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My favorite quote about UCLA and USC joining the Big Ten came from USC athletic director Mike Bohn, who might have injured himself trying to elevate a business decision to a higher realm.

“Ultimately, the Big Ten is the best home for USC and Trojan athletics as we move into the new world of collegiate sports,” he said. “We are excited that our values align with the league’s member institutions.”

Values? If TV money and survival are values, then, yes, USC, UCLA and the rest of the Big Ten are an absolute feast of principles. A values meal. This development has about as much to do with educational ideals as a Brink’s truck does.

Progress marches on, but let’s not kid ourselves: The Big Ten as we knew it is gone, just as college football as we knew it is gone. All of it has been gone for quite some time. College football is another major sports league, along with the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL. It’s not the minor leagues, not a feeder for the NFL. The talent level might not be big-league, but the money and the public interest are.

The only thing missing are paid college athletes, something that’s been missing for decades while the adults in the room raked in the money. With the arrival of NILs (name, image and likeness) a year ago, some of that cash is going back to the “student-athletes,” but not nearly enough.

When USC and UCLA join the Big Ten in 2024, the conference will be the first to stretch from coast to coast. Nothing says “major league” quite like Rutgers traveling from New Jersey to California for a game in LA.

When the dust finally settles, two super-conferences, the Big Ten and the SEC, likely will be left standing. Everybody else will be fighting for table scraps. There might be a lot of nostalgia for what used to be, but there’s no good or bad here. There’s only what is. This is the natural progression of the money grab that’s been going on for years in college sports. There will be two super-conferences because there are two networks, ESPN and Fox, that are shelling out enormous amounts of money to televise college football and basketball games.

Talking about values in the middle of this is like discussing Thomas Aquinas at a strip club. To pretend that shared educational values sealed the deal for USC or UCLA is silliness. Everybody in college sports is trying to grab onto the money train. If a school doesn’t, it risks being left behind. No one wants to be left standing at the station as that train and its billions of dollars moves on.

But can we please, once and for all, drop the ruse that college basketball and football at the highest levels are about anything besides making money? Sure, winning is important, but more and more its importance has to do with economics. Victories equal dollars — just like in the NFL and NBA. The hope here is that the Big Ten expansion will mean more money for minor sports, which depend on revenue from football and basketball for their continuing existence.

So what will this new world look like 10 or 20 years from now? With the charade of scholastics as the driver gone forever, anything is possible. Salary caps? Sure, but I think Alabama already pays a luxury tax out of instinct. With cheating being so much a part of the fabric of college sports, it’s hard to believe schools would recognize that a cap means a cap.

I don’t condone cheating, but aren’t accusations of skulduggery one of the draws for college fans? To be able to say that your archrival bought a player? When Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said that Texas A&M had “bought every player” in its top-rated freshman class through NILs, Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher lost it. Said it wasn’t true. It was excellent entertainment for a couple days. The way it always is.

Saban doesn’t like NILs because he knows they level the playing field. Money will bring capitalism to the recruiting process, and kids will lean toward the highest bidder, not necessarily the best team.

This is about survival now, at all levels. The Big Ten is expanding in order to stay relevant. It might not be pretty to the more sentimental among us, but this isn’t art. It’s commerce. It always has been, but now it’s out in the open for everybody to see.

USC and UCLA have about as much in common geographically and historically with Illinois and Northwestern as Rutgers and Maryland do. Doesn’t matter. TV money matters. You can’t put a value on that. Oh, wait. Yes, you can.

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MILWAUKEE — Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks is heading to the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain. He left his Tuesday night start early due to soreness in his throwing shoulder.

Hendricks had his shortest start of the season, lasting just three innings in the Cubs’ 8-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. He threw 69 pitches and his velocity was lower than usual.

The 32-year-old Hendricks said Tuesday night that he felt fine before the game but could tell something was off as soon as he threw his first warmup pitch at the start of the game. Hendricks went through a similar issue with the shoulder in early June, causing him to take 12 days off between starts.

Hendricks is 4-6 with a 4.80 ERA this season.

“Being cautious, dealing with this a little bit before, we’ve got the All-Star break coming up, giving him a little rest and building him back up is the smart thing to do,” Cubs manager David Ross said before their Wednesday afternoon game at Milwaukee.

Hendricks said he expects to undergo an MRI. Ross said Wednesday that exam hadn’t taken place yet.

The club recalled RHP Anderson Espinoza from Double-A Tennessee.

The Cubs have been dealing with numerous injuries to their pitching staff. Hendricks joins teammates Alec Mills, Wade Miley, Drew Smyly and Marcus Stroman on the injured list.

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Pat Fitzgerald continues to keep some of Illinois’ best prep football players close to home.

Bolingbrook safety Damon Walters is the latest rising senior to commit to Fitzgerald and Northwestern, giving the Wildcats four of the top 14 players in the class according to 247Sports.com’s composite rankings.

Walters, a 6-1, 175-pounder, is a three-star prospect ranked ninth in the Illinois class of 2023. He joins Joliet Catholic offensive lineman Anthony Birsa, Naperville North quarterback Aidan Gray and Prospect receiver Frank Covey IV in Northwestern’s next recruiting class.

“He’s the perfect fit for Northwestern,” Rivals Midwest analyst Clint Cosgrove said of Walters. “He is their type of kid. He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s dependable. He’ll be a great program kid.”

Besides the intangibles, Walters has the athletic ability to play in the Big Ten.

“He’s got great range, he’s long, he’s physical,” Cosgrove said. “He checks all the boxes.”

Walters is also a part of one of the state’s most successful athletic families. Three of his siblings are or have been Division I athletes: Justin (Notre Dame football), Brandon (Army football), and Kayla (Miami, Ohio track).

Northwestern, meanwhile, continues to hold its own in in-state recruiting even as Illinois coach Bret Bielema has made inroads locally after former coach Lovie Smith took more of a national approach.

“With the new facilities, it’s just all really coming together [for the Wildcats],” Cosgrove said.

IHSA reversal

Four months after voting to expand 1-32 playoff seeding to all classes, the IHSA has switched course and will stay with 1-16 north and south brackets for Class 1A through 6A.

Rockridge principal and IHSA board president Katy Hasson cited soaring gas prices as the reason for the reversal at the June board meeting.

“In February, I was a proponent for the chance in the seeding process for the IHSA Class 1A-6A Football Playoffs,” Hasson said in a statement. “When taking into account the current fuel prices, and the fact that this change will create more travel for schools and fans, myself and several other Board members were no longer comfortable implementing the change at this time. I do expect that when fuel prices return to a more reasonable price the Board will revisit this topic.”

Public League update

Chicago Public Schools sports officials have confirmed the new scheduling format first revealed in April in the Sun-Times.

Among the highlights are delaying the start of the Public League playoffs till after the regular season and adding crossover games between the top two conferences.

CPS also announced new names for the 12 football conferences. The former Illini conferences, which are eligible for the IHSA playoffs, will now be the Red. The former Chicago conferences, which are ineligible for the state playoffs, will be known as the Blue.

The top two CPS conferences are the Red South (Brooks, Curie, Hubbard, Kenwood, Morgan Park, Simeon) and the Red North (Clark, Lane, Phillips, Taft, Westinghouse, Young). Eight of those 12 teams will be in the Public League playoff bracket to determine the CPS representative in the Prep Bowl against the Catholic League champ.

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The White Sox activated outfielder Eloy Jimenez from the injured list Wednesday morning. Jimenez had surgery to repair a torn hamstring tendon behind his right knee April 26.

Jimenez hit 31 homers as a rookie in 2019 and was a Silver Slugger winner in 2020 but injuries have limited him since.

He hit one homer in 11 games before suffering a hamstring tear April 23 that required surgery, and hit just two homers with a .246/.318/.351 hitting line in a 17-game minor-league rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte.

The Sox also placed infielder Jake Burger on the 10-day injured list with a bone bruise in his right hand and place RHP Vince Velasquez on the 15-day IL with a blister on his right index finger. The team also recalled RHP Jimmy Lambert from Charlotte and transferred infielder Danny Mendick to the 60-day IL.

The Sox will try to avoid being swept Wednesday afternoon by the Twins, who lead the Sox by 6 1/2 games in the AL Central. Lance Lynn will pitch for the Sox against the Twins’ Joe Ryan.

Injuries have riddled the Sox’ roster since Opening Day, but once catcher Yasmani Grandal returns from a rehab assignment to complete the lineup, the starting rotation actually rotating with its five top pieces and Liam Hendriks back from his forearm injury, there should be no more excuses.

“Everybody is ready and healthy to play and then we’ll be prosperous,” third baseman Yoan Moncada said through translator Billy Russo. “If everybody is healthy, the rest is going to take care of itself. Health is a big if.”

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Grading every signing for the Chicago Bulls in 2022 free agency so far

NBA free agency is in full swing with several large contracts signed and trades brewing. The Bulls entered with roster holes that needed to be addressed and key players they had to bring back. Through the early stages, Chicago has brought back star Zach LaVine on a five-year max deal worth $215 million. High-flying Derrick Jones Jr. also re-signed on a two-year deal worth $6.6 million. Furthermore, the Bulls signed center Andre Drummond to a two-year deal worth $6.6 million and point guard Goran Dragic to a one-year deal worth $2.9 million. With 15 players under contract, Chicago has their roster set for the upcoming season (barring any trades).

Zach LaVine stays home, signs the max

LaVine’s free agency was the biggest question mark for Chicago. Rumors swirled he could be enticed by LeBron and the Lakers as well as pursued by other teams. However, when it was all said and done, LaVine knew where he belonged. The Bulls front office got the job done and brought back the 27-year old two-time All-Star. Locked up for the next five years and fresh off his first career playoff appearance, LaVine is ready to take it to the next level.

Yes, it is a lot of money to shell out especially with LaVine’s banged up knee. However, he had successful surgery and will be good to go. Last season, he averaged 24.4 points per game, 4.5 assists, and 4.6 rebounds as well as earning an All-Star nod. Additionally, LaVine shot 47.6% from the field and 38.9% from the 3-point line. Moreover, LaVine has the ability to create his own shot and forms a lethal duo with fellow star DeMar DeRozan. The contract was necessary to keep a budding Bulls core intact. AK did what needed to be done.

Grade: A 

Derrick Jones Jr. (and his dunks) are back

Acquired in a trade last off-season, Jones Jr. had a strong first season with the Bulls. Coming off the bench as well as making spot starts, he averaged 5.6 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and shot a career-high 32.8% from deep. Moreover, his ability to guard multiple positions made Jones Jr. very valuable. He played well defensively and provided highlight-reel dunks.

Hard to say how many expected to have Jones back but this was a good move on a team-friendly deal that continues to build continuity and stability on the roster.

Grade: A-

Bulls add a big in Drummond

Chicago was known for using smaller lineups throughout last season with DeRozan, Javonte Green, and Jones Jr. slotting in at power forward. The Bulls needed stronger rim protection and better rebounding numbers. After a solid 2nd half of the season with the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago signed Drummond to a two-year deal worth $6.6 million. He averaged a double-double last season, scoring 11.8 PPG and snagging 10.3 RPG.

Drummond has changed teams several times over the past few seasons, but he’s only 28 and will be an asset to the Bulls off the bench. He addresses a key need but will he be the solution to the Bulls defensive struggles from a season ago? We’ll see how he fits in. This signing has pros and cons.

Grade: B 

Veteran Goran Dragic adds to PG logjam

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Dragic and what he brings to the table. He’s a battle-tested veteran who can help young players like Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu. However, with Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso who can also run the point, Chicago now has five PGs on their roster. White has been all over trade rumors but it does not appear that the Bulls are actively shopping him. So, why sign Dragic?

At 36 and coming off a down season, it’s hard to imagine Dragic getting many opportunities on the court. His contract was for only one year (worth $2.9 million). This could be an insurance policy signing in case Lonzo’s knee acts up or to have another veteran voice in the locker room. Either way, it would have been nice to see the Bulls use this last roster spot on another big or wing.

Grade: C-

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Michael Kopech picked a bad day to have a bad day.

The White Sox are trying to catch the first-place Twins in the AL Central, and the Sox right-hander got roughed up for four homers in an 8-2 loss.

The Twins expanded their lead over the Sox to 6 1/2 games and will go for a three-game sweep Wednesday afternoon.

“Obviously it’s a big series,” Kopech said. “We want to beat these guys, so it’s tough right now.”

Kopech gave up six runs on eight hits in his fourth undistinguished outing since exiting a start with a sore right knee on June 13. He walked four and struck out five over 4 2/3 innings.

“There’s a couple of things they’ll be working on to get him fixed,” manager Tony La Russa said. “I don’t want to get into [specifics]. It’s all fixable.”

La Russa and Kopech said the pitcher is OK physically.

“It’s more about getting back to the drawing board, figuring some things out,” Kopech said. “Obviously I didn’t make some well-executed pitches today. I left a lot over the middle of the plate and got taken advantage of a lot.

“We’re going to figure it out. It’s not like there’s any defined answer. I know what that was. It wasn’t good. We’re going to work.”

The homers by Max Kepler, Jose Miranda, Alex Kirilloff and Jorge Polanco gave Sox opponents 52 at Guaranteed Rate Field. By comparison, the Sox have 32. Kirilloff homered again in the seventh against Vince Velasquez, giving the Twins an 8-2 lead.

Kopech owned a 1.92 ERA when he left his start against the Rangers after 13 pitches with a sore right knee. He made his next start a week later, but has allowed 16 earned runs in 21 innings since, raising his ERA to 3.34. La Russa said the knee is “not an issue.”

“Good question to ask, but that’s not a problem,” La Russa said.

The Sox began a pivotal stretch of 18 consecutive games against AL Central opponents Monday. They entered the series after sweeping the Giants on the road and getting to within a game of .500.

“Everybody is looking forward to turning it around, however it comes,” Kopech said. “The effort and energy has been there from the guys on and off the field in the clubhouse. As a starter, I’ve got to do my part to set the tone and that goes a long way. Everything’s good. It’s not how we want to play, especially the first two in a series against these guys, but we’re capable of turning it around.”

Josh Winder pitched five innings of two-run ball on short notice after scheduled starter Chris Archer went on the 15-day injured list because of tightness in his left hip.

“We have to keep plugging away,” said second baseman Josh Harrison, who collected his 1,000th career hit before mopping up on the mound as a pitcher in the (scoreless) ninth inning. “I don’t know how many games we’ve played against them but we know what lies ahead of us. This is what our job requires us to do, show up and not worry about the standings or what’s going to happen over the next couple of months. We have to take it one day at a time. We do that, we’ll be where want to be.”

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The Chicago Cubs are already being linked to start shortstop Xander Bogaerts ahead of free agency next season

With a big off-season coming up for the rebuilding Cubs, they’ll have some money to spend. Slated around $91.5 million on the books for the 2023 season (as of now), Chicago will have spending power to add pitchers and bats.

One name that has come up is Boston Red Sox stud SS Xander Bogaerts.

According to Bob Nightengale of the USA Today, the Cubs are a team that should be in on the star shortstop if he does hit free agency:

“Several executives are predicting” that the Cubs will land shortstop Xander Bogearts,” Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote recently. Nightengale pointed out that Cubs’ president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was a high-ranking member of the Red Sox front office when Bogaerts was initially signed as an international free agent in 2009.

Bogaerts, 30, has spent his entire career in Boston, winning two World Series as well as earning three All-Star nods and four Silver Slugger awards. His contract has an opt-out after this season which many believe he will execute. This season, Bogaerts is hitting .319 with seven homers and 34 runs batted in. He has been consistently great over his 10-year career.

The Cubs already have Nico Hoerner as their SS and he has been playing extremely well on both ends.

However, if a player like Xander Bogaerts is available and the Cubs are able to get him at a modest price, Nico can always slide over to second base. A bat like Bogaerts in the middle of the Cubs lineup would be a huge boost paired with Seiya Suzuki (and hopefully Willson Contreras). With the trade deadline approaching, Chicago could shed more payroll. Keep an eye on Bogaerts as a potential fit for the Cubbies.

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We look at the spending habits for Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles in his first offseason

Despite the general excitement around the Bears heading into Justin Field’s second season as Chicago’s starting quarterback, there is still a bit of concern regarding the roster construction and the front office’s execution this past offseason. Clearly, it appears that the Bears are preparing for a rebuild of sorts, indicated by the trading away of Khalil Mack and the complete restructure of the coaching staff, but it is hard to see the major pieces of this new era, if they are even in fact on the roster currently.

The Bears are dead last in offensive cap allocation, with a little over $55 million going to that side of the ball. For reference, the two highest paying offenses, the Lions and the Commanders, are both allocating slightly over $120 million. So maybe there isn’t a causal relationship between spending and success (most people would be surprised if Detroit and Washington had the top two offenses next season), but still, there are seven NFL teams spending twice as much on offense as the Bears will in 2022.

Naturally, with a lack of offensive spending, it makes sense for this cap to be allocated to the defensive side of the ball. Take, for example, the Steelers, who despite spending only $60 million on offense, are spending over $120 million on defense, putting Pittsburgh solely in first place for that statistic. However, the Bears are only spending about $88 million on defense next season, which puts them in the middle of the pack in defensive cap allocation at 14th. Still, about half of that total is divided solely between Robert Quinn, Eddie Jackson, and Roquan Smith.

Considering Coach Eberflus’s defensive background, the franchise-type defensive players listed above, and the recent investment in the secondary during the draft, the path for the defense to improve and compete looks obvious, as young players simply need development under the new regime. Yet offensively, the 2022 season looks potentially nonconstructive as there are not a lot of high-capital resources around Fields.

Offensively, Cody Whitehair is the only player who will be paid more than Fields, as many players are either still on their rookie contract or have signed relatively small contracts with the team in free agency. Besides David Montgomery, who annually gains over 1,000 total yards, and the recently signed Byron Pringle, any other offensive player is taking up less than $3 million in cap room.

Hopefully, this roster construction will allow Fields to grow and develop alongside fellow players on rookie deals such as Darnell Mooney, Velus Jones Jr, Cole Kmet, and Teven Jenkins, while Coach Eberflus can continue to bolster the defense as he sees fit. However, there may come a point in time where Fields simply needs to be surrounded by more highly paid assets in order to take the proper next step in Chicago.

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No sport is rivalry free, and that is probably a good thing, because sport would be endlessly boring if there were no rivalries at all!

In the NFL there are so many teams between the two conferences and this means that there is even more space available for rivalries to take place, which is just what the fans want.

Rivalries can get hot and heavy, make things tense, and make fans a bit heated too. However, it would be a lie to say that NFL betting doesn’t get influenced by the heated antics of an NFL rivalry.

So, out of all the rivalries we know of in the NFL is the best one perhaps the Packers Vs Bears rivalry?

Let’s consider it a moment!

Two Of The Oldest

The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers are two of the oldest franchises in the NFL, they have a total of 22 Championships in the NFL between them, as well as 5 Super Bowls.

The Packers have racked up more success than the Bears have, but this just fuels the Bears fire.

In 1919 the Bears were founded, making them over 100 years old, they turned professional in 1920 and joined with the American Professional Football Association, which was essentially the prelude to the NFL.

After this the Bears moved to Chicago where they became the Bears exactly 100 years ago.

The Packers also came into being in 1919, and they joined the Association in 1921.

Both of these teams are well over 100 years old overall, making them veteran teams of the NFL in comparison to some teams which are much younger than.

Their rivalry is just as old, or at least nearly as old. They have had their rivalry fed in every year bar two years.

The Bears and the Packers were unable to play one another in 1922 and once again in 1982, which was due to the NFLPA strike.

This rivalry is the oldest of all time, however, it is not the most continuous rivalry in the NFL. The most continuous would be the Packers Vs Lions.

That being said, the Packers Vs Bears rivalry saw them play in the same division and conference since 1933. This makes the rivalry even hotter as they have such close grounding.

Every year they have played each other two times per year aside from 1982, when the strike happened.

Is It The Best Rivalry?

So, is it the best? That is really a matter of perspective. There have been many other rivalries in the NFL, in some cases brewed by individual players, such as the Manning vs Brady rivalry we saw in recent years.

Geographical rivalries are also a thing that occurs, such as the Browns vs Bengals rivalry.

Sometimes we see whole divisions form rivalries. The NFC East is one of the biggest culprits of this. Some teams just dislike each other, the biggest culprits of this would be the Steelers and Ravens.

So, the NFL is hardly short on rivalries, but none of these quite compare to the Packers Vs Bears Rivalry.

It’s the oldest, and they have seen their rivalry rekindled every year, two times a year except two years!

Something about this rivalry is somewhat romantic, it’s kind of love and hate.

It’s The Best Because It’s Long-Lived.

The biggest reason that people love this rivalry and say that it is the best is all down to how long it has lasted. When teams play one another on repeat for a long time, it is hardly a difficult thing to get all wrapped up in the chaos and the excitement when they come together.

If you think of it relative to how long it has gone on for, it’s actually impressive, how many players have come and gone that have kept the rivalry hot to trot and heated on both sides.

This rivalry outlived the 2nd World War, the Great Depression, Vietnam, 9-11, The Gulf War, Covid-19, and so much more.

Of course, these two teams are also two of the teams who have seen the most success in the NFL as well. Both have many Super Bowl titles, as well as a load of Championships as well.

It’s no secret that two high-performance teams, who do well, and who have a long term rivalry are going to be highly enjoyed by fans.

So, are they the best? We would say yes, they are, simply because they have every factor that makes a rivalry epic!

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