Final Thoughts on Chicago Sports

Bulls Draft Results: Not Too Shabby

While I would have preferred a trade for an established big man, all-in-all it was a successful draft for John Paxson and the Bulls.  It didn't shake down quite the way we expected it to, but in the end they ended up with the two players that Chad Ford predicted the Bulls would take, along with a free Russian.  And who doesn't want a free Russian?  Let's look at the picks...

Tyrus Thomas, PF, LSU - The Bulls ended up with Thomas after picking, then trading, LaMarcus Aldridge.  There's not much to say about Thomas that hasn't already been said, but I like the move.  Thomas was clearly a better fit than Aldridge, and if you want proof, look no further than the NCAA tournament where Thomas destroyed Aldridge head-to-head in an Elite Eight matchup. 

Thabo Sefolosha, SF, Switzerland - The Bulls traded a future 2nd round pick to move up three spots and select Thabo.  I've never seen him play, but the scouts say he's solid in every phase of the game.  Ballhandling, passing, shooting, basketball IQ.  Furthermore, he's ready to play right now as he's held his own in the Italian league.

Viktor Khryapa, SF, Russia - Never heard of him.  The Bulls aquired him in the Thomas trade and ESPN Insider says he's a raw talent the equivalent of a late first rounder.  He's probably a shorter version of Dalibor Bagaric, but who cares?  He was free.  If he does anything it's a bonus.

The Bulls have already been classified a "winner" in this draft, and the ESPN panel unanimously agreed that the Bulls had pulled in an excellent haul.  You know what that means, right?  It'll probably suck.  But for now, anyways, it looks good.  Certainly better than our football team's draft at least. 

If I have a complaint tonight, it's in ESPN's coverage.  Actually, most of the coverage was OK, give or take a Stephen A. Smith.  (Take, Take, Take.)  I had a problem with the draft ticker, though.  If a team makes a trade, how hard is it to show the updated team with the player taken in the ticker?  Three hours after the draft started, it still showed the Bulls with Aldridge and Carney (the player they traded for Thabo.)  Portland made about nine trades tonight, and I'm still not even sure who they ended up with.  Let me show you how it's done. 

1.  TOR - Andrea Bargnani PF/Italy  2.  POR (from CHI) - LaMarcus Aldridge PF/Tex  3.  CHA - Adam Morrison SF/Gonzaga  4.  CHI (from POR) - Tyrus Thomas PF/LSU ...

Is it that friggin hard?  Even the web site insisted on displaying the teams that drafted them instead of the teams that are getting them.  Just show who gets who, that's all that matters.  Anyone tuning in late or quickly checking the web site would have a false representation of how the draft actually turned out.  

As for the rest of the teams in the draft, I gotta say nice pick by MJ with Morrison.  And too bad about Dee Brown from Illinois falling so low (#45), but at least he'll be with his buddy Deron Williams in Utah.  I bet he'll be a rare second rounder that sticks.  Great passer, good at threes, respectable on D.  Nice role player.

Next up for the Bulls?  Free agency.  I'll be back then with a preview.  Later!

Bulls Draft: Rumors Galore

The NBA Draft is being held Wednesday night in New York, and the Bulls have two first-round picks (#2 and #16).  I already touched on a few of the potential picks a few weeks ago, but there's some rumors going around that need to be addressed:

Rumor #1:  ESPN is saying the deal is already off, but supposedly the Bulls were thinking of sending the #2 pick, along with Tyson Chandler, to the Suns for Shawn Marion.  That would have been a steal, too bad it's BS.  Marion's only 28 years old, a proven scorer at 21.8 PPG, a proven rebounder at 11.8 RPG and he can play in the up-tempo offense that the Bulls have embraced.  Oh well.  At the very least, it seems the Bulls are listening to offers for Chandler. 

Rumor #2:  If Toronto passes on Andrea Bargnani, the Bulls will take the italian big man.  I've never seen him play, of course, but Scouts, Inc. likens him to a Dirk Nowitzki lite.  To be sure, with his size (7'1, 248) he seems to have pretty good potential, though they say he projects more as a Power Forward than Center.  When I hear European big man, I think "project" ala Darko Milicic.  But these days, the Europeans seem more fundamentally sound and ready-to-go than their American counterparts, so he's probably not a bad pick.

Rumor #3:  Paxson wants Washington SG Brandon Roy, the most NBA-ready player in the draft.  If Pax takes Roy with the 2nd pick, more than a few GMs will have to alter their gameplan.  Michael Jordan and the Bobcats are said to covet Roy, and he'll do anything he can to get him.  The Bulls taking Roy is supposedly contingent on them being able to move Luol Deng, a move I don't agree with.  Deng is still a pup (21) with long arms, freakish ability, and probably the Bull with the highest ceiling at this point.  Give him another year to grow into that body before you trade him.

Rumor #4:  The consensus from this webosphere that we call home is that the Bulls will definitely take Tryus Thomas or LaMarcus Aldridge, the two guys I already talked about in my last preview.  Thomas does appear to be the "safe pick" at this point, but the crazy LaMarcus Aldridge staredown with Scott Skiles leads me to believe you won't be seeing him in Deerfield any time soon. 

Rumor #5:  Bulls trade up their #16 pick to grab Rudy Gay.  Don't count on this one, as he'll run into Ozzie Guillen at Reinsdorf's annual Christmas party and all hell will break loose.  Shazam!

Rumor #6:  Bulls take Gonzaga's Adam Morrison, a guy some are comparing a young Larry Bird, right down to the wispy mustache.  Call it women's intuition.  

Rumor #7:  Bulls take JJ Reddick with the #16 pick.  With his latest injury concern, the Bulls might choose to pass on him even this low, but I say take a flier on him.  I was talking to Perry about this today, and he's insisting that he's at best the next Steve Kerr.  I'm totally cool with that.  Kerr had a long career and was part of five championship teams.  Someone that can hit 50% of his threes will find his niche on any NBA roster, and you can't really ask for much more than that with a pick that low.  The boy is light's out. 

So based on everything you see above, it's pretty obvious that I have no idea what Paxson's going to do tomorrow.  It seems the safest bet lies with Tyrus Thomas, but Aldridge, Bargnani, Morrison and even Roy seem like reasonable guesses.  Official Prediction?  I'll go out on a limb and say Thomas.  It's just a shame there are no Lebron James in this draft, or else we could really stick it to the Knicks for giving us their #2 pick.  Which reminds me, I have to send Isiah a thank-you note.  Back with a recap tomorrow night....

Lee's back, but Cubs still swept by Twins

The Cubs are simply a pathetic excuse for a baseball team right now, as they've won just two games in their last twelve.  There was some good news today, of course, and that's Derrek Lee coming off the DL.  The bad news is they are now 19-41 since he broke his wrist and the season is all but over.  In honor of Derrek Lee's return, I'm going to do some bullet points on various Cub-related topics. (Don't be fooled.  I do bullet points because I'm a lazy writer that doesn't want to (can't) string his thoughts together into a cohesive article.  Nevertheless, away we go!)

• As much as the Cubs have missed him, I think Derrek Lee's coming back too soon.  I hear he's going to be wearing a brace on his wrist when running the bases and that his wrist is still rather tender.  So what's the point of coming back?  Are the Cubs making a run right now?  There aren't exactly a whole lot of Kirk Gibson moments on this team's agenda for this year so just take it easy and come back when you're 100%.  If you're not 100% this year...so be it.  Come back strong next year.  Give me something to look forward to.
• Looks like Marmol pitched his way out of the rotation and Guzman pitched his way in.  Marmol got rocked the other day in his third career start, but he was great in his first start while mediocre in his second.  Guzman, on the other hand, was awful in all four of his starts this year.  (though he did have one nice relief appearance.)  I suppose it doesn't matter really, but it leads me to my next point.
• It's time to pull Sean Marshall from the rotation for a while.  Not that he's pitching bad...well, he IS pitching bad, but it's not that he's pitching AWFUL is what I should have said.  No, the reason I want to pull him from the rotation is to save his arm.  This 23-year old southpaw has never pitched more than 94 innings in a single season (due to injury), and he's now on a pace for 180 or so.  Put Marmol (or Hill or Williams or career minor-leaguer Les Walrond) in the rotation and let Marshall get some time in long relief.  On this shitty club, he'll still throw 3-4 innings per week, but at least he'll cut down on that potentially career-threatening workload. 
• I'm kind of torn on the idea of trading Jacque Jones.  Part of me wants to dump that bad (but not terrible) contract while his value is at it's highest, and that he might actually fetch a decent prospect or two.  The other part of me is looking at the roster and thinking that we might need three new outfielders next year and Jones isn't really that bad, especially if platooned with Murton.  The Cubs can win with him hitting in the seven-hole. I suppose we'll find out soon enough what Hendry's going to do.

That's all I have to say about the Cubs for now.  I'll be back later this week with thoughts on the Bears, the Bulls draft, and more.  See ya then...

A Cub fan at The Jake

The Cubs wrapped up their three-game series tonight in Cleveland with a rain-shortened win, giving them two out of three.  I was in attendance for game one of the series, and I've got some thoughts on the experience. 

I wasn't the only Cubs fan that trekked across the country to watch the lousy Cubs face the lousy Indians this week; probably a third of the 27,000 fans in the stadium were wearing Cubbie blue.  Jacobs Field is a nice place to see a ballgame.  Great site-lines, good food, clean facilities, knowledgeable fans, and the redneck factor was low.  Cleveland itself, however, didn't quite live up to The Jake's standards.  (Let's put it this way, as we drove in to town, everyone instantly plugged their noses and simultaneously said, "Who farted?"  It took us a minute to realize it was Cleveland itself we were smelling.  Put that on a T-Shirt, "Cleveland.  Who Farted?")  ANYWAYS, the park was nice. 

We had decent seats in the upper deck as we watched the Cubs jump out to an early lead on a Jacque Jones homer.  Having come into the game on a six-game losing streak, not seeing the Cubs down by a touchdown after the first inning was a bit of a relief.  Hank White's three-run shot (which I actually predicted as he stepped up to the plate) was even more of a relief.  Sean Marshall started for the Cubs and gutted out five shaky innings before he was relieved by a rain delay.  The rain delay provided the opportunity to cram into what we deemed a "cubbie hole" beneath the stands, and we got a chance to hear some Cleveland sports radio.  You think The Score is obnoxious, you should hear these bozos.  They were laying full blame for the Indians lousy season squarely on Jason Johnson's shoulders.  Their argument was Detroit stunk last year with him, dropped him and is now good.  Indians, of course, picked him up and went to the tank.  Johnson is pretty bad, but I don't think it's quite that simple.  They also proceeded to rip Cleveland fans for not being loyal to their team and allowing the visiting Cubs to bring so many fans with them.  I don't know who the host of the show was, but he was like a cross between Mike North and a Wrestling announcer.  Not good.

Interestingly enough, the Tribe designated Johnson for assignment after the game and traded him to the Red Sox this morning.  They ate the last 2.5 million of his contract.  I applaud the Indians for recognizing the sunk cost and not try to hide it on the Disabled List. 

The tarp finally came off the field and we took the opportunity to find better seats.  We ended up about 15 rows behind home plate for the last four innings of the game.  Thus, we had a pretty nice view of Ryan Dempster's attempt to become the first Cubs closer to blow an 8-run lead.  (I've personally witnessed a Cubs starter blow an 8-run lead, but never a closer.)  Luckily, he only gave up four as the Cubs held on for the 12-8 victory. 

All-in-all, a good time was had in Cleveland.  Despite the Cubs troubles this year, it's still fun to head out to the ballpark, have a beer, and take in a game.  Especially when you can add a new stadium to your checklist.  Jacob's Field makes eight for me, as I've also been to Wrigley, Comiskey old & new, Chase Field (then Bank One Ballpark), the SkyDome, and the now defunct Jack Murphy Stadium and Riverfront Stadium.  I'm going to add Miller Park and Turner Field later this year, both when the Cubs are in town.

One final note, the guy running the scoreboard in Cleveland is a friggin comedian.  They played "Guess what year?" with the following included amongst the clues...."Ford introduces Model T," "William Taft was elected president," and of course, "The Cubs win their last World Series."  High comedy, there in Cleveland.  High comedy.

Enjoy a picture from the game:

Cubs-Tigers, Game 1: Does Hendry know how to spell DFA?

Glendon Rusch pitched his way out of the rotation today, and if there's any justice in the world, he'll receive his walking papers tomorrow.  Calling him a terrible pitcher is an insult to terrible pitchers everywhere.  He makes Russ Ortiz look good.  Speaking of Ortiz, the D-backs released him earlier this week, in effect eating over 20 million dollars.  Keith Law at ESPN.com had a great article about the move, and he applauded the Diamondbacks for recognizing the sunk cost.  Rusch fits in the same category.  The fact of the matter is, whether he's here or not, the money is gone.  If the Cubs are better off with a random rookie on the mound than Rusch, then the random rookie should get the playing time.  Payroll should not dictate PT.  So release the bum, eat the 4 million he's owed, and move on with life. 

A few other note-worthy items have reared their ugly head over the last two days. 

• Carlos Zambrano's arm is "very heavy" right now.  He didn't miss a turn, and he pitched brilliantly yesterday, but his arm is sore enough for the Cubs to alert the media.  (That alone should scare you.)  I don't know, but you don't suppose the dead arm has anything to do with the three straight starts over 120 pitches, does it?  Nah, of course not.  I actually think Carlos will be ok.  He's a horse and can probably handle a higher workload than your average chap.  But if there's one thing that Cubs fans don't want to see, it's a dead arm on Carlos Zambrano. 
• Dusty announced that Freddie Bynum is going to platoon with Matt Murton.  Good Lord in heaven, no.  It's not that Murton's doing great, far from it.  He's still hitting the lefties, but he's been looking pretty awful against righties lately.  Because of that, it appears the Cubs have already soured on him and his long term potential.  Mike Kiley of the Sun-Times had an interesting article about Cubs left fielders through the years, pointing out the Cubs history and lack of patience with prospects.  The bottom line is if this season is over, Murton needs to play every day.  He's still young enough that he has a chance to actually learn how to hit righthanders.  Pulling him from the lineup in favor of a light-hitting supersub with no future would be the very definition of counter-productive. 
• Angel Guzman looked really good today in relief of Rusch.  I'm not sure if it was a case of Detroit scouts not preparing for him or Angel finally harnessing his talent.  But he looked good, and I would expect him to receive Rusch's next start. 
• Mark Prior is schedule to pitch Sunday or Monday.  No word yet on his next DL stint.

That's it from me.  I'm heading to Ohio this weekend to spend some time with family and to check out the Cubs in Cleveland.  Full report when I get back.  Happy Father's Day, everybody.

Cubs Swept at Home: Finding new ways to lose

The Cubs finished up a series with the Astros today, having been disgraced with a sweep at home.  Zambrano once again pitched brilliantly, today.  Seven innings, one run, 5 Ks, 2 walks.  Anyone that has a problem with that must be sick of watching the Cubs offense, or lack thereof.  The bullpen blew today's game, but I can't really blame them too much with this one.  Howry came in, put two runners on.  Bad.  Next guy made an out.  Next play, grounder to second.  Walker misses the bag, though, and his throw is late to first.  What should have been an inning-ending double play ends up being bases loaded, one out.  Next guy, Brad Ausmus, ground-ball single to right.  Runner from third scores easily, and the go-ahead run scores from 2nd scores on Jacque Jones easily.  Jacque held the ball a split second too long on his throw and he threw the ball straight into the ground.  This is like the fifth time that's happened this month.  Ridiculous. 

I was listening to this game on the radio today and Santo was going nuts.  "Jeez-us!"  If I heard that once, I heard it 50 times.  He was saying Jacque might seriously have a mental block against throwing.  You know, Steve Blass/Chuck Knoblauch disease.  I don't know about that, but I do know his shoulder's been bothering him lately.  If it's bothering him that much, he should sit.  No matter how hot his bat is, no matter how crappy his backup is.  With interleague play coming up, the Cubs will get to use the DH next week and he can play then.  With Dusty runnin the show, though, look for Neifi to play every day and bat second.  (No, Neifi playing has little to do with Right Field.  I just thought I'd point out that Neifi's still on the roster and still sucking.)

I'm getting kind of worried about Santo.  I don't know how many more heartbreaking losses this guy can take.  He sounds like he's having an aneurysm right there in the booth every day.  The Cubs better start winning or Santo is toast.   

Since I mentioned Interleague play, now might be the time to point out the Cubs host the Detroit Tigers this weekend.  For the first time probably ever, White Sox fans will unite and root for the Cubs.  Wish I had better news for you, Sox fans, but the Cubs stink and will be lucky to pull one of three in this one.  They certainly won't win Friday, with Glendon Rusch scheduled to pitch.  Marmol's got a chance Saturday, but he's facing Verlander so I wouldn't exactly bet the farm on this one.  Then the hot-n-cold Sean Marshall takes on Gambler Kenny Rogers on Sunday.  Tough matchups, all of them.  Not to mention Detroit has an offense, a good manager and well...  Let's just say it won't be easy for the North siders. 

Bears Offseason: Has Lovie lost the team?

Nathan Vasher is the latest Bear to withdraw from the offseason's voluntary workout program, joining recently demoted Lance Briggs and Thomas Jones.  What's going on in Lake Forest?  Who's his agent?  Vasher is two years away from free agency so he really has no leverage, so I really don't understand what's to be gained by sitting out. 

Last week, I was listening to the talking heads on the radio and one of them was insisting that the players have lost respect for coach Lovie Smith, and Lovie in turn looks like an amateur with his demotions.  I thought it was crap at the time, a Mariotti-esque ratings-grabber with no basis in fact.  Now I'm starting to wonder.  Did you hear all the players jump to Lovie's defense last week after he demoted Briggs and Jones?  Me neither.  I did hear a few guys, namely Brian Urlacher, stress that the workouts are voluntary and the players shouldn't be punished for skipping out.  Hmmm....  It's WAY to early to say that Lovie has lost the team, but a pattern is definitely forming and it's something to look out for. 

This sucks.  Last year's team was a breath of fresh air, and I'm really looking forward to the 2006 season.  The latest from Halas Hall is starting to put a damper on my hopes, though.  If Lovie loses the team and one or two injuries hit, the next thing you know a ball will bounce off Leon Johnson's head (wherever he is, the ball will find him) and all of a sudden we're looking at another 4-12.  The 2002 Bears were the very definition of the word "Buzzkill."  If they wilt like that again this year, more or less nullifying last season's success, I seriously might stop watching football.  Well, not seriously, but you get the idea. 

Right the ship, Lovie.  Your point was made, let the kids come out of Time Out. 

From the ChicagoSportsBlogs Vault: Wood headed to DL

I don't have time to write this one up, so simply refer to my last post and substitute "shoulder" for "knee."  Leave out the surgery part. For now. 

Just do us all a favor and release this guy.  Do you know how much of the trainers valuable time this guy's wasting?

Cubs Update: Back in Da Funk

The Cubs funk continued today with a loss to Houston by a score of one to nothing.  Funk is good if you're George Clinton or that dude that sang "Word Up".  But if you're a baseball team, funk is more like that rank stench coming from that lint you pulled out of your belly button.  Very, very bad.

There have been some positives lately, though.  I'm going to look past the fact that the Cubs managed to make Wandy Rodriquez and Chris Sampson look like Spahn and Sain these last two days, and concentrate on the good. 

• Carlos Marmol looks for real.  Upper nineties heat with a wicked curve and excellent control.  He looks like the Dominican Mark Prior out there.  (If you can remember what Prior looks like throwing something other than a towel.)  The kid's a former catcher whose bat wasn't cutting it in the minors so they converted him to pitcher.  Good call.  Hope Dusty doesn't ruin him.
• Jacque Jones has been hitting the cover off the ball lately.  He even managed a few hits against left-handers, while continuing to destroy all right-handers in his path.  So what was he doing on the bench today against a rookie no-name righty?  Oh yeah, I forgot.  Dusty's a genius.  (If Jones had an injury or ailment that I'm unaware of, I extend my sincerest apologies to the Dustinator and his family.  If he was fine and Dusty simply chose today to give him a rest; well, screw you, Dusty!)
• Carlos Zambrano pitched an absolute gem the other night, carrying a no-hitter into the 8th.  He worked fast, didn't showboat, and didn't get into the faintest bit of trouble till the 8th, where he started to rack up the pitch count.  But this is the Carlos I was hoping to see more frequently at the start of the season.  He even hit a homer that day to boot.
• Actually, he's been pretty consistently great since the calendar turned May.  Other than him and Jacque, though, well.  I'll let Paul Sullivan finish this one...
• Speaking of Sullivan, I don't think I ever mentioned the McPhail/Hendry degradation of the Tribune's beat reporter in this space.  Apparently Andy and Jimmy didn't like what Sullivan wrote, called him into their office and proceeded to berate him personally for his lousy reporting and his career choices.  What a couple of jerks.  This is one of the main problems with the Tribune Company owning both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Cubs.  They think they can control what's being written about them.  This isn't the first time they've had problems with the press, mind you.  They ran the immensely popular Steve Stone out of town.  For that matter, they have a problem with all public relations.  Whenever they want to trade somebody, first they go to the press, trash that player's character, and announce their intentions for signing an alternate.  Way to pump up that player's value, Jim.  You think you can get any less for Patterson?  Then there's the Dusty Baker contract extension, of course.  Dusty's already reportedly been extended, but they haven't announced it to the media yet because they're waiting for a winning streak.  If you're going to sign him, sign him.  Then have the balls to stand there in front of your fan base and tell them why you think Dusty deserves the extension.  Don't wait till things are rosey, those times may not return this year!

I guess I didn't do a very good job of staying positive with my bullet points.  Oh well.  (After further review, I was like Jim Hendry pumping up a player's trade value with this post.  Things are great...BUT...)

Bears Mini Camp: Are these demotions for real?

The deadest football month of the year just ended and it's time to check in with the Bears.  A bit of Bears news made the front page of ESPN.com over the weekend, when the Bears held mini-camp.  Ordinarily mini-camp is not front page material, but this year was different.  Thomas Jones and Lance Briggs showed up for the mandatory practices after ditching the Bears "voluntary" offseason program, and found that they both had been demoted to second string.  Ironically, or should I say unironically, both players are represented by the Devil, er, I mean, Drew Rosenhaus, and both are unhappy with their current situations.  Or they were convinced by the Dev-, I mean Rosenhaus, that they should be unhappy and doggone it, they both have gotten a massive case of the grumpies.  But is it warranted?  Let's look at each situation individually.

Entering his fourth season, Lance Briggs is coming off his first Pro Bowl season.  He's been a force in the lineup since the day he was drafted.  Still, he's clearly the second best linebacker on the team, next to Brian Urlacher.  His contract is up after this season, and the Bears have been trying to secure an extension with Briggs.  Rumors have it that Briggs wants more money than Urlacher, a claim Rosenhaus denies.  His backup is Leon Joe. 

Thomas Jones is entering his eighth season, and is currently coming off his most productive one.  He was a high-profile bust in Arizona, a competent runner in Tampa Bay, an injury risk everywhere he played, and finally a top 10 running back in Chicago in his 7th year in the league.  With his history, the Bears took Cedric Benson with the fourth pick in the 2005 draft. 

So does either have a right to be pissed?  Briggs, maybe, depending on the Bears offer.  It was reportedly front-loaded, and if it was more than 17 or 20 million dollars in guaranteed money, he's a fool to pass on it.  He'll make 700 grand this year, and if he gets hurt, he'll get nothing.  As for Jones, as a top 10 pick, he's been well-paid for his entire career.  He finally earns his paycheck, and he wants more.  Sorry.  Jones is a fine back, but I still think Benson's got a higher ceiling at this point. 

Contract or not, I think Briggs will have his starting job back before Training Camp starts.  Jones, on the other hand, should sit.  The Bears don't have the depth at linebacker to mess around with Briggs, but they do at running back.  Let Benson take the ball this year, see what he can do.  If he's not up to the challenge, cut him and give Jones a new contract.  Jones is good, Benson might be elite.  Let's find out.