Sports Writer Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times

telander

Rick Telander biography

Rick Telander has been the lead sports columnist at the Sun-Times since April, 1995. He previously was a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and ESPN, …

Frank Deford’s latest book a must-read for those serious about sports journalism

Frank Deford has a mustache, and he has had it for a long time. ‘‘Since, I guess, the mustache era came in,’’ he says on the phone from his home in Connecticut. The facial hair is part of him now, but being the concerned, perceptive, …Read More
Rickettses show their true colors

The Ricketts family saddens me. I am sorry I ever said the city of Chicago or the people of Wrigleyville should sacrifice to help the owners of the Cubs build a better and more valuable team and Wrigley Field. I advocated that as recently as …Read More
Telander: Chicago’s affair with Kerry Wood defined by unreal promise, painful setbacks

It was the perfect way for Kerry Wood to go out: striking out the last batter he’ll ever face, on a filthy curveball, as the Cubs lost. ‘‘Bittersweet’’ comes to mind when reflecting on Wood’s 14-season major-league pitching career, 12 of those years in two …Read More

Search recent columns

More Columns

Telander: Mend but don’t break the magic of Wrigley Field

What do we do with Wrigley Field? And I say ‘‘we’’ because it is likely to be the Chicago taxpayers and fans of the Cubs who shoulder a fair portion of the cost of keeping the historic place from crumbling into rubble or becoming just …

Looking under the cover of Junior Seau’s suicide

Thoughts for the week: I’m kind of confused as to why former NFL linebacker Junior Seau’s suicide by gunshot to the chest got so much attention recently when safety Dave Duerson’s suicide by gunshot to the chest a little more than a year ago did …

Bulls host pity party in Philly

PHILADELPHIA — The Bulls were out of it. Then they were in it. Then they were . . . well, tied up at 63. And before you knew it, the end of the game was nigh, coach Tom Thibodeau called a timeout, called a play, and Bulls …

Junior Seau suicide signals inherent danger of football

The “paddle-out’’ Sunday with all those folks on surfboards in the Pacific near Junior Seau’s house in Oceanside, Calif., was a nice gesture for the deceased linebacker. Why, even his former teammate Drew Brees rode a long board out for the water-splashing ceremony. But none …

Prep all-star game: Hoops with a higher purpose

First off, it’s important to know there is violence in our inner-city world. Second, it’s very important to know that the beauty of sport, the joy of play, can help fight the mindlessness of gunshots, gangs, and drive-bys. Third, please remember the image of good …

John Lucas, Joakim Noah shine, then get erased

Sports are all about ‘‘what if,’’ aren’t they? So what if the wounded, out-of-sync Bulls can make it past the 76ers? Past, let’s say, the Celtics, then past the dominant Heat and on to ...? Absurd. But what if? Otherwise, we might as well roll …

Bulls must win and go home

The odds are against it, but the Bulls have a chance to win Game 6 Thursday against the 76ers in Philadelphia. This, obviously, is the Bulls’ biggest game of the season. Lose, and it’s over. All of us can cradle our heads and say, What …

Phil Emery’s first pick throws us a curve

Bears general manager Phil Emery said he was looking at “a core of about seven players’’ for the 19th pick in the first round of the draft. That could have meant anything from an offensive guard, tackle, wide receiver, to a defensive end, defensive tackle …

Michael Jordan is a disgrace as NBA owner

RICK TELANDER: Michael Jordan golfs, skis, goes to resorts, smokes cigars and looks beautiful. But he seems to stand for nothing. No charities, no statements about world issues, no cares beyond himself.

Telander: Delonte West’s ‘willy’ episode bound to make ears perk up

A lot of things happened this week in sports, but my interest needle went straight to premier NBA nut case Delonte West. In a game against the Utah Jazz, the Mavericks guard fouled Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward and then tracked him down, jammed his finger …Read More

Gary Bettman doesn’t have the guts to stop NHL’s head-hunters

RICK TELANDER: How did you like it, Gary Bettman? There it was, right in front of you — a man almost killed on the ice. Or maybe just paralyzed. You were in the stands at the United Center on Tuesday night, observing much the way a Roman emperor must have observed in heightened blood lust as his gladiators hacked away at slaves and lions.

Insanity of Chicago violence has some sporting challengers

It’s astounding what’s going on in this city, in front of our eyes. Citizens — mostly young, black males — are being shot to death at a rate that would define Chicago as a site of active international warfare, were it not a thriving community …Read More

Derrick Rose’s nemeses: The nicks

What are the Bulls in the playoffs without Derrick Rose? Is it possible we may have to find out? With only about two weeks left in the season — eight remaining games for the Bulls — it’s looking more and more as if Rose is …

Telander: Ozzie Guillen made complimentary remarks about Fidel Castro in 2008

RICK TELANDER: Obviously, baseball lifer Ozzie Guillen was given a mouth so he could put his foot into it. If he doesn’t have a forum to watch him do his acrobatic and outrageous comment stuff, it’s like a tree falling in a forest. There is a noise, just no ears. Thus, no apologies needed. Not so this time.

Telander: Cubs might have new brass, but this team looks like the same old losers

OK, Dale Sveum, Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer, Jason McLeod and all you other new boys in Cubs management —you get it now? This isn’t Boston, or Milwaukee, or even San Diego, some of your former MLB stops. This isn’t even, specifically, Chicago. (Two teams here, …

Bad end to first date for Cubs

RICK TELANDER: Opening Days are tricky. You don’t know whether to sing in joy because another spring is here, the grass is green and beer costs $7.50 a cup or to mope and be depressed because the Cubs lost. Again.