White Sox See Success Swept Under the Rug

Skip Bayless of the Chicago Tribune, commenting on the White Sox being swept by Seattle in the American League division series:

“So Chicago in general was right all along. The fans who never bought into this team enough to regularly buy tickets are now saying, ‘Told you so.’

“In the time it takes to shrug, these 95-win White Sox are unmemorable history. As summers pass it will become increasingly harder to remember which year the un-nicknamed Sox ran away with their division.”

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More White Sox: Jay Mariotti in the Chicago Sun-Times: “The White Sox were not built for October. They were a regular-season mirage, their flaws and lack of savvy masked behind mighty biceps and big innings.

“The playoffs are a different animal, a meticulous and thorough exercise predicated on defense, pitching and thinking.”

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Trivia time: What league championship series record did Will Clark set while playing for the San Francisco Giants in 1989?

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Monkey business: Billy Ray Smith of “NFL This Morning” on Fox Sports Net, commenting on referee mishaps in a recent Pittsburgh Steeler game:

“Now, they will be detecting [taunting] poses this week. They can’t detect touchdowns or sacks. They don’t know the rules. I’d rather have a monkey with an Etch-a-Sketch than a referee in front of a replay monitor.”

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Dangerous: St. Louis catcher Mike Matheny cut two tendons and a nerve in his right ring finger while holding a hunting knife. Said Michael Ventre of MSNBC: “It was a good thing he wasn’t given a chain saw.”

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Sleep it off? Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune: “The NHL has formed a committee of players, executives and doctors to determine how they can cut the alarming number of concussions. The problem is not new. Even in the old days players had concussions.

“ ‘Except,’ said St. Louis scout Bob Plager, ‘we thought they were hangovers.’ ”

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We wuz robbed: From Jay Leno: “The Olympic ratings were so low that in Salt Lake City for the Winter Games, they are already asking for their bribe money back.”

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FYI: If USC loses to Oregon on Saturday, it will be the first time the Trojans have started 0-3 in conference play since 1957. The only other time was 1935.

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Looking back: On this day in 1993, Carey Bender rushed 33 times for 417 yards, setting an NCAA all-division rushing record in Coe’s 69-7 Division III victory over Grinnell.

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Trivia answer: He had six RBIs in a game against the Chicago Cubs.

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And finally: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “My, they’re getting cocky in St. Louis. Says Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

“ ‘If scoring touchdowns gets any easier for the Rams, will we start to see lawn chairs, chips and Weber grills in the Rams’ offensive huddle?’ ”