Final Thoughts on Chicago Sports

Bulls Playoffs: No-See, Oh-Knee!

The Bulls beat the Heat today in Chicago to tie this first round, best-of-seven series at two games apiece.  Great game.  You know, I didn't give the Bulls much of a chance in this series.  I predicted Miami in six, and I wasn't exactly going out on a limb there.  This outcome of course can still happen, but I don't think it will.  These last two games, the Bulls have been playing great basketball on both ends of the court, and everybody's contributing, even Michael Sweetney.  Even in the games they lost, the offense was outstanding while the defense simply crapped out at the end. 

Shaq had one of his worst games as a pro on Thursday, and he followed it up with a performance that can best be described as "not good enough."  The Bulls simply went right at him, got a few mildly lucky calls, and suddenly Shaq has three fouls early in the 2nd quarter and has to sit.  They've contained him by keeping him off the court.  And what happened to Wade?  Kirk Hinrich has put him in lockdown.    Hinrich's good, but he looks like the reincarnation of The Glove out there (if The Glove wasn't already out there).  Is Wade getting too much home cookin or what?  And what's up with the Heat only shooting five free throws all day?  Is that even possible?  In watching the game, I recognized maybe two or three non-calls, but otherwise it was a pretty clean contest.  The Heat just couldn't draw contact. 

As for the Bulls, how about that Nocioni, eh?  He looks like Olympic teammate Manu Ginobli out there.  Great shooting inside and outside the arc, penetration, defense, steals...he's doing it all.  With his hustle on every play, the fans in Chicago are starting to love this working man's hero, chanting his name all game (in a tradition that started last year in the playoffs.)  Gordon and Hinrich came through today in a big way as well.  Gordon was hitting his shots, while Hinrich was doing everything else.  Really, it was just a great performance all around from everybody. 

The only bad news to report is Tyson Chandler hurt his ankle, and at this time nobody knows how long he'll be out.  I know I've ragged on Chandler, everybody has, but he really is damn good on defense.  Not $65 million dollars good, but damn good.  As Bill Walton said, "I've never seen a guy with worse stats have such a huge impact on the game."  That's true.  All he does well statistically is grab rebounds, everything else on the back of his basketball card looks like crap.  Nevertheless, the Bulls are going to miss this Poor-Man's Ben Wallace.  I'm not sure if they can contain Shaq without him. 

This Bulls run has really gotten me into basketball again.  It's kind of funny, I left them for dead two months ago and my interest started to wane.  All of a sudden, they're winning 12 of their last 14, vaulting into the seventh seed of the playoffs.  All that "I'd rather have another lottery pick than get swept by Detroit in the first round" talk has completely disappeared, amazingly enough.    Next game is Tuesday, and I can't wait.  See you then.

Bears Draft, Day 1: What were they thinking?

It's ridiculous to grade a draft on draft day.  At least two or three seasons must pass before a real judgement can be passed.  I mean, who knows?  Maybe Danieal Manning will be the next Donnell Woolford.  Point is, Angelo's track record isn't bad, especially in the later rounds, and the guys need to play before I completely rip him to shreds for his choices.

That said, what the hell are the Bears thinking? 

First of all, they traded down.  Trading down isn't necessarily a bad strategy, as you can stockpile picks and fill multiple positions of need in one swoop.  But they totally got ripped off today.  One slot before the Bears pick, the Giants traded down seven spots and picked up a third rounder and a fourth rounder.  Defensible move.  The Bears traded down sixteen spots and picked up a third rounder.  Um, hello!  Maybe the Bills threw the Brooklyn Bridge in the deal. 

When the 42nd pick came around, the Bears took Danieal Manning from Abilene Christian, a Division II school that hasn't had a player drafted since 1985.  Like virtually every Bears fan, my first thought was "Who?"  I had no idea who this guy was, and I eagerly awaited some highlights on ESPN.  Problem is, they never came.  He was probably the only guy in the first two rounds who didn't get his sixty seconds in the spotlight (which really sucks for him and his family).  ESPN just glossed right over the pick, other than a two-second mention in between LenDale White interviews.  So I looked him up on the Internet.  Scouts, Inc said he was the sixth best DB overall and said he was "worth a gamble in the fourth round."  Kiper had him rated the fifth best DB and his latest mock draft had him going with the last pick in the 2nd round, 64th overall.  At 42, he sounds like a reach.  On the bright side, my Dad said that he'll probably work for minimum wage. 

With the 57th pick, the Bears took "Return Specialist" Devin Hester from "The U" (Miami).  A big school at least, but the guy doesn't have a position.  He'll play some corner, and he might play some receiver, though he never played much of either position in college.  As a game-breaking kick returner, he fills a big hole immediately so I can't be too upset with this pick.  A sourpuss Bears fan might point out, though, that one of Danieal Manning's supposed assets is his ability to return kicks.  The Bears may have been better off filling another position with this pick. 

With their third round pick, obtained from Buffalo and number 73 overall, the Bears took DT Devin Dvoracek from Oklahoma.  This pick infuriated me the most.  Nothing against Dvoracek, of course, but the Bears didn't need him.  Even if Tank Johnson is out for the year, they've still got Tommie Harris, Ian Scott, Alfonso Boone, Israel Idonije, and Michael Haynes.  They've got Tackles coming out of their earholes.

That's my problem with the entire day, really.  Let's see, the Bears gave up the fewest points in the league, the second-fewest yards, and had five Pro Bowlers on defense.  The Offense ranked 29th and struggled to score two touchdowns a game .  So what did they do this offseason?  They picked up two cornerbacks via free agency, drafted another, traded down and spent their first three picks on defense.  It all makes PERFECT sense.  (Note that they also picked up free agent QB Brian Griese, but that doesn't fit into my rant so well.) 

Players the Bears passed on that could have helped, in the order that they were picked:  TE Mercedes Lewis, CB Kelly Jennings, LB DeMeco Ryans, LB Rocky McIntosh, WR Chad Jackson, CB Jimmy Williams, S Daniel Bullocks, WR Sinorice Moss, TE Joe Klopfenstein, CB Richard Marshall, and TE Leonard Pope.  The Bears just missed out on Pope in the third round, as Denny Green's Cardinals grabbed him exactly one pick before the Bears.  Should have taken Pope with that 57th pick.  All Tight Ends worth anything are gone at this point, so you can forget about the Bears taking one tomorrow.

Again, not all of the players I listed will pan out.  In fact, I bet at least half of them are busts.  That's the nature of the draft.  It's just the Bears philosophy that pissed me off today.  They picked with their wallets, and they completely ignored the offensive side of the ball. 

Finally, if there is a bright side to all this, at least I didn't spend the day at Soldier Field.  I was down in the Museum Campus this morning on family business, and I saw all the Bears fans lining up to watch the draft at the stadium on the jumbotron.  The weather was chilly and rainy all day.  Can you imagine sitting there for four hours, only to see the Bears trade down sixteen picks (and two more hours) only to draft a D-II corner that nobody's ever heard of?  I'd rather have my teeth drilled without novacaine.

Update (4/30/2006): As for day 2, the Bears picked two more defenders, a Linebacker and Defensive End in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively.  Finally, in the sixth round, they picked up a Fullback and a Guard with their last two picks.  In today's Sun-Times, Angelo was quoted as saying, "I don't bring a depth chart to the draft."  Obviously. 

Cheap Bears Trade Down

The Bears lived up to their miserly ways by trading away their first round pick to the Buffalo Bills for a second and third rounder, numbers 42 and 73 overall.  What a bunch of cheap bastards.  Apparently, they don't want to pay first round money.  It remains to be seen who they will acquire, but there was a lot of talent on that board that they have bypassed.  My mock selection of Santonio Holmes was taken by Pittsburgh with the 25th pick, and it was really looking like he might fall to the Bears in real life.  (Everybody thought he'd be long gone by the 26th pick, and well, I guess everybody was right -- but it was close.)  Who WAS available for the Bears to take at 26?  Well, Jimmy Williams from Virginia Tech for one.  Demeco Ryans from Alabama for another.  They could have had any TE they wanted, too, as only Vernon Davis was off the board.

Oh well, let's see who they take in three or four hours, when their first selection in the draft rolls around.  Till then....

Draft Shakeup: Texans take Williams

The Houston Texans have taken a pass on consensus number one pick Reggie Bush, and have elected to go with DE Mario Williams.  Wow.  This move renders all mock drafts meaningless.  Well, the first 10 picks anyways.  I simply don't understand the move.  Williams is a good looking prospect, and most projections had him going second.  But just look at the Texans for a second.  Their defense is kind of crappy.  Their offense is even worse.  David Carr has been sacked over 300 times in 4 years, and he needs help.  Help on the line, and more playmakers.  Bush is a playmaker.  They do have a decent-but-injury-prone running back in Domanick Davis, so I could maybe, maybe understand trading down a pick or two and taking the top offensive linemen in the draft in D'Brickshaw Ferguson.  Many are calling him the next Orlando Pace.  Take him, steal another first round pick, and hey...a legitmate argument has been made for passing on Bush.  But a Defensive End who had all of 16 sacks in 36 college games (in a weak conference, no less).  If that's not bad enough, they just picked up an End in free agency as well.  Stupid, stupid, stupid!

It's too early to call this a "Sam Bowie" move, because hell, the draft's not even over yet and not a down has been played.  But if there was ever a draft day blunder that looked so patently stupid at the time, I didn't see it. 

 

Bears Drop Clue in Draft Strategy

Yesterday, the Bears traded Mike Green to the Seahawks for a sixth round draft pick.  I'm not going to wax poetic about Mike Green, he was dumped for what seems to be the going rate for unwanted players.  As a former Mr. Irrelevant, Green was better than one could hope for, which is to say he was a solid starter for a few years.  But at his peak he was still just average at best.  Put it this way, last year, a rookie sixth-round choice from Louisiana-Monroe (Chris Harris) and an undrafted free agent from Maine (Brandon McGowan) passed Green on the depth chart.  So Green is gone and Bears fans won't miss him.

What the trade did, though, was possibly provide a little insight into the Bears Draft strategy.  With Green gone, McGowan coming off an injury, and Mike Brown getting hurt all the time; the Bears need for a Safety has intensified.  They still have Todd Johnson and Cameron Worrell, but neither inspires much confidence.  (Actually, I thought Johnson did a decent job this year while Worrell spent last year on the shelf.)  Ideally, the Bears would be able to trade up for a guy like Michael Huff.  But trading up is something the Bears franchise just doesn't do.  They trade down.  In fact, they trade down so much, some believe one of their goals is to secure every single pick in the seventh round.  We traded our top 6 picks, but we've got all 32 picks in the 7th round!  Take that, New England! 

Here's a scenario, the Bears trade Thomas Jones to Indy for their first rounder (#30) and a 5th rounder.  Then they trade both Indy's and Chicago's first round picks, along with a second rounder next year to Buffalo or Detroit so they can grab Huff.  Essentially, Thomas Jones, our first rounder, and a 2007 #2 for Huff.  Or perhaps they can trade high enough to grab A.J. Hawk.  (Then tell Briggs and Rosenhaus to bugger off if they don't like their contract offer.)  I'd rather not trade Jones, but if the Bears somehow end up with a top 10 pick it would be worth it.  Thoughts?

Whatever happens, the Draft will be a good time this Saturday.  It's more fun when your team stinks, of course, but I'll take late picks till the cows come home if I never have to look at another 5-11. 

The Comebacks

There were three comebacks last night in the world of Chicago Sports, though two of them still fell short.  Let's take 'em one at a time:

• The Cubs trailed 3-0 going into the 8th inning against the Marlins and looked dead in the water.  Zambrano had a rough go of it early on, both walking a ton and striking out a ton, and thus throwing a lot of pitches.  As I suspected, it seemed he was pressing a bit and trying to strike everyone out, rather than go for efficient ground-ball outs that used to be his trademark.  He calmed down, though, in retiring eight in a row before exiting after the 7th.  The Cubs offense, meanwhile, had exactly one hit through seven.  Then in the 8th, they exploded for six runs, capped by a Jacque Jones three-run homer.  Jones hasn't had many hits this year, but at least he's made them count.  Nice win.
• The White Sox got a game-tying home run from Brian Anderson in the 9th inning before falling in the 11th to the Mariners by a score of 4-3.  I didn't watch this game, so I'll just comment briefly on the Sox for the first time this season.  They've got a really good team this year and are positioned well for another extended postseason run.  Kenny's offseason deals for Thome and Vazquez are looking like gold right now, though with the bullpen uncertainty I bet he wishes he had Marte back.  There's a lot of season left, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
• The Bulls were down by 20 to the Heat early in the fourth quarter before Kirk Hinrich ignited a run to lead the Bulls back within 4 with two minutes to play in game 2 of the playoffs.  The comeback fell short, though, as the Bulls ended up losing by seven.  Once again, the Bulls were lights out in hitting their shots all night, but they still couldn't keep up with Miami.  Too many turnovers, not enough rebounds, extremely sloppy defense.  Jason Williams, aka. "White Chocolate", was on fire in the first half for the Heat as the Bulls tried double-teaming Shaq to no avail.  Luol Deng responded with a big game while Ben Gordon was just a touch off of his.  He wasn't bad, but he wasn't the elite performer that the Bulls need to have a chance in this series.  Nocioni had another stellar game as well for the Bulls and he really is making a name for himself in the playoffs.  If the Bulls can take games 3 and 4, I don't think winning in Miami will be an impossible task.  Winning four out of five might be impossible, but if they take the next two, anything can happen.  Go Bulls!

Mock Draft: And the Bears select....

With the 26th pick in the 2006 Blogger Mock Draft, the Chicago Bears select Santonio Holmes, WR, from Ohio State.  My first choice was CB Jimmy Williams from Virgina Tech, but he got picked by the Giants exactly one slot ahead of me.  I had considered trading up to select Williams, but when he fell to 21 I thought he might fall into my lap.  He didn't.  I briefly considered taking CB Tye Hill from Clemson, but I decided to take the best talent left on the board, Santonio Holmes.  As I stated in my Draft Preview for the Bears, Wide Receiver wasn't a pressing need but it certainly could use an upgrade.  Muhammad should be solid for another few years, but the rest of the squad is mostly unproven.  Berrian, Bradley, and Gage have all looked good at times, but Holmes could grow into an elite receiver.  And if he doesn't start right away, he should be comfortable in the slot.  Furthermore, and perhaps the most important reason I selected Holmes, he can return kicks right now.  He averaged 12.8 yards on punt returns and 21.7 yards on kick returns.  With Azumah retiring and McQuarters long gone, the return game is a huge question mark going into next season.  Holmes answers that question.  Let's see what happens in the real draft next week.  If the Bears end up with Santonio Holmes, I'll consider ourselves very lucky Bears fans.  

Lousy Weekend for Jerry Angelo

Wow, what a terrible weekend for the Bears.  First of all, Thomas Jones has reportedly stopped his offseason training program and is "receptive" to a trade.  His new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is becoming a thorn in the Bears' paw.  Last weekend, contract negotiations with Rosenhaus' other client, Lance Briggs, went to the toilet and now there's this.  Mike Mulligan is reporting the Bears are looking to deal Jones to the Colts for a third rounder and an additional late-round pick.  That would be a colossally stupid move.  With Cedric Benson and Adrian Peterson, I could maybe see trading Jones for a first rounder, but to deal an all-purpose back in his prime with low mileage for a third rounder?  Jeez.  At this point, keeping Jones is the safest move for the Bears.  Yes, Benson might be a great player, but we already know that Jones is a very good player.  It'd be like when the Bulls traded Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler, only worse.  Brand was a solid 20-10 guy that, while never a MVP candidate, was established and dependable.  Chandler, at the time, looked like he might develop into the next Tim Duncan.  But he was a very raw 18-year-old and his future was a huge question mark.  Krause gambled and lost.  Chandler is a very good defender, but he has no offensive game to speak of.  He's a poor man's Ben Wallace.  Brand eventually did turn into a MVP candidate for the Clippers and would look absolutely awesome in the Bulls front court right now. 

Mulligan pointed to Kansas City last year as Exhibit A in his list of reasons to keep Jones.  They started the year with former MVP Priest Holmes and a former high draft pick, Larry Johnson, as his backup.  Once Holmes went down for the year, they discovered an even better talent in Johnson.  Depth is so critical in the NFL and I don't know why the Bears would mess with one of their strongest positions.  So yeah, trading Jones for a third round pick would be dumb.  That's not all that happened this weekend, though. 

On Friday, the Bears signed restricted free agent Ricky Manning, Jr. to a big contract.  On Sunday, he got arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.  He and his posse were at a Denny's at 3 a.m. early Sunday morning, and started picking on a guy with a laptop, calling him "geek" and "nerd" and whatnot.  The geek complained to the manager and shortly thereafter the gang punched him and started kicking him.  Manning got the "deadly weapon" charge because he was kicking the guy with his shoe.  Gee, I wonder if Carolina is going to match that contract offer?  I doubt the Bears can rescind the offer at this point, and the Bears are going to be stuck with him.  Unbelievable.  Guess I'm taking a cornerback now in the mock draft. 

Maddux Saves the Series

Greg Maddux pitched seven scoreless innings today as the Cubs beat the Cardinals 7-3.  St. Louis still won the series after taking both Friday and Saturday's games.  A few notes:

• Jerome Williams was so bad Friday...(how bad was he?)....he was so bad, he got sent to AAA after the game.  Angel Guzman was recalled.  Part of me thinks it's a stupid move.  Jerome Williams has pitched almost 400 innings in the bigs with a very respectable 3.90 ERA, not to mention 23 career wins.  Then there's the part of me that watched him completely crap the bed on Friday night, and that part's completely in favor of the move.  Angel, let's see what you've got.
• I've agreed with almost everything Dusty Baker has done this year in regards to in-game strategy, but sometimes he makes a move that just sticks in my crawl.  Take Saturday, for example.  The double-switch with Walker was just ridiculous.  Walker's the hottest hitter in a lineup starved for runs, and you take him out in the fifth inning?  His reasoning was he needed to stretch the over-worked bullpen and Walker had made the second to last out in the top half.  So if Derrek Lee had made the second to last out, would he have been double-switched to the bench?  I bet not. The pitcher was due up fifth, and I'd have let him hit (unless runners were in scoring position, then I'd call on a pinch-hitter).  So he sacrificed two ABs by Walker in the heart of the order (plus potentially one by Williamson) for two ABs by Neifi at the bottom. To top it off, he made practically the same move one inning later replacing Murton with Bynum.  Very frustrating on a day when the offense scores only one run. 
• Nice to see Aramis get the big homer today.  (Jones' homer was nice, too.)  Aramis' hit was really the turning point for me.  I wasn't remotely comfortable with a 2-0 lead, but once it got to 4-0, I knew that with Maddux on the hill that the Cubs would be all right.  It's nice to have an Ace. 
• Kerry Wood felt a twinge in his deep armpit and his rehab start was delayed.  <insert joke here>

That's pretty much all I've got to say about this series.  The first two games were horrible, but the third was good enough that I think the Cubs can beat the Marlins.  (Aiming high, as usual.)  Go Cubs!

Bulls vs. Heat, Game 1: Too much Wade

The Bulls gave everything they had in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs against Miami, yet still came up short by a score of 111-106.  Chris Duhon summed it up best, "Too much Dwyane Wade and Shaq in the end."  Wade scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, almost single-handedly killing the Bulls chances of stealing game one.  Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni were in top form all night, while Hinrich and Chandler both stepped up in the second half.  If there was a goat for the Bulls, it would have to be Luol Deng.  (Mike Sweetney wasn't pretty, either.)  It wasn't so much that Deng was making mistakes, it's that he was almost completely invisible for all but a handful of plays.  He really needs to pick it up in game two on Monday night, because the Bulls aren't likely to get the same types of performances out of Gordon and Nocioni as they did tonight. 

Gordon was simply awesome tonight.  Thirty-five points on 12 of 23 shooting, with 5 of 10 on threes.  He was driving the lane and really looked like an MVP candidate on the offensive side of the floor.  The whole team was hitting their threes, really.  They were 13 of 26 from outside the arc, and that's what scares me about the rest of this series.  The Bulls were near top form, Gordon was on fire, Miami was missing two of their top defenders (Mourning and the ejected Haslem), yet they still lost by five.  Miami is just too good to lose a seven game series to Chicago.

Did anyone catch the ESPN 360 coverage of this game?  They had the game simulcast on both ESPN and ESPN2, with the ESPN2 camera angle from the "above the rim", (aka. top of the key.)  Pretty cool idea, I think.  Viewers could switch the the angle that best suited them, like the multi-angle feature of DVD players that was never really used to it's fullest potential.  I'd like to see more of this on big games, especially with the overhead camera on football. 

Finally, the word of the game had to be "shrinkage."  That's how Bill Walton described the start of the Bulls fourth quarter collapse (which never really happened), and I couldn't but help think of the Seinfeld episode.  With that, I'll leave you with these two pictures to lighten the mood after a tough loss.

 

NBA Playoffs: Bulls vs. Heat

I don't have time for an in-depth preview on this one, but I wanted to get something out before the series starts tomorrow night.  Miami won the season series, 2-1, with the Bulls lone victory coming the other day in a meaningless game. (Meaningless for the Heat -- it meant a lot to the Bulls.)  Frankly, I don't think the Bulls have an answer for Wade and they don't have an answer for Shaq.  They're undersized and they don't have a consistent scorer.  The Bulls are certainly a scrappy bunch, and they've got some streaky role players.  But the only way they win two games in this series is if Ben Gordon is at the top of his game.  He's the key, really.  If Gordon's on fire, they have a chance.  If he's cold, they're done.  (There's no in-between for Ben, he's either awesome or awful.)  Also, I really like how Nocioni has stepped up this year.  Lately it seems like every day he's been reliving Game 1 against the Wizards in last year's playoffs.  The Bulls will need more performances like that to get by the Heat.  Also in the Bulls favor is Alonzo Mourning's status (out for game one) and possibly even coach Pat Riley's mental state (mother just died.)  But alas, Dwayne Wade is just too good and Shaq is just too big.  If this were a five-game series, I could dream up a scenario where they could win.  But the NBA has instituted a no-fun policy by turning all series into 7-gamers a few years back.  Oh well. 

Miami in Six.

Bleacher Bummer: Lee out at least two months

Well, it's official.  Derrek Lee has broken bones in his wrist and is expected to be out for 8-10 weeks.  I'm not going to beat around the bush, this is terrible news for the Cubs.  Not only will they be without their team leader and a legitimate MVP candidate until July, but some players with wrist or hand injuries have taken years to fully recover, if they ever really recover at all.  Ryne Sandberg and Nomar Garciaparra are a couple of Cubs that immediately come to mind as players who were never quite the same after these sorts of injuries.  Let's hope for the best with Lee, because he really seems like a good guy and the ultimate professional.  And not to sound like a heartless jerk, but the Cubs have a lot money riding on him.  If he comes back at 70%, that new contract will start looking pretty bad before the ink is even dry.  Here's the part where I'm supposed to start crying and saying "why us?" and 98 years and blah, blah, blah.  Forget that crap.  Lee's out, time to deal with it and move on. 

Dusty Baker initially said Todd Walker and John Mabry will get the bulk of the work at first.  I'd be ok with that for a week or two, but two months is a long time.  Mabry is a great pinch hitter and wonderful in short spurts, but I fear he'd pull a Hollandsworth if he played every day.  Walker's a fine hitter, but he's only played first base nine times in his ten-year career.  As such, Aramis Ramirez and Ronny Cedeno are going to miss Lee's gold glove a lot.  With Walker shifting over or Mabry in the lineup, the bench will be that much weaker as well.  I think Hendry should start exploring some trades.  At this time of year, though, it's a seller's market and they'd likely be forced to pay through the roof for what would likely amount to a marginal upgrade at best.  And what about the batting order?  I suspect Dusty will try something like this:

CF Pierre
2B Hairston
3B Ramirez
C  Barrett
1B Walker
RF Jones
LF Murton
SS Cedeno

Not bad, though, I'd get a little more creative and try something like this:

CF Pierre
LF Murton
1B Walker
3B Ramirez
C  Barrett
RF Jones
2B Hairston
SS Cedeno

Or if Mabry's in the lineup, shift Walker to 2B and bat Mabry fifth, sliding Hairston out and everyone else down.

Another potential replacement is minor leaguer Brandon Sing, who's got a lot of pop and is a big target at first.  He reminds me of Adam Dunn (though not nearly as good.)  He tore up A-ball and AA in 2004 and 2005, respectively, though he's struggled a bit in AAA these first two weeks.  Still, if he's ever going to get an opportunity with the Cubs, now's the time. 

The bottom line is Lee is out but the Cubs are not done.  They've still got games to play and in the weak NL, anything can happen.  Just tread water for a while, and hopefully the playoffs will still be in reach when the troops get healthy.  Go Cubs!

Bears Draft: What do they need?

With all this draft talk going on, it's time to think of the Bears draft.  What do they need?  Let's take a step back a minute.  What positions are set?

I'd say QB, RB, OL and DL are well-stacked.  The Bears don't even need to think of those positions next weekend.  What else?

LB - Up until Sunday, I wouldn't have put LB high on the list.  But then word got out that Lance Briggs' contract negotiations have turned sour.  Drew Rosenhaus, aka the Devil, and Briggs' agent, is asking for more money than what Urlacher earns. I love Lance Briggs, but that's ridiculous.  Lance Briggs - One Pro Bowl.  Brian Urlacher - 5 Pro Bowls and two Defensive Player of the Year awards, finished in the top 5 of NFL MVP two times as well.  If the Bears can't get an extension for Briggs, they'll need a Linebacker.  Especially with Hillenmeyer's status up in the air as well.  There's about five linebackers who are worthy of a number one pick, and if the Bears don't have Briggs locked up, I'd take any one of them. 

CB - Nathan Vasher is nice.  Charles Tillman's production is spotty, but overall he's pretty solid.  After that, they've got a whole lot of nothin.  Dante Wesley was signed for his special teams play, and he'll likely be resigned to dime coverage at most.  After that is Chris Thompson and Daven Holly.  Like I said, nothing.  If the Bears don't draft a CB first, they surely will take one second.  I like Jimmy Williams of Virginia Tech, but I don't see him making it to #26. 

TE - The Bears haven't had an adequate Tight End since Keith Jennings.  They haven't had a good Tight End since Emery Moorehead.  They haven't had a great Tight End since Mike Ditka.  It's time.  Vernon Davis made all the scouts drool at the combine, and it's unlikely he'll make it out of the top ten.  Mercedes Lewis and Leonard Pope look pretty good, but I'm not sure if either is worth a first round pick. 

Safety - Mike Brown hasn't stayed healthy these past two seasons, and with his reckless style of play, I don't expect him to turn into Cal Ripken, Jr. any time soon.  Neither of the top safeties in this draft figure to fall to #26, so the Bears will likely have to look at the secondary in later rounds. 

WR - The Bears have some decent Receivers so this isn't a glaring need.  Muhammed, Bradley, Berrian, Gage, and Currie are holding down the fort, and I think a solid receiving corps can be assembled out of that group.  That said, if Chad Jackson or Santonio Holmes fall to 26, the Bears should grab them.  All other WR picks can wait till the day two of the draft.

That's really about all the Bears need.  Should they trade up?  Again, it all depends on Briggs.  If Briggs is unsigned and A.J. Hawk somehow drops out of the top ten, then absolutely trade up.  If Briggs is signed and Jimmy Williams lasts until #20, the Bears should trade up and grab him.  Basically, the Bears don't need to trade up, but if a special player falls to within reach, the Bears should go for it. 

Cubs Jam, Lee Jammed

The Cubs beat the Dodgers in Los Angeles tonight 5-4 to take the series, two games to one.  That good news doesn't concern me at the moment, though, as the Cubs lost two key players on one play.  Former Cubs dreamboat Rafael Furcal hit a chopper just within reach of a diving Scott Eyre.  Eyre flipped up the ball wildly to Derrek Lee at first just as Furcal was arriving.  Furcal ran straight into Lee, who tried to brace himself by extending his hand.  Lee appeared to bend his wrist back on the play and left the game immediately.  Early word is sprained wrist but the initial x-ray was inconclusive.  Eyre also was unable to pitch after his dive, and it's been determined that he has a knee contusion and is day-to-day.  If Lee misses ANY extended time, this season is d-u-n done.  Hot start or not, they won't win 70 without Lee.  

Other thoughts from this series:

• Greg Maddux:  again, masterful.  All of a sudden, everyone's talking contract extension.  Like I said before, I'm cool with that.  I'd hold off, though, to make sure he's still effective come September before I give him the two-year deal that his agent, Scot Boras, covets.
• Todd Walker:  Hitting machine.  Looks like Dusty has put that platoon to rest for a while to keep Todd's hot bat in the lineup.
• Carlos Zambrano:  the new Wild Thing.  One run in six innings, good. Five walks, hit batters, 112 pitches in 6 IP, not good.  With Carlos being such an emotional chap, I wonder if his winless start to the year might effect him more than it would effect your average ace.  I think he'll be fine once he gets that first win under his belt, but until then he might start pressing too much, which leads to the wildness and the losses.
• One run losses:  they stink but they happen.  I'm not worried about it.  The Cubs just got beat by a good pitcher on the top of his game (Derek Lowe). 
• Ryan Dempster:  Elite Closer.  Twenty-three straight converted saves, setting a new Cubs record.  Congrats, Ryan, I'll have a Molsen for ya.
• Ronny Cedeno:  great play to finish tonight's game.  I'll forgive him for the earlier air mail he sent to first.

Man, I'm just worried about MV-Lee right now.  It really puts a damper on the series victory.  Day off tomorrow, hopefully by Friday we'll know how many games Lee is to miss.  If he avoids the DL, I'd consider the Cubs very, very lucky.  Goodnight!

Weekend Wrap-Up

I had a virtually sports-free weekend as I spent the weekend celebrating Easter with the family.  So tonight I caught up on some box scores.  What did find?

• Before I left, I did manage to watch Friday night's Cubs win over the Pirates.  Marshall looked as perfect as his line through the first three innings, before Jack Wilson wore him down with a monster at-bat in the fourth.  He only ended up with a single, but he fought off about 11 or 12 pitches, and broke Marshall down in the process.  Since the Cubs had an early lead, Dusty let him work it a bit.  Marshall got out of the inning and pitched a solid fifth before losing it again in the sixth.  After a leadoff homer and a single, Mike Weurtz came in and quite possibly made his last appearance as a Cub.  Three batters, two homers, one single.  Enter Scott Williamson, good-bye jam.  I hear Weurtz got demoted to AAA in favor of Novoa.  Fine by me, I've always liked Novoa.  Weurtz should only come back if someone's injured.
• It seems the Cubs only problem Saturday was that they ran in to the buzzsaw-that-is-Zach Duke.  Only Murton seemed to figure him out.  Jerome Williams' line on Saturday looked pretty good, but the four walks are a bit high.  With an off day scheduled for Thursday, I think the Cubs are planning on skipping his turn again.  I'd let him pitch, personally.  It wouldn't hurt to give the other starters an extra day of rest. 
• On Sunday, the Cubs returned to beating Pittsburgh the way a team like the Cubs should beat a team like the Pirates.  Not sure why Bynum was batting second with Walker down in the order, but whatever dude, it worked. 
• Nice to see Pierre getting some stolen bases.  He had four this week after none his first week.  My fantasy team thanks him for showing up.
• I heard Angel Pagan got hurt, too.  Hopefully it's not too serious, or else Hendry's going to have to make a trade.  Mabry's a good hitter, and Bynum has a pulse, but having both a heartbeat away from a starting job makes me uneasy.  Pagan, too, for that matter.  Jones pinch-hit tonight, so he should be back by tomorrow, thankfully.  Wow, I'm thankful for Jacque Jones.  Never thought the day would come. 
• I heard some talk that if Pagan's injury is serious, the Cubs might turn to red-hot Felix Pie, who's tearing up AAA.  I'd hold off, unless Jones, Pierre or Murton was going to be out for an extended time.  It won't do him much good playing the role of fifth outfielder on Dusty's bench.  He needs to play every day.  If he's not going to play every day in the bigs, I'd just assume have him hit in the minors.  Many think Corey Patterson was ruined by such shenanigans.  I wouldn't say that was the sole cause of Corey's problems by any stretch, but it certainly didn't turn him into a productive big-leaguer.
• The Bulls clinched a playoff birth, and with a pair of victories and some luck, they might climb into the FIFTH seed.  Instead of Detroit, they'd have to play Cleveland or New Jersey.  The Bulls seem to match up fairly well with the Nets, so lets hope they go that route.  Oh, and Ben Gordon is a STUD.
• Finally, I must admit that the weekend wasn't completely sports-free.  I did catch some Arena Football, and if you want to know how the Iowa Hawkeyes spring practice went, drop me an email. 

Happy Easter, everybody.