game was live. The following day I listened to the White Sox TV announcers Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson during an encore performance, and what I heard reinforced what I have been saying for a while now: Get these guys out of the White Sox booth immediately!
When the call was made to keep the bases loaded with no outs for the Cubs, Brenly and Kasper told the audience they were looking through the rule book trying to find a reason for the umpires’ decision. What did White Sox fans get to hear?
“I think they’re ready to call a triple play … Whoever makes this call, it’s the wrong call … This is B.S., this could be the worst call I’ve ever seen … This is absolute B.S. … Dad-gum right this game’s going to be played under protest.”
Even after Harrelson and Jackson were given the explanation for the umpires’ decision, they kept complaining.
— Thomas Avallone
The wrong grade?
CHICAGO — Being a Sox fan, I’m puzzled as to why Teddy Greenstein gave Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson a B for their Sox broadcasts.
He complimented Hawk for his catch phrases that I’m certain annoy most fans, not to mention Hawk’s incorrect use of the English language like “He gone.” Greenstein found a hilarity to Hawk’s rants about Jay Mariotti. Those rants are idiotic and only promote Mariotti.
Jackson cowers to Hawk’s self-righteous attitude instead of speaking up. Hawk is a Sox corporate shill and Jackson is right behind him.
— Peter Taaffe
Thomas deserves Hall
ELGIN — Here we go again. Frank Thomas reaches 500 home runs and many people wonder if it’s enough to get him into the Hall of Fame. Are you serious?
Twenty-one guys in the history of baseball have hit 500 home runs. All are Hall of Famers except Mark McGwire and a few who are not eligible yet. Of the 21, only seven have a career batting average of .300 or better, and Thomas is one of them. This combination of power and average is what the Hall of Fame is looking for.
On top of his career numbers, Thomas has a batting title and a home run title, again showing his ability to hit for average as well as power. He has won two MVP awards, should have had three and has finished in the top three five times. His career OPSof .9846 is good for 11th all-time.
Frank Thomas is an obvious choice for the Hall of Fame.
— Dan Kascher
Sosa should have been banned
SKOKIE — Now that Sammy Sosa has hit 600 home runs to join the company of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Barry Bonds, I can’t help but wonder how many times he hit a home run with a corked bat. Unlike the use of steroids, there is irrefutable proof that he was using a corked bat when his bat broke during a game in the 2003 season … and the cork came out in full view of everyone watching the game.
Sosa should have been banned from baseball for life, and from the Hall of Fame, for that grievous act. His claim that he mistakenly picked up a “practice bat” was laughable.
— Charles Bloom
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