Column: A potential Christmas Eve miracle, an edible bowl mascot and other sports topics to debate in December

I asked my local AI story generator to write a Sunday column on some of my favorite topics from the sports world, saving me from wasting several hours scouring the internet.

But all it came back with was Pat McAfee-related gibberish, forcing me back to the drawing board with eight non-McAfee things to debate in December.

1. The NFL could ring out the year with a special holiday treat. The return of New York Jets savior Aaron Rodgers from his torn left Achilles tendon could be Dec. 24 against the Washington Commanders. Rodgers reportedly has targeted that date, or so he told the aforementioned podcaster and wacky ESPN personality, assuming the quarterback is healthy and the Jets are still alive for a playoff spot.

Christmas Eve seems like a perfect date for a “miracle” return that no doubt would be compared to a similar comeback story by you know who. As for all the Rodgers haters, it looks like Festivus for the rest of us.

2. When an athlete apologizes without saying what he or she is apologizing for, it often is followed with a vow to get treatment for either a mental health issue, substance abuse dependency or both. Former Chicago Blackhawks veteran Corey Perry followed the script last week after the team let him go for “workplace misconduct,” saying he has started “working with experts in the mental health and substance abuse fields to discuss my struggles with alcohol” and adding he would “take whatever steps necessary to ensure this never happens again.”

So what was it that hopefully will never happen again? He’s not saying. Did Perry suffer from mental health or substance abuse issues before he signed with the Hawks, and no one vetted it? We’ll never know.

Hawks coach Luke Richardson said he didn’t “second guess” his recommendation to bring Perry into the rebuild. He should. Sometimes a bad signing must be acknowledged, as former Cubs GM Jim Hendry did after the ill-fated Milton Bradley experiment in 2009.

3. Two small news items placed next to each other in the briefs Wednesday said a lot about the state of the business of sports. Starter Luis Severino signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the New York Mets, and NBA owner Mark Cuban agreed to sell a majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks in the valuation range of $3.5 billion.

Mediocrity rules!

Severino posted a 6.65 ERA in 19 games with the New York Yankees, but Lance Lynn set the floor for bad starters salaries with his one-year, $10 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Cuban’s Mavericks have missed the playoffs five of the last 12 seasons and lost in the first round in six of them.

There never has been a better time to be an owner or professional athlete.

4. In a shocking twist, Cuban would still retain control of the basketball operations and get his billions too. Sounds like a great plan for Cuban’s old nemesis, White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who could pacify Sox fans by finally selling the team, then continue to annoy them by retaining control and making the same bad personnel decisions.

5. Former Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella learns Sunday whether he will be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the 16-member Contemporary Era committee voting on managers, executives and umpires. Piniella needs 12 of 16 votes for induction and is vying for Cooperstown on the same ballot as Jim Leyland, Cito Gaston, Joe West and four others.

Former Cubs President Andy MacPhail, who resigned before Piniella’s arrival in 2006, is among the committee voters. When he was last on one of the Hall’s special committee ballot in 2018, competing against players on the Today’s Game Era ballot, Piniella fell one vote shy of election. Two players, Lee Smith and Harold Baines, were selected that year, and the Hall later restructured the process by separating players from the others.

In a rare show of support, five organizations with whom Piniella either played or managed — the Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Red and Tampa Bay Rays — touted his candidacy in a joint letter featuring statements by team executives.

“Along with his wins on the field, Lou was a fan favorite whose knowledge and feel for the game were complimented by his passion and emotions that he wore on his sleeve,” Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney wrote.

Notably absent among the teams was the New York Yankees, with whom Piniella played and managed under owner George Steinbrenner and later worked as a broadcaster for their YES Network.

6. NBC Sports Chicago announced the first of 10 “Hawkcast” telecasts will be aired Tuesday on their NBCSC-plus channel. The Hawks-Nashville Predators game will be on NBCSC, while according to a release the Hawkcast will feature “a dedicated camera solely focused on select Blackhawks players, including rookie sensation Connor Bedard.”

Not sure why they don’t just call it the “Connorcast” and forget about focusing on any other Hawks players. In case you’re wondering, there are no plans on a “Kylecast” focusing on GM “Kyle from Chicago” Davidson.

7. The NBA’s In-Season Tournament reaches the knockout round Monday, in case you are still paying attention. Somehow the Los Angeles Lakers are in it, playing the unfamiliar role of Fairleigh Dickenson against the Phoenix Suns in a quarterfinal game.

8. The Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 28 in Orlando, Fla., will feature a mascot that the sponsors hope players from the winning team will eat after the breakfast pastry mascot spends hours sweating on the field. Officials from the defunct Weed-Eater Independence Bowl are slapping their foreheads and wondering why they didn’t think of that first.