Scoop Jackson

1 day ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Scoop Jackson

‘‘How a small-market NBA Finals affects the bottom line.” “Can small-market Finals teams punch above their weight in the ratings?” “History shows Pacers vs. Thunder may draw record-low ratings.”Those were just the headlines. And those were before Game 1. It has become a thing leading into the NBA’s latest iteration of its championship series.

1 week ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Scoop Jackson

Bend the knee. Last Sunday was the five-year observance (can’t really call it an anniversary, can we?) of the death, murder, publicground ‘‘lynching’’ of George Floyd. So last week I reflected. As many did. Reflected on the incident and the response. But, more important, on the nothing changed of it all. The racial hijacking of a movement and the reckoning of America wanting its country back.

2 weeks ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Scoop Jackson

What happens when a player separates himself from the balance? The Cubs, with their National League Central-leading start that is beginning to feel like something that will last through September, have elevated themselves to being one of the most-talked-about teams in baseball this season because of their balance. Especially at the plate. The stats don’t back it up (even as they lead the league in runs) the same way the ‘‘feel’’ does.

3 weeks ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Scoop Jackson

Dearest Caitlin:Welcome back to it. Season 2. Hope you’re ready. Seems like it. Your offseason regimen has you built and prepared for it. It would be nice if basketball was all you had to look forward to dealing with. But with you being the universally proclaimed “biggest draw in all of basketball” — the WNBA’s 48% jump in overall attendance can’t be denied — there’s unfortunately something beyond basketball to conquer. I’m sorry, confront and (wo)maneuver.

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Scoop Jackson

Entitled, arrogant, self-centered, pompous, punk, brash, cocky, off-putting, classless, an acquired taste. In his own words, ‘‘favored.’’ Then there’s the nepotism, full of inherited hubris, the sins of his father held against him, the dismissiveness of the whole predraft process, his middle-fingering of it all. The disrespect.