Second Thoughts

Hate the Cubs? Get free beer

Phil Mickelson (right) wasn’t lacking confidence despite an odd penalty suffered on Day 2 of Presidents Cup competition.
Phil Mickelson (right) wasn’t lacking confidence despite an odd penalty suffered on Day 2 of Presidents Cup competition.

Hate the Chicago Cubs but love free beer?

A bar on Chiacago's South Side has got it covered. McNally's, a bar notorious for taunting the Cubs, is giving out free beer any time the St. Louis Cardinals hit a home run against the club during the National League division series.

This is far from the first time McNally's has taken a shot at the team from the North Side, according to DNAInfo.com. Shortly after Jake Arrieta shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL wild-card game, the bar featured a sign reading, "Cub Fans, Who's Gonna Pitch Now?" Inside the bar, a picture of the Wrigley Field marquee displaying "Congratulations to the 2005 Chicago White Sox" is prominently displayed.

The relationship between fans of the two teams is somewhat complicated. There's certainly a rivalry, but the franchises don't play enough to really make either team a hated competitor. Still, the fact that there are two teams in one city is enough to make some fans refuse to root for the other club.

While the free beer promotion will alienate certain fans, it's not mean-spirited. They won't parade a goat through the bar if the Cubs are losing, and they aren't passing out Steve Bartman glasses during games. Nope, the reward for watching the games is free beer.

So bitter White Sox fans (or happy Cardinals fans) finally have a place in Chicago to gather and enjoy during the postseason. It's rare for fans of Chicago and St. Louis to come together for the same cause, but McNally's has found a way.

Best not good enough

A rules violation for playing a different ball in his Day 2 match at the Presidents Cup wound up costing Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson two holes. The duo never quite recovered from the odd penalty, halving their match with Jason Day and Adam Scott as the International Team rallied to make this a competitive event heading into the weekend.

When Mickelson assessed the match afterward, he put a cocky, yet positive spin on the outcome.

"I feel like we spotted the Internationals' best team two holes, and they still couldn't beat us. Just saying."

Who's your caddie?

It's not an every day thing that a caddie fires his player, but that's what veteran looper John McLaren did to former world No. 1 Luke Donald after a six-year relationship.

The pair are no longer together, and it came as a shock to Donald.

"It was more his decision than mine," Donald said after an opening-round 67 at the British Masters on Thursday, according to the Daily Mirror. "I was a little surprised."

McLaren was vague in explaining his decision.

"I just felt that it had run its course," he said. "There were just a couple of things that I don't need to go into that made me feel it was time for a change."

Donald, who began the year ranked 33rd in the world, is now 66th. He stopped working with his collegiate golf coach, Pat Goss, in 2014 to work with Chuck Cook.

In November 2014, Donald returned to Goss and has been playing better golf throughout the second half of the year. Until missing the cut at last week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Donald had made his past 12 worldwide cuts in a row.

So what is Donald looking for in a new caddie?

He said, "Now I am looking for someone who is energetic, upbeat and brings a good energy to the round."

QUIZ

What year did Luke Donald finish as No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings?

ANSWER

2011

Sports on 10/10/2015

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