Tribune Stops Covering White Sox in Favor of Covering Self
We've always had Fred Mitchell pegged as a pretty good company man, the kind of guy who makes an impromptu speech in honor of the editor over the punchbowl at the Christmas party, who donates the fattened pig to the annual summer barbecue in the pressroom parking lot, certainly a guy more loyal to his employer than to the facts, but tell me if his items column today doesn't actually read like a company newsletter:
If you ask the Tribune they'll tell you they are utterly unaffected by their affiliation with the Cubs, and if the newspaper is full of Cubs news and not Sox news, it's simply because the Sox aren't making any news. But we tend to suspect the Trib doesn't quite have its finger on the pulse of the Sox in quite the same way that it does with the team across the hall in the Tribune Tower.
If you ask Kenny Williams he'll tell you no news is good news. And who can blame him? Imagine taking probing calls from reporters who just happen to work for your only competitor in town. That's gotta be tough. I'd long for the quiet too. More power to Kenny for finding it.
If you ask Sox fans, they'll tell you why it's called the Cubune.
But hold on Sox fans: Maybe absence of coverage is actually an improvement, considering how the Tribune has covered the White Sox lately. For example, the Tribune called the trade of one White Sox pitcher a "fire sale," while the Cubs' $75 million signing of Aramis Ramirez was described as a "bargain." This is the selfsame Aramis Ramirez who tried to catch a routine fly ball with the top of his head last year. Remember that? And did you notice that when that ball ponged off his noggin, allowing the winning run to score, Aramis didn't even flinch? Athos and Porthos flinched, but not Aramis. It was as if a snowflake had alighted on his pate. That's some skull. I guess the Ramirez contract is a bargain if you're accustomed to paying more than $75 million for a battering ram.
Sigh. The beat goes on. While we wait for the tanks to roll in from Los Angeles.
p.s. If you grab a pizza at Gino's, watch out for the sucker punch.
What about Janice in the mailroom and her upcoming spa weekend in Lake Geneva? Or do you have to earn seven figures to make it into the Tribune newsletter? To Mitchell's great credit, he does manage to squeeze a mention of the White Sox into the column, which is better than most of his colleagues have done lately. Here it is Sox fans (drumroll please):
New Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano rang in the New Year with a newborn baby boy. Soriano and his wife, Angelica, welcomed their third child and second son when Angel entered the world Wednesday at a Miami hospital....
John McDonough has been interim president of the Cubs for about three months, yet he will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during the Pitch and Hit Club's dinner Jan. 28 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. McDonough previously distinguished himself as the innovative marketing director for the Cubs....
Cubs catcher Michael Barrett has reached an agreement to be a spokesman for the Original Gino's East of Chicago. He will make several personal appearances at Gino's East restaurants during the year.
The March of Dimes Comcast SportsNet Sports Awards will be Feb. 12 to honor White Sox, Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks, Bears and Fire players. Tickets are $250.Wow. He even listed us first. Who says the Tribune isn't fair? That's about it for Sox coverage in our city's august morning daily, unless you count "Cubs, Cotts Agree on 1-Year Deal." (Sheesh. Poor Neal. I feel like we traded him to the Lincoln Park Zoo). The last Sox story was a Dec. 31 interview with Sox Pitching Coach Don Cooper, but that story struck me as a perfunctory companion to the Dec. 31 interview with Cubs Pitching Coach Larry Rothschild, a true genius only in Cubuneland.
If you ask the Tribune they'll tell you they are utterly unaffected by their affiliation with the Cubs, and if the newspaper is full of Cubs news and not Sox news, it's simply because the Sox aren't making any news. But we tend to suspect the Trib doesn't quite have its finger on the pulse of the Sox in quite the same way that it does with the team across the hall in the Tribune Tower.
If you ask Kenny Williams he'll tell you no news is good news. And who can blame him? Imagine taking probing calls from reporters who just happen to work for your only competitor in town. That's gotta be tough. I'd long for the quiet too. More power to Kenny for finding it.
If you ask Sox fans, they'll tell you why it's called the Cubune.
But hold on Sox fans: Maybe absence of coverage is actually an improvement, considering how the Tribune has covered the White Sox lately. For example, the Tribune called the trade of one White Sox pitcher a "fire sale," while the Cubs' $75 million signing of Aramis Ramirez was described as a "bargain." This is the selfsame Aramis Ramirez who tried to catch a routine fly ball with the top of his head last year. Remember that? And did you notice that when that ball ponged off his noggin, allowing the winning run to score, Aramis didn't even flinch? Athos and Porthos flinched, but not Aramis. It was as if a snowflake had alighted on his pate. That's some skull. I guess the Ramirez contract is a bargain if you're accustomed to paying more than $75 million for a battering ram.
Sigh. The beat goes on. While we wait for the tanks to roll in from Los Angeles.
p.s. If you grab a pizza at Gino's, watch out for the sucker punch.
Labels: Chicago Tribune
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