Smoke Break

Memories Are Made Of This

Warm sentiments of yesteryear are nice. The memories bring you back to a time where you didn’t worry about your heart stopping as the second grease-coated pickle from a Quarter Pounder eased its way through your digestive tract. The below-the-belt, above-the-knees chicken pox after an expensive night in Vegas was a far-off reality.

Our feckless (and wart-less) youth was a simpler time. Your Will Perdue autograph meant something. Now it means you spent too much time speaking with Will Perdue.

Those memories form the foundation of how we perceive sports, but it is only that, a foundation. The memories should not overwhelm our ideas or of today.

So it is somewhat disconcerting that emotional thinkers want to revert back to their youth, keep the image of their favorite superstars in plastic and do little to unsettle the idea of what was.

At least that’s the unease bandied about by some when Ryne Sandberg’s name is brought up as a possible replacement to Lou Piniella.

This unease is in large part due to the John Paxson situation. Some feel that the underachieving and the gun-shy trading inactivity of the Bulls General Manager has diminished their memories of him as a player. In my village, we call those people idiots.

Granted, Sandberg was much more of a vital element to the modicum of success the Cubs had than Paxson was to the Bulls first three NBA Championships (just don’t tell that to white females over the age of 40), but why let the past come in the way of destroying possible success in the future?

When it’s last call for Piniella (throw in your own witty comment here) let Sandberg take over if he gives the team the best chance to win.

If he wins, the town is his. A world-class player turned world-class manager turns a team into a World Series Champion.

If he fails, discard him like Don Baylor, toss him into the trash like Jim Riggleman or give him a “we don’t know what to call you but you need to work for us because our organization needs to save face” title that Billy Williams has whistled for the past two decades when people ask him what he does.

The Blackhawks dismissed Dennis Savard at the beginning of the season. He helped the franchise climb out of obscurity, but the organization believed Savard had brought the team as far along as he could. He now holds a Miss America type job with the Hawks where waving is his primary job.

The firing raised the ire of some at first, but the predominant desire to win took over. It always does. Winning trumps everything.

Everything except that case of chicken pox. You might want to get that checked out.