Final Thoughts on Chicago Sports

Grossman Can't Find a Job

I probably shouldn't be writing this because, well, we have our Quarterback now.  And as coach said, only cowards live in the past.  But ultimately this post is more about our coaching staff than it is about Grossman, so here goes.

Rex Grossman can't find a job.  Two years ago, he was starting the Super Bowl, and now he can't even get a third string gig for the league minimum.  He's now supposedly going to try out for the UFL, an upstart league starting this fall.  Pretty sad for Grossman, but it might be even sadder for our coaching staff.  Did they stick with this league washout too long?  Why did they continue to show such blind faith and never-ending support in the man that flat-out blew the Super Bowl?  I argue that the Bears actually handled him right.   No, I can't say that Pep Hamilton, Ron Turner, and the boys were coaching him properly or properly molding him into a successful NFL Quarterback.  In fact, I know that they weren't.  But I can say that given what we saw from Grossman, he earned the chances he got.  Quick summary:

2003 - Drafted in the first round.  Florida QBs have tended to be products of their system, but he seemed like a decent enough pick.  Sat until week 13.  Got hurt in the last game.  Nothing wrong here.  Not many rookie QBs have success in this league, and most sit for at least half a season.

2004 - Named starter.  Played OK as he beat Green Bay at Lambeau in week 2, but then was lost for the season at Minnesota in week 3.  Bad luck, really.  Nothing Bears could do.

2005 - Hurt in the preseason.  Sat and watched Kyle Orton manage the team to 10 wins until week 15 when Kyle regressed to the point where he could hardly even complete a pass.  Bears give Rex week 16 and the playoff start.  This was a good move by the Bears because Orton was virtually worthless by the end of 2005, and Grossman actually completed some passes downfield.  The only concern with Rex at this point was his fragility.

2006 - Started all 16 games.  Bears started blistering hot and Rex was player of the month in September.  He then, of course, yo-yo'd between horrifying shitfests and near brilliance.  He ended up with 23 touchdowns to go with his 20 picks and 8 fumbles.  23 TDs is nothing to sneeze at.  And he was legitimately good in the playoff game against Seattle and managed a victory in the NFC Championship game against the Saints.  Yes, he flat-out cost the Bears the Super Bowl.  But at this point, I still understood the decision to stick with Rex going into 2007.  He had only started 24 games, and if they could simply turn the "horrifyingly bad games" into "mediocrity" and keep the Good Rex games, they could get back to the Super Bowl.

2007 - Horrible.  He simply hasn't been the same since the Super Bowl.  Then, of course, he battled injuries again.  When he played, he played with no confidence.  At this point, they probably should have just let him go.  But they brought him back for one more (cheap) year, and and open competition with Orton (who looked pretty good at the tail end of '07.)

2008 - Lost the job to Orton.  Started one game when Orton was hurt and stunk up the joint.  Bears let him walk. 

In retrospect, the Bears may have been better off with Brian Griese as the starter in 2006.  They certainly would have made the playoffs with him, and they probably would have still beaten Seattle and New Orleans.  And who knows what would have happened in the Super Bowl.  (Indy was playing it ultra-safe, and the Bears were within 5 points in the fourth quarter with the ball at mid-field.  Then the wheels came off.)  But really, you don't live in hindsight. 

And when you really think about it, they handled him perfectly.  Because everything they did, ultimately led to the Bears trading for Cutler.  Cutler is a Pro's Pro.  I can't believe how excited I am to have Cutler in town.  Hearing Turner talk about Cutler's tremendous work ethic, and hearing about his beautiful spirals in the OTAs the last few days has got me FIRED UP.  I'm ready for training camp right now.  Forget all this Grossman talk.

BEAR DOWN.

Cubs Staying Above Water

Well, this regular season ain't going exactly as expected, is it?  I never thought they'd run away with it, of course, but its still a bit frustrating watching the team that won 97 games last year just tread water and look so...ordinary.  Lets do a little Three up, Three down.  (apologies to wherever I stole this concept from.)

Three Up

• Soriano - playing about as well as he can play.  Near MVP level.  I shudder to think where they'd be without him.
• Fukudome - playing as well as he did last April, which is All-Star.  He started out a bit shaky in the field, but he's really turned it on of late and he's more than competent in Center now.
• Hoffpauir - he's done a nice job filling in, and with every passing day he makes Cubs fans wonder if they really need Derrek Lee.  Too bad he can't play third.

Three Down

• Bullpen - Pretty much the whole thing sucks. 
• Gregg - he's OK but he's no Kerry Wood, who was no Mariano Rivera.  Average at best.
• Marmol - any time he wants to pull his head out of his ass would be fine with me.  Dominant in spurts.  Horrendous in others.
• Heilman - a couple of horrific appearances hides a few very nice performances.  I think he can be pretty solid, but I still don't like the trade.  The only worthwhile prospect they got from the Pie deal was sent, with Cedeno, for Heilman.  Not good.
• Guzman - He's actually been pretty decent most of the time, and for two innings at a time even.  Give the man a promotion!
• Cotts - blows.  We need a real lefty.
• Patton - Ugh.  Send this Rule 5 guy back to Cincy, or work out a deal and send blondy to the minors.  He's not ready.  Neither is Samardzija.
• Fox - I saw a headline on ESPN, "Fox done?"  Are they serious?  He was done in 2005.  Why he's here now, I'll never know. 
• Ascanio was called up today.  He has OK stuff, I remember.  Let's see if he's figured out how to pitch.
• Injuries:
• Zambrano - I don't mind that he got hurt beating out a bunt.  That's what Carlos does.  Hustle all the time. 
• Aramis - got injured the exact same way as my dad back in 1987.  Sinking liner.  Dive.  Dislocated shoulder.  He probably didn't have to walk home from the park, though.  Hopefully he recovers faster, too.  My dad was out all summer.
• Lee - Honestly, it hurts to say this but we're doing just fine with Hoffpauir at first.  No need to rush back, Derrek.  Take your time.  We need another true corner infielder on the roster, though.
• Bradley - he's back and starting to hit a little, finally.  But he missed some time and the Cubs suffered for it.  Not that him missing time was unexpected.  His middle name is 15-day DL.
• Baserunning - Ryan Theriot has got some Jacque Jones in him.  Ryan Freel, too, it seems.  What is it about the Cubs that makes you forget how to run the bases as soon as you put on Cubbie blue?  Incidentally, I like the Gathright-for-Freel trade.  Freel's not an everyday player, but was pretty versatile and exciting on the Reds a few years ago.  He can play anywhere, too.  I bet he starts getting the majority of starts at third while Aramis is out.  And really, I just can't believe anyone wanted Gathright!

The way I see it, I don't think there's anything wrong with the Cubs that can't be fixed.  They just need to get healthy and find a solid reliever or two.  Oh, and Geovanny Soto needs to really step up.  He's been terrible.  No sense belaboring the point.  Till next time...

A Bulls Review on the Heels of the Greatest (First Round) Series Ever

Game Seven ended a little over 24 hours ago, and I'm kind of sad that the Bulls season is over.  It seems kind of weird to say that, considering how much I loathed the team back in December, but its true.  After the big trade, they morphed into a genuinely likable team.  And the Bulls-Celts series was just the epitome of entertainment, despite the Bulls loss.  Textbook "why we love sports."  So before we close the book on the season, let me share a few thoughts on the team's key players:

• Derrick Rose - the future of the franchise showed flashes of brilliance, and was about as solid as a rookie point guard can be.  The thing that impresses me most is his strength.  He can go to the rim with so much power, its nearly impossible to believe that you're watching a 6'3 guard and not a beastly power forward.  Couple that with some sweet no look passes and wonderful court presence, and you've got yourselves one of the defining point guards for the next generation.  I'm not worried about all the turnovers either.  He didn't cough it up much in the regular season, and rookie PG's are notorious for dropping the ball.  He just picked the wrong time to make rookie mistakes. 
• Ben Gordon - The Assassin.  There's only a handful of guys in the NBA that can completely take over a game like Ben Gordon.  Of course, those other guys might not disappear as much as Gordon and might be a little more rounded players overall, but no matter.  The guy can win two games in a playoff series by himself, and he's exactly the type of guy that you need to keep around.  He's a free agent this offseason, and I don't have a good read at this point on whether the Bulls are going to try to keep him or not.  My vote would be to keep him.  He does one thing incredibly well, and I'd rather have that one thing than a little more well-rounded guy that does nothing especially well.  Speaking of...
• Kirk Hinrich - I've come around on the Captain.  I was annoyed to no end last year and the first few months of this year, but he stepped it up and earned his money in the second half.  He's solid on D, he can score a little, he can create shots.  He just isn't especially great at any of those things.  If I had a choice, I'd keep Gordon.  If they lose him, though, the consolation prize in keeping the Captain ain't so bad.
• Joakim Noah - Joakim's emergence was the most exciting aspect of the postseason.  The guy was universally thought of as a clown, a total buffoon in this league until the last two or three months when he finally started to take control of his game.  The guy's got mad rebounding skills and a shockingly nice touch on free throws (despite the awkward shooting motion.)  But it's his energy that's most valuable.  He just goes at it all night, and really gets under people's skin.  His steal and dunk over Pierce was perhaps the defining shot of the series for Bulls fans.  How many 7-footers can do that?  Maybe Duncan in his prime?  I can't think of anybody.  He really only has two things going against him.  He doesn't have much of an outside shot, and he doesn't have much mass.  He can get abused under the rim by the likes of a true big man, like Perkins or Big Baby.  They shoved him around like a rag doll.  I'd really like to see what Noah would do if he could put on twenty pounds of muscle.
• Tyrus Thomas - Thomas has mad blocking skills, and crazy good hops.  He even has an OK outside shot, that we maybe saw a little too much.  I didn't understand why he wasn't playing more in the second half in the defining game 7.  They desperately needed a few stops, and you'd think that the crazy shot blocker would be a great candidate to do it.  But alas, he was on the bench.  Probably because he shares one of Noah's problems.  He doesn't have much bulk and can get tossed around a bit under the basket.
• Brad Miller - Miller's great. I only wish the Bulls hadn't traded him six years ago so they would have had him for his prime.  He's not Shaq or anything, but he was a legit top ten center in this league for a while and he still has more than solid enough skills.  He's under contract for one more year.  Perhaps he can teach Noah a few things about posting up and being more of an inside presence. 
• John Salmons - Salmons is another one.  Love his game.  He can play three positions on the floor and play them well.  What a deal for Paxson.  I know the Kings had to dump salary, but still.  He might have a bit of the "does everything well, nothing especially great" in him, but he's a borderline great scorer.  His game six was phenomonal, and he can take over a game.
• Luol Deng - Who?  I don't know what the hell's going to happen next year.  Two years ago, Deng looked like a borderline star.  Since then, he's done less than nothing.  He showed a few flashes in January after coming off the injured list, but he was a complete non-factor in the resurgence and John Salmons and Ty Thomas basically took all his minutes.  Would the Bulls be better off if Deng just disappeared?  How can Vinnie find enough minutes to keep everybody happy?
• Vinnie Del Negro - the first half of the season was a disaster, the second half showed marked improvement.  He's still pretty green, though, and he made a half-dozen mistakes in every playoff game.  Still, he made some really great moves in this series.  The small lineup of the three guards, Salmons and Noah played huge for this team.  Boston couldn't keep up, and they were vulnerable on D when they put in their smaller guys in an attempt to counter.  And then the call for Miller to take the potential game-tying shot was brilliant.  Just a shame Miller got mugged by Rondo and was too woozy to hit the free throws.  Oh, and he isolated Hinrich perfectly under the basket in game six.  Shame that Hinrich couldn't hit a layup.  Yeah, he couldn't devise a play to even get a shot off with six seconds in regulation of game 5, and he routinely mis-managed his timeouts.  But he seems like a solid-enough basketball mind that he could grow into becomming a good coach.  I just don't know if I want to wait for him.

John Paxson has got some serious work to do this offseason.  If he kept the roster as-is, I think the team could easily win 55 games next year.  I'm not sure how much of a contender they'd be, but they'd surely be ripe for another decent playoff run.  Unfortunately he doesn't get to keep his roster.  He's got to make a decision on Gordon, and that decision impacts what they will do with Hinrich (if anything.)  He's got to figure out how to find enough minutes for Luol Deng, and keep Salmons productive and happy on his own.  He's also got to find a long-term big body to play Center, although I don't know if that move will even be possible this offseason.  To bad Gasol isn't available. ;)  I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 

Till next season...