Sod But True

According to reports, the Bears have opted against the installation of an artificial surface at Soldier Field because, according to Ted Phillips, "The Chicago Bears will always put a premium on player safety."

Wow.  This, despite the following:  the overwhelming desire of the Bears' players themselves for FieldTurf or AstroPlay ("infill"), the national embarrassment each year when key plays occur due to slips and broadcasters lament the conditions, Mike Martz's desire to run his offense of fast, precise cuts on an artificial track and the inconclusive data regarding injury risk.

Not to mention that this is NFL football.  If the Bears really cared about player safety they'd tell them all to retire and go home to their families before their brains turn into brown sludge.

Hard to figure this one out, since reports say the Park District would bear the relatively low cost of a switch to infill.

We'll talk about this and more this afternoon at Lawlor's (3636 W. 111th St.) on the Bud Light "Who Needs Two?" Tavern Tour.  Join us to get your weekend started and you can win Cubs tickets.

The Cavaliers are out, and the courtship of LeBron James can begin.  He was clearly limited by his elbow injury last night, and still put up a stat line of 27/19/10.  But Cleveland allowed Boston too many in-rhythm shots, and the Celtics' active defense (keyed by live-wire Tony Allen) deflected countless passes and slowed the Cavs' fast break.

The Sox face the Royals just as they replace Trey Hillman, so we'll see if wacky Ned Yost provides the impetus for improvement right away.  I'm sure the existence of the new-manager "bump" has been proven or disproven, of course, but I don't have that info in front of me.  My guess is that history would disprove it.

Cubs look to assert themselves against a Pirates team that has only looked better than awful this year against the Cubs.

And kudos to the Missouri lawmakers who voted to rename the stretch of I-70 currently known as "Mark McGwire Highway."  That road will now be named after Mark Twain, whose words McGwire would have been wise to heed:

"It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them."