Final Thoughts on Chicago Sports

Super Predictions

The 42nd edition of the Big Game is Sunday, and I'm going to state right now that this game is a win-win for me.  My reasoning is simple.   If the Patriots win, they'll shut up the New York Giants -- a team I despise.  They'll also shut up the '72 Dolphins -- a team that I'm sick of.  If the Giants win, they'll shut up Belichick, Brady, and the Patriots - yet another team I hate along with their entire fanbase.  So it should be great, unless the game is a sloppy shitfest (like last year, sadly).  Anyways, time for some predictions.

First, I'm going to talk about the halftime show.  Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  I'm a big fan of Petty, so I'm looking forward to his show.  Yes, he does look like an old fossil with a haircut that's at least 30 years out of date, but that won't stop him from rocking the free world at the pink taco this Sunday.  I predict he'll play 3, maybe 4 if-slightly-truncated songs.  First of all, the no brainer.  "Free Falling".  It's probably his biggest hit, and it typically induces quite the sing-a-long from the crowd.  From here it gets a little tricky, because he has a lot of hits to choose from.  It's not a bad bet that he'll play a song off the new album, and he'll definitely play one song that rocks out.  For the new album, I'd go with "Saving Grace."  For the "rocker,"  I'll go with either "Running Down a Dream" or "You Wreck Me".  "Running Down a Dream" might tie into the concept of the "Super Bowl, super dreams" for the players, which using that logic would also make "I Won't Back Down" a possible choice as well.  If he wants to go a little deeper in his catalog, it wouldn't be a shock to hear "American Girl" or "I Need to Know."  Finally, as a wild card, throw in a cover.  Every tour, he manages to cover at least one or two tracks.  Mostly old 60's stuff like "Gloria" or "Baby, Please Don't Go."  Official prediction?  "You Wreck Me," "Free Falling," a cover, and "American Girl".  You heard it here first.

As for the game itself....

• LOOK FOR... Tom Brady to have a good but not great game.  Three TDs, two picks.  I think the hoof is going to affect him.
• DON'T LOOK FOR... Eli Manning to play horribly.  He quite possibly will outplay Brady.
• LOOK FOR... Randy Moss to score a touchdown, but he'll have less than 60 yards receiving.
• DON'T LOOK FOR... Plaxico Burress to do anything significant.  He'll re-injure his ankle on the first series.
• LOOK FOR ...Jabar Gaffney to win MVP.  It's the precise type of oddball choice that nobody will see coming.  His two TDs will seal the deal.
• DON'T LOOK FOR...Tiki Barber on the Giants sideline. He's not exactly welcome in these parts.
• LOOK FOR ...about seven thousand '72 Dolphins references.  They will be everywhere, and they will be constant.  Shoot me now.
• DON'T LOOK FOR...anything interesting to happen in the fourth quarter.  The Pats last two games both evolved into snoozefests after the 45 minute mark.
• LOOK FOR...A Tony Eason reference.  Worst QB in the Super Bowl, ever.  A symbol of the Patriots first forty years.
• DON'T LOOK FOR...A Rex Grossman reference.  Unless a QB happens to turn it over 5 times.  Then a Rex reference is a lock.
• LOOK FOR...Peyton Manning in a skybox. 
• DON'T LOOK FOR ....a priceless pep talk from Peyton.  He'll decline all interviews until after the game.  Then he'll be in the lockerroom hugging Eli.  That is, if the Giants win and all.
• LOOK FOR...The Giants to blitz the crap out of Brady.
• DON'T LOOK FOR....Brady on his back much.  The Pats line will take care of him.
• LOOK FOR...The Patriots to cruise to a comfortable win.  They won't cover, but they'll win by 11.
• DON'T LOOK FOR...Larry Csonka, ever again.  We don't need him anymore.

And that's about it.  Patriots 31, Giants 20.  Have a good one.

Why couldn't the Cubs get Santana?

The Johan Santana deal was FINALLY consummated today, and he's going to the Mets for four good-but-not-great prospects.  This pisses me off.  First of all, he's going to the Mets.  I loathe the Mets.  Second, the Cubs should have made a play for him.  Everyone kept saying that the Cubs didn't have the prospects to land Johan, but judging by what the Mets gave up -- they certainly did.  I'll let Keith Law sum it up. 

It's hard to see this deal as anything other than a win for New York, and given how many people claimed (erroneously) that the Mets didn't have the prospects to get Santana, it must be doubly sweet for Omar Minaya right now.

For the Twins, or at least for their fans, this has to feel like a huge letdown after a winter that saw names like Jacoby Ellsbury and Phil Hughes bandied about by the media, although whether those players were actually available in trade talks is another matter entirely. The Twins deal their best asset and the best pitcher in franchise history -- not to mention the greatest Rule 5 pick in the history of that draft -- for quantity, but not the type of quality you expect a pitcher of his caliber to fetch in return.

The Cubs don't have a Phil Hughes or Jacoby Ellsbury.  Those are two of the top prospects in baseball.  But they did have a few B+ types of prospects that they could have packaged with Rich Hill to land Santana.  I'd say Hill plus Gallagher, Veal, and maybe a Matt Murton could have landed Johan.  The Cubs rotation now is good enough to win the Central, but not good enough to win in the postseason.  Imagine a big three of Santana, Zambrano, and Lilly going in the playoffs.  Only in our dreams, my friends.  Only in our dreams.

The problem, obviously, is the payroll.  The Cubs simply didn't want to add $20 million per year to the payroll; not with the impending sale.  The Cubs have done a good job spending money the last two offseasons, and I find it hard to find fault them.  But when you can land the unquestioned best pitcher in baseball without completely gutting your farm system, you've got to do it.  The new guy's going to foot the bill anyways, right?  Right?!

Is it really time to blow up the Bulls? Mid-season analysis

I haven't written a word about the Bulls this season yet we're already at the half-way point.  Truth is, there's been nothing to write about.  Well, there's been plenty of stuff to write about, but momma always said "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."  If that were true, John Paxson would be wishing there were more writers like me.  You know, crappy, untrained, no readers -- all of that.  But today I'm going against mom's wishes and I'm going to take a look at what I've been avoiding - er, missing.

Holy mother of earth, what happened?  If you had told me back in November that Scott Skiles would be fired on Christmas, I'd have said you were crazy.  Skiles is/was a smart coach that, while a little heavy-handed at times, rarely seemed to be out-smarted by the opposition.  Based on his history in Phoenix, though, I knew that his act would eventually wear thin with today's coddled athletes.  I just didn't think it could happen in six weeks.  The players just quit on him, and his firing was surprisingly justified.  Other shocking developments:

• Kirk Hinrich sucks.  I didn't see this one coming, but his scoring numbers are down 20% across the board.  And this is after a slight increase after some recent solid play. 
• Ben Wallace sucks.  I didn't realize this when the Bulls signed him, but I did slowly figure this out over the course of last season.  He was OK last season, but overall I would have labled him a disappointment.  He's been downright awful this year.  I know he's not here to score, but how does a big man shoot 34%?  And why is he only averaging little over eight boards per game?   I mean, what does he do for his sixty million dollars?  Besides get his coach fired that is.  And crap on rookies. 
• Luol Deng is not awesome.  His numbers are slightly down across the board, though he's still a pretty good player.  Injured now, and he probably won't be tradeable at the deadline.  But I think the "Kobe ship" has sailed anyways so its a moot point.
• Ben Gordon was worthless until he was benched.  Then he was awesome again.  Too bad the Bulls were already ten games under .500 before they figured this out.
• Adrian Griffin is Adrian Fucking Griffin.  (Actually, that's not so surprising.)  How does he have a say in anything other than what he orders for lunch?  Going to new coach Jim Boylan (with Wallace) and demanding Noah's punishment be increased is not something this "grisled vet" needs to be doing.  What he should be doing is thanking John Paxson daily for keeping him employed.
• Jim Boylan is very green.  Mike Tirico had a point about Boylan today suggesting everybody should cut him some slack.  He's only been a head coach for a few weeks and handling a situation like Noah's must be tough for a guy just getting his feet wet.  So I'll give him a pass on stuff like this.  Till March.  The clock is ticking.
• Joakim Noah is a bit eccentric.  The dude can play, but he's awfully immature (or so we hear.)  Usually, teams go to great lengths to hide the immaturity of a young potential impact player.  But this kid must be really an annoying sonofabitch and/or the veterans hate his guts.  Even Boylan can't hide his dislike for the kid. A shame because, like I said, dude's got talent.   (At least he didn't get arrested for urinating in public.) 
• Jim Boylan (and Scott Skiles for that matter) have no faith in Tyrus Thomas.  He's looked great at times, but most of the time he's glued to the bench.  Yes, he doesn't always look the greatest out there, but he's not going to get any better by sitting.
• Joe Smith is who we thought he was.  Nothing more, nothing less.  (I know - cliche - got it.  But it works so well here.)   I actually have no complaints because I had low expectations.
• Only Andres Nocioni is living up to expectations.  Maybe Aaron Gray (who had absolutely zero expectations as a second rounder out of Pitt.)  And I guess the aforementioned Smith.
• John Paxson is severely lacking in the "balls" department.  Yes, at the time, it seemed like the Lakers were asking too much for Kobe.  And that the Grizzlies were asking too much for Gasol.  And, well, who knows what the Wolves wanted for Garnett but by judging what they got it couldn't have been that much.  Pax not making any deal is by far the biggest problem with the 2007-2008 Bulls.  Even if everyone lived up to expectations, and a few guys like Deng took a small step forward, they were NOT going to win a championship with this core.  That's all there is to it. 
• I gotta make that last point again, as its a biggie.  No big-time scorer on the team, no closer, no championship.  Frustrating as all Hell.

So where do we go from here?  Is it really time to blow it all up?  It's certainly time to give up on the season but I'm not sure that dumping all the major players on the team is going to solve anything.  They're solid at small forward, they have two guards who individually are good, and they have some depth.  That's really all they are.  Never going to win it all.  

Here's what I'd do.  It's clear that the Hinrich-Gordon backcourt is never going to work, so trade one of them to the highest bidder. (Gordon has the most value right now).  Trade Wallace's contract if you can, obviously, but don't expect much more than a crappy overpriced vet in return.  Pray that Hinrich and Deng get better or at least remember who they were.  Cut Griffin and any other malcontent/waste of space.  Play Thomas a lot more, see if he can finally blossom.  That's really all they can do in the short term, because the Lakers' ain't offering Kobe anymore and no other impact players with long-term prospects will be available.  Try to resume trade talks in the summer.  That's about it, baby.  Good luck.

A trip to the Cubs Convention

For the amount of Cubbie blue that bleeds through my veins, it's somewhat surprising that I've never been to the Cubs Convention.  So when the opportunity presented itself a few weeks ago, I couldn't pass it up.  After all, I love the Cubs, and what better way is there to show that love than to trek down to the Hilton towers on Michigan Avenue in sub-zero temperatures with 10,000 other crazy die hards. 

Now, before I begin, let me first mention that I'm not really an "autograph guy."  I got a few signatures when I was a kid, my first being Thad Bosley when I went to a game as an 11-year-old in 1986.  I also got Walter Payton's signature at the Auto Show one year, Harold Baines from a rare trip to old Comiskey Park, the "Isuzu guy" who caught a bullet with his teeth, and Mitch Williams when he was a) on the Cubs, and b) still good.  I also bought a signed Rafael Palmeiro rookie card at a card show, thinking that the young Cub stud left fielder be worth something some day.  But then a) he got traded - for Mitch Williams of all people, b) put up HOF numbers in Texas and Baltimore, and c) was disgraced for failing a steroid test.  To top it off, I have absolutely zero proof that the autograph is real so it's probably worthless.  Oh well, there's five bucks I'll never see again.

ANYWAYS, the point being I'm not an autograph guy, and of every autograph listed above, I only have a vaguely general idea of where it might be stored.  In other words, not a cherished possession.  Then again, I'm not some hoighty toighty snob that's going to pretend that it wouldn't be cool to meet a legendary Cubs player.  I'm just not going to stand in line a long time to do it. 

So Friday night, I got there just in time to miss the opening ceremony.  (Bummer.)  After that, there was an "Autograph Scavenger Hunt" that pitted 20 Cubs legends at various locations throughout the mammoth Cubs fest.  As you might expect, there were lines.  So my buddy and I check out some of these lines, and proceed to determine their "worthiness".  Tyler Colvin, former 1st round pick, had virtually no line.  So I waited about five minutes and got him to sign a ball.  It felt a little odd asking a 22-year-old kid for his autograph, who was all of one year old when I met Mr. Bosley, but he was pretty nice and I wished him the best.  You never know, might be worth something some day.  Then, the line right next to him was kind of long, probably 20-30 minutes or so, but it was rumored to be Geovanny Soto.  Another good looking youngster with a high ceiling.  Two minutes later, though, we found out that it was Daryle Ward.  Oh.  No offense, Mr. Ward, you're an excellent pinch hitter but I'm not going to wait in line that long to meet you.  I've already met my quota on pinch hitters with my first sig 22 years ago. 

Then we proceeded on to Fergie Jenkins.  The Hall of Famer had virtually no line, which was shocking to say the least.  But then I found out he was charging a $20 dollar donation to his charity for an autograph, so it kind of made sense (most if not all other autographs were free).  I decided to pay the $20, after all it was for charity, and I was surprised to find that they even gave me a ball and a case.  Met Fergie, got his autograph, and I can actually put that ball in a place of prominence in my sports-themed basement.  And that, my friends, was it for me and the autographs.  I waited in line about 10 minutes for Soriano before realizing it was an hour-plus line.  I just couldn't do it; there's too much other fun and interesting stuff going on.  The lines on Saturday were even worse.  They had a nice group of legends, current players, and old-time lesser knowns signing; I just preferred to spend my time in the seminars.

The sessions were pretty cool.  On Friday night, I caught the WGN radio broadcast in the ballroom that had live interviews with a bunch of players.  I missed Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa, but caught Hendry, Theriot/Dempster/Lilly, and Santo/Hughes/Beckert/Sutcliffe.  A very entertaining program.  Some of these guys are just born to entertain.  Others are merely informative and courteous.  I'll elaborate on this more in a minute.

The next morning, I was downtown bright and early for the Cubs Management session.  It was just blistery cold outside, and it seriously took 10 minutes for my eyes to thaw out after walking a single block from the parking lot to the hotel.  It was well worth it, though.  The Cubs Management session included Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, Chairman Crain Kenney and Assistant GM Randy Bush.  They talked a lot about the upcoming season, the moves they've made, and the moves they haven't made.  Then they opened it up to Q&A from the audience.  I understand that this session has been quite heated in years past, and I can understand that as well as anyone.  I was spitting fire mad at the Cubs from the end of 2004 all the way up until Dusty's firing at the end of 2006.  It was just a rotten situation all around, so I understand the fan's wanting answers.  But this year, everyone was in a good mood.  A 20-game improvement in the standings, as well as a playoff birth, will change the color of the fanbase's mood ring quite a bit.

So Hendry and Lou (and the other guys) did a great job answering great questions from the fans.  How the Fukudome signing happened (very different from standard free agents), dealing with Mark Prior (didn't want to play here), Soriano's spot in the lineup (leadoff), the rumored Brian Roberts deal (not happening, for now), the Mitchell Report and signing guys that might be on it (ie. Roberts - team does thorough background checks with current and former teammates), the Shingo Takatsu minor-league signing (close friend of Fukudome to ease the transition in spring training), instant replay (OK for fair/foul on home runs - but that's it); fundamentals that certain players need to work on (Rich Hill - fielding, Soriano - warning track)....Just a lot of great info.  Plus, Lou told some great stories.  Lou really knows how to work a crowd.  He had people cracking up every five minutes.

Which leads me to my next point.  The questions from fans at this first seminar were almost all good.  The only really dumb question I remember was someone asking, "would you trade any of your top prospects for a difference maker if it would guarantee that you'd win the world series?"  Uh, yeah.  Dumbass.  But I was shocked and impressed at how well-prepared the fans were, and how good the questions were.  But the Q&A portion at the rest of the sessions I attended, though, went rapidly downhill.  Don't get me wrong, the sessions were great.  I saw seminars on how the Cubs scout and prepare players from Latin America (with Soriano); one with Lou and his entire coaching staff; one with members of the '88 Cubs (Sandberg, Dawson, Sutcliffe and more) on the first night game; storytelling with Santo, Banks, and more; and one on the "Wrigley Mistique" and how great it is to play in Chicago (DeRosa talking about how playing in Atlanta just isn't the same).  I also saw parts of some lighter, more humorous fare, which included one that was a little lady-focused and had the dreamy Theriot, Murton and DeRosa; and Cubs "legends" playing Win, Lose, or Draw. 

So anyways, about the questions.  There were basically three types of fans asking questions at these other sessions:

1)  The "me, me, me" types of fans that tell the guys their life stories before evolving into the Chris Farley Show.  "I'm a social worker from Winnetka and I remember watching you on a 19' black and white tv and listening to Harry Caray, and one time he read my aunt edna's name on the air and it's my birthday today, and my daughter's a teacher and one of her students just loves the Cubs.  Anyways, remember that home run you hit back in 1978 against the Astros?  That was awesome."

2)  The "big brain" types.  One guy started rambling off a position by position analysis of the '69 Mets and '69 Cubs and he just couldn't understand how the Cubs, with all the hall of famers, didn't win and aren't more well-regarded than the Mets before Santo cut him off. "First of all, why are you talking about the Mets?"  And then Ron, professional storyteller that he is, saved the day by saying they were a good team that deserved to win before relaying a funny story from '69 so we could move on with life. 

3)  The softballs.  That's pretty much all we want, people.  It took a 10-year-old girl to come up and ask, "Lou, what do you and the umpire talk about when you come out of the dugout?"  Now that question got a great story.  Lou told a pair of funny stories about his days in Cincinnati and Seattle, and the crowd was laughing hysterically.  That's it.  Is it so hard?  Some of the guys are funnier than others, but you can really tell when someone has professional experience.  I love Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson, and they were pretty interesting speakers.  But when Sutcliffe had the microphone, he had people rolling in the aisles.  Stories about Ryno being a cheap-ass (with him sitting right there), stories about Gracie and Maddux.  Funny dude, born with a mic.  Lee Smith was particularly good at storytelling, too.  "If they had a Mitchell Report for Tanqueray, I'd have been the first name on the list." 

There was one other older lady that asked Lou, "Sometimes, a starting pitcher gives up 3 or 4 runs in the first inning, like Marquis or Hill, and you leave him in there and they end up giving up more runs.  Are you trying to lose?  I get so mad I start throwing stuff at my TV."  This type of question was pretty rare, but it sure got a funny reaction from Lou.  At first he tried answering it straight, "well, some days it depends on the state of my bullpen and what off days are coming up and the matchups we have..." before she kept hammering him and he finally said, "tell you what, next year I'll let you come down and sit next to me in the dugout and I'll let you make the calls."  People were dying, and she STILL kept hammering him, "I'm going to give you the phone number for the dugout and you let me know when I'm doing something wrong, and if you break your TV we'll send you a new one."  It was pretty great. 

And that was basically it.  The sessions with the current guys were very informative, and the sessions with the old timers were often very funny.  The time pretty much flew by and while I won't necessarily go every year, I can definitely see myself going again.  I want to hear stories about the championship season in 2008.  Till next time...

All the Pieces are in Place: Jon Lieber Returns to Cubs

The Cubs signed former Cub All-Star Jon Lieber to a one-year, $3.5 million dollar contract.  He's been injured and/or horrible for the last two years, but this isn't a bad signing by the Cubs.  While it's not likely that the 37-year old will return to his 2001 form, where he went 20-6 in Cubbie blue, it is possible that he will return to his 2005 form, where he went 17-13 with a 4.05 ERA.  (It's not likely, but it's possible.)  Further, he's not guaranteed a spot in the rotation, so It's a low-risk, medium-reward type of move.  Somebody brought up the name Rick Reuschel today as a best-case scenario.  Reuschel had a few injury-plagued seasons from ages 34-35 (with the Cubs), but then he went to San Francisco (after a stop in Pittsburgh) and was excellent in his age 38-40 seasons.  I think that's extremely optimistic, but hey, the Cubs are a due a few lucky breaks.  One thing going for him is the nature of his injuries.  Lieber's problems weren't with his arm, but his foot.  So that's encouraging.  I'm not expecting lightning in a bottle, though.  I'd be happy with league-average.

This whole rotation is starting to scare me, honestly.  There are very few "sure things" on the pitcher's mound in baseball, so asking for five aces is a bit ridiculous.  But I like to see five solid options, or "kinda sure things" in the rotation at the dawn of Spring Training.  The Cubs have only got three such "kinda sure things," and after that a whole bunch of question marks.  Here's how I see it.  First, the "kinda sure things."

Carlos Zambrano - a Grade A nutbag, but even at his worst he'll be 14-12 with a 4.20 ERA.  I'm not worried about Carlos at all.  He'll either win the Cy Young or merely be "good."

Ted Lilly - Last year was a career year for Ted.  While I don't expect him to repeat, it wasn't far out of line with his established performance.  He's a good bet to win 15 or so with a better-than-average ERA.

Rich Hill - His peripherals are solid, but he suffered the worst run support in the NL last year making his overall stats look somewhat average.  (11-8, 3.92)  It wouldn't surprise me to see him take a step forward but it also wouldn't surprise me for him to stay the same, if not drop off a bit. 

Now, for the "question marks." (as noted by "quotation marks")  

Jon Lieber - One more thing I should note is Lou Piniella doesn't put up with crappy performance.  If Jon doesn't perform, he will move to the pen and/or be released/demoted.  That goes for all these guys.

Sean Marshall - surprisingly effective young lefty had a solid ERA (3.92) but rarely went more than 6 innings in his starts.  He's young enough to have upside and I'd pencil him in for the fourth spot in the rotation right now, but there's talk of trading him to Baltimore for Brian Roberts.  I'm not sure the marginal upgrade at second is worth the loss of this potentially solid option in the rotation, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that Hendry finds a way to do the deal without losing Marshall (unless it's a larger package that includes Bedard.  Then, by all means, trade Marshall.)

Jason Marquis - started off 2007 great, but finished it so poorly he was left off the postseason roster.  I wasn't a fan of the Marquis signing, but I can't complain about his overall numbers last year.  If he could repeat those numbers, albeit with a little more consistency from start-to-start, I'd be fine with Marquis as the fifth starter.  I just have very little confidence that will happen.  Oh, and I might add that Marquis is on the trading block so discussing him now may be moot.  Despite the horrid finish, if a GM just looks at his 12-9, 4.60, Hendry might be able to get back more than he's worth.  (which is slightly above nothing.)

Ryan Dempster - Hendry and Piniella have both said that Dempster will get a shot in the rotation, but Piniella also qualified that by saying (paraphrase) "teams try a lot of things in Spring Training that don't work out.  Look at Boston last year with Papelbon in the rotation for a while before heading back to the closer role by the time the season started."   He was a crappy starter before becoming a mediocre closer with a few high profile blowups.  He hasn't been a good starter since 2001 so the odds of him being effective in the rotation are slim.  But I guess it's possible.  Otherwise, long relief for the Dumpster.

The Field - The Field consists of a bunch of prospects, basically.  Sean Gallagher, Billy Petrick, Donald Veal, Juan Mateo, and a whole slew of other farmhands have a one-in-a-dozen shot of ending up in the rotation before season's end.  All have upside; none are even close to sure things. 

And barring another move, that's it.  Three sure things and a bunch of question marks.  This isn't that different than 2006 when they went into the season with two sure things (Zambrano, Maddux) and about a dozen question marks.  And that season was an abortion by May 15th.

So yeah, very little confidence in the rotation right now.  I like the lineup.  Pie in Center is the only real question mark I see, and that potential hole can be filled with a midseason move.  The bullpen ain't bad either.  I suspect Marmol, Howry, Wood, Wuertz and a few others to be at least in the same ballpark as last year, and that ballpark wasn't bad at all.  It's just the question marks in the rotation that have me on edge.   

Oh well, in a short month we'll get a glimpse at the question marks on the mound, and we'll know very quickly who will pan out and who will fail.  Till next time...

NFL Playoffs: Divisional Round Recap

Went to Blackhawks game with the CSB crew Friday night and had a great time.  Hawks lost, but the beer was cold and what else is new?  Didn't get a chance to watch the Bulls suck it up in Atlanta today, nor is there any Cubs or Sox news to write about.  So you know what's left?  I'll let Jim Mora say it, as he says it better than anyone. 

Seattle had gamblers across the nation freaking out after going up 14-0 in the first three minute's of Saturday's game.  They of course were Favre'd up like butta after that as Green Bay went on a 42-6 run.  Who'd have thunk 62 points would be scored in conditions like that?  It's gotta be the highest scoring snow game ever.  They usually end up like the Cleveland-Buffalo game a few weeks ago when the Browns won 8-0.  Anyways, Favre was masterful and the Seabags couldn't tackle Ryan Grant.  That's all there is to it.  One thing I couldn't understand was Seattle punting with just under seven minutes left, down by 3 TDs.  Yeah, they were on their own 20 and it's pretty unlikely that they were going to score 22 unanswered points in the last 7 minutes, but don't you have to at least try?  They did score 22 in the last 6:06 versus Washington last week, didn't they?  They just gave up.

Speaking of giving up, both New England and Jacksonville seemed to phone in the fourth quarter of their game as well.  After both teams played a pretty spectacular first half which ended up knotted at 14-all, New England by process of being New England broke out a comfortable lead in the third.  Then both teams seemed put it in neutral and coasted the rest of the way.  Neither team seemed to really try and both teams seemed rather content to let the clock run out.  I don't know, maybe both teams were trying their asses off; maybe both teams were dog tired.  They just were...flat.  A very dull ending to an otherwise great game. 

Luckily we had some great football on Sunday to bring back the momentum.

Shocker of shockers, the Chargers beat the Colts.  Of all the games this weekend, I thought that one was the closest thing there was to a lock.  With Antonio Gates doubtful, and one of the Turner brothers calling the shots, I thought San Diego had no chance.  The Colts were simply too good.  With San Diego at full strength, and Peyton Manning throwing five picks, they needed an official's review to squeak by Indy two months ago.  Then, with LDT going down in the first quarter today, and Phillip Rivers going down after three...this has got to rank as the NFL upset of the year, right?  Vegas was giving the Chargers 11 by Sunday (after opening at 8) - and they still had a hard time getting Charger money.  (Bully for the casinos!) 

Why the Colts lost is rather simple.  Manning threw two picks in the red zone.  They had their chances, but they just couldn't get the job done in the end.  But what about that Phil Rivers?  I gotta admit, he played a great 3 quarters.  It was probably the best he's ever looked.  But then he busted up his knee and walked to the locker room (taunting fans the whole way -- classy).  Then he jogged out with a knee brace, in full uniform still, and it seemed certain he would come back.  But he didn't.  Billy Volek stayed in and won the game.  What was up with Phil?  Like Gump, he was running!  He doesn't need to be able to run a marathon to play QB.  Hell, McNabb played two quarters of a regular season game with a broken foot.  The Legend of Byron Leftwich had his lineman carrying him from huddle to huddle to win a game in college.  And Rivers was running on the sideline!  LDT looked visibly pissed at him.  I sort of touched on it before but I suppose now is the time to say that Rivers seems like the biggest d-bag in sports right now.  After Volek won the game, Rivers turned around and was mouthing off to fans again.  Really, Phil, let it go.  This isn't the first time I've heard about Phil either.  A few weeks ago, several Broncos were talking about Rivers being the biggest a-hole in the league, after taunting Jay Cutler.  Now I understand. 

Nevertheless, I'm not going to shed a tear for Manning and the Colts.  Indy is one of those franchises that it's really hard to hate, but seeing the Bears opponent in last year's Super Bowl one-and-done this year is sort of perversely satisfying.  Don't ask me why.

Now, best for last, right?  The Giants beat America's team in a game that wasn't quite the shocker that Colts game was, but nevertheless seeing golden-boy go 0-2 in the playoffs brings a smile to my face as well.  The fact that Dallas hasn't won a playoff game since 1996 gets me all verklempt, too.  Cheerleaders aside, I just hate the organization.  From Jerry Jones to Wade Phillips to T.O. to Tony Romo's shit-eating grin.  Nice to see it wiped from his face in such spectacular fashion.  It'll be also nice to see the NFC Championship game at the Frozen Tundra next week instead of the stupid dome with a hole in the roof. 

Prediction time.  I think we're looking at a rematch of Super Bowl XXXI, Green Bay vs. New England.  Favre and Grant should be too much for Eli Manning and company to handle, and Belichick eats pieces of shit like Norv Turner for breakfast.  (He eats pieces of shit for breakfast?)  Seriously, I don't think either the Bolts or lower-case NY has a chance next week.  But then again, I didn't think either team had a prayer this week and look at what happened. 

Nothing beats the NFL playoffs.  Too bad the Bears crapped out in November or else we'd all be crying about their one and done tonight.  Think of the pain the Bears saved us!  Till next time....

Another Former Cub Makes the Hall

For the second time in three years, a former Cubs reliever was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Congratulations to Goose Gossage on receiving baseball's highest honor.  After coming up with the White Sox and never really establishing himself, Goose went to the Yankees and was probably the best reliever in baseball for about ten years.  Check out his stats!  He was simply lights out.  Then, after a few great years in San Diego, he went to the Cubs and he promptly started to stink, naturally.  But those years in Yankee pinstripes earned him his plaque, and for that I say "Congratulations!"

Looking over the HOF voting results, I can't help but ask a few questions:

Who the HELL voted for Shawon Dunston?  I love the Shawon-O-meter as much as the next guy, but come on.  I'd love to see this writer's ballot.  If he voted for Shawon and not Rock Raines, he should have his brain scanned and credentials removed.  Same goes for Todd Stottlemyre.  I can't wait until 2018 when Ted Lilly gets a vote. 

There's a couple of other guys that got one or two votes where you could say, "OK, good player, four or five all-star teams, maybe a ROY or top 10 MVP vote...not necessarily a HOFer but a legitimately good player and I'll throw a vote his way to let him know I appreciated covering him all those years."  Guys like David Justice, Robb Nen, Rob "Shooter" Beck (who did his best to keep Goose's 'stache alive), Travis Fryman, and both Chucks Knoblauch and Finley.  Those were legitimately good players, among the top 10 or so in the league for at least a few years.  The types of guys that should make the Hall of Very Good.

But enough about the bottom of the ballot, let's go back to the top.  No room in the Hall for Andre Dawson yet, but at 65% I think he'll eventually get in.  This Cubs fan would be happy with that.  His former Expos teammate Tim Raines only getting 24% is a travesty, and Bert Blyleven of course deserves to be in as well.  Not sure about Jim Rice, I've read enough arguments against his possible enshrinement that I can't help but think HOVG.  But at 72% he's probably a lock for next year.  I'm starting to think Lee Smith has a legit gripe, seeing as how Eckersley, Sutter and now Gossage have all been enshrined.  (Oddly all were former Cubs)  I'm not sure if Smith was ever quite as dominant as those guys at their peaks, but he a) retired as the all-time saves leader (478), and b) had an ERA above league-average for 17 years in a row.  That's a long freaking time, especially considering a short reliever's ERA can be majorly screwed by a handful of bad appearances.  Toss in the fact that he was a 7-time All-Star that got MVP votes in four different seasons, and he's definitely got a case.  But anyways....

I'm just waiting for next year to see if Santo can finally get in on the Veteran's ballot.  He's the biggest Cubs travesty by far.

Recapping the 2007 Bears

The Bears wrapped up their dismal season Sunday with a win over the also sucky New Orleans Saints.  It's the first time they won two in a row all season, and the fact that they waited until weeks 16 & 17 to accomplish this feat tells you everything you need to know about the 2007 Bears.  

This season didn't go well for the Bears.  In fact, most would call it a disaster.  Why, I'd go as far as to call it a HUGE FUCKING DEBACLE, and among the most disappointing seasons in my lifetime.  But that's just me.  I can be ornery sometimes.

Coming off a Super Bowl trip in January, virtually all experts picked the Bears to repeat as NFC North Champions, and a healthy portion of those folks picked the Bears to make a return trip.  Not many were picking the Bears to win it, but you can see the type of lofty expectations this team had.  In fact, early in the season I was referring to 2007 as "The Championship Season."  And why not?  They had Tommie Harris and Mike Brown healthy, and, well, I'll just link to my 2007 preview. 

The defense, especially, should be markedly improved over what we saw last February.  Tommie Harris and Mike Brown are healthy while Tank Johnson and Ian Scott have been replaced by Darwin Walker and Dusty Dvoracek.  Call me crazy but I think that's an upgrade.  Dvoracek has looked like an animal this preseason, and Walker has the 5th most sacks of any Tackle in football over the past six years.  This is what most of the national media is missing when discussing the Bears.  They talk about the defense being downgraded with the loss of Tank without mentioning the new guys coming in.  News flash, the new guys are good.  And I didn't even mention Archuleta.

Turns out Mike Brown and Dusty Dvoracek were lost for the season in week one, and both Harris and Walker battled injuries all year.  Further, Archuleta was a shell of his former self, and a huge downgrade/waste of money. 

I only had a handful of concerns going into this season, and they can be seen in my preseason preview.  It turns out, I was a frickin wizard, as virtually every one of my concerns reared it's ugly head.

• Injuries to key guys:  The aforementioned Harris & Brown, along with a banged up Brian Urlacher, Cedric Benson and offensive line.
• Benson not living up to expectations, with no viable backup.  Peterson proved that he is a good third-string back, capable of only a spot start at best.
• No receiver stepping up.  Bernard Berrian finished the season strong after battling a severe case of the dropsies early on.  The rest of the guys were mostly invisible.  Muhsin Muhammad only showed up sporadically.
• Rex Grossman taking a step back.  No, he didn't have 32 turnovers this season, but he didn't come close to 23 TDs either.  Griese was a barely competent backup, but the Bears needed a lot more than competent to win games this season.

Any other reasons for failure that I didn't foresee?  

• Aside from the injury to Ruben Brown and the premature death of Fred Miller, the rest of the offensive line simply didn't play well.  Oh wait, Fred Miller is still alive? 
• Poor play by Adam Archuleta and the secondary.  You can pin some of the blame Jerry Angelo for trading away Chris Harris and Dante Wesley, but they seemed like solid enough moves at the time.  With Mike Brown, Nathan Vasher and Kevin Payne all missing practically the entire season, and Archuleta completely falling on his face, the depth they thought they had simply wasn't there.  Manning and McGowan seemed like better options for fourth-string safety than Chris Harris, so I give Angelo a pass on that move.
• Poor play from Mark Anderson.  It's clear that he's purely a pass-rush specialist only, ala Simeon Rice.  He couldn't stop the run to save his life.  With Alex Brown back in the starting lineup the last few weeks, the run defense improved greatly.  Keep them both for next year and use Anderson on passing downs only.  He can still get to the Quarterback.
• Poor coaching. 
• Ron Turner is too conservative of a offensive coordinator for a team with such a shoddy defense.  His play-calling was the very definition of vanilla.  His misuse of Devin Hester and Greg Olsen was criminal.
• Bob Babich failed horribly in replacing Ron Rivera.  Trust Lovie on this one?  I think not.  The defense ranked 28th this season and at times seemed worse than that.  353 all-purpose yards to the real Adrian Peterson?
• Lovie Smith, left the aforementioned buffoons in charge.  Also, all those false starts and holding penalties just scream poor coaching. 

Did anything go right? 

• Devin Hester, of course.  Six return TDs, and an unquantifiable improvement in field position every week.  A true superstar, the team's MVP.  Should I go on? 
• Special Teams coach Dave Toub did an excellent job, using Rashied Davis as the short man and using his unit's talents to it's fullest.  Israel Idonije was pretty impressive in the wedge, and Ayanbedejo had another Pro Bowl season.
• The kicking game was solid.  Robbie Gould was pretty much automatic inside 50 yards, and Maynard was his usual solid self.
• A few individual players had good-to-great years:
• Lance Briggs, Pro Bowler
• Tommie Harris, when healthy, Pro Bowler
• Charles Tillman, should-be Pro Bowler
• Adewale Ogunleye, lived up to his contract finally
• Brian Urlacher - a down year from him and he certainly didn't deserve a Pro Bowl bid, but overall he was still a better-than-average MLB.
• Bernard Berrian.  Not sure if he's worth top 10 money, but I think the Bears need to make a strong effort to re-sign him.
• A few young players showed me enough to keep them around.
• Kyle Orton - on the whole, he's about as productive as Rex Grossman, but...
• He has much better pocket presence.
• He has as strong an arm, if not stronger.
• He makes better decisions.
• He isn't reckless with the football. 
• He doesn't wilt in the cold.
• I'm not necessarily saying Kyle Orton should be entrenched as the starter next season.  He's simply not that accurate of a thrower, and that deficiency might override all of his strengths.  But they could do a lot worse than Orton.  Somebody's going to offer Grossman big money, and if my choices are Rex for 4 years or drafting a QB and using Kyle as an interim starter, I'm going with Kyle.  That's all there is to it.  (Now, Derek Anderson on the other hand...)
• Greg Olsen was a solid first round pick, though like I said I don't think he was used enough.
• Trumaine McBride and Corey Graham were pretty solid for rookies.  Kevin Payne, too, before he got hurt.  Garrett Wolfe showed just enough to keep his job as a third or fourth string runningback, though you'd have to say his season overall was a disappointment.

And that's really about it.  In the end, this season of discontent finished a sterling 7-9.  They've got a lot a questions coming this offseason, but I'm going to save them for a future post.  I will say right now that Lovie gets to keep his job.  After the last two seasons, he earned a "get out of jail free" card.  A trip to the Super Bowl and a 6-2 record versus Green Bay tend to get you some leeway.  At least one season's worth, anyways.  Talk to me next year if they miss the playoffs again.

Till next time...