November 1 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of legendary Bears running back Walter Payton. To honor both the anniversary of his death as well as his life, Payton’s family and the Chicago Bears hoped to pay tribute to the man by erecting a 6-foot bronze statue outside of Soldier Field.
Sounds kind of awesome, right? Wrigley Field has Ernie Banks. The United Center has Michael Jordan. Why shouldn’t Soldier Field have Sweetness?
By now you must be at least vaguely familiar with the legend of Babe Ruth calling his shot in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series (if you’re not familiar with the legend, it’s weird that you’re reading this blog, no?). The film stills shown above supposedly capture Ruth calling his shot and then taunting the Cubs’ dugout as he rounds the bases. Most believe Ruth never actually called his shot. It goes to show, tell a tale long enough, the truth no longer matters.

On Tuesday, Arizona’s Mark Reynolds broke the single-season strikeout mark, a record he first set last year. This season, he’s also substantially increased his totals in every major offensive category including improving his OPS by over 150 points and more than doubling his steals total from last season. Oakland’s Jack Cust has led the AL in strikeouts for three straight years. He’s also led his team in home runs in each of those years and been among the team’s two highest producers of RBIs. Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard and D.C.’s Adam Dunn have struck out more than 160 times and cracked at least 40 home runs in each of the last four seasons.
Sidelines will take a minute to argue over the relevance of strikeouts in All-Stars and power-hitters.
Here’s a recap of the weirdest or most overlooked sports stories on the Interweb this week. Plus, as you’ve come to expect, tech geeks take it to the hoop.
Recently another high school team wiped the floor with their opponent, as the Chaminade-Madonna football squad beat the Pompano Beach team for an 83-0 finish.