Sadly, some limit Grade A efforts to field of play
Random thoughts from prehistoric man ... or at least from a man who feels that old:
n Sometimes you just have to take the good with the not-so-good.
In this case, the good was the efforts on the gridiron of Antioch High senior Steve Lorenzini, who closed his three-year varsity career as the leading rusher in school history.
The not-so-good involved the status of the player whose reocrd Lorenzini broke.
Cam White graduated from Antioch High last June as the school's all-time leading rusher after he led the Sequoits to a 12-1 record and into the semifinals of the IHSA Class 6A football playoffs.
But so far, that semifinal-round loss to Lemont last November was the last football game White has played,
See what happens when you don't make the grades in the classroom?
White accepted a scholarship offer to play at NCAA Division I-AA Eastern Illinois University in downstate Charleston, but his name is nowhere to be found on the Panthers' internet Web site this fall.
Here's why ... in the words of a spokesman for EIU athletics:
"Cam White was a non-qualifier this year, so he is not associated with the football program for this year.
"He is currently enrolled at Eastern Illinois and can join the football team next year if he obtains a certain GPA and makes progress toward a degree."
How sad is that?
n A national sports magazine ranked the top 10 high-school senior boys basketball players in the nation, and had Harrison Barnes of Ames High in Iowa as its No. 3 pick.
Our Jereme Richmond of Waukegan High did not make the list.
The good news for us is that Richmond and his Bulldog teammates will get a chance to prove the magazine wrong because Waukegan will play at Ames in a non-conference game in December that will be televised live on cable TV channel ESPN.
n The so-called pro-football experts on the NFL's own cable TV channel have turned rapidly and dramatically on our own Michael Turner.
A year ago, after signing as a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons, every NFL "expert" raved about the season "The Burner" had as he led his team to the playoffs.
But this year, the experts have turned. Noting that through a half-dozen games this fall, he has just one carry of more than 20 yards after having six like that in 2008, the commentators determined that the North Chicago High graduate has gained weight, is out of shape, and has lost the burst of speed that separated him from defenders a year ago.
n The rumor mill is always churning, even when the topic is minor-league baseball on the independent circuit.
A sports editor for a paper that covers a team in the Frontier League offered this up regarding the future of the Northern League, which has just expanded to eight teams with the addition of the Zion-based Lake County Fielders as an expansion team and the Rockford RiverHawks -- the latter which joined our side from the aforementioned Frontier League.
Here's what the reporter is thinking:
"According to (Web site) ballparkdigest.com,, the Northern League is not content with one former Frontier League franchise.
Representatives of the Northern League have contacted owners of the Chicago-based Windy City ThunderBolts about changing leagues and have offered the same deal given to Rockford: $250,000 up front, a waiver on travel-team fees, and a limit on long road trips.
(Now we know why the Northern League isn't playing with two four-team divisions next year. Because that would put Joliet, Gary, Schaumburg and Lake County together in a quality South Division, and leave Rockford in no-man's land in a division with Kansas City, North Dakota and Winnipeg.)
"There is no word yet if the ThunderBolts are considering the move, but the Web site reported that the Northern League is worried that Winnipeg, Fargo-Moorhead and Kansas City will leave for the American Association.
If that happens, the Northern League would have a very neat, manageable six-team league featuring the Fielders, Rockford, Windy City, Schaumburg, Gary and Joliet.
That, of course, would be a PERFECT six-team league. Heck, if there was a big series near the end of the year, fans could even drive to road games to follow their favorite club.
Sort of makes you wonder why the Northern League hasn't already been urging North Dakota and the Canadien team to join some other group.
Heck, maybe they are.
