Baffoe: White Sox Tilting At Windmills Is Unfortunate

By Tim Baffoe–

(CBS) “It is easy to see,” replied Don Quixote, “that thou art not used to this business of adventures; those are giants; and if thou art afraid, away with thee out of this and betake thyself to prayer while I engage them in fierce and unequal combat.”

When I say I forgot about the Chicago White Sox, I mean that in no Kevin McAllister sort of way. It’s just that the Cubs’ celebration hasn’t worn off its buzz and the Springfield tire fire that is the Bears is solidly noxious and the Bulls are suddenly a thing and the Blackhawks are still good. The otherwise uninspiring White Sox in late November just aren’t top of mind. The last time I remember thinking about them was when their new business partner, Guaranteed Rate, pulled rank on them and refused to lose the downward arrow from its logo that will be plastered all over the stadium at 35th and Shields, which is sadly funny. Since then, nada, which isn’t necessarily bad as the fall-to-winter percolations seep out from the baseball hot stove.

But then the White Sox decided to trip down the stairs into the conversation.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote an otherwise innocuous piece on the Washington Nationals as perfect dance partner with the White Sox for ace left-hander Chris Sale. Problem is the one tiny passing nugget Olney dropped in there:

The White Sox have told the Cubs they won’t deal with them, but it appears that a handful of teams — the Dodgers, Cardinals, Rangers, Nationals and Astros, among others — have a legitimate shot at landing MLB’s second-best left-hander.

And then the record scratch. The White Sox have told the Cubs they won’t deal with them…

The White Sox have told the Cubs that any potential hypothetical yet-to-be discussed deal making any whiff of baseball sense between the two is for naught. The White Sox have abandoned reason. The White Sox are angry that their big brother won the World Series and told the Sox that they’re adopted.

(Vigorous rubbing of forehead and temples with heels of palms)

White Sox? How. Does. This. Help. You?

Why are you charging into a fight that isn’t there? There’s no damn feud between the White Sox and Cubs. Fans and their dumb tribalism is one thing, but you’re a major league organization playing friggin’ Mean Girls with actual baseball business, you schmucks.

This adds to the really dumb, forced Civil War that isn’t in this city, the lameness that is certain Cubs fans relishing in any White Sox failures and certain White Sox fans actively rooting against the Cubs. They’re teams in opposite leagues who have a negligible baseball effect on one another but whom kids are raised to hate for no worthy explainable reason.

It’s one thing to lecture some meatball in a Rowand or Fukudome shirsey that the team across town has no tangible bearing on the other and that hating the other is illogical even for the arbitrary illogic that is sports fandom. But to see team brass itself get involved in the stupid pep rally effigy smashing? It’s gross and shameful. It’s tilting at windmills, and it’s bad business.

Most of all, it’s unfair to fans, conscious of it or not, for whom making the best baseball decisions would benefit. Fans get to let emotions override sound baseball decision-making. An owner, a team president and a general manager do not.

Tom Fornelli explained on his Write Sox blog, after reasonably noting that as a Sox fan he’s always found the historical hesitancy of the Jerry Reinsdorf era to trade with the Cubs to be stupid:

It’s going to hurt enough to see Sale traded because he’s been the best thing about this team for a while now. He may be the best pitcher to ever put on a White Sox uniform. It’s going to kill me when (if) he’s traded.

The idea of seeing Sale pitching in a different uniform makes me cringe. The vision of him finally reaching the postseason, but with another team, makes my knees wobble. Both are hard to take.

But Sale finally reaching the playoffs and possibly winning a World Series in a Cubs uniform? I’m sorry, but I just don’t even want to deal with how that would make me feel.

Fornelli is cool with the White Sox trading anyone to the Cubs but Sale because of that sentimentality. I don’t have such a Sale attachment and so can’t empathize and still think long-run logic should prevail over any immediate pathos, but Fornelli’s a fan.  Fans in situations like this are going to be sentimental.

Add the territorial aspect of the Cubs/Sox perpetual peeing contest, and that gets exacerbated.

But what’s maddening is that the rivalry-that-isn’t isn’t supposed to concern management. You make the moves that make you better, fan opinion be damned, because fans collectively don’t know what the hell is best for themselves. That’s the front office’s job. As an organization, you aren’t supposed to reflect the little brother stereotype of your fan base, but that’s what the White Sox are doing, and it’s incredibly disappointing and small time.

The Cubs shouldn’t matter a lick to White Sox management, but they do, and that sucks. Worse is that this childishness won’t bother the Cubs. They’ll roll their eyes and laugh at the Sox and move on toward trying to get fitted for their next ring. There’s no actual war here, White Sox. You’re not sticking anything in the Cubs’ craws. You win nothing from this playground crap other than severely misguided pride.

For some reason, one fewer team is out there for general manager Rick Hahn to drive up the price of Sale or any other White Sox trade bait. That’s irresponsible.

Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer noted in August regarding any potential deal with the Sox while the Cubs are in a position of power and the Sox are not that there’s “probably a tax you have to pay or not be able to get a deal done.”

Why? What makes the White Sox different from trading with the Diamondbacks or Rays? Petty image crap.

“I think that there’s going to be a lot more focus or scrutiny on a deal that’s made between (the Cubs and White Sox),” Hoyer said. “At some level, I think that both teams are aware of that. I think when we were sellers (in years past), we had some awareness of that, and I’m sure on the other side of town, there’s some awareness of that as well. I wouldn’t say never. There might be a deal that makes sense someday, but (the White Sox) are certainly not a team we look at as a likely trade partner.”

We had some awareness of that. Mmm hmm. That’s Hoyer being diplomatic as he can without literally saying the White Sox won’t make deals with us. Then the joke’s on the them, not the Cubs.

You want attention at the end of November, White Sox? You’re getting it. But like that downward arrow stuff, again it’s laughter.

And you again have fallen on your rear end, as has been the unfortunate case so many times since taking the 2005 bragging rights that no longer exist. Looking foolish to a national audience that has never quite understood you in the first place, charging at an indifferent giant without need.

And you’ve been knocked over by an imaginary enemy. Or maybe it was a real enemy — your own insecure selves.

Tim Baffoe is a columnist for CBSChicago.com. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimBaffoe. The views expressed on this page are those of the author, not CBS Local Chicago or our affiliated television and radio stations.

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Portillo’s Launches National Subscription Program That Includes Cake

CHICAGO (CBS) — One of Illinois’ staples will now offer a subscription program that is available nationwide.

Portillo’s announced Tuesday the launch of a yearly subscription food delivery service, named Portillo’s 365.

Those who subscribe will receive a rotation of Portillo’s most popular dishes, including beef, hot dogs and the famous chocolate cake, right to their house every other month for a year.

The subscription costs $365 and includes shipping. One can subscribe from anywhere in the country.

Subscribers will receive the following menu items:
– Two deluxe packages of Italian Beef Sandwiches slow-roasted, thinly sliced beef cooked with Italian spices and served on French bread (makes 8 sandwiches per package)
– Two 10 packs of Chicago-Style Hot Dogs, topped with customary mustard, onions, relish, sport peppers, tomato, pickle, and celery salt
– One famous Chocolate Cake, with frosting and spatula
– Two slabs of Portillo’s award-winning Ribs, tender baby back slabs marinated in Portillo’s housemade sauce

Click here to subscribe to Portillo’s 365.

And if you just love Portillo’s for their famous chocolate cake and do not want to subscribe for a year to receive it, the restaurant also announced it will begin delivering its ‘Portillo’s World Famous Chocolate Cake.’

The cake was previously only available in restaurants, but due to customers demands of wanting it shipped, Portillo’s has found a way to do so.

One can order a whole cake for $49.99 and have it shipped anywhere in the U.S. Shipping charges are included.

Click here to order your ‘Portillo’s World Famous Chocolate Cake.’

But to make shipping the cake possible, assembly is required. The double-layer cake will arrive pre-baked, but recipients need to frost the cake themselves. The cake is delivered along with frosting and a spatula.

“Make it fun for family and friends! When you ship our chocolate cake to someone, they’ll receive two-layers of cake, plus frosting and a spatula, so they can frost their own famous Portillo’s chocolate cake just like they made it from scratch!” said in a statement.

The assembly option is so customers can experience the process, from making your own sandwiches, to slicing your own tomato for hot dogs and frosting your own cake. Each shipment includes Portillo’s paper hats too, so recipients can pretend they are their own Portillo’s cook.

Since 2000, Portilo’s has offered a food shipment program in all 50 states. One could order individual offerings but there was never a a subscription program and the cake was never an option.

The Illinois based restaurant began as a small hot dog stand in Villa Park, Illinois in 1963. In 1994, Portillo’s opened its first Chicago location on Clark and Ontario. Since then, the chain has expanded with 47 locations, including restaurants in California, Arizona, Florida, Indiana and Wisconsin.

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VIDEO: Vandal Tears Apart Car For 6 Hours While Passersby Watch, Take Pictures

KOREATOWN — A woman was left in tears and without a car after a vandal went to town on her vehicle for hours while passersby stopped to take pictures instead of calling police.

Stacy Omelinoff, a church-going woman, returned from a Thanksgiving trip on Friday to find her car a total wreck. She said she left her Buick Lucerne in front of her friend’s house on Thanksgiving night in Koreatown to celebrate the holiday in Chino. On Friday morning, she woke up to find her car vandalized and destroyed.

“I just broke down and just cried, like it can’t be true,” she said. “And now I’m out of a car period.”

She quickly found out who was behind the damage after watching video from her friend’s security camera.

Around 3 a.m. Friday, a woman could be seen approaching the car and then breaking off the windshield wiper. She used the wiper along with a pipe and a piece of wood to carve letters and illegible words all over the car.

But she wasn’t finished — she could be seen climbing atop the car and jumping on the roof, causing more damage. After she’s seen taking a rest by lying on the hood, she came back and tore off the gas cap and then ripped off the grill. She flattened a tire using the piece of wood that had nails in it.

When all was said and done, the woman attacked the car for six hours.

“I’m angry, I’m hurt, frustrated, and at the same time I understand that she has a mental problem,” Omelinoff said through tears.

After a business owner called police around 9 a.m., the vandal was taken into custody by LAPD.

Omelinoff said she is even more upset because many onlookers saw the woman at work and didn’t take action.

“They would come by, stop, back up, take pictures, video, and just take off,” she said.

Making it even harder for her is that she just lost her job and only has liability insurance.

The LAPD said the suspect is being detained on a 72-hour psychiatric hold and is still being evaluated.

If you want to help Stacy repair her car, click on her GoFundMe Page.

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Flu Season Ramping Up, Doctors Warn

CHICAGO (CBS) — Christmas carols and jingling bells aren’t the only sounds filling the air this time of year. Symphonies of sneezes and choirs of coughs mean the holiday season has brought cold and flu season along with it.

Desmond Watt, a physician assistant with One Medical Group, said while cases of the flu tend to spike between December and March, so does the common cold. He said there’s a big difference between the two.

“Colds are miserable, you feel sick,” Watt said. “Flu is super miserable. Often people will tell us they feel like they got hit by a brick wall. What we usually see with flu – which is different – is high fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and significant fatigue.”

Being sure to wash your hands frequently, getting the flu vaccine, and resting up if you feel symptoms coming on are a few ways you can beat the flu and cold bug this winter, according to Watt.

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Preview: Lakers-Bulls

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the United Center.

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Bernstein: Brian Kelly & A Tenuous Status Quo

By Dan Bernstein–
CBSChicago.com senior columnist

(CBS) The discomfort coming from South Bend is palpable and understandably so. Notre Dame’s football team isn’t supposed to be 4-8 ever and especially not in Brian Kelly’s seventh season at the helm. But that’s where they are, also beset by academic fraud revelations and ongoing issues with player behavior both on and off the field.

Kelly still has his job, but important people are voicing all kinds of displeasure about both the substance and style of a coach under contract through the 2021 season.

A dissatisfied bloc of trustees and boosters has become increasingly vocal as problems with the program have mounted, sources close to the situation told 670 The Score. That bloc is beginning to wield more power in attempts to bend the hard-headed Kelly if not yet oust him. While attention has been paid to athletic director Jack Swarbrick, Kelly’s future appears to be more in the hands of those above him than the nominal boss himself.

Words like “defiant” and “arrogant” keep coming up when Kelly is the topic, as these influential officials have long been put off by both Kelly’s day-to-day behavior and his often-apoplectic sideline demeanor, particularly as it relates to the public treatment of star quarterback DeShone Kizer, who had been responsible for carrying the team while enduring relentless harangues from his coach.

Kelly doubled down with reporters last month by claiming he wasn’t going to change who he is, which has been consistent with his private stance to those asking him to polish up his act. It continues to be a specific source of conflict.

Players getting into trouble on and around campus has caused some trustees to urge more stringent controls and vetting of Kelly’s recruits, an age-old conundrum at Notre Dame just taking on its latest new life. There are still enough true believers at that school, many who feel they are part of a higher standard and calling to compete for national championships with only the finest young men representing them. It’s a ridiculous and impossible pipe dream, of course, but any tacit arrangement Kelly may have had to do whatever was needed to win is now facing untenable curbs that may be exacerbating tension.

It’s unlikely that such efforts to make Kelly into somebody else — a person who accepts proper accountability for failures or missteps of any kind and sets a positive leadership example for the young men he coaches and all those watching him during games and in front of the media — are going to succeed. But that hasn’t stopped this group of school leaders from wanting to try before having to go back to the wilderness of another coaching vacancy and the ensuing search and hiring process.

What’s also clear is that money would be no impediment to them, despite the ignominy of having finally finished paying off Charlie Weis’ contract just more than a year ago. Kelly is due $20 million more after signing a six-year extension last January, and though it sounds like a prohibitive amount for Notre Dame to swallow again, it’s mere pocket change for the school.

Still, another strong incoming recruiting class might tantalize enough to hold this unhappy group at bay at least another season, forcing them to continue their behind-the-scenes battle to keep Kelly from creating embarrassment for them in either headlines or outcomes.

For the tenuous time being, at least, he remains the devil they know.

Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score’s “Boers and Bernstein Show” in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter  @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.

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Man Wanted For Robbery Arrested At Lake Geneva Resort

CHICAGO (CBS) — A man wanted for an aggravated robbery in the northern suburbs was captured at a resort Tuesday in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Miguel J. Gonzalez, 26, was wanted on a $100,000 arrest warrant in Lake County for an aggravated robbery that happened Nov. 20 in Fox Lake, according to the Lake County sheriff’s office.

Members of the sheriff’s Warrants Team, who are also members of the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, found out that Gonzalez was hiding at The Cove of Lake Geneva Resort in Wisconsin, according to the sheriff’s office.

He was arrested in his hotel room, according to the sheriff’s office.

Gonzalez, of the 1000 block of North Village Drive in Round Lake Beach, was taken to the Walworth County Jail, were he awaiting an extradition hearing.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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