Sox cap logo? It’s sorta real – even though some Sox fans wish it weren’t

The new film “Straight Outta Compton,” which purports to tell the story of the rap group N.W.A., is the latest bit of national attention destined to infuriate certain of those people who call themselves Chicago White Sox fans.


Who would have believed this historically-accurate cap

For the film included scenes that showed characters wearing Chicago White Sox caps – as in the black with the Olde English style “Sox” lettering that has been in use by the ball club for the past 25 seasons.

THE PROBLEM? IT’S that the scenes where those characters are wearing the Sox caps were in the early part of the film set in 1986 – which was 29 years ago.

Back in ’86 (when a chant of “Harold, Harold” on the South Side could mean either Baines or Washington), the White Sox wore those red, white and blue caps with “Sox” spelled out in block lettering.

Trust me. No self-respecting rapper or anyone interested in showing “ghetto-like” style would ever have worn such a cap!

There are those people who are now trying to trash on the film because of this one gaffe – which was probably meant to be a moment of accuracy in the film.

BECAUSE THE TRUTH is that when the White Sox adopted their current uniform design (timed for the opening of their new stadium in 1991), it became a trendy piece of headwear for the rap scene. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen photographs of rappers wearing “Sox” caps.

I’m told it is the color scheme – the solid black with white lettering. A certain bold statement without being too garish. Which is much the same reason that New York Yankees caps also are popular (even though that team’s dark blue is easily mistaken for black).

Actor Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E

I doubt there really are many fans of the Chicago White Sox among rap music fans. I usually presume that most of the people who wear ball caps these days have little interest in the actual teams themselves, or even baseball!

But I’m sure whoever did the costuming for “Straight Outta Compton” thought they were paying extra attention to detail by having a White Sox cap in the mix.

IF ONLY THAT one particular scene had been set a little later in the film, there wouldn’t have been any reason to question it. It would have been totally appropriate.

Which I know bothers some White Sox fans – although I personally think there are more important things for people to get upset about.

The real Eazy-E

Some would just as soon have no association with rap music – which I don’t particularly listen to (I’d rather hear Billie Holliday or Miles Davis anytime). But I also wonder if those people are really saying more about their own racial hang-ups rather than the music.

It was interesting to read the statement the White Sox themselves released about the alleged controversy – admitting that no one had seen the film yet, but also acknowledging a touch of pride that their logo got included in a nationally-distributed film.

“THE POPULAR BLACK and white look immediately enjoyed cross-cultural appeal,” the team said, according to the Chicago Tribune, while also acknowledging N.W.A., Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar who all incorporated the Olde English “Sox” in their look.

My own Olde English is from the '05 World Series

There’s really nothing that could have been done to avoid this controversy – unless you want the film to not have its characters wear anything with the White Sox logo. Perhaps clad them all in Oakland (or Los Angeles) Raiders gear; which shared the same color scheme.

Except then, we’d probably be hearing from Sox fans about how their favorite club’s gear was being snubbed by Hollywood.

Some people are probably going to complain no matter what is done!

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EXTRA: Blagojevich off to SCOTUS, will they care to hear his appeal?

BLAGOJEVICH: Appeal, not he, off to D.C.

“Petition for rehearing is therefore DENIED!”

That was the bottom line for the docket entry Wednesday connected to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s ongoing attempts to get out of prison without having to serve that 14-year sentence he received back in 2012.

EARLIER THIS MONTH, Blagojevich asked the full Court of Appeals in Chicago to reconsider his case – even though a three-judge panel had already struck down a few charges, but left enough intact that he’s still going to have to do more prison time.

It was considered by legal experts to be a long-shot, and it really was. All three judges on the panel voted “no” to the idea of further reconsideration, and none of the other justices based in Chicago felt the need to overrule them.

It’s good to be the king, or an appeals court judge, it seems. It would have taken an egregious error to get something overturned. And it’s not like anyone had to give a reason for being opposed to rehearing Blagojevich’s case. There are no tea leaves to be read in this case as to why it didn't happen.

So Blagojevich remains incarcerated in Colorado, with plans to take his case to the Supreme Court of the United States. He will be one of thousands of cases that get filed to the nation’s high court each year on a myriad of issues -- or from people who can't accept the verdict they received from a trial judge who try to claim some high-minded legal concept is at stake.

SCALIA: Will former U.Chicago Law prof care?

BUT WILL HE be amongst the few dozen that the court even bothers to accept? Let alone hear oral arguments on and ultimately rule in their favor?

Somehow, I suspect we have a better chance of hearing Antonin Scalia confess how wrong he was in his opposition to gay marriage before any of the justices feels compelled to give Blagojevich a second thought!

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When will pop become verboten?

I can remember the day when those “The Real Cost” television spots that portray cigarette smoking as a disgusting, vile and all-around grotesque habit would have been considered downright subversive.

Satchel avoided fried foods, should he lose the pop bottle?

It is the changing attitude of our society that those who smoke are now looked upon as weak-willed and spineless – otherwise they’d have no problem quitting something that is going to wind up rotting away their lungs.

NOW IN MY case, that is one habit I never managed to acquire. Something about the smell just always turned me off.

But I am a person who enjoys the occasional Coca-Cola. Or a 7-Up or Dr. Pepper from time to time.

I always suspected that too much in the way of carbonated beverages probably wasn’t good for one’s health. Then again, too much of any one thing isn’t good. Balance, and moderation, are the keys to truly taking care of oneself.

But I now wonder how long it will be before those vintage television spots of young people singing how they’d “like to buy the world a Coke” will seem as ridiculous and absurd as those old cigarette ads that purported to have medical doctors endorsing specific tobacco products.

THINK I’M KIDDING? My thought is reinforced by the fact that the people at City Hall are contemplating a penny-per-ounce tax hike on syrups and powders, along with canned and bottled drinks.

It used to be thought of as healthy and refreshing

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Illinois Restaurant Association is planning a lobbying effort against the tax hike – pointing out there already are two other taxes that apply to soft drinks.

Those include a 9 percent fountain drink tax on syrup and a 3 percent tax on cans and bottles.

The restaurant association contends that bolstering the cost of that 2-liter bottle of pop or can of Coke will wind up hurting sales to the point that people will wind up losing their jobs. Raising this tax to bolster municipal revenues will wind up doing greater harm to the economy – or so the association says.

The future of pop advertising?

WHICH STRIKES ME as being similar to the arguments that get made whenever a government entity decides it needs to raise money by raising the taxes on tobacco products – which already make the cost of buying a pack of cigarettes much higher in Chicago than anywhere else!

We hear how it is defeatist because raising the price of cigarettes will make them too expensive, and wind up backfiring against the level of revenue that is expected to be raised.

We also hear how we’d be doing society a greater favor by discouraging some people from smoking in the first place. Are we going to start hearing talk about how we’re bolstering the health of Chicagoans by making them want to drink something other than pop?

How long will it be before some people start claiming it is some sort of Constitutionally-protected Freedom of Expression (as in the First Amendment) to drink Coca-Cola without being told how bad it is for them?

OR IN THE case of some deluded people, their Pepsi Cola (which was just always too sweet for my own taste).

I realize the level of sugar that goes into a serving of pop can be fattening. Although I think the key to dealing with it is more exercise. Or perhaps more doses of ice-chilled water – which I’ll admit to personally enjoying just because I always feel like it helps to clean out my insides.

How long will it be before some advocacy group takes up the cause of carbonated beverages, depicting their drinkers as being some sort of rotting-away bumpkins who guzzle down too much “sodee?”

Or maybe they’ll dig one-time Pittsburgh Steeler “Mean Joe” Greene out of retirement to make a commercial where he denounces that day where he ever took that kid’s bottle of Coke?

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Presidential candidate packs looking ridiculously nondescript these days

I have to make a confession – I am a political writer who finds the upcoming election cycle for U.S. president to have the potential to be an absolute dud.

The upcoming presidential candidate field ...

Much has been made of the fact that the Republican field of presidential dreamers is overloaded with a pack of guys (and one woman, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina) who have strong enough flaws that a blowhard like Donald Trump actually has the lead in various polls.

THEN AGAIN, WHEN there are 17 candidates who have expressed interest, it doesn’t take much support to have the lead. It could easily turn out that the bulk of GOP voters turn against Trump – who may already have all the support he’s going to get.

But I don’t exactly think that Democrats have any wrap on the general election coming up in just under 15 months.

It may well be that one-time first lady and Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton gets the party’s nomination, only to have all the past negativity that existed toward the Clinton name (both her and former president Bill) come back to whack her.

Take her down and make it possible for a flawed Republican to win the general election.

I HONESTLY BELIEVE that Trump and his over-bloated ego are intense enough that he’s going to be an Election Day factor. I see him more as the independent campaign because he won’t want no stinkin’ political party telling him what he ought to do!

My bottom line is that I don’t have a clue as to who could win. Clinton for the Dems, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for the GOP and Trump as the “none of the above” kind of candidate?

... has all the potential to be something  ...

It could happen. But who’s to say?

To me, the biggest question is the Democratic field. I find it intriguing that the two challengers with the strongest chance of beating Hillary are a pair of guys who aren’t even amongst the unofficial five candidates currently seeking the post.

IT IS ODD that the sitting Vice President isn’t among the five. Although I’m not sure Joe Biden is that strong a candidate. He ought to feel fortunate that the scandals of a couple of decades ago that damaged his political reputation seem to have been erased by him being Barack Obama’s “number two” guy.

And as for former Vice President Al Gore? He had his chance 15 years ago. Which is why I’m glad he’s not actively seeking the post.

Yet those two are bigger names and would draw stronger support than the other four Dems wishing to take on Clinton.

... only political geeks care about

I find the thought of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who campaigned in Chicago Monday night, to be intriguing – in the same way that Paul Tsongas (the former Massachusetts senator) was a curious sight for about five minutes before he faded away into obscurity.

AS FOR THE other Democrats – former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chaffee – they may not be as strong as Sanders.

All of those “formers” included in their political descriptions make them sound like a batch of guys running for president because they have nothing better to do now. They need a job, and a place to live – both of which come along with the “presidential” title.

OBAMA: Not appreciated now

The only thing that may be as weak as the Republican candidate field is the Democratic one – maybe not as buffoonish, but still not the best of choices.

Which could well be the factual basis behind President Obama’s off-the-cuff comment from last month that he could “win a third term if I ran again.” More a sad commentary on the weak crop of candidates we have now; or evidence that we won’t appreciate Obama’s presidency until it is over and done with.

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Little League World Series won’t give us same thrills this year, regardless

Even without the stink that lingers over the Jackie Robinson West youth baseball league, there wouldn’t have been as much interest in the Little League World Series that begins later this week.

Back when it was a sports story, and NOT a court story

For there won’t be any kind of local angle to the event this year. For 2015, the best team from Illinois was one from the Little League program in Olney – an out-of-the-way community in the far southeastern portion of the state.

AS IT TURNS out, the Olney team managed to get knocked out during the qualifying rounds. They won’t even be close to Williamsport, Pa., when the 10-day tourney begins Thursday.

There won’t be anyone local for us to cheer for.

The champs from the Roseland/Morgan Park neighborhoods who also had players from scattered south suburban communities definitely won’t be anywhere to be seen.

Not even in any way to be remembered as the defending U.S. champions (who could have been “world” champs if they could have beat that ball club from Seoul, South Korea in the final game).

FOR LET’S NOT forget that 2014 is going to be the tourney that goes into the books with re-written history – less concerned with what actually took place on the ball field. Which makes it go against the very nature of sports – where on-field activity is usually all that matters.

There will be that team from the Las Vegas, Nev., area that couldn’t beat the boys of the Far South Side on the field, but will be regarded as the U.S. champions regardless.

Even though anyone who actually watched last year’s Little League World Series remembers that the big stories were the outstanding play of the boys from the Far South Side and surrounding suburbs and that girl who pitched outstandingly for the team from the suburbs of Philadelphia.
 

Another story not likely to be matched this year

In fact, a whole chain of teams that didn’t win, but are now regarded as “winners” because of the efforts to pretend that what wasn’t really was.

NOW I KNOW some people are determined to think that a major deceit took place last year. There have been recent reports indicating that only six of the dozen ballplayers on that Jackie Robinson West team that represented the Great Lakes region were legitimately from the neighborhoods that the league covers.

Although I also remember that no one ever tried to cover up the fact that many of the kids were from nearby suburbs – in many cases with one parent living in the suburb and another living within the Chicago neighborhood.

Or in some cases where they had moved to a new neighborhood, but preferred to stay in the Jackie Robinson West program that has been an elite amongst city-based youth baseball leagues.

I suspect that the Little League programs in those suburbs are jealous that they couldn’t attract those kids to want to play ball in their new home communities. That jealousy has enough of a stink that I have a hard time getting too worked up over the Jackie Robinson West program.

THERE WAS TALK of having the Jackie Robinson West program break away from Little League proper; perhaps joining the Cal Ripken Baseball program or some other league that would accept them on the terms they operate under.

A part of me does wonder if what really bothers some people is that the public attention last year went to Mo’ne Davis (the pre-teen pitcher) and the Jackie Robinson West kids – who happened to be the few African-American ballplayers in what was largely a lily-white tourney.

I’m sure some think the fact that some praised those kids was somehow detracting attention from other kids they would have preferred to get the publicity. As far as I can tell, this year’s Little League World Series might well be closer to their liking.

Which might also make it less worthwhile to watch!

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A marijuana expert? Or just being politically contrarian, Rauner is!

What should we make of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto Friday of a bill meant to reduce the penalties people would face for possession of small amounts of marijuana?

Lege will quarrel this fall over 5 grams

Is our governor some sort of expert in the scientific propensities of pot? Does he comprehend the effects of “Mary Jane” in ways that we mere mortals do not? Is he protecting us from our worst instincts?

OR IS RAUNER merely being contrarian, saying “no” because he can?

I’m inclined to think the latter, mostly because he seems to want to keep elements of the mentality that marijuana is some serious criminal offense – rather than just an addictive substance that weak people can let get the best of themselves.

Just like alcohol, if you want to know the truth. But while the majority of society realizes that “prohibition” was an absurd mistake our society engaged in nearly a century ago, there are those of us who seem determined to want to think of pot as a crime.

Something that ought to be punished by locking people up for as long as possible! Personally, I think it is because there are those in our society who want to think of marijuana as a “hippie” drug – and they want to punish the image to keep the "hard hats" and "flat-tops" happy.

THAT MENTALITY REALLY does nothing but clutter our prisons, jails and court systems with people who ought not to have to face such charges.

Which is what inspired the Illinois General Assembly to approve a bill that lessened penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Possession of that single joint or two wouldn’t be a criminal offense in and of itself.

But Rauner issued the amendatory veto, suggesting changes that are meant to make the measure more restrictive.

The Legislature’s version called for anyone caught with under 15 grams of marijuana to merely pay a fine without having to go to court. Fines would top out at $125.

RAUNER, HOWEVER, CLAIMS he thinks the standard should be 10 grams, and that the fines ought to go as high as $200.

Does anyone seriously believe there’s a significant difference? That the additional 5 grams (which could be enough “grass” for about six or seven hand-made pot-stuffed cigarettes) is somehow a difference that makes it worth the time and effort for police and prosecutors to lock someone up and clutter up the court system with more and more of these cheap cases – all to create an image of “law and order” that really doesn’t do a thing to make our society any more safe?

Rauner may have made his millions that could allow him to buy a more sympathetic General Assembly in coming years. But that doesn’t make him an expert in the law, or in narcotics.

It will be interesting to see how this situation resolves itself. Will Rauner’s changes be permitted to stand? Or will the General Assembly feel compelled to take their original version they approved earlier his year and ram them down the governor’s throat?

I WOULDN’T BE surprised to see if it turns out to be the latter. This is a veto-proof majority for Democrats in both chambers of the Illinois Legislature. Over-riding the governor on this seems like a rather mild gesture of rebellion by them against all the hostile rhetoric related to the failure of the sides to agree on a state budget.

And in the end, it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference in the way police handle the people they encounter who are a little too toasted to comprehend what is happening around them.

Although if we’re going to make a point of toughening up laws that are meant to acknowledge that the current drug laws are a bit too tough, then perhaps another Rauner action on Friday is timely – the governor signed into law a measure that declares pumpkin pie to be the Official State Pie of Illinois.

Something to satisfy that craving for junk food one might sense if they smoke that extra 5 grams of pot that Rauner thinks elevates the offense to a higher standard of crime!

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Lenell cookies a new lost icon, just like Magikist lips or Empire Carpet guy

“If you like the cookies, the story I’ll tell,
About a fine baker, named Maurice Lenell.

“He came here from Sweden, to bake and to sell,

The wonderful cookies, of Maurice Lenell.

“One taste will tell, that Maurice Lenell, cookies are just simply … good!”

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Soon to be no more!

Now, it’s just an advertising jingle relegated to the junk yards of our minds that are cluttered with all sorts of trivia collected through our lives. Maurice Lenell cookies will soon be no more.

The company that has been producing them in recent years has decided it’s no longer financially worth their time or effort to do so.

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE reported Thursday that the current supply of Lenell-brand cookies in places like The Cookie Store and More are it – there will be no replenishment of supplies once they run out.

Although it should be pointed out that the Lenell family that founded the company in the 1920s with a bakery that expanded greatly throughout the years sold their financial interest back in 1985. The new owners closed the iconic company’s factory on Harlem Avenue in suburban Norridge in 2007.

Which for one summer back some three decades ago I actually lived near. It always shocked me to learn the number of people who thought it cool to live near the real-life Maurice Lenell factory. Yes, I am old enough to remember the smell of the cookies baking when one passed through the neighborhood.

It has been quite a while since Lenell cookies were something you could easily find on your store shelves. They had become something that certain people would scavenge stores for – just like Faygo root beer – to bring back some sort of childhood memories.

How do people give directions now w/o the Lips?

MY OWN MEMORY of the company go back to that advertising jingle that was featured in television spots that aired on many programs that were geared toward Chicago-area children.

Such as Ray Rayner or Garfield Goose. Or as my brother, Chris, recalls, a sizable supply of Lenell-brand cookies were among the prizes offered on Bozo’s Circus for those individuals fortunate enough to get a chance to play the Grand Prize Game (I went to grammar school with one such girl – she washed out on Bucket Number Three).

Which is why, as I write this, I can’t get that jingle out of my head. I may have to torture myself with something by Culture Club or the 1910 Fruitgum Company to force it out of there.

It has been awhile since we've seen Hauldren's real image on television

Perhaps it is just a desire to hang on to portions of the Chicago of my youth – some of which probably make no sense to the younger generation. Just as how I always expect to see that whitewashed brick colossus as I approach 35^th Street on the Dan Ryan Expressway – only to realize Comiskey Park was torn down 25 years ago.

THE JINGLE WILL go along with another iconic image that used to exist on the Dan Ryan – the Magikist carpet cleaning company that hasn’t been in business since 2001.

Remember those giant red lips that lit up there, along with locations along the Eisenhower and Edens expressways? How many people used to give directions to their homes by telling people how far they lived from the lips?

Which would make us think those people were imbibing a bit too much on the cooking sherry, until we drove into their neighborhoods and suddenly saw those giant lips hovering over us? Then, it made sense.

I’ll have to confess to sensing a gaping hole, of sorts, at 85^th Street when I no longer see those lips looking down on me as I pass by on the Dan Ryan.

JUST AS IT also seems odd whenever we see the animated image of Lynn Hauldren in the television commercials for Empire Today. The real-life Hauldren when he was alive was the Empire Carpet Guy, whose company could easily be reached at 588-2300.

Bring back real Sanders image?

In fact, I suspect most of you had no clue who I was talking about until I gave the company’s telephone number – which you’re probably now singing in your own minds.

Yet another iconic image from Chicago’s past that continues on.

Although definitely not as lame (my brother insists “creepy” is the proper word) as actor Darrell Hammond’s attempt bring life to Col. Sanders. That would be one image we’d all be better off forgetting!

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