Final Thoughts on Chicago Sports

Ryno

Ryne Sandberg had his #23 jersey retired today, and this Cubs fan was happy to be in attendance.  The seats were pretty much the worst in the house, but that didn't matter as it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.   Ryno was my favorite player growing up.  Of course, he was the favorite of every Chicagoan around my age, so that's not so shocking.  (Even Sox fans like Perry!)  My earliest Cubs memories include his 1984 NL MVP award, his nine Gold Gloves, ten All-Star games, forty homers in 1990 (when 40 meant something).... It was just his quiet professionalism, the way he made spectacular plays look routine, hustling on every play, and turning Waveland Avenue into his own personal landing pad.  He was the anti-showboat.  We need more Rynos in the world today, the age of T.O. 

After the ceremony, the Cubs won a laugher over the Marlins, 14-3.  Carlos Zambrano and (2003 NLCS Cub Nemesis) Josh Beckett were engaged in bit of a pitchers duel, until Zambrano led of the bottom of the seventh with a triple.  In comes fan favorite Antonio Alfonseca, and the Cubs go on to score 9 unanswered runs.  Fun game.  It didn't really mean anything, but it was fun nonetheless. 

Here's a few pictures I took of Ryno from the Uecker Seats:

Bears Bits

Benson signs!  Hallelujah!  Now we can get on with the rest of our lives.  The question now is, when will he be ready for extended duty?  My guess is he won't dress for their final exhibition game this Thursday night.  It wouldn't be wise to thrust someone into action after just three days of practice, and the new strength coach we've been hearing about probably won't allow it.  Might as well hold him back this week and possibly keep him inactive for week one even against the Skins.  By week two, he should be ready for some carries.  If he shows anything, then they'll likely increase his role.  So after massive holdout, the “For Sale” sign on his house, the weeks of silence...it doesn't appear he got any more money from the Bears and he's likely cost himself the first two games of his career.  Good job.

Kyle Orton has officially been named the starter.  Jeff Blake is second, and Kurt Kittner currently sits third. Hutchinson is off the depth chart and will likely be released.  I called for it yesterday, so you already know my opinion of this move.  I like Orton, and so do his teammates.  Yesterday I was leaning towards Blake, but on second thought...we already know what he can do.  At his best, he'll be competent.  If Kyle Orton really is the QB of the future in this town, being thrust into the fire won't be a problem.  He's bound to have some bad games, and how he handles them will tell us everything we need to know about him.  If he can rebound from a poor performance with a good one, he might stick around for the long haul.  If he has a bad game, and rebounds with an even worse game and another thats even worse, then he wasn't meant to be anyways and we'll be drafting another QB next season.  (From here on out, I'll refer to the latter scenario as “Hanging a Chad.”)  Good luck, Kyle, I'm pulling for you.  Go Bears!

So long, Hutch.

We hardly knew ye.  Chad Hutchinson really crapped the bed on Friday night against Buffalo.  He put up quite possibly the worst performance by a starting Quarterback that I've ever seen.  And thats really saying something, considering how much lackluster play I've had the pleasure of witnessing as a Bears fan.  I remember Rusty Lisch back in 1984, who was so bad Walter Payton started at QB the following week. Will Furer, PT Willis, Steve Stenstrom...  Cade McNown not leading the team across midfield in the 2000 season finale against the Niners...  Henry Burris...  And of course, Dr. Jonathan Quinn, Medicine Woman, last season.  But yet, Chad Hutchinson managed to top them all.  He completed only 3 of 14 passes, threw two picks (one of which was returned for a TD), and it seemed like he was sacked about 15 times.  After a while, Buffalo started blitzing on every down. Why  not?  Chad couldn't do anything about it, so might as well.  For all of Hutch's efforts, if he gets anything less than his walking papers he should consider himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.  Is there really any reason to keep him on the roster?  I honestly can't think of a single one.  He's done.

Kyle Orton looked pretty good in limited duty.  His first drive resulted in a three-and-out, while his second was a really nice 80 yard TD drive.  Both drives were with the first team offense, against Buffalo's first team defense.  After that, Lovie rightfully pulled him.  No sense risking injury with him behind the second string line for the rest of this exhibition game, so Orton sat.  Kittner seemed capable enough to earn consideration for third string, and Jeff Blake led the team to victory against the scrubs.  Blake is a pro.  He might actually be a better option for the immediate future than Orton, certainly a safer one.  So who should the Bears start next week?  Start the rookie or go with the vet?  IBM presents...you make the call! 

In a bit of a shocker, a Bears tight end actually scored a touchdown (Desmond Clark).  Muhammed and Bradley looked good once Chad was yanked.  Jones and Peterson did their jobs, as did the line (again once Chad was pulled).  So with the exception of the most important position on the team, the offense is set.  Clearly, Ron Turner is a massive upgrade over Shea and Shoop.  The runners, the blockers, the receivers... solid, solid, solid.  Just that pesky Quarterback position is causing all the problems.  So which QB should they go with?  I'd go with Blake.  Successful rookies are few and far between.  All we need is someone to not turn the ball over.  Put 17 points on the board each week, and the team is playoff bound.  Thank you, defense. 

J.P.Losman may not have been as bad as Hutchinson, but he certainly didn't fair much better.  He was the Bills Krenzel to our Quinn.  Slightly better, but still pretty bad.  The Bears defense ate him for lunch.  And they had some McGahee for dessert.  The only other thing to mention about this game was the startling amount of penalties the Bears had, many of which were by the Special Teamers.  Fugly.

So now its up to Lovie.  We've got yet another preseason game next week.  Another chance to evaluate the Quarterbacks.  Go Bears!

A few notes on the Bears

Backup Safety Bobby Gray tore his ACL on a gruesome looking play last Friday night and is out for the season.  Both Cameron Worrell (S) and Marcus Reese (LB) dislocated their shoulders and are finished for the year as well.  I always liked Bobby Gray.  He had a lot of big hits.  Greg Blache was never a big fan of his, though.  He liked the consistency of Mike Green more than the big play potential of Gray.  Of course, Blache didn't much care for Quarterback sacks either, as he never understood what all the fuss was about.  Worrell was a special teams standout, while Reese has had a rather undistinguished career, mostly marred by injury.   Losing both Gray and Worrell has turned the secondary from one of their deepest positions to one of their thinnest.  We're a pulled hammy away from seeing Todd Johnson starting.  That wouldn't be pretty.

The only other Bears news worth talking about is Cedric Benson.  Oh yeah, there is no news.  There's been no contact between Benson and the Bears in 11 days.   The Bears final offer remains on the table.  I think the dude's crazy.  He parks his car in Alonzo Spellman's garage, if you know what I mean.  The longer he holds out, the more ill-will he builds up with Bear fans.  I can understand a rookie holding out for a week or two, but 31 days?  Come on.  Sign the contract already. 

Bears at Indy

An Offer He Can't Refuse

The Bears have made their final offer to Cedric Benson.  Take it or leave it.  I say good.  By all accounts, the Bears have not been stingy with their offer.  They've offered him a deal that sits comfortably between Braylon Edwards (3rd overall) contract and Cadillac Williams (5th) contract.  So whats the holdup?  Benson's agent wants it to be more in line with Edwards money than the 4th pick money that the Bears are offering.  Mike Mulligan wrote a great article in today's Sun-Times outlining the whole situation.  At this point, the Bears aren't going to get maximum value for their pick so they should start pulling money off the table till he signs.  Screw him.  If he wants to hold out all season and re-enter next years draft, fine.  Does he honestly think another team will take him with the fourth overall pick after this year's fiasco?  He'll be lucky to go in the 2nd or 3rd round after sitting out a year.  Ask Maurice Clarrett.  If he sits out, he's walking away from 15+ million gauranteed dollars.  I hope its worth it! 

No doubt about it, the man's got skills and his 4th overall pick was justified.  Check out these video clips.  But I've been a little leary of him ever since his bizarre draft day interview.  He clearly has mixed his fruit loops with his cocoa puffs and he's got Ricky Williams written all over him.  The thing is, sometimes you can harness a Ricky Williams type and get some good production out of him.  With the Bears' track record, though, it seems unlikely. 

In other Bears news, they've gone up the mountain and come down with Moses.  J.J. Moses, that is, formerly of the Houston Texans.  Three thoughts on this deal.  1)  He's a little guy (5' 7!) with some nifty numbers.  2)  This is probably the end of Bobby Wade's career as a Bear, who's best chance to make the team was as a sure-handed punt returner.  3)  Azumah may be in worse shape than we thought, or Bears management simply wants to save Zoom's body for defense only.  We'll see.  Till next time...

Losin Ugly

The White Sox just dropped their fifth straight tonight, falling to the Twins 5-1 (and thus getting swept) at the Cell.  Johan Santana was masterful tonight.  If he pitched like that all year, maybe there'd be a race in the AL Central.  But alas, there's nothing to worry about, Sox fans, you still have the division all but wrapped up.  If they blow this lead, it would no doubt go down among the greatest collapses in sports history.  Their lead is pretty safe, though, so you can sleep well...till October anyways. 

Kenny needs to pull off a trade for the Sox to win in the postseason.  Its really a shame that the Big Skirt went back on the DL.  All he did was hit homers, and it seemed every one of them counted directly towards the standings.  (No meaningless solo shots in blowouts this year, my friends.)  With Pods joining him on the DL and Dye reverting to April form, there's a little too much Timo in the lineup for my tastes.  The new kid put up some decent numbers in AAA, but he ain't exactly Miggy Cabrera.  If there's any truth at all to the Griffey rumors, Williams better pounce.  I know that Cincy's ownership has been hesitant, and they want a number one starter in return.  That ain't happening, but I'd offer up McCarthy and Anderson straight up for the rights to Junior.  The Reds would be foolish to pass on that, and thats exactly the type of “F-ing A trade” that might put the ChiSox over the top.  I'd certainly feel alot more comfortable with Grif-Rowand-Dye/Pods than I do with today's lineup.  But the Reds ownership is too daft to do anything productive, so I suspect Griffey isn't going anywhere.  What a shame.   

Taking a break, literally

I don't know if Perry caught the news before he fled the country, but the title to his last post was an unfortunate play on words.  As you probably already know, Rex Grossman broke his ankle on Friday night against the Rams in the Bears second exhibition game of the 2005 season.  He's out 3-4 months, or most likely, the season.  I was shocked when I heard the news, followed by a few seconds of rage, a period heavy sarcasm, some slight depression, and ultimately acceptance.  Imagine how Grossman feels?  Rex said it best in his postgame press conference, live on NBC.  “Shit happens, sometimes.“

Why does this “stuff” keeping happening to the Bears?  I didn't have ultra high expectations for this season, but the defense was looking like a top five unit to me.  If Ron Turner could get the offense out of the bottom quarter of the league, I thought that they might be able to back in to the wild card in a weak NFC.  Now all we have to hope for is Chad Hutchinson signing a deal with the devil and pulling a '99 Kurt Warner.  Hell, I'd settle for a no frills, 2000 Trent Dilfer.  Its interesting that I'm bringing up those two names, as both were available this past offseason (along with Brad Johnson, Jay Fiedler, and a few other even-less-inspiring names.)  Because of this, a lot of people want to blame Angelo for the current QB situation.  I've been on Angelo's side for most of his tenure, but you've got to be thinking it was foolish to go into the year without a solid backup plan.  Its not like Grossman was Peyton Manning or Michael Vick.  He was a third year pro with six mediocre games under his belt and a history of injuries, as flukey as those injuries may have been.  And while I don't have much confidence in any of the guys I mentioned, all four are probably safer options than Hutchinson at this point.  Newly signed Jeff Blake isn't the answer either, although I do like his career TD-to-INT ratio.  Fact is, none of these guys inspire much confidence.  Unless of course you want to be confident that your January vacation plans won't be ruined by Bears playoff games.

So who else is available?  I hear San Diego is leaning towards golden child Philip Rivers as their starter this year, despite the eight million they dished out to keep Drew Brees.  If the Bears could work out a deal for Brees, I'd be ecstatic.  I doubt the Chargers will give up that insurance policy, though.  Maybe next offseason.  John Kitna would look great in a Bears uniform.  Maybe the Bungles will live up to their name and deal him.  Tommy Maddox is probably better than our in-house options, and he clearly isn't happy being a backup.  Neither is Tim Rattay.  Here's an interesting idea:  Craig Nall of the Packers.  Sitting behind Mr. Iron Man, he doesn't have much game experience, but he's studied the west coast offense for several years and I distinctly remember him picking apart the Bears secondary like Dan Marino last year.  So would the Packers trade him?  Probably.  They drafted Aaron Rodgers as their QB of the future, and besides, Favre is indestructable anyways so it doesn't matter.  Would they trade him to their arch nemesis, allowing a chance for him to haunt the team for the next several years?  Probably not.  Its highly unlikely they'll trade him to anyone in the NFC North, especially the Bears.  So the ball's in Angelo's court.  Or, to use a more appropriate euphemism, its first and twenty-five and the ball is spotted on the Bears own two yard line.  They've got to do something, and they better do it quick. 

Is there anything else to talk about?  Oh yeah, Friday's game.  The first team defense dominated once again, led by Ogunleye's two sacks and Tillman's pick.  The second team defense faltered for the second game in a row, so depth on D is a concern.  On Offense, both Thomas Jones and Adrian Peterson looked sharp.  Peterson, in particular, looked like his more highly-tauted namesake at Oklahoma than the career bench warmer that he is.  Of course, most of his damage was against practice squad wannabes so “lets not put him in the hall of fame just yet,” to quote Dave Wannstedt.  As for the QBs, Grossman didn't do much before his injury while Hutchinson did manage a scoring drive at least.  Orton looked like a rookie and Kittner looked like Kittner, which isn't really a compliment.  Mark Bradley had another nice game, but he did drop a sure TD from Kittner.  The Special Teams play was rather invisible.  Still waiting for a R-Dub replacement to stand out on punt returns. 

I still think the playoffs are a possibility, I'm just a little less confident than I was Friday morning.  Hopefully Angelo will get something done.  I can't stand another losing season.

In regards to the other team in Chicago

I know most visitors to this blog are here primarily for Bears coverage, and as Perry has pointed out, White Sox traffic has more than doubled over the course of their fantastic season.  I'm not here to write about either of those teams, though.  I'm going to take a look at the oft-neglected, barely-covered, ugly stepchild to the North: The Chicago Cubs.  Ah yes, there still is a team on the North side, as scarce as their coverage may seem these days. 

Ok, maybe it isn't so scarce.  And maybe there is an army's worth of blogs dedicated to the Cubbies, but thats not going to stop me from offering my two cents on the boys in blue.  Besides, I wanted to sneak in a comment on the 2005 season while there's still a season to speak of.  It ain't over -- but man, it's over.  What's that you say?  The Cubs are only five games out of the Wild Card?  That doesn't concern me as the much as the number of teams that are  in front of them, which is four.  Also of concern to me is the Houston Astros, who have rebounded from a horrendous start to post the best record in the NL since the beginning of June.  (They're neck-and-neck with Oakland for comeback of the year.) 

Anyways, with the way Houston is playing, my guess is it will take 95 wins to make the post season this year.  I mean the Stroh's have played .850 ball since the All-Star break with no signs of cooling off, so 95 is the magic number I've set for the Cubs.  So what do the Cubs have to do to win 95 games?  Considering they've gone a sterling 54-54 up to this point, that means they'll have to go 41-13 over these last eight weeks in order for us to marvel over Red Ivy this fall.  Even the most optimistic Cubs fan on the planet realizes how unlikely this is.  Can they do it?  Sure, anything's possible, and I'm rooting for them.  But I'm also a realist.  I know, thats not a common trait among Cubs fans, unless you're my buddy Eric who typically gives up on a season around the seventh inning of Opening Day.  (Say what you will, but he's been right for 97 straight years.)

So now what?  Wait till next year?  Not yet.  My next Cubs post will look at what went wrong in 2005.  Stay tuned.