Chicago Sports

Chicago has had two NFL teams before the modern NFL expansion

The Chicago Bears ran their “little brother”, the Chicago Cardinals, out of town in 1959 before the modern NFL expansion era. There hasn’t been another NFL home team other than the Bears in the “Windy City” ever since. Could that change in the near future? One NFL columnist named Chicago on his list of cities that would be a good home for an NFL expansion team.

Chicago has a large population and could likely support a second NFL team. But how many Bears fans would be enthusiastic about the new team? Kristopher Knox, writing for Bleacher Report, cited a quote from Mike Florio about whispers that the NFL could grow to 40 teams. Knox examined possible cities that could host new teams.

Chicago was listed as one of the possible hosts for one of those eight teams for NFL expansion. Here’s what Knox wrote:

If the NFL isn’t willing to add a second team in the Dallas area, perhaps it could be persuaded to have a second one in Chicago. Yes, the city already has the Bears, but adding an AFC counterpart isn’t at all unrealistic.

New York City and Los Angeles, the two cities bigger than Chicago, are both home to a pair of NFL franchises. The Windy City already supports two MLB teams—the Cubs and the White Sox—along with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, the NHL’s Blackhawks, the WNBA’s Sky, the MLS’ Fire and the NSWL’s Red Stars.

The financial challenge of building a new football stadium in Chicago—Soldier Field opened in 1924—could be overcome by adding a second franchise along with the Bears.

“If Bears build their own stadium (like Rams owner Stan Kroenke has done), adding another team to the mix and the extra 10 home games per year that go along with it, a team in a market that can’t or won’t pay for all or most of a new or renovated stadium could be inclined to make the move,” Florio wrote last June.

Chicago is a tremendous sports city and one of the biggest markets in the country. The NFL should be eager to double-dip into that market if the opportunity presents itself.

It would make sense for Chicago to build a stadium to house both teams for economic reasons. Two teams playing more games would mean more revenue… Although some of the lone luster that makes the Bears special could fade by sharing homes with a new NFL expansion team.

Chicago doesn’t need all that drama with an NFL expansion team

Personally, I like having one NFL team in my favorite city. It’s already challenging enough as a White Sox fan that the MLB allows the Cubs to stay in Chicago, but I can understand the “Crosstown Classic” series as a historical relic.  I don’t see many fans wanting to support the Bears and a new team. I could see the move working out more like Los Angeles with the Rams getting most of the support and the Chargers having trouble filling out soccer stadiums.

The worst fear for me as a Bears fan would be knowing that the new team would be parading downtown for a Super Bowl celebration before the “Monsters of the Midway” do. I couldn’t handle a new, unpopular franchise going to heights I’ve never seen the Bears partake in.

There are way too many new cities for an NFL expansion team

There are a lot of cities on Knox’s list that would be better locations for a new NFL expansion team. Give the team to a city that doesn’t have anyone of interest near their hometown. Oklahoma City has a rabid fan base with the Thunder, and the nearby Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys could use a team to watch on Sundays. Austin is also growing yearly, and an NFL team would benefit new residents looking for weekend entertainment.

If the NFL wants to grow Internationally, it should consider adding teams outside of the US. Cities like Mexico City, London, and Tokyo, would be options that could be exciting for fans to travel to. While Chicago is a fantastic city, I’m not sure Arlington Heights is big enough for another team besides the Bears.

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The scene was exactly what the past two June weekends were supposed to be all about: College coaches being able to put eyes on players they are recruiting — and ones they had never seen play before — in a different type of setting and platform.

Hundreds of coaches flocked to Illinois the past two weekends to evaluate high school players from across the state.

For years, decades even, high school players were rarely seen playing with their actual high school basketball team.

Yes, there were some fall open gyms. And there is always a random game during the winter months where a college coach, usually from a local in-state program or coach from a bordering state, will take in a prospect’s game. But with so much more added to the college coach’s plate in recent years, the time to evaluate players during the college basketball season is much more difficult.

Despite the naysayers or some of the uninformed rants that you hear when it comes to club basketball, there is also a definite need for it. The platform grassroots basketball organizations provide is a must in the evaluation process. It brings higher-level talent, from across the country, together under one roof. The overall athleticism and talent level seen in club ball is simply better.

There remain plenty of issues and problems with club basketball. But that’s for another day.

Overall, college coaches are liking the combination of evaluating players with both their high school and club teams in the summer months.

Loyola head coach Drew Valentine sees advantages to both and believes watching a player with his high school and club team is beneficial for different reasons.

Valentine says club basketball provides a chance to see the “elite of the elite from around the country” play one another. It’s a way, he says, to see how high of a level their talent is. But there is no question he finds value in the high school setting.

“I really like it, personally, as it’s fun to see them coached differently and in a different role with their high school team,” Valentine said. “They spend so much more time with their high school coach and their high school team, so it’s good to see how they respond to that, how they interact and to see the culture they are in.”

UIC head coach Luke Yaklich says he “loves” the blend of evaluating players with their high school and club teams. Plus, as a former high school coach in Illinois, he feels the best part is being able to get high school coaches more involved in recruiting.

“The involvement of the high school coach is key in the recruiting process,” Yaklich said of the shift to include scholastic events in the NCAA’s recruiting calendar. “But being able to see these players in different settings is invaluable.”

These past two weekends in Illinois were a benefit for everyone. Riverside-Brookfield and Ridgewood ran out close to 150 teams over the past two weekends. Normal West did a terrific job running its event during the first live weekend.

And while Edwardsville was the one event in Illinois I didn’t attend, it provided an opportunity for several southern Illinois players and many of the St. Louis powers to showcase talent.

Remember, there are many states across the country that provide no opportunities for players to be seen during the two June live periods.

Illinois is a state that was primed and ready to provide that opportunity for its players. Many states weren’t organized last year or equipped to handle live events. The very first year of the new recruiting calendar saw just 19 of 50 eligible state high school associations hold June events.

The recruiting calendar for college coaches to attend events and evaluate prospects seems to always need tweaking and never seems just right. But the blend of watching and evaluating players both in club basketball and with their high school team is a good one. There is value in seeing players play in both.

Playing with the high school team is just different. And the evaluation is different as well for everyone.

“I really like watching a player with his high school team, probably more than even AAU,” said one mid-major head coach who wanted to stay anonymous in fear of ticking off club coaches. “I need to see both [club and high school], but I often dislike what I see with AAU. But it’s the top players against each other, so it’s a must. But many times I consistently see more from maybe a specific player I need to see while watching them with their high school team. That’s where they are typically always theguyon that team.”

There are so many different variables involved when it comes to club basketball. Yes, the idea of more Division I talent and same-level athletes on the floor together, playing against one another, is needed.

However, a player may have to take a back seat to other high-profile players on his team, thus getting less of an opportunity to shine. Maybe an individual player is playing out of position or hardly playing at all. It’s hard to be noticed when sitting on the bench or as a role player when on the floor

There is often a comfort level and more familiarity with the high school team. They play together every day all winter during the season and then practice each day in camp throughout June. Players aren’t coming and going, a problem many club programs battle.

“With my experience as a high school coach, I know these players have had two or three weeks of camp and practice together,” Yaklich said of one difference between high school and club play. “So it’s a setting where there is more structure in place through the amount of practice time they have together.”

Yaklich, along with all college coaches, wants to see players competing in club play.

“You just consistently see, at the club level, size vs. size, athletes vs. athletes, skill vs. skill,” Yaklich said. “But I love seeing a player play in both.”

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At least 11 people were wounded in shootings across Chicago Monday.

Three people were shot and three others were stabbed over several hours late Sunday into early Monday in Lake View East, where police had stepped up patrols after the Pride Parade. About 1:30 a.m., three people were standing outside in the 3100 block of North Clark Street when they were struck by gunfire, police said. A 46-year-old woman was shot in the abdomen and taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition; a man, 30, was shot in the knee and taken to the same hospital in good condition; another man, 37, was shot in the leg and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition. Three others were stabbed and a police sergeant hospitalized after being punched while trying to make an arrest. Hours later, two people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in River North. The men were in the 400 block of North State Street about 3:40 a.m. when someone in a black Jeep opened fire, police said. A 29-year-old man was shot in the thigh and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious condition, police said. The second man, believed to be 20, was grazed in the thigh and treated at the scene, officials said.

At least six others were wounded by gunfire across Chicago Monday.

A five-month-old girl was among at least six people killed in shootings across Chicago over the weekend. At least 27 other people were wounded.

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Three children have died and another remains in critical condition following a basement fire in West Humboldt Park early Sunday, according to officials.

The fire began about 12:20 a.m. in the basement of a house in the 4000 block of West Potomac Avenue on the Northwest Side, fire officials said. Four children and two adults were taken to hospitals.

Axel Cruz was pronounced dead at Saints Mary and Elisabeth Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Two more boys, 6 and 11, were hospitalized initially in critical condition but later died, the medical examiner’s office said.

A fourth boy remains in critical condition.

The children all suffered from smoke inhalation, according to police.

Two adults were also injured in the blaze, police said. A 40-year-old woman was taken to West Suburban Hospital with minor smoke inhalation, officials said. She was listed in good condition.

A man, 35, was taken to St. Mary’s with minor smoke inhalation and was in good condition, police said.

Preliminary indications point to the fire being accidental. Area Five as well as arson detectives were sent to the scene.

A neighbor who lived across the street told the Sun-Times she had seen the children just hours earlier. She broke down in tears as she overheard a fire official say that it “wasn’t looking too good” for at least one of them.

Contributing: Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Lucas Giolito looked more like himself Monday night against the Angels, throwing six innings of two-run ball and striking out six.

Had he received a needed helping hand from his defense in the second inning, it could have been six scoreless and exiting with a 3-0 lead rather than 3-2. The lead quickly evaporated on Taylor Ward’s two-run double against Reynaldo Lopez in the seventh, and the Angels held on for a 4-3 victory.

Finding his way after posting a 1-3 record and 9.47 ERA over previous five starts, Giolito faced Brandon Marsh with two outs in the second and a runner on second, and Marsh looped a fly ball near the 350-foot sign near the right-field corner, but Gavin Sheets let the ball pop out of his glove for an RBI triple.

Andrew Velasquez then singled off Giolito’s cleat, making it 2-0. Giolito went on to finish with six strikeouts and one walk.

Sheets had two hits including a double in the seventh, when he scored on Josh Harrison’s go-ahead single. On Harrison’s single, Seby Zavala was caught too far off second, taking some air out of a potential big inning.

Anderson on the move

Tim Anderson, who collected the 100th and 101st stolen bases of his career, scored from first on Andrew Vaughn’s double in the sixth. Vaughn scored on Jose Abreu’s game-tying double.

Anderson is the Sox’ top vote-getter in American League All-Star Game balloting and second to the Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette at the shortstop position. Through Sunday, Anderson was batting .339/.376/.468 with an .843 OPS in 45 games. Bichette was hitting .252/.297/.422 with a .719 OPS in 71 games.

Star gazing

When Vaughn’s batting average was touching .330 last week, the first sounds of All-Star Game chatter came within earshot of the second-year outfielder. To even be in the conversation almost took Vaughn’s breath away.

“Those are amazing words,” Vaughn said. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s pretty cool to be in that company. It would be an extreme honor, but the No. 1 goal and everyone in here is the same — get to the playoffs.”

Vaughn made his major-league debut April 2 last year in Anaheim. The Angels’ clubhouse has signed baseballs on the wall of players who debuted here since 2020.

Grandal’s back

Aside from the long flight to Anaheim doing it no favors, catcher Yasmani Grandal said his low back “is feeling good,” but he has no timetable yet for an injury rehab assignment. Grandal, who hasn’t played since June 11, has been taking swings off the tee the last few days.

“The most important thing is the running,” Grandal said. “If I can do the running I should be able to do everything else.”

“It’s step by step,” manager Tony La Russa said. “You have to be patient. There’s too much at stake. There are more things he has to pass.”

Hendriks throws bullpen

Closer Liam Hendriks, on the injured list since June 14 with a right forearm flexor strain, threw a bullpen Monday. Hendriks is targeting this weekend for a return, which is more ambitious than general manager Rick Hahn’s original expectation of a three-week absence.

“Ask him or ask the trainers. There is a different opinion,” La Russa said when asked how Hendriks came away from throwing off a mound. ”He wants to go.”

How Hendriks responds Tuesday could present a clearer picture of how soon he’ll be available. The Sox won’t want to rush him.

o Yoan Moncada is expected to come off the IL on Tuesday.

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Six mayoral challengers pounced on Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday for making an obscene reference to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for suggesting that last week’s landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade should be a prelude to overturning gay marriage.

“If you read Clarence Thomas’ concurrence,” a fired-up Lightfoot shouts from the stage at a weekend Pride in the Park event at Grant Park.

Someone from the audience yells back at the mayor and Lightfoot says, “Thank you. F- – – Clarence Thomas.”

Some in the audience appeared shocked by the mayor’s use of vulgarity in public. Others seemed delighted and repeated it.

Lightfoot appeared undaunted as she continued her attack on Thomas. “He thinks that we are going to stand idly by while they take our rights,” the mayor said.

By late afternoon Monday, nearly a million people had viewed the video of the mayor, including six of the seven mayoral challengers. The mayor’s office refused to comment.

But in a tweet Monday evening that showed Lightfoot pointing toward an audience member’s T-shirt bearing the same profane statement the mayor used, the post read, “I said what I said.”

Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas said no matter how incensed the city’s first openly gay mayor is about the suggestion made in Thomas’ concurring opinion, she owes it to the office she holds and the constituents she represents to conduct herself with decorum.

“It’s pretty embarrassing. There’s ways to criticize without inciting people to mob action,” Vallas said.

“Even if you were echoing what somebody else said in the crowd, it’s dangerous and totally inappropriate,” he said. “You’re almost trying to agitate people to violence when you think about it. … If that’s not an invitation — if that’s not sanctioning it through your rhetoric — I don’t know what does.”

Millionaire businessman Willie Wilson wholeheartedly agreed. “Using that kind of language just, in my opinion, encourages violence. I condemn all things that would make anybody feel or give the impression of violence. That just ain’t the way to go.”

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) said he “shares the concern. But there’s better ways to do that. It’s just horrible. Can’t make this stuff up.”

State Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) said, like the mayor, he is “clearly nervous about what the slippery slope” might be. But Buckner said that doesn’t excuse the mayor’s language.

“It’s not something that I would say. It’s not something that I would expect from the person who is representing this city on the public stage. We’ve got to be mindful that our young people are watching. Our young people are listening,” Buckner said.

“We’ve got to be smart about our rhetoric and about making sure we bring down the temperature and adding more humanity and more thoughtfulness into our politics,” he said.

Mayoral challenger Ray Lopez said Lightfoot’s vulgar language is more evidence that she lacks the temperament to serve as an effective mayor of Chicago.

“Either you’re pandering just to get votes or you have no respect for the office you hold,” said Lopez, one of the mayor’s most outspoken City Council critics. “It’s undignified and it’s beneath the city of Chicago to act in this manner — especially in public. It takes vulgarity to a whole new level and further diminishes the office and the respect we hope people have for it.

“She needs to apologize,” he added. “Our youth, our future leaders watch her actions. To normalize this kind of vitriolic response when you don’t get your way is just bad leadership, albeit a hallmark of her administration.”

Mayoral challenger Ja’Mal Green had a different take. He accused Lightfoot of brazenly using the Supreme Court ruling to “lure voters” while saying nothing at all about the fatal shooting of a 5-month-old baby girl.

“We need solutions right now to what’s going on … right here at home. But instead, she would rather grandstand on stage using this language because she knew it would get a certain reaction so she can get her approval numbers up. But, our babies are dying still right now,” Green said.

Last year, Lightfoot recessed a City Council meeting, left the rostrum and got into a finger-pointing shouting match with Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) as cameras rolled, stunning and disappointing even some of the mayor’s closest allies.

It happened after Taylor joined Lopez in temporarily scuttling the mayor’s appointment of Corporation Counsel Celia Meza to protest the Law Department’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by social worker Anjanette Young, who was forced to stand naked while an all-male team of police officers raided the wrong home.

On Monday, Taylor was the only alderperson contacted who said she understood why Lightfoot was so enraged by Thomas’ concurring opinion, she would make a profane public reference to the justice.

“I don’t know that I would have said it. But I understand how she feels. I understand her frustration and her being upset. If she didn’t cuss, I would be surprised … Take out that she’s the mayor. It’s her being human. She’s a grown woman who is entitled to her feelings,” Taylor said.

“I ain’t surprised that she said it. She understands that it’s like greed. They don’t stop at one set of people. It continues to go. And she is absolutely right. They are coming after gay marriage. I promise you they are. It’s next. Watch.”

Taylor said the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was “white supremacy in the worst way I’ve ever seen it in my life. “Decisions like that hurt us all.”

It’s not the first time Lightfoot has been accused of using profanity.

During the civil unrest triggered by the death of George Floyd that devolved into two devastating rounds of looting in the summer of 2020, Lightfoot unleashed a profanity-laced tirade against Lopez.

It happened when Lopez accused the mayor of being caught flat-footed after the first round of looting that spread into South and West side neighborhoods after downtown was belatedly sealed off.

Lightfoot famously warned members of the Black Caucus who dared to vote against her 2021 budget, “Don’t ask me for s–t” when it comes to choosing projects for her five-year, $3.7 billion capital plan.

And most recently, Lightfoot branded as “deeply offensive,” “ridiculous” and “wholly lacking in merit” the claim that she made an obscene and derogatory remark against Italian Americans during a call to discuss the statue of Christopher Columbus removed from Arrigo Park.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — We’re three months in now, Fourth of July weekend is almost upon us and the White Sox jump start everyone is waiting for is still somewhere on the horizon.

Or is it?

Perhaps it will appear out here on the coast.

Every time the Sox have something resembling a turning pointmoment, they retreat into whatever it is they are now: A team that’s not hitting the long ball or scoring in bunches, is getting thrown out at home more than any other team, playing poor defense and is always hurt.

The Sox get hurt running to first base, or running into each other. Their injured list is a long one – 10 deep — and those not on it are permitted to play at three-quarter speed to help them stay off it.

The Sox can thank the American League Central for permitting them to be in striking distance of the top, a division absent of any team that appears to be a postseason threat to teams of the AL West or East. The East’s last place team, the Orioles, took three of four games on the Sox’ home field over the weekend.

That series was supposed to kick off an opportunistic soft stretch of games – Orioles (34-40), Angels (35-40), Giants (39-33), 17 straight division games and the Rockies (31-42) and Athletics (25-49) for the Sox, who opened an important road trip against the Angels and Giants Monday night at Angel Stadium after losing three of four to the Orioles at home.

The Orioles out-defended, out-ran and outscored the Sox by a 17-10 count. They outplayed the team on the field with World Series aspirations.

Meanwhile, the manager hired to make a difference and give the Sox an edge isn’t having much of a visible effect on outcomes. Tony La Russa came out of managerial retirement to guide the Sox to 93 wins and a division title in 2021, but his team got clobbered by the Astros in the ALDS and counting that series has played to a 70-73 record since July 20 of last season. The Sox (34-37)have not sustained anything for any significant stretch. Their longest winning streak is six, the longest losing streak eight.

When the Sox beat the Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball on May 22, when Michael Kopech pitched seven innings of one-hit ball and Tim Anderson homered to cap a day-night sweep against the best team in baseball a day after the Josh Donaldson “Jackie” game, it felt like the Sox were back.

There have been other moments like that. And then, pffft.

The Sox lost seven of the next nine, the last loss in that stretch a 6-3 defeat at the Rays stretching their losing streak to four and sending a worrisome “what is going on here?” shudder throughout the organization.

But the Sox salvaged the last two games of that series.

A week later, it felt like an “OK, this is it” moment when they swept the Tigers in Detroit and went 4-2 on a road trip through Houston.

But sustaining anything has been a challenge in large part due to a lack of depth, La Russa said, which is partly a byproduct of the injuries to so many frontline players and partly to how the roster was constructed going into the season.

“I’m not saying it’s not there,” La Russa said Monday. “When the depth is productive, it’s real depth.”

And when it’s not the Sox are thin.

“The best streaks are when the starting pitchers are pitching well and you don’t have too many where the bullpen gets worn out,” La Russa said. “And then there are days when the offense has to score some or a lot. Most of that has to do with how deep your lineup is.”

To steal the phrase general manager Rick Hahn christened their rebuild with, the Sox have been mired in mediocrity in April, May and June.

They will have to emerge from it in July, August and September if there is to be an October, once thought to be – but no more by any means – a foregone conclusion.

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Coming-of-age stories have been around almost as long as humans have been coming of age. But with “Choir Boy,” playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney takes a familiar genre and turns it into a 100-minute emotional rollercoaster, every devastating dip and giddy rise delivered through a filter of a cappella music that takes the audience from glory to despair and back.

McCraney won an Oscar for penning the screenplay to “Moonlight,” which collected 2017’s best picture trophy. The depth and the empathy that defined the film is also the signature of the Tony Award-nominated “Choir Boy,” which runs through July 24 at the Steppenwolf Theatre. Directed by Kent Gash and set at an elite prep school for young Black men, the production is engrossing from lights up to curtain call.

McCraney bookends the narrative with graduations at the ultra-competitive (and fictional) Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys. The first graduation begins as a triumph for Pharus (Tyler Hardwick), the junior selected to perform a solo on the school song that traditionally sends the seniors on their way. Better still, Pharus has been named choir leader for his senior year, a coveted position that he’s yearned for and worked toward for years.

But just as his magnificent voice is soaring to the rafters and turning the space into a celebration, Pharus’ moment is shattered by a racist, homophobic slur hissed from behind. His beaming triumph becomes something ugly and traumatic that will follow him through his senior year.

As “Choir Boy” continues, we watch as Pharus’ light — his confidence, pride, his sense of self and the joy he finds in music and his identity — is slowly diminished, right up until his own graduation arrives. This time though, the solar spot on the school song is overtaken by a startling moment of sheer, spirit-raising, defiant courage.

Hardwick’s luminous presence and powerhouse vocals give Pharus a star quality that can’t be mistaken, even when the verses are hushed to the most delicate pianissimo. But this is an ensemble piece first and foremost, and the supporting roles are as intricate as they are intriguing.

The initial slur –homophobic and racist –comes from two other Black choir members: Bobby (Gilbert Domally, serving a complicated bully with phenomenal step dance skills), the nephew of Headmaster Marrow (La Shawn Banks, mining more comic relief than seems possible from the role of a beleaguered educator) and Junior (Samuel B. Jackson), a scholarship student who can’t afford to get in trouble.

The choir also includes David (Richard David), an aspiring minister just beginning to explore his own sexuality. Finally, there’sPharus’ roommate AJ (Sheldon D. Brown), the sort of intensely compassionate, loyal friend that can make the worst crisis bearable.

Music director Jermaine Hill ensures that the spirituals, hymns and occasional Boyz II Men/New Edition mashups woven into the story are as rich and essential as the spoken words. Listen for Brown’s verse on the folksong “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize (Hold On).” The lyrics are simple,about two men wrongfully imprisoned during Biblical times; Brown turns it into a clarion call to action and it will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Another jaw-dropping vocal highlight is a dreamlike rendition of “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” sung as the five choir members strip down and shower. As Steppenwolf’s impressive waterworks soak the cast spread across Arnel Sancianco’s simple, effective set, they create a gentle, percussive pattering. Lighting designer Jason Lynch gives the scene the look of an impressionistic painting capturing the young men at their most vulnerable. When the scene segues into “What Wondrous Love is This,” the words are wrapped in steam, sexuality and, indeed, wonder.

The group’s haunting, invigorating take on “Ring Dem Bells” is extraordinary as well, the verses threaded around the students’ phone calls home, one-way conversations that illuminate the varied struggles and family demons each of them grapples with. Byron Easley’s choreography is all power and grace, including in an astounding, emphatic step-dancing that brings all the emotional subtext into glaring spotlight.

Pharus isn’t the first person to describe music as “honey in the rock.” But music director Jermaine Hill makes it flow with the power of the tides in “Choir Boy.”

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It’s always exciting to be around for the start of a gold rush.

If you didn’t make Sutter’s Mill in 1848, think of the dot.com lunacy of the late-1990s, the subprime mortgage stampede of the mid-2000s and the legalized gambling fantasia that continues anon.

Mayhem always occurs, but right now we’ve got the college athlete gold rush taking off, and it looks to be a dandy.

Once the courts finally determined that big-time college athletes were what they always had been — unpaid workers — and had the right to sell their name, image and likeness on the open market, the mine doors opened.

Here’s the only example you need:

According to a report from On3.com, Miami quarterback recruit Jaden Rashada agreed to a $9.5 million NIL deal with billionaire Hurricanes booster John Ruiz. That’s money for coming to the school and playing, of course.

The cherry on top, according to On3.com, which bills itself as ”the premier college sports database” and was started by founders of Rivals.com, is that Rashada turned down even more money from Florida. The Gators’ bid reportedly was $11 million.

Think of that. Rashada hasn’t even started his senior year at Pittsburg (California) High School, near Oakland, but his pay likely would be more than a number of NFL quarterbacks make.

The 6-4, 185-pound, four-star recruit grew up only a two-hour drive from Sutter’s Mill. But he figured out a much easier way to get rich than panning for shiny rocks in a mountain stream.

Of course, Ruiz — the owner of LifeWallet and Cigarette Racing — came back with a semi-denial of the huge amount he allegedly offered. On Monday, he said on Twitter: ”The report by On3.com is inaccurate as it relates to Jaden Rashada.”

Not dead wrong, mind you, or made up. Just inaccurate.

So let’s say it’s off by $1 million or so. Maybe $2 million or $3 million, even. Big deal. And, for what it’s worth, nobody has denied the Florida bid.

Then, too, the largest college NIL deal is alleged to be an $8 million offer for five-star quarterback recruit Nico Iamaleava, who is en route to Tennessee. Iamaleava’s figure also comes from On3.com, a site that might have hyperbole at its heart but that grubs around pretty hard in the college closet.

Of course, the powers that be are trying hard to keep it under control, but they let the whole ”amateur” system/cartel thing run to their liking since the beginning of time, and now they’re paying for it.

These endorsement deals purportedly have nothing to do with actual recruiting; that’s a no-no. It’s also a huge laugh.

In April, Ruiz bragged on Twitter that he had just gotten Kansas State basketball guard Nijel Pack to transfer to Miami for the ”biggest LifeWallet deal to date, two years $800,000 total at $400,000 per year plus a car. Congratulations!!!”

Ruiz already has money deals with more than 100 Miami athletes in several sports.

Oh, it’s crazy out there. What once would have gotten an athlete suspended, thrown out of school and possibly even charged with a crime is now the path to success.

The schools and NCAA are scrambling to make enforcement rules that will work in the new world of athletic freedom, but they haven’t come close yet. School by school, conference by conference, it’s all a mishmash of guidelines and pure hope.

But the monster of capitalism has been unleashed, and it even had rumbled down to the high school level. In December, Rashada signed a paid endorsement deal with an online app. That made him the first high school football player to do an NIL deal.

Is junior high next? Why not?

Recently retired NCAA chief Mark Emmert was a bureaucrat and an old-school know-nothing, just like all the directors before him. He tried to tamp down the fires in the NCAA’s ”amateur” system until he realized he didn’t have any more arms, legs or shovels.

So now the NCAA has what it wrought: a mostly unfettered money grab by freed athletic teenagers.

Remember when Alabama coach Nick Saban went off on Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, raging that, ”A&M bought every player on their team — made a deal for name, image, likeness. We didn’t buy one player, all right?”

A chuckle was in order here. Clearly, Saban enjoyed the pre-NIL advantage he had in recruiting before some of that Texas oil money got thrown around at recruits. Also, like Alabama is clean?

Anyway, your college studs are now pros for real.

Ain’t that America.

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Major-league teams have averaged 4.34 runs per team per game through Sunday, down from 4.53 in 2021. It’s the lowest average since 4.25 in 2015.

One factor: Hitters aren’t reaping rewards as large as usual for the same quality of contact.

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu is a prime example. His .431 slugging percentage is well off his career .510 percentage, but he’s still driving the ball. Using exit velocity and launch angle as a base, baseballsavant.mlb.com lists his expected slugging percentage at .575.

To take in Abreu’s full offensive game, Baseball Savant lists weighted on-base average (wOBA). It assigns weights to everything from home runs to double plays, much like weighted runs created plus. Unlike wRC+, however, a hitter’s wOBA isn’t normalized to a scale where 100 is average.

Abreu’s .353 wOBA is well above the major-league average of .310 but well below his .413 expected wOBA (xwOBA).

It’s not just Abreu. Hitters throughout the majors are seeing such negative gaps.

The expected major-league slugging percentage of .438 towers over the actual .393 percentage. The xwOBA is .329, 19 points higher than the actual wOBA.

This is not business as usual. Since expected stats were unveiled in 2015, they’ve tracked much closer to results. Gaps mainly have been in underestimating, rather than overestimating, hitter outcomes.

In 2021, the .411 major-league slugging percentage topped the expected percentage by four points and the .314 wOBA trailed the xwOBA by three. Actual slugging percentage topped the expected percentage every season until this one, but the only gap wider than 11 points was the first data year (.405 actual slugging percentage vs. .370 expected slugging percentage in 2014).

The wOBA/xwOBA gap never has been wider than three points, with wOBA higher five times and xwOBA twice. The 19-point gap in 2022 is a quantum leap.

Gaps work the opposite way for pitchers, of course. Pitchers are giving up fewer extra bases than the quality of contact against them suggests.

Sox right-hander Michael Kopech has allowed a mere .250 slugging percentage and .238 wOBA, but the quality of opponents’ contact puts .399 and .309 in the ”x” files. His 2.58 ERA comes despite an expected ERA of 3.48.

Right-hander Dylan Cease, on the other hand, has had normal results, with opponents’ .318 slugging percentage and expected slugging percentage, .277 wOBA vs. .266 xwOBA and 2.56 ERA vs. 2.54expected ERA.

Why is 2022 so far out of line compared to expected stats since 2015? That’s an open question. Can defensive positioning have improved so much in one season to take away that many bases? Not likely. Is the ball different, or are storage and mud-rub differences having an impact? Have winds and weather patterns cut down on slugging? Is this all just a fluke, with normal patterns to resume?

While we await study and answers, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge has a .643 slugging percentage but is hitting the ball hard enough for .751. At a lower level, the Athletics’ Christian Bethancourt is slugging only .396, but data suggests a whopping .585. The Cubs’ Willson Contreras is at .494 instead of the expected .535.

And Abreu, with his 144-point slugging shortfall, been slugging without the rewards.

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