Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Sorry Colts fans – Andrew Luck’s spot in the Ring of Honor is secure

Many feel Andrew Luck forfeited his right to a spot in the team’s Ring of Honor on the night he retired. I beg to differ.

Want to make a Colts fan mad?  Suggest Andrew Luck belongs in the franchise’s Ring of Honor.

Fans don’t like that Luck retired at age 29, just 15 days prior to the regular season opener.  They don’t like that he was paid millions by the Colts after retiring.  They don’t like that his best season was his last season.  And they especially don’t like that his retirement cost the Colts a shot at perennial playoff appearances and an annual shot at a Super Bowl.

But a here’s a grim truth about the Ring of Honor – it is filled with flawed players.  Looking at the names and resume’s, it’s impossible to not include Luck among them.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

I’m not talking about retiring his number.  That is a privilege reserved for the best of the best.  Peyton Manning is the only Colt to have his number retired since the move from Baltimore in 1984.  Rightly so.  Manning is a first ballot Hall of Famer who will forever be remembered as a an all-time great, despite the team releasing him after 2011 when his health was frail.  Manning has a statue – statue guys get their number retired.

Andrew Luck is not a candidate for that honor.  He never won an MVP, never went to a Super Bowl, and never achieved the cult of personality Manning earned.  He could have been next in the Johnny Unitas and Manning lineage, but chose another path.  The Colts should not reward Luck for what could have been.  He is what he is – a successful quarterback who left potential accomplishments on the table in order to enjoy to avoid the pain and risk the NFL requires of its players.

The Ring of Honor recognizes a different level of accomplishment.  Here is a sample of the qualifications of three of its current members:

Jim Harbaugh is in the Ring of Honor.  In four seasons in Indianapolis, Harbaugh cobbled together a 20-26 record as a starter.  Sure, Harbaugh was oddly spectacular in 1995, leading the Colts back from 21-point deficits twice.  His work was directly responsible for the Colts almost winning the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh that season, but overall he was ordinary at best.

Wide receiver Bill Brooks is in the Ring of Honor too.  He was good during seven years with the Colts, making a playoff appearance during the 1987 strike season.  Ranked the 177th wide receiver in NFL history by Pro Football Reference, Brooks was never invited to a Pro Bowl.  Great guy who has worked for the organization for many years.

Left tackle Chris Hinton is in the Ring of Honor.  As a Colt for seven seasons, Hinton was invited to six Pro Bowls, but he is best known for being a key piece in two huge trades.  The Colts acquired Hinton from the Denver Broncos for the draft rights to John Elway, and was sent to the Falcons along with Andre Rison for the #1 pick in the 1989 Draft, which was used to select Jeff George.  Hinton was outstanding as a person and tackle, but team success was lacking during his Colts career.

If the Colts weren’t (mostly) a back marker in their first 15 years in Indy, these guys would never have been feted.  But if a team is going to have a Ring of Honor, they need players in it!

Luck played six seasons for the Colts, missing the entire 2017 season with a shoulder injury.  His record as a starter is 53-33, and his teams went to the playoffs four times.  He won four and lost four in the playoffs and was a four-time pro bowler.  There were brain fart throws, but Luck had the ability to overcome them, like the insane 28-point comeback win against the Chiefs in the wild card round of the 2013 playoffs.  This was Luck at his worst and then best – down 38-10 early in the third quarter, Good Luck and the Colts scored 35 points in a wild 23 minutes.

I’m not willing to absolve Luck of all guilt in letting down the Colts and their fans, but as long as Harbaugh, Brooks, and Hinton are in the Ring of Honor, Luck should be there too.

I’m weak, please help me! Trey Kaufman’s choice is somehow important to me!

Trey Kaufman will make his college decision known in 10 days. I shouldn’t care whether he goes to IU or Purdue, but God help me, I do.

On October 30, Trey Kaufman will announce his decision to attend and play basketball at either Indiana, Purdue, North Carolina, Virginia, or Indiana State.

That I know his choices and timeline creeps me out just a little.  This is a high school senior from Sellersburg, Indiana, and I shouldn’t give a damn which of those schools he will pick.  There are kids in my neighborhood whose college choice is more interesting to me.  I’m a family friend, for God’s sake, but I couldn’t tell you where they are going or when they might decide.  To be honest, I’m not even sure what year of high school they are in!

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

But for a kid who is the #41 basketball player in the class of 2021, I know just about everything. The kid down the street runs cross country, I think, and appears to be roughly 5’10”.  Kaufman is 6’8″, weighs 210 lbs., can handle, is a solid shooter, a 4.0 student, and solid citizen who enjoys going to birthday parties of children in his hometown.

To my credit – barely – I’m not invested in where Kaufman plays, studies, and calls home.  If he goes to Indiana or Purdue, I will watch him with interest because this is Indiana.  If he doesn’t, I’ll watch those who do choose to play here.  I’ll keep my eye on Kaufman, much like we did when Kyle Guy went to Virginia, but not with the same zeal as is reserved for Hoosiers, Boilers, and the Butler Bulldogs (not involved in Kaufman’s recruiting).

Unfortunately, I will figure out a way to watch Kaufman make his call – not because it’s my job, but because I am curious.  I doubt I drive to Sellersburg, but who knows?  I made the drive to New Albany for Romeo Langford’s announcement, which I think is finally going to end a little later today.

My hope is that I will eventually grow bored with this kind of silly obsession about where high school children will go to college.  I cared about my son, nephews, and children of close friends.  My interest in college choices should end there.

How you choose to spend your free time is up to you, but like always, I will spend the next 10 days nosing around so I know where Kaufman is going before he announces, which might be the most pathetic thing of all.

My only saving grace is that I refuse to give up the info because I don’t want to wreck a moment the teen’s family has looked forward to for years.  The dog and pony show is absurd, but I kind of get the need to bring together family and friends, put hats on a table, and then after endless testimonials put one on his head to signal his choice.

Whatever happens, I hope Kaufman and his family enjoy the ride that is about to start in earnest.

Indiana Pacers name Nate Bjorkgren head coach, proving Kevin Pritchard can keep a secret

If you see this guy on Pennsylvania Street, greet him warmly. He’s Nate Bjorkgren, the new coach of the Indiana Pacers.

If there was any doubt Indiana Pacers president Kevin Pritchard gets cozy with Woj, it left when news broke today that he would hire former Toronto Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren.

Throughout the process, names were mentioned in the national media, but rarely Bjorkgren’s.  We heard Mike D’Antoni, Darvin Ham, Chris Finch, Chauncey Billups, Dan Craig, and Dave Joerger, but very little about Bjorkgren.

One of the few Bjorkgren sightings was in an interview with Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, where it appeared the mentor was stumping for the protege.  Some put him on their list – including me – because Bjorkgren is well-respected with a 2019 NBA championship.

We are hustling to learn everything we can about Bjorkgren prior to the Pacers Zoom introduction tomorrow morning at 11a because unless you are a serious deep-dig guy spending late nights studying NBA staff bios, you may not know a single thing about Nurse’s wingman.

So just who is the Pacers new head coach?

Bjorkgren, like most coaches, is a basketball lifer.  He grew up in Iowa, played as a walk-on at South Dakota, and became a high school coach immediately after graduation.  He followed his dream at considerable financial peril moving from his high school job to a volunteer position for the Iowa Energy of the G League where he worked for Nurse.

Prichard describes Bjorkman in the press release announcing the move as, “innovative and his communication skills along with his positivity are tremendous. We all look forward to a long, successful partnership in helping the Pacers move forward.”

What the results of this hire might be are impossible to predict.  Will Bjorkgren fit with the roster?  Will he bring in a staff that can develop players at a higher level than the previous group?  Will he switch ball screens when the two defenders are similar size and length?  We sure hope so, or what’s the point?

Here is a 15-minute biographical video produced by the Raptors where Bjorkgren shares a lot about himself.  If some of it sounds eerily familiar, it’s where I learned most of what I know about Bjorkgren.

If only Pritchard didn’t know how to keep a secret, I would have been able to prepare for a few hours to write about this former assistant coach who will now be trusted to the Pacers.

I promise to stay positive and upbeat, regardless of Colts, Pacers, and Indiana Basketball results

Back when I was a cynic, I would have hammered the use of four synonyms among these 11 words in Indiana University’s social justice logo. But today, it’s all love, baby!

For as long as I can remember, I have been a guy who liked to call BS on cowardly management, corrupt policies, and bad mojo.

Until today.

Arrogance needed to be exposed as an unholy violation against humanity, or at least I used to think so.  Dishonesty?  It needs to be decried as the most repellent trait a person can exhibit.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Not anymore.

Holding people accountable for lies, quirks, foibles, self-immersion, and misdeeds used to be fun.  I enjoyed being a thorn in the side of pompous asses who thought they had discovered the secret to keeping everyone from figuring out they are just as mortally flawed as the rest of us.

But I’m done with that.

I want to be positive – to find life-affirming stories that begin with an acknowledgement of our fallibility and end with an uplifting moment that allows for the hope that life can be measured by grace, reason, and generosity instead of zeroes at the bottom of a balance sheet.

My change of heart has been driven by a virtual lack of good news in media.  Between COVID, the election, and ongoing economic distress, I’m exhausted by bad news that triggers fear and loathing.

When the Colts fell behind 21-0 early in the second quarter of Sunday’s game, my mood turned dark.  Then I thought, “What the hell am I so upset about?”  A football game on a nice afternoon where 12,500 people sit and enjoy not thinking about all of the crap should not raise my blood pressure – regardless of the score.

Looking for the good seems like a better investment of my time and energy than pointing at idiots with dissatisfied sarcasm.

The tough part of this evolution is that do-gooders are outnumbered by publicly proud morons 20-to-1.  Busting balls of bad coaches who bloviate without meaningful oversight or consequence is necessary to insert some humility into their greedy and ridiculous existence, so this is going to be tough.

What makes this move possible is that the current state Indiana sports franchise leadership is very positive.  I believe Colts GM Chris Ballard, Pacers president Kevin Pritchard, Colts coach Frank Reich, and those in charge of college teams are generally good people who are handling their challenges with creativity and an acceptable amount of humility and honesty.

Butler’s LaVall Jordan, Indiana’s Archie Miller, and Purdue’s Matt Painter are well-rounded leaders aware they are responsible for the development of human beings rather than a simple stacking of college basketball wins.  Purdue Football’s Jeff Brohm appears to be a decent sort, and Indiana’s Tom Allen tells everyone “Love each other,” like he means it.

We have no idea who the next coach of the Pacers will be, but given the recent track record of hiring, there is no reason to believe he will be anything but another in a long line of good guys to deal with.  Both Frank Vogel and Nate McMillan were forthcoming and humble, and I would think whomever is next will behave likewise.

So like the radio show I hosted on CBS Sports 1430, people here will be treated with respect not derision, and stories of generosity and decency will be told.

About those I have nothing good to write or say, I will write and say nothing – just like the radio show where I avoided guests I didn’t respect.

Inflammatory and clever will be shelved for the moment – as long as my discipline holds out and Tom Crean stays in Georgia.

Colts are 4-2, and nothing else matters – enjoy these good times without being pessimists

Philip Rivers was smart enough to enjoy the moment yesterday after beating the Bengals. We should be too.

I’ve come to praise the Indianapolis Colts, not bury them.  The burial may come later, but let’s not rush into things.

The Colts won yesterday, so the last thing I want to be – or anyone should be – is negative.  All of us have enough to worry about with COVID and a presidential election just 15 days away, so why jump the gun and act like we know more than we do about Philip Rivers & Company’s pending fortunes.

Yesterday’s win was the biggest comeback in the history of the franchise in a regular season home game.  That is a reason to celebrate, not mourn.  Sure, the first 15 minutes were hideous, but the last 45 should have washed that sour taste out of our mouths.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Yet I look at the 4-2 record, cobbled together against teams that are a combined 12-23-1 (including a 5-1 Bears team not nearly as good as its record suggests), and I cringe knowing what lies ahead.  After a game against a mediocre Lions team, the Colts play their next four against the Ravens, Titans (2x), and Packers – teams sporting a 19-2 collective mark.

This season has been a bit like a downhill bike ride where we have enjoyed churning the pedals with relative ease before we hit a vertical incline that will seriously test our fitness and resolve.  We have no reason to believe we won’t be able to gear down and keep moving forward, but there isn’t a hell of a lot of evidence to believe the ride will be completed without falls or failure.

Philip Rivers was good yesterday.  In fact, he was better than good, completing 29-of-44 passes for 371 yards, three TDs, and a single pick.  That’s the Rivers that wins games.  The knock on him with the Chargers was that he could manage wins from out front, but fall behind and it’s big trouble.  Yesterday, he found a way to outscore the Bengals 31-6 after the initial onslaught.

On the other side of the ball, the Colts defense was bad until it was good.  It was vanilla with a soft zone and minimal pressure with only the four defensive linemen until coordinator Matt Eberflus started dialing up blitzes and more exotic coverages.  The final blitz causing Bengals QB Joe Burrow to hurry his way into throwing the game-ending interception by rookie safety Julian Blackmon.

Anyone with a passing knowledge of football sees the flaws in the Colts, but this is not the time to dwell on the negative because at 4-2, all is still possible.

At a party once, Rams hall of fame sack king Deacon Jones was maybe a little too happy, and my wife asked if she could get him a glass of water.  Jones said, “What, and ruin this cool vodka buzz?”  That’s where we are as Colts fans today.  We have a cool vodka buzz working.  A hangover might be headed straight toward us like it did for Deacon the next day, but why ruin the present with worry about the future?

The Colts won yesterday.  Rivers looked good.  The defense closed the door on the Bengals.  A fourth-year pro named Marcus Johnson with 32 catches for 502 yards in his career prior to yesterday went off for five and 108 to make us forget about injured weapons like Parris Campbell and Michael Pittman.  Kicker Roberto Blankenship was perfect – again.

Keep reveling in the good, ignore the bad, and smile.  The uphill portion of the season is coming and its likely hangover looms.  But let’s enjoy the day, rather than cower in fear of the future.

Maybe the climb won’t be so tough and the hangover not too painful.  There is no glory in being a pessimist who is right all the time, so relax.

Enjoy the moment.  Enjoy the huge comeback.  Enjoy 4-2.  Smile.

COVID tests negative – now the Colts need positive results against the Bengals

Now that the Colts possible positive COVD tests have been ruled negative, let’s get back to football!

The Colts have an opportunity to win against a lesser opponent this Sunday, and they need to take full advantage of it.

If they don’t beat the rebuilding Cincinnati Bengals to run their record to 4-2, and follow it up with another win against the hapless Detroit Lions, this season could head down a very unpleasant road.  All things are possible if the Colts win Sunday, but with a loss those dreams will ebb toward the very unlikely.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

That’s the way it works with a 16-game season.  In baseball and basketball, hope can flourish though 40 games.  In the NFL, because of the scarcity of opportunities fattening the win total against teams that should be beaten must be exploited, especially when the remainder of the schedule provides stiff challenges.

And those challenges get very stiff once the Colts are finished with the Bengals and Lions.

With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Colts will likely be favored in just three of them (two against the Texans and a second game against the Jaguars).  The combined records of the opponents in the other six games (Titans twice, Ravens, Packers, Raiders, and Steelers) is currently 23-3.

If a 9-7 record is needed to get to the playoffs, the Colts must beat the Bengals and Lions as well as the Jaguars and Texans (2X) in order to get to eight wins.  If any of those games are lost, the Colts will need to find at least two wins among the five opponents in six tough games mentioned above.

So how do they beat the Bengals.  On paper, it is easy:

Pressure Joe Burrow.  Darius Leonard said it yesterday when asked what the Colts defense needs to do to win, “Pressure!”  Burrow has been sacked an NFL leading 22 times through the first five games of his career.  Rattling rookie QBs is the key to beating them.  The Bengals are #2 in pass attempts, but 22nd in passing yardage.  Burrow has averaged 6.3 yards per attempt, which is one foot per pass fewer than the number that caused the Colts to move past Jacoby Brissett as a starter.

Run and run some more.  The Bengals run defense has been terrible, ranking 30th in yards allowed and in yards per attempt (5.2).  Colts losses have come in part because Philip Rivers has thrown it to opponents twice in each of those two games.  Turnovers kill mediocre teams, and so far the Colts fall into that category.  They have yet to lose a fumble.  Run the damn ball!

Run better!  Opponents know the Colts want to run the ball, and they load up the box with a seven or eight defenders.  The result has been the #31 rushing attack in average yards per run (3.6).  Starting left tackle Anthony Castonzo was full go in practice yesterday, so it appears the Colts will have their full compliment of road graters opening holes for Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines.  If those five need to block eight, that’s just the way it goes.  Get it done.

Get off to a good start.  So far this year, the Colts have been quite productive in their first offensive drive – scoring touchdowns in four out of five.  Do that against the Bengals, and Burrow may try to beat the Colts by himself.  In a couple of years, that could be a problem.  Not in his sixth game though.

Control the clock.  The Colts need to eat clock.  Old fashioned seven-minute drives will both score points and keep Burrow off the field.  Those drives are the result of short passes and runs that are less likely to cause turnovers, and as we’ve discussed turnovers will kill the Colts.

Get Burrow off the field quickly.  The killer for the Colts in the loss to Cleveland wasn’t the Rivers picks, although they did not help.  Allowing the Browns to convert on 10-of-17 third downs was brutal.  Earn a third and long, turn it into a punt.  Repeat!

Football isn’t brain surgery – hold onto the ball, move the ball, score the ball.  Beating the Bengals at Lucas Oil Stadium must be the expectation for a playoff team, and the Colts need to meet that expectation.

The Colts passed their COVID tests this morning, and now need to pass their football exam on Sunday.  As Shakespeare wrote, “Cry ‘Havoc!’ , and let slip the dogs of war!” or consign yourselves to the ignominious multitude of inferiors.

Steve Bartman is still to blame 17 years later for Cubs 2003 collapse – as it shall be forever

It’s been 17 years, but idiocy is still idiocy.

Seventeen years later, I still blame Steve Bartman for screwing up the Cubs chances of playing in their first World Series since 1945.  I am aware that doesn’t make me a great human being, and that I might have some issues to work through as I move glacially toward enlightenment.

Sure, there were other moments in that game that changed its course.  Alex Gonzalez bobbled a ground ball that might have ended the inning and allowed the Cubs to win.  The next night, Kerry Wood wasn’t at his best against the Marlins and should have plunked Pudge Rodriguez in the top of the first (it’s a long story).

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

To my credit, when I had an opportunity to sacrifice the billy goat that was led through the Billy Goat Restaurant on Clark Street prior to Game Seven, I passed.  It was unclear in my mind whether killing the goat would put an end to the curse placed on the Cubs during the 1945 World Series when a similar goat was denied a seat at Wrigley Field, so I decided it should not murder a defenseless animal that did not know a baseball from a cantaloupe.

I could choose be furious at the guy who occupied the seat next to Bartman.  He was equally eager to disrupt the decent of the foul pop headed for left fielder Moises Alou’s mitt.  Or I could hold culpable the entire Game Seven crowd of which I was a part who brought such a miserable and hopeless mood into Wrigley the next night that a loss was virtually guaranteed.

But I am not.

I am pissed at Bartman – the strange fellow in the green turtleneck, glasses, and oversized headphones who has still never granted an interview to explain either what he was thinking in the moment or how that night changed his life.

Maybe “pissed” is the wrong word.  I wish Bartman no harm or consequence for his role in the eighth inning meltdown that crushed the spirit of that team and fanbase.  If I ever met him, a hug, beer, and jovial conversation would be his.  But as I watch replays of his effort to catch that foul ball, my response is always the same, yelling “F***ING BARTMAN!”.

My wife always counters that shriek by trying to explain that he did what every fan does by trying to snag a souvenir.  I patiently explain the responsibility of fans in the front row to avoid interfering with a ball that could be caught – by a Cub.  If Bartman put his hands between the ball and Marlins left fielder Jeff Conine that night, he’s a hero!   But he didn’t.

It’s also explained to me when Bartman comes up that if he didn’t look so goofy and guilty, we wouldn’t judge him the villain of a game bought a ticket to experience, not affect.  True.  I have to grant that.  Bartman looked like a 10-year-old who got caught stealing baseball cards until ushers finally escorted him away.  If he had immediately owned what he had done, his life would be different.  Or if he had pointed at the schlub next to him, we would have likely forgotten about him in the confusion.

But he didn’t, so Bartman is a pariah among irrational Cubs fans – an all-inclusive subset of silly boob in which I proudly align.  His club is smaller than you might think.  Members include the aforementioned goat, Charlie Grimm (for malfeasance during the 1945 World Series), Don Young (for misplaying a fly ball in 1969), and Leon Durham (for allowing a ground ball to roll through his legs in Game Five of the 1984 NLCS).  That’s it.

Bartman is welcome in my home any time.  No harm will come to him if we meet, and I will join in any effort to repel a physical threat against him.

But the 2003 collapse is still his fault.

Do gooders on NCAA D-1 Council do an equal amount of harm in allowing COVID year of eligibility

Grace Calhoun’s D-1 Council solved one unfairness, but create others.

COVID-19 sucks, and the negative tentacles reach into most of our lives.  Powerful people enjoy the opportunity to try to right those wrongs where they can.

Such is the case with the NCAA Division One Council who approved a measure that allows all winter athletes to retain their year of eligibility this season whether games are played or not.  That means that seniors can return to school or transfer for a fifth year without using a red shirt season.

On its face, that seems like a decent thing to do.  Not penalizing student-athletes for a worldwide pandemic entirely outside their control appears sane and decent.  But when the unintended consequences are going to cause pain for a different group of people we need to shine a light on that.

While it might make Council chair Grace Calhoun and her minions feel better to approve this accommodation to current athletes, they are dealing with physical impediments to the satisfaction of others – 13 scholarships per program and 200 minutes of playing time per team each game.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

In basketball, 13 scholarships are available.  If seniors return for a fifth season, what happens to the incoming freshmen who were promised a full-ride and spot on the team?  Do they have to find another school, or will programs be put in the awkward position of telling seniors they must leave rather than play a fifth year, despite the NCAA’s decision.

And, what happens to playing time that would have shifted from the seniors to juniors, sophomores, and freshmen?  The committee isn’t going to expand the available playing time of 200 minutes to allow everyone an opportunity to get the minutes they would have enjoyed otherwise.

When one sect is rescued from the negative effects of COVID-19, another bears the burden.  This is the way real life works.  Everyone cannot have everything.  Good and bad happens.  Those who benefit celebrate; those penalized overcome.

It may seem cruel to be so pragmatic as to not make allowances for COVID related loss of opportunity, but when scholarships and minutes are limited – as they must be – there is a trickle down effect of inconvenience and unfairness that attaches to efforts to moderate pain.

This problem may solve itself as student-athletes might decide they prefer to leave school on time with diploma in hand rather than play a fifth year, but the Division One Council did at least as much harm as good in granting a COVID year of eligibility.

If they don’t see it that way, the members of the council are neither as smart nor generous as they believe themselves to be.

Calhoun and her committee might have made themselves feel good about helping ease the pain of athletes negatively impacted by COVID, but they shouldn’t.  The problem they believe was solved creates new and equally unfair problems.

Tony La Russa eager to re-litigate his 1986 departure from the Chicago #WhiteSox

Tony La Russa doesn’t look much like this anymore, but let’s hope that if he returns to the dugout for the White Sox, he and his players are wearing these crazy ass uni’s.

No matter how successful we become, those moments of disappointment when we were unjustly spurned by an employer nest forever in our psyches.  They might crush or motivate us, but they will always be there, and the opportunity to prove management wrong will remain difficult to resist.

Such is the case with Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, who was fired in 1986 by Chicago White Sox general manager Ken Harrelson.  Never mind that La Russa’s A’s and Cardinals teams combined to win three world championships and play in another three World Series, that firing in Chicago still stings.

At the age of 76, La Russa is talking to the White Sox about returning as manager nine years after retiring following his miraculous swan song – the 2011 championship won by the Cards after being down to their final strike twice to the Texas Rangers in Game Six.

Hired by owner White Sox owner Bill Veeck and general manager Roland Hemond to replace Don Kessinger in 1979, La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan built the Sox into a playoff team.  That wasn’t good enough for broadcaster turned GM Harrelson, and La Russa was canned.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

The A’s hired La Russa almost immediately, and he began winning games in bunches, finishing his career with 2,728 victories – just 30 behind New York Giants legend John McGraw for second all-time.

Not only is La Russa covetous of the opportunity to re-litigate his ouster, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf would also like to right what he has acknowledged as a huge wrong when he allowed Harrelson to send La Russa packing almost 35 years ago.

Three championships, millions of dollars earned, and a secure place among the greats is not enough to erase the despair felt when a guy who knew very little about baseball and nothing about leadership told La Russa he was no longer the manager of the White Sox.

Before we write off this unexpected potential comeback as solely motivated only by a desire to expunge a moment of misery, remember the White Sox are coming of a postseason appearance with a young and talented roster.

The Sox are on the come, and La Russa’s potential comeback may be exactly what they need, and what allows La Russa to finally put 1986 behind him.