ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

For those of you who are still awaiting our long overdue update to the site - hang on.
We have a long weekend coming up and I plan on spending it updating the site.
I think everyone will be happy with the software update. Plus, we'll be unvailing our new logo.
For now, I wanted to take a deep breath and comment a bit on the Michael Vick situation.
There are a million links I could reference here for background, but I doubt anyone who lives in this country hasn't heard about his recent guilty plea on the charges of dog fighting.

I'm going to take 5 minutes to talk about this, and then I'm going to move on to more important things like the Bears game this past Saturday (which I attended) and the White Sox. Speaking of the Sox, they lost 4-3 tonight. So as the Cubs roar into first place and come from behind to beat the Brewers, the Sox blow it in the late innings against Texas. I was in the car as this game was finishing. I'm just too exhausted to talk about how horrible this team is. Go read Sarah. She's got way more energy for this than I do. Or go to this link, where the White Sox's collapse is of such epic proportions that it actually makes the Canadian news....

As for Vick. I will go on record as saying that I am a dog lover. I pined for a dog since I was a wee young lad. It took forever to convince my mother to let us have a dog. She would say it's a lot of responsibility. She was right. You guys aren't dumb out there. You know what I'm talking about. Feeding, cleaning, brushing, shots, etc,etc. Nowhere on this list will you find training to kill other dogs, beating, forcefully breeding, choking, kicking, or shooting dead. For some reason, Mike Vick didn't get that message. I'm shocked. I have never met a person who is this cruel and twisted. Sure, I know a lot of evil mofos, but I doubt highly that any of them would even think about hurting their own dog. I just don't get it.

Everyone seems disappointed in this guy. Why? Because he is a multi-millionaire? Because he's a pro-football player? You hear people say it all the time, "It's a shame". I've even caught myself saying it. But no more.

Vick needs to serve at least 12 months in prison. There, I said it. He should be sentenced to a minimum of 18 months. I don't think it matters if he ever plays football again. I think he has much bigger problems than "needing to grow up". I'm disgusted with this story and with Vick's actions and yet, I'm starting to back off my original harsh reaction.

I don't think it's ok for Vick not to be allowed to earn a living. I think the NFL should suspend him while he is in jail. It makes no sense to suspend him after he gets out. If the league wants to suspend him for 2 years instead of the 1 year suspension that Pacman Jones got for "making it rain" that's fine. They can deal with the fallout of giving a man a harsher penalty for animal cruelty versus human cruelty. Frankly, I don't even remember what Pacman Jones did after all this dog fighting mess. I bet Jones is the happiest man on the suspended list this season. All this makes Tank's offense look trivial, doesn't it?

Vick will have to serve his time in the CFL too. Like Ricky Williams before him, Vick will have to play a CFL season proving he is in shape. There is no question that he will have something to prove. Who knows, maybe he is even successful in the CFL for a few years before attempting to make a comeback to the NFL.

There were a few things I wanted to get out of this game tonight against the Colts:

• No injuries
• How good is Cedric Benson?
• Grossman
• Turnovers (on the plus side)

So far I've seen Grossman throw a pick, and fumble the ball in less than a half quarter. The first quarter. I'm going to jump off this here balcony if we don't get some stability from the QB position. Wait! He just fumbled it again. God how I love watching the national broadcast make fun of our team. Horrible.

I'm going to live blog as this game goes on. So stay tuned. Oh and so far, there aren't any injuries (+), Benson doesn't look as bruising as he is touted to be (-), and Grossman is still Grossman(-). Turnovers? Well, you get the idea. Big Minus (-)
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I am not a reporter. I don't claim to be a journalist, nor do I claim at being a very good blogger. I'm a geek who loves sports. That's why I have a hard time criticising the Bears on their lack of transparency when reporting on problems with "the family". What is that you say? The Bears are hiding something from us? Well, yes and no.

I just finished watching the White Sox drop a game against the Indians on Comcast only to realize I was watching their version of Sportscenter. I think it's called SportsNite. Whatever. My point is that the Comcast lead story is the failed drug test by unknown Bears fullback Obafemi Ajanbadejo. (btw - I love that last name) I heard about this story as I was leaving work, so I didn't get a chance to take a Google-break to search for articles confirming this tragic news. Tonight, I have nothing but time and to my surprise ChicagoBears.com DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A BLURB ON THIS STORY. Nothing. Nada.

What's up with that? I understand you don't want to throw your own under the bus, but would it have hurt to just link to the NFL.com story? Do they think that Bears fans only visit ChicagoBears.com for good news? I've gotten used to the fact they don't post anything in regards to players' contracts (especially if it means mentioning dollars) but this is a but much.

Times have changed. Fans are starting to get really pissed with all this steroid nonsense. Instead of pretending it never happened, the Bears and their media relations folks should revist their policy of duck and cover, and try a little spin control. Obafemi did a good job in front of 30 microphones this afternoon as the news broke of his 4 game suspension. He spun it on his own by claiming it wasn't a steroid, it was some sort of estrogen suppresant. If it's ok for the kid to face the fire while on the job, surely it is ok to report about it on the company web site.

I got home late tonight. That's tough to do when you leave the office at 4:30. I caught our new writer Sarah in the hallway before dashing out to catch a train. Such is life in the big city. Did I mention we have a new writer? Everyone go visit Sarah's blog. She's a great writer, and unlike most of us who blog, a fan who puts her money where her mouth is. She's a White Sox season ticket holder. I doubt many of you can say that. (I know I can't)

If you've never read my in-game posts - its just a stream of comments. I'm basically typing as I scream at the television. Some of you will understand this style. The rest of you will hate it because it doesn't flow. You can't blame me for trying something new, so relax and crack open another beer.
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I'm walking in late, as usual this season, to see the Sox are down 7-4 in the 7th inning. My favorite reliever Bukvich is on the mound.

He seems to have his stuff together, which surprises me. Frankly, I didn't expect this guy to get further than a 10 day stint with the ballclub back when we
acquired his contract.

Bottom of the 7th is over and we just went 3 up and three down. We still need 3 runs to catch these guys. The Sox of old would have put something together in this half of the inning. This years ballclub is completely impatient. Swinging at crap pitches.

Commercial time - anyone else notice that there is football on tonight?

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JD just looks plain slow in the field.

Bukvich just struck out another batter. That is two in this inning. 2 outs and men on the corners. Martinez is up and he's 3 for 3. Man alive, what a year this guy is having.

Hey, can I take some time here say how nice it is to hear Steve Stone in the booth with Hawk? I don't care if he was the Cubs play by play man for the majority of my life (I grew up listening to Steve, like most people around here) he is a true professional. No question, I like these two working together. Sorry DJ

Bukvich just struck out the side, getting us out of a jam. Clearly, talking shit about him has motivated him to perform like he's the next Mariano Rivera. Nice!

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Heart of the order is up in the bottom of the 8th. Make something happen guys. This win would be great.

I waited until the very end of this stupid new Sportscenter feature before writing about it. Tiger Words is now! Whoohoo! Let's break out the champaigne! What a farce. Unlike their parent company/network ABC, ESPN doesn't have the ability to show reruns. This means they need fresh new content to keep the masses attached to their idiot box while everyone waits for football to start. They could have just attempted to create another horrible reality TV show involving former NFL stars who enjoy to ballroom dancing with each other. There is an original content idea for all you ESPN head honchos!

This Who's Now piece is unbelievable garbage. It was the most painful and pitiful attempt to turn Sportscenter into Entertainment Tonight that we have seen. Exactly who thought this was a good idea? It brought nothing to the table as far as sports coverage goes. A popularity contest is not what ESPN needs to get its ratings up. I could forgive the new Yankees mini-series because it was just another blatant attempt to bolster the New York audience, but this "vote for homecoming queen" bit cannot go unpunished.

I can't wait for FOX's coverage of the NFL to start. I promise I will watch less and less of the  ESPN family of networks if they continue with these shennanigans. ESPN - you better watch out. The NFL Network is going to carve into the only programming outside of Baseball Tonight that is watchable. Then what?

Maybe they'll start a new contest: Who's Next.

Thank God for the little things. Like sweeping the Tigers in Detroit. I don't care how meaningless this series is to the White Sox, I'll take it. This is the first time all season that I saw glimpses of the team Kenny Williams thought would compete for first place in the AL Central. I say this fully recognizing that Jermaine Dye was not in the line up. I don't think it matters. The remainder of the team actually put together a pretty good series against the Tigers. Uribe, with his hot and cold streaks decided to go hot yesterday by hitting a grand slam which eventually sealed the win for the Sox. The bullpen isn't pitching as bad as they have been for most of this year, and the majority of the triple-A ball players are actually producing.

The Sox have pretty much resolved themselves to the fact that they are out of it. This means we get to see guys like Gavin Floyd pitch in Jose Contreras' place. This is the same Gavin Floyd that was supposed to take Freddie Garcia's spot in the rotation this year. This was the move that was going to make Kenny Williams the envy of all the big shot GMs in the MLB. It didn't turn out as expected, Floyd started the season in the minors. But at least Floyd put together a pretty good game against last year's AL Champs today. I was surprised to find myself glued to the TV during this entire game. Most of the recent Sox games have been brutal to watch and it is refreshing to see the guys pull it together.

It is the first time I have seen guys on this team smiling all season. I hate having to search for a silver lining in the Sox's season because it means that it really has been that aweful. Who are we crapping? This has been one of the most dissapointing seasons in my entire life. I hate watching this team struggle. I hate watching Fields butcher the hot corner, and I hate watching anyone other than Bobby Jenks come out of the bullpen. This beomes even more true with a slim 2 run lead. With that said, it was nice to see the pen keep it together for a great sweep over the Tigers. I hope we get a chance to do it again when it matters.