Al Michaels

In Defense of Al Michaels

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Photo: The Ringer

Football fans were dealt a fatal blow on Tuesday as NBC announced Al Michaels will not be a part of their NFL playoff coverage.

While Michaels primarily worked as the play-by-play man on Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night games the past few seasons, he held some kind of weird “emeritus” status with NBC that allowed him to cover playoff games.

Listen…we all lose a step eventually. Al Michaels is no different, but he’s arguably the best ever at what he does. We all know about the USA Hockey call, he was light years ahead on gambling, and, most importantly, the man has never eaten a vegetable and looks fantastic.

The move “apparently caught [Michaels] off guard,” which seems fair. How much more can these corporate fat cats at NBC and Amazon push our boy until he falls off the cliff?

For a guy who sounds like a 80 year old Kermit the Frog, we leave you with a full show support for our guy with a very fitting quote from Muppets from Space:

“He’s one of us. And no matter what happens, no matter what obstacles we face, we never forget one of our own.”

The Chicago White Sox are Your 2020 Exhibition Crosstown Classic Champions

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Photo: WGN Radio

To quote one of the greatest broadcasters to ever do it, Mr. Al Michaels: “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

The White Sox have dethroned the Cubs, folks. The peak has been reached, the mountain has been scaled, and any of the other sports clichés you can insert here have been accomplished. After taking it to the Cubs in Game One by 7-3 final on Sunday, they came back last night and continued on their exhibition season tear by again defeating The North Siders 5-3.

The Sox used a six-run fifth inning in Game One to take a lead they would never relinquish. The barrage started with an Adam Engel home run off of Cubs Opening Day starter Kyle Hendricks, and continued with two singles by Tim Anderson and José Abreu, three doubles by Yasmani Grandal, Edwin Encarnación, and Luis Robert, and capped off by a triple by Leury García. This built the lead out to 6-2, and The Cubs would only add one more run via a David Bote RBI single in the seventh inning.

Yu Darvish took the bump in Game Two, only to be rudely greeted by a first inning grand slam by Eloy Jiménez. One of the Cubs’ former top prospects, who was dealt to The Sox in the 2017 trade for José Quintana, Jiménez showed his power surge by taking the first pitch he saw to straight away center. Dallas Keuchel started for the White Sox, and threw five innings of one hit, scoreless baseball. The Cubs got the offense moving a bit in the seventh, with Hernan Perez scoring on a fielder’s choice, Kyle Schwarber driving in Bote, and finally Javy Baez scoring on a double play ball from Steven Souza Jr.

This is The White Sox’s first Crosstown Classic victory since 2014, when they beat the Cubs in their annual season series 3-1. After ties in 2015 and 2016, The North Siders took the illustrious trophy back home to Wrigley in 2017 and 2018. As for 2019, we can all remember that unbeleivable 2-2 series tie that kept the trophy with The Cubs.

This feat is something that might not ever be topped, and White Sox fans should be immensely proud. So pop that champagne, order your tee shirts and caps, and enjoy this victory. No one can take this away from you, South Side.