Rings come true for Cubs’ old-timers
In front of a packed house at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs held their first championship ring ceremony and did so with a heartwarming acknowledgment of several of the franchise’s all-time greats.
Among those included in the ceremony were Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg, Fergie Jenkins and Billy Williams, who each received a ring, too.
It also was announced during the ceremony that rings were created for Ernie Banks and Ron Santo, who were the two players most closely associated with the Cubs throughout their careers.
Banks, who was affectionately known as “Mr. Cub,” spent his entire 19-year career with the Cubs. He indicated several times that he would trade every individual accolade he earned — which included his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977 — for an opportunity to represent Chicago in a World Series. It would never come to pass during his career or his life, which ended Jan. 23, 2015.
Ron Santo’s connection to the Cubs extended well beyond his playing days. After retiring in 1974, he eventually joined the Cubs radio broadcast team as an analyst alongside Harry Caray, Thom Brennaman, Bob Brenly and Pat Hughes. He provided the voice of the fan, adding sighs of agony and screams of joy that were echoed everywhere.
Fans dreamed of the day Santo would make the Hall of Fame, while Santo dreamed of a Cubs World Series. He died on Dec. 3, 2010, missing out on his induction in 2012 and the Cubs championship last season.
Oma-ha-ha
During Peyton Manning’s reign as Broncos quarterback, Colorado changed. For one thing, orange No. 18 jerseys were being worn by 2-year-olds and 92-year-olds.
And there was another thing, too.
Everyone tried to figure out why he kept shouting “Omaha” at the line of scrimmage, just before the snap.
“Omaha was just an indicator word,” Manning recently said. “It was a trigger word that meant we had changed the play, there was low time on the clock, and that ball needed to be snapped right now to kind of let my offensive linemen know that ‘Hey, we’d gone to Plan B, there’s low time on the clock.’ It’s a rhythmic three-syllable word, ‘O-ma-ha, set hut.’ ”
Manning was not pleased when the NFL embraced technology that allowed TV viewers to better hear exactly what he was barking in his signals. He joked that he should have shouted, “Jim Nantz is a no good you-know-what.”
“Then they would have turned those microphones down,” Manning said.
Out of bounds
File this one under things you would never hear Jim Nantz say from the tower at Augusta National.
On the BBC’s Masters broadcast Sunday, Peter Alliss was caught by a “hot mic” making a quip about Sergio Garcia’s fiancee’s attire.
Moments after Garcia made the winning putt in his playoff victory over Justin Rose, the 86-year-old Alliss said over the roars that Angela Akins had “the shortest skirt on the campus.”
The BBC released a brief statement explaining the situation.
“While believing he was off air, Peter made a lighthearted remark which he now knows was inappropriate,” said Gail Sullivan, a BBC spokesman.