Sports Tonight: A call for unity during a rivalry

Now, this is what you call a rivalry.

When the Chicago Bears play the Green Bay Packers tonight (8:25 on the NFL Network), it will be the 195th meeting between the teams.

The all-time series stands at 94-94-6.

At times, the Packers were good when the Bears were bad, the Bears were good when the Packers were bad, both teams were good, and both teams were bad.

The equal record delivers on the old adage that you can throw the records when these teams get together.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is going to push the limits of the rivalry with the Bears by asking fans at Lambeau Field to join with the players on both teams by linking arms during the playing of the national anthem as a sign of unity.

Good luck with that.

Beyond wanting Packers fans to unite with Chicago's, Rodgers is asking them to unite with the players on something many of them don't agree with. President Trump has done a masterful job of spinning a few players' peaceful protest about racial inequality from law enforcement into a referendum on patriotism.

These sides are arguing with each other over two unrelated issues. The POTUS has blurred them into one political agenda – his own.

From someone's perspective, positive progress always has one or two negatives.

One downside to the racial integration of college football in the South is that it dealt a crushing blow to the quality of players Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) could successfully recruit.

Once Alabama, Texas and Georgia started ringing the doorbell, the knocking from Grambling, Southern and Florida A&M was drowned out. Exposure of HBCU programs usually came from being overmatched in paid-to-lose games against big-time opponents or somebody talking about their marching bands. The endless expansion of sports networks and their need for programming, however, has provided new venues for HBCU teams to get on television.

At 7:30 on ESPNU, Florida A&M will play North Carolina Central in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game. Florida A&M won the inaugural NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) playoffs in 1978, becoming the only HBCU team to win the title.

Under different circumstances, the fans at Citizens Bank Park might not have booed Jayson Werth during what might have been his last at-bat in Philadelphia, but staff writer Matt Gelb says the former Phillie enjoyed his time here.

It's Thursday and the Eagles writers have posted their predictions for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

The use of Native American names and imagery as athletic mascots has been a long-running debate. Staff writer Frank Fitzpatrick tells how a controversial image from Christianity is going away with less fanfare.

Combo guard Jerryd Bayless was never going to be an impact player for the Sixers as the starting point guard, but now that he is back in the role as the first guard off the bench, staff writer Keith Pompey says the veteran is poised to thrive.

Most first-time fathers have the same new-baby anxieties that Flyers goalie Brian Elliot experience. Of course, most aren't also worrying about performing in NHL games. Staff writer Sam Carchidi writes that the latest Flyers goalie is fully concentrating on being a positive addition to his new team.

The federal government didn't just come up with the charges against college basketball from nowhere. Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com explains how we arrived here.

It's hard to find updated news on the Los Angeles Chargers in L.A. because no one seems to care about them, but in San Diego, Tom Krasovic of the Union-Tribune gives five reasons the Bolts will beat the Eagles.

The sanctimonious loudmouths running the NCAA and athletic programs are the only ones "shocked" by latest scandal involving big money and college athletics.

About a week ago, the Wall Street Journal wrote a story that if the football programs at Ohio State, Texas and Oklahoma were professional teams, all would be valued at more than $1 billion. The average value of a program in the SEC would be $523 million.

Based on Forbes' valuations of NBA teams in February, Ohio State football would be in the Top 10, while Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama and LSU would be in the Top 20.

Ohio State and Texas would top the NHL.

You can be sure that top basketball programs such as Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas would have similar values.

That is not amateur athletics. That's multibillion-dollar corporation under the guise of student athletics.

As long as the NCAA continues to deny what it is and doesn't institute legitimate structural reforms, it will remain open to more corruption.

NFL
Bears at Packers, 8:25 p.m. (CBS3, NFL Network)

Baseball
Reds at Brewers, 4 p.m. (MLB Network)

Preseason Hockey
Bruins at Flyers, 7 p.m. (CSN; WPEN-FM 97.5)
Blackhawks at Red Wings, 7:30 p.m. (NHL Network)
Coyotes at Kings, 10:30 p.m. (NHL Network)

College Football
North Carolina Central at Florida A&M, 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Texas at Iowa State, 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Golf on Golf Channel
LPGA: New Zealand Open, 3 a.m. Friday
European PGA: British Masters, 4:30 a.m. Friday

Auto Racing
Formula One: Malaysia Grand Prix practice, 3 a.m. Friday (NBC-SN)

High School Football
Central Bucks South at North Penn, 7 p.m. (WNPV-AM 1440)
Ryan (Texas) at Denton (Texas), 8 p.m. (ESPN2)

Preseason Hockey
Flyers vs. Bruins, 7 p.m., Wells Fargo Center