When you’re young you think you know everything.
But when you’re old and your memory starts to fade, you always can pretend you still know everything and no one can tell you otherwise.
It’s one of life’s greatest perks.
With that in mind, here’s what I know about the wacky week in sports news.
That’s what friends are for
The bromance between the Reinsdorfs and their employees is a Chicago tradition that never gets old, does it?
The next Bulls general manager will have to take current coach Billy Donovan as part of the job, assuming Donovan wants to stick around, because that’s the way President and CEO Michael Reinsdorf wants it.
“If I interview someone and they’re not sold on Billy, they’re not sold on a Hall of Fame coach, they’re not sold on a person who has won championships in college and who has gone deep in the playoffs with Oklahoma City, who I believe with the Chicago Bulls, every year, given the team that he was given, he achieved really good results,” Reinsdorf said.
“Not the results that we wanted, but that’s not because of Billy. So if someone is not interested in Billy as our coach and Billy wants to be our coach, then they’re probably not the right candidate for us.”
Donovan might be a good guy and a great coach, but to suggest he’s blameless for the Bulls’ woes is a reach.
Either way, it was deja vu all over again for Chicago sports fans.
In 2020, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn was bypassed in the managerial selection process because Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf wanted to hire his old friend, Tony La Russa.
“But his hiring is not based on friendship or on what happened years ago, but on the fact that we have the opportunity to have one of the greatest managers in the game’s history in our dugout at a time when we believe our team is poised for great accomplishments,” Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement.
Ownership has its privileges, and apparently so does being the son of the owner.
My pick to click
If Michael Reinsdorf wants a top executive who is a good communicator with a high basketball IQ and nows how to spot trends, he should probably look at Atlanta Hawks assistant GM Kyle Korver, whom he already knows.
Like the Bulls, the Hawks were underachieving most of this season. Unlike the Bulls, they didn’t give up. Even after GM Onsi Saleh traded longtime star Trea Young to the Washington Wizards in early January, the Hawks were treading water at 27-31 on Feb. 21. But they went 18-2 in their next 20 before a loss Monday to the New York Knicks to mold themselves into real contenders in the Eastern Conference.
The Hawks figure to finish as the No. 5 or 6 seed and can ride the wave into the conference finals if they get the right matchups. All-Star Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have developed into prime-time players, with Onyeka Okongwu and Dyson Daniels leading the supporting cast. Coach Quinn Snyder deserves credit for not letting the team cash it in when things looked bleak.
Korver, a former Bull who started in player development with the Brooklyn Nets in 2021, has been the Hawks assistant GM since January 2023. He played for the Bulls from 2010-12 during the “GarPax” era, and when he was traded to the Hawks in the summer of ’12, Korver told the Tribune’s KC Johnson it was “exciting not to be frozen in January and February.”
“But, I obviously loved Chicago a bunch,” he added.
Maybe freezing in January and February would appeal to Korver now?
Puzzlin’ evidence
The question isn’t why the White Sox sent down opening-day starter Shane Smith to Triple-A Charlotte after the right-hander gave up 12 runs (10 earned) on 12 hits, nine walks and one hit-by-pitch over 8 1/3 innings in his first three starts. It’s why they gave him the opening-day start in the first place after he gave up 13 runs (12 earned) on 11 hits, nine walks and five hit-by-pitches over 10 2/3 innings in the Cactus League.
The Sox made a video in Arizona of Smith getting the news of his opening-day start from manager Will Venable, with Venable telling an emotional Smith he had “earned it.” But in truth, Davis Martin earned the nod but was bypassed. The Sox obviously wanted Smith to be their ace and chose him despite a poor spring. Smith can still be that guy when he gets back, but hopefully he’ll earn his promotion this time. And maybe the Sox marketing department can stop making videos of manager-player meetings for clicks.
Old-man takes
The Final Four, which moves to Ford Field in Detroit next year, made a ton of money for the NCAA at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Still, it never should be held in a football stadium, and the title game should be held in March to make the slogan work. … Illinois coach Brad Underwood told the Score’s “Mully & Haugh Show” he didn’t watch the title game between Michigan and UConn. He cited “sour grapes” as his excuse, perhaps facetiously, after losing to the Huskies in the semifinals. We get it, coach. You took the loss hard. That shouldn’t mean you lose interest in your sport just to prove you’re taking it hard. … I’m going to miss watching Angel Reese’s fashion videos from the Met Gala now that she’s no longer with the Chicago Sky. She might have been the greatest self-promoter in Chicago sports since Nick Swisher. Not that that’s a bad thing. … Nothing gets me choked up like watching ESPN’s Wright Thompson’s vignettes from the Masters about the $1.50 pimento sandwiches and the azaleas in bloom and the time Jack Nicklaus outdueled Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller in 1975.
One more thing
Watching Michael Reinsdorf’s Zoom on the Bulls situation Tuesday gave me flashbacks to the 1990s, when his father regularly spoke with White Sox beat writers to give his controversial views on issues.
They share some common traits, though Michael seemed to be more accountable for the Bulls’ problems than Jerry was for his mistakes running the Bulls and Sox.
One of my favorite quotes came when Jerry spoke about the signing of a new MLB labor agreement in December 1996, which he and three other owners opposed.
“Actually it’s good for the White Sox because it dooms the small-market teams,” he said. “There will be less for us to compete against.”
The Sox have won four AL Central titles since 1997, while Cleveland has won 11, Minnesota nine, Detroit four and Kansas City one.
Clip and save for the upcoming lockout.