CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 15: Miguel Montero #47 of the Chicago Cubs celebrates with Jason Heyward #22, Chris Coghlan #8 and Ben Zobrist #18 after hitting a grand slam home run in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game one of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field on October 15, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Yes, this is about stealing signs and wait…doesn’t every team steal signs?
Seriously, isn’t it expected to try and steal signs during baseball games and that’s why catchers are always switching signs when runners get on base? Anyway, Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal was apparently really offended that Ben Zobrist was stealing signs because he brought it up after Game 2 of the NLCS against the Chicago Cubs.
Grandal didn’t really have to worry about any sign stealing on Sunday at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs only got two hits against Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen. Yet, he is certain that Zobrist was getting an edge and called him out for it after the 1-0 win for the Dodgers.
That’s because Grandal says the Cubs are stealing the Dodgers signs, and he knows it.
After Game 2, Grandal was asked about it and used the eighth inning of Game 1 as an example, when Ben Zobrist was on second and Addison Russell was at the plate facing Joe Blanton.
“All the sudden, Russell is not taking good swings at sliders, looking like he’s looking for a fastball and in a certain location, ” Grandal said. “Did we know Zobrist had the signs and was doing something for it? Yeah, we did …
“We are literally paranoid when it comes to men on second and they are trying to get signs. We know who is getting the signs. We know what they’re doing. We know what they do to get it.
“In the playoffs, one relayed sign could mean the difference between winning the World Series and not getting there. That’s why we have four or five different sets of signs, and we’re constantly changing.”
Ugh, OK.
The Cubs had one runner reach second base on Sunday and that was in the fifth inning, when Javier Baez and Willson Contreras had the only two hits of the night.
It doesn’t really matter if the Cubs were or weren’t stealing signs, but doesn’t this just add some bulletin board material for Joe Maddon?
Again, every team knows that every other team is trying steal signs, so Grandal bringing it up like it’s a big deal is hilarious. It just comes off as whining, but he didn’t really seem to be angry about it either, so I still don’t understand why it was brought up. It’s not like the umps are going to call the Cubs on it during games, or vice versa. It’s also weird because the Dodgers had just dominated the Cubs, so setting up an excuse for later in the series? Wut?
Anyway, Game 3 is on Tuesday. Jake Arrieta vs. Rich Hill.
Following the trade which brought flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman to Chicago back in July, Cubs fans have marveled at one thing:
Velocity.
Chapman has been the only closer in baseball to consistently hit triple digits during all of his appearances which makes him seemingly unhittable at times. As a fan, it’s hard to fathom exactly what it feels like to step into the box against Chapman, but one baseball analyst put it best…
“Imagine someone throwing a golf ball at you from a ladder 10 feet away.”
Because a flame-throwing, lefty closer is such a rarity these days, his performances are always under the microscope. When ANY baseball player performs at that high of a level for that amount of time, questions start to loom.
“How does he do it?”
In a recent interview with ESPN, Chapman reveals his workout secret which he credits for helping him throw that ‘straight gas’ Cubs fans have grown to love.
There may be no greater mystery at the quarterback position in the past decade of the NFL than Jay Cutler. For years experts have tried to figure out what makes him tick and what his problems are. Often without much success. He has as much or more talent than almost every other quarterback in the league. By rights he should be one of the five best going but for one reason or another he’s never sustained success.
Some blame the constantly changing coaching staffs and poor blocking he’s been under. Others think it’s his poor decision-making and recklessness. Still more argue the biggest problem has been his rather off-putting personality that just isn’t conducive to top tier quarterback play. Maybe it’s a little bit of everything.
Either way the facts are hard to ignore. Cutler is 33-years old and dealing with the second notable injury to the thumb on his throwing hand. The Chicago Bears are 0-3 and staring down the barrel at a potential top five draft pick. That could mean a big change at quarterback is coming. How it ever got to this point is something experts are pondering. Why has Cutler not been able to elevate this team higher?
Perhaps the best way to answer that is by hearing reflections from former teammates who played with him. Ones like former 12-time Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey. (continue to next page from top)
GREENSBURGH, NY - JULY 08: Joakim Noah of the New York Knicks is interviewed during a press conference at the Madison Square Garden Training Facility on July 8, 2016 in Greenburgh, New York. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Uh…what? Joakim Noah is a daddy!
The former Bulls center and new member of his hometown New York Knicks missed the team’s first practice yesterday. The team cited it as an excused absence for personal reasons.
At today’s practice, the always-mellow (when not screaming on the court) Joakim explained the reason for his absence.
Noah says he had a daughter yesterday. That's why he missed first day of practice. Pretty good reason to miss it, I think.
Noah has always been fairly quiet about his personal life. With all of the recent news surrounding Derrick Rose’s lawsuit, it’s nice to see a former Bulls favorite with such happy news!
Jake “The Snake” Arrieta is a hit with the ladies. Outside of the dominance he shows on the mound, his rugged look appears to attract women from all over the country. ESPN is well aware of this, that’s one of the reasons why they asked Arrieta to appear in their most recent issue of The Magazine, Body Issue 2016.
In the featured photos, a naked Arrieta is seen hurling fastballs in what appears to be a desert …. with his beard, and his naked ass, glistening in the sun light.
Appearing naked in the ESPN magazine is nothing new for athletes, but the attention Arrieta has received from the ladies is quite funny.
The men who saw the article reacted much differently. Again, most people are very familiar with ESPN The Magazine and the naked athletes that appear in The Body issues. There was just something extremely odd about seeing a video of Arrieta pitching butt naked that threw people off.
Did anybody else just see the segment on Baseball Tonight where Jake Arrieta pitches naked for ESPN?
The jokes kept coming, and are still all over Twitter.
Urban Gameday, a premium tee shirt company in Chicago, designed a pink tee around Arrieta’s appearance in the magazine and ladies have been loving it. The shirt features a silhouette of Arrieta’s naked wind up, complete with the newly popular phrase, “Body by Jake.”
The shirt is actually so popular, Mrs. Arrieta herself tweeted about it asking for one.
@sportsmockery if you throw in some Body by Jake ones too😉👊🏻👍🏻
It’s fitting that a tee shirt would reference Arrieta’s body simply because his work ethic in the gym is so widely discussed. Due to extremely rare success on the mound, Arrieta has been accused of several different things including the use of PEDs.
Quick to defend him, media outlets in Chicago have posted extensive reports about the reigning NL Cy Young winner’s elite core pilates workouts. With a diet consisting mostly of kale, Arrieta is known for taking extremely good care of himself which is said to have resulted in his success on the the field.
“Beast, ” says his wife, Brittany. “That’s our nickname for him. I would not like to face him if I were a baseball player. You don’t know what’s going through his mind. You can’t even get the guy to flinch.”
“Not everybody can pull off that beard. His back and chest and face are all hairy. We have a werewolf in the family. And it’s like his eyes are locked in on you.”
Have to agree, “beast” is a pretty fitting nickname for Arrieta., but the description of him from his wife sounds like the beginning of a soft porn Twilight movie.
In any case, seeing Jake Arrieta stark naked in ESPN the Magazine has had a lasting effect on Cubs fans in Chicago and produced some pretty funny tweets.
Let’s hope people are remembering him for his pitching in 2016 come October.
In case you’ve never heard the “rumor” before, there is strong evidence that indicates Aaron Rodgers could be gay. Now, most people probably wouldn’t even care if he was, but the length at which he is attempting to deny it is very strange.
According to recent reports from TerezOwens.com, Rodgers has completely cut ties with his family members, all of them. His brother Jordan, who is currently on the hit TV show The Bachelorette, confirmed these rumors when he told the world that he and his brother aren’t on speaking terms.
“Me and Aaron don’t really have that much of a relationship. It’s just kinda the way he’s chosen to do life, and ugh, I chose to stay close to my family, my parents and my brother (Luke). Yeah, it’s not ideal. You know, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in his shoes, the pressure you have.” – Jordan Rodgers
Owens, citing an inside source, says the problems with the family come from two main issues: Rodgers’ parents routinely stepping over their bounds and “the Kevin Incident.”
Parents
“It’s all related because the timing of everything. His parents are huge fans of him and very proud, rightfully so. They would tell him they are coming out to visit instead of asking if they can come out. That’s fine for awhile but it wore on him. The frustration built up and came out in a bad way. The story about Olivia keeping them out of his box is true.”
Kevin
The base of the rumors started when Rodgers told the media he had a male roommate back in 2008, Kevin Lanflisi. Lanflisi was reportedly Rodgers’ assistant, roommate and according to strong rumors his lover. This quote got a lot of attention, from that same ’08 interview.
“Our friendship goes a lot deeper than we do.”
Here’s a video of Rodgers talking affectionately of Lanflisi and the two at a banquet where Rodgers receives his MVP award. It also shows off a ton of tweets that were previously deleted.
According to FameDriven.com, the two had a “falling out” after they had agreed to join a group of NFL players prepping to come out as gay over the summer. Then, 30-year-old Aaron backed out.
Over the years, Kevin has posted many pictures of Rodgers to social media.
Again, most of this was simply rumors but ended up going a lot deeper. Many people believe that Rodgers has cut ties with his family to prevent any more information about his personal life getting out. Owens’ source indicates that Rodgers had his family, and everyone else close to him, sign non-disclosure agreements as well.
This prevents them from ever talking about Rodgers publicly.
Many news outlets are starting to believe there’s a serious publicity stunt going on to try and continue to convince the public Rodgers really isn’t gay. It’s now been going on for years.
More innuendo to believe the relationship with Munn is simply a PR stunt.
Munn spoke about the couple’s sex life back in December of 2014, and her comments only added more speculation.
(When asked if they have sex on game day)
“No, we don’t, ” she said. “Not on game day. There’s not a rule, but it just doesn’t happen because there are other things to focus on.”
However, Munn said they occasionally have sex after Packers games.
Those quotes aren’t any evidence Rodgers is gay, but when you’re dating one of the sexiest women in the world….
Owens has written several different reports on this subject, and also spoken to several different insiders that appear to have knowledge on the situation, here’s what he told us about his opinion on the matter.
“I think if anything he’s bi, had a boyfriend (allegedly) now he’s with a woman. Hard to say what really went down with his assistant”
Rodgers has denied being gay in the past, specifically on 540 WAUK-AM in Milwaukee.
“I’m just going to say it, I’m not gay.” Rodgers said.
That could very well be true, few believe it but it could be true, however he has likely had sexual relations with men before.
Rodgers does a great job hiding his personal life from the public and always seems to make opportune appearances with Munn when people question his sexual preference. That has apparently costed him his relationship with his family, or it’s at least part of it.
No matter how strong of a person you are, you will only get so far without the love and support of your family. Let’s hope Rodgers can get this situation figured out.
Hell, it’s 2016, being gay is like the new cool thing. Most would probably respect his decision to be honest rather than chase this trail of suspicion.
With all the talk of Kevin Durant jilting the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors, fans may be surprised to know that the same thing almost happened here 20 years ago. It seems inconceivable nowadays. Michael Jordan is nothing like these new age NBA players who jump to new teams at the first opportunity if they think they won’t be able to win a championship. He was loyal to the Chicago Bulls and the fans, choosing instead to work harder than anybody to turn the franchise into a champion. He was rewarded in the 1990s by winning six titles. The only reason Jordan ever played for another team was because he got ran out of town by former GM Jerry Krause.
While that sounds like a romantic telling of the greatest NBA career anybody has ever witnesses, the facts are somewhat different. It turns out that there was time that M.J. indeed almost did leave the Bulls. In the summer of 1996, the team was coming off a 72-10 season, winning their fourth championship of the decade. Jordan’s contract was expiring and he was intent on getting a massive raise since he had played up to that point on an outdated eight-year, $25 million contract while other players were making well north of $10 million per season.
He warned the team that the years of friendly discounts were going to be over. Sure enough he initially demanded $18 million for one season, the match of the highest contract amount in league history up to that point. However, soon Chicago was forced go even higher when an old enemy attempted to swipe their superstar away from them as the Chicago Tribune wrote.
“So how did they settle on a $30 million contract after Jordan had floated a trial balloon of $18 million during the 1995-96 playoffs?
At the time, Knicks center Patrick Ewing was playing a “balloon” season of $18 million, then the biggest one-year deal in NBA history.
That’s where Jordan started, and the Bulls were prepared to go to $20 million for one season as a sort of a one-year payback to Jordan for the previous seasons when he was “underpaid.”
But in stepped those dreaded Knicks, then owned by a partnership between ITT-Sheraton and Cablevision Inc.
The Knicks had maneuvered themselves well below the salary cap–about $12 million–and eventually signed free agents Allan Houston, Chris Childs and Buck Williams.
But the initial target was Jordan.
“We told them they could have all our cap room, ” Madison Square Garden President Dave Checketts acknowledged.”
It’s obvious why New York was doing that. No player had tortured the Knicks in the 1990s more than Jordan. In four playoff meetings against the Bulls when Jordan was on the roster, they were 0-4. Not only would taking Jordan away weaken Chicago, but it would almost guarantee New York a championship of their own when pairing him with Ewing.
The Knicks put on the full court press, offering an unprecedented $25 million deal to bring Michael to the Big Apple. His agent called the Bulls and said they had one hour to beat that number or he was signing. It’s unclear whether this was a bluff by Jordan to squeeze more money out of the normally tight-fisted Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, but either way it had the desired effect.
Chicago delivered a contract worth $30 million, which would make him the highest paid athlete in professional sports history. Michael Jordan signed and the Bulls won their fifth championship later that season. To this day few people realize how close it came to there being no second three-peat.
Michael Jordan did his best to hold back tears while talking about his father after the Bulls won their 4th NBA title on June 16, 1996 (Photo: YouTube)
“72-10 don’t mean a thing without the ring.”
On June 16, 1996 the Bulls got that ring, completing what is still believed to be (…the Warriors can add to that discussion if they win their Game 6 tonight…) the best season in NBA history. Michael Jordan had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists in Chicago’s 87-75 win over the Seattle Supersonics in Game 6 of the Finals. Dennis Rodman had a monster game on the glass, grabbing 19 rebounds (11 offensive) while adding 9 points and 5 assists.
An Emotional Finish
Along with his first title in 1991, championship #4 may have been the most emotionally exhausting triumph of Jordan’s career. It just so happened that their title-clinching victory on June 16th was also Father’s Day. This was the first title Jordan won since his father, James, was murdered in a carjacking in the summer of 1993.
After getting the game ball after the final buzzer sounded, Jordan ran back to the Bulls locker room and collapsed onto the floor, crying. No “Crying Jordan” jokes here, please.
Michael Jordan clutched the game ball and wept on the floor of the Bulls locker room after the team won their 4th championship, MJ’s first without his father.
Jordan eventually made his way back to the court for the trophy presentation. As the United Center crowd wildly chanted “MVP! MVP!”, a tearful MJ dedicated this championship to his dad.
“I know he’s watching. This is for Daddy.” – MJ
When Bulls fans look back on the 1996 team, especially recently with the Warriors making noise, so much of the talk is centered around it being the “best team ever”. But people often forget its tragically beautiful finish. MJ says he gave baseball a try because it’s something his late father would’ve wanted. By most accounts, he failed. Then he made his comeback, and regained his rightful place on the NBA mountaintop on Father’s Day. All was right with the world.
Happy Anniversary, Michael. You made your daddy, and the city of Chicago, very proud.
Michael Jordan celebrates championship #2 in 1992 with his father, James.
