OPENING SHOT Good morning, Ryan Tannehill. Have you met Khalil Mack? Well, you will. More Rosenbloom,
During his end-of-season news conference this month, Theo Epstein declared that “launch angle is not a fad,” and he proved it by forcing manager Joe Maddon to launch batting coach Chili Davis or to just shut up while Epstein launched Davis himself.
Yeah, Davis was a scapegoat for a failure of a season, but he also looks like a message: Davis is out, Joe, or Davis and you are out. Well, when you put it that way ... Nobody would ever say this officially, but this looks and feels as if Epstein let Maddon keep his $6 million-a-year job with a chance to earn another contract only if Davis and his home-run-challenged philosophy were gone and a new hitting coach, the right hitting coach, was hired to make sure the Cubs play at this time next season.
And if that wasn’t Epstein’s or-else, then why wasn’t it?
Look, home runs win. The Cubs did not win because they did not hit home runs. Geez, they did not hit, period. They scored one or zero runs in 40 of their 164 games. See the combatants in the league championship series for the difference.
And see the managers of the four teams competing for a World Series berth for more truths.
In the National League Championship Series, Brewers manager Craig Counsell makes $1.5 million this season while Dodgers manager Dave Roberts makes $1 million.
In the ALCS, the Red Sox’s Alex Cora makes $800,000 while the Astros’ A.J. Hinch makes $1.2 million.
Add it up, and you’re talking $4.5 million for the final four managers. For those of you scoring at home, that’s $1.5 million less than Maddon makes.
Message to Maddon: The Cubs don’t have to spend $6 million on a manager who brought in a new hitting coach only to have the offense break irretrievably in the second half of a season smack in the middle of this franchise’s World Series window.
Epstein said every season is sacred. He did not say every manager is.
How much is Fox Sports fearing a Brewers-Astros World Series?
Bears linebacker Roquan Smith, explaining how his speed helps him hit hard: “Force equals mass times acceleration.” Imagine how badly some quarterback will feel when he gets sacked by Sir Isaac Newton. The Choice (and remember, death is not an option): The Bulls’ disastrous signing of Dwyane Wade or the early indications of the Bulls’ disastrous signing of Jabari Parker?
The Timberwolves need another team to think as much of Jimmy Butler as Butler thinks of himself.
Quick, someone tell Butler he can act like Kobe Bryant in practice when he has Bryant’s five rings.
Or just one. Or, yeesh, just get to an NBA Finals.
LeBron James said he allows his 14- and 11-year-old sons to drink wine. Related: Next June, the Bulls’ championship drought will be legally old enough to drink. The Blackhawks got a point against the Wild on Thursday for choking in the last minute of the second period, the last minute of the third period and in overtime. That’s why they call it a “loser point,” people — because only losers believe that a team that can’t win any of its first four games in regulation is any good.
The Predators raised three banners at their home opener this week, one for the cockamamie idea of “Regular Season Western Conference Champions.” No wonder the Predators have tried to keep Hawks fans out of Bridgestone Arena: They were embarrassed by their lame and empty rafters.
North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams said he is “dumbfounded’’ by the corruption the FBI uncovered in college basketball. Is Williams new around here?
What’s up, Adam Creighton?