Second Thoughts

Kaminsky dings Cubs on history

Charlotte Hornets center Frank Kaminsky, a suburban Chicago native, got into a Twitter battle with the Chicago Cubs after wearing a Cubs jersey with Steve Bartman’s name on it before a preseason game against the Chicago Bulls.
Charlotte Hornets center Frank Kaminsky, a suburban Chicago native, got into a Twitter battle with the Chicago Cubs after wearing a Cubs jersey with Steve Bartman’s name on it before a preseason game against the Chicago Bulls.

Charlotte Hornets center Frank Kaminsky has done his best to bring some bad luck to the Chicago Cubs as they look to continue their playoff run.

Kaminsky showed up for Monday night's NBA preseason matchup with the Bulls in Chicago wearing a Steve Bartman Cubs jersey. The Cubs had a 3-0 lead over the Marlins and were five outs from making their first World Series since 1945 in the 2003 National League Championship Series when Bartman deflected a foul ball that left fielder Moises Alou was attempting to catch. The Cubs lost the game and the series.

Kaminsky grew up in suburban Chicago and is a fan of the Chicago White Sox.

The Cubs became aware of Kaminsky's jersey and took to Twitter to battle the former Wisconsin star, posting a GIF of a young Cubs fan dropping his hot dog, with the caption, "When the Frank is too salty."

Kaminsky responded to the Cubs' initial tweet with a GIF of the infamous foul ball that Alou could not grab.

The Cubs' response to the Alou-Bartman GIF: "Yawn. You already did that joke."

Kaminsky then posted a GIF of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw celebrating, tweeting, "Now I'm just mad at myself."

Then, the Cubs made a dig toward Kaminsky's loss with Wisconsin in the 2015 national championship game against Duke, showing a photo of Kaminsky with his hands behind his head.

"It's best not to dwell on a tough loss," the Cubs tweeted.

Kaminsky then brought up the Cubs' World Series drought, complete with a picture of Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis with his goat. Sianis was asked to leave Game 4 of the 1945 World Series against the Detroit Tigers at Wrigley Field because the smell of his goat, named Murphy, was bothering fans. He placed a curse on the Cubs to never win another World Series game at Wrigley Field.

"At least I haven't been dwelling for 108 years #GOAT," Kaminsky tweeted.

He said it

From Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer on the 1-5 Carolina Panthers:

"The Panthers are 1-5. They have a new identity. Like a bad driver's license picture, though, they feel like they can do better and want to start over," Fowler wrote.

"The Panthers' new identity is that of a losing team with a defense that has given up more than 460 yards passing in two of the past three weeks, with a side order of missed kicks, yellow flags and untimely turnovers thrown in.

"With a bye on Sunday, Panthers players will get the rest of the week off after a practice on Tuesday. The hope is that they will return with some semblance of a pass rush, which would help shore up a painfully bad secondary.

"The playoffs seem so far away now. The Panthers would just like to win a game.

"The easiest thing to do is quit," Panthers Coach Ron Rivera said. "Shoot -- we have 10 games to play.

"Those 10 games won't turn out any better than the first six, however, if Carolina can't figure out who it is."

Sports on 10/19/2016

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