Archive for November, 2007

This just in: according to today’s Chicago Sun-Times, Forbes Magazine named Notre Dame the most valuable college football program. Texas, which won nine games playing the likes of Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and no Stanfords, Dukes, or Navys, was second.

Yesterday the Cubs resigned Kerry Wood: one year, 4.2 million guaranteed, with another 3.5 million in performance incentives. This contract may seem egregious for a pitcher who was only healthy enough to pitch in 22 games last season, and never pitched in back-to-back games. It was what the market dictated.

Wood showed some real killer instinct and again displayed those flashes of brilliance that have made him, even with his thus-far disappointing career, a memorable Cub. He’s well-liked in Chicago, he’s extremely philanthropic, and he turned down multi-year deals to stay with the Cubs. It seems like something very unique in pro sports today: he feels like he owes something to the Cubs, and to the fans.

It’s the reason Kerry Wood will be in pinstripes next year, and Mark Prior is on the trading block.

Wood’s injuries, although frustrating, have been proven to be actual injuries. It took Prior until spring training of 2007 to ever actually be diagnosed with a shoulder or elbow injury. Three seasons racked with injuries and failures until a diagnosis make it seem that Prior may be dealing with a low-threshold of pain. In the city of Butkus, Ditka, and MJ, that is not very well appreciated.

The Cubs will hopefully, for once, reap the benefits of a starter turned closer. Eckersley saw the majority of their success with other franchises. Wood will compete with Carlos Marmol and Bob Howry for the spot. The whole city is hoping for the heartwarming story for Kerry Wood. At 30, you figure he has quite a bit left in the tank, especially in a relief role.

He’s part of what could shape up to again be one of the best bullpens in the league. If Wood continues at his ‘07 pace, with Marmol and Howry, they make up one of the strongest backends in the National League. In a bullpen that will also contain a hopefully rejuvenated Scott Eyre and nasty hard sliders from Kevin Hart and Michael Wuertz. Hendry has seemingly put together a strong unit; possibly on accident. No Scott Linebrinks in this group.

Now if they could just get it to the seventh…

Of course I’m talking about the Cubs to defer any discussion of the 2-10 Fighting Skiles’.

AJD

Thanksgiving Weekend brought with it a gratuitous amount of football, which I spent most of the weekend watching, rather than subjecting myself to two more Bulls defeats (what a mess).

What could be better about a year in college football where Miami, Notre Dame, and Nebraska are all terrible, and Illinois has an outside shot at the BCS? If only the National Championship didn’t most likely include Missouri, I would be pretty satisfied.

Many have lamented the lack of a true power team this season. Hawaii is the only undefeated, and has played a statistically weak schedule in the WAC. Is it worse for college football to be short of the traditional powers of Miami, Nebraska, and Notre Dame?

The parity has come from many different directions. Every team, especially in BCS conferences, gets time on national television, with the advent of Tuesday and Thursday night games. Better coaches and better access to training facilities has brought on more good players, which means that every team has a chance to snag great athletes. But I think that it may only be bringing on a new wave of power teams in college football.

For years, schools like Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, USC, Michigan, and Ohio State have recruited well, but also relied on their status as big-time football powers with all of the exposure and hordes of NFL graduates to bring the players to them. With all schools getting at least some national exposure, teams with the great coaches and recruiters are starting to shine. USC remains strong because Pete Carroll recruits well, has good position coaches, and maintains good relationships with his players. Same with Ohio State. But teams in their main recruiting bases are really competing for players with the three teams that are falling off the map.

Miami, playing in the ACC, has to try to snag kids away from every single SEC school, most notably Florida, coming off a National Championship. Notre Dame, the national school, has to pretty much compete with everyone, but Illinois has recently been stealing away some kids who would have been Domers, and Indiana is improving quickly. Nebraska has seen Kansas and Missouri thrive, while they stumble.

Miami and Nebraska seem to have been outworked. There’s no excuse for Notre Dame. ND is the worst team to ever have every single game broadcasted nationally. They have every advantage in the world. The BCS has a specific rule regarding Notre Dame, NBC broadcasts every single game nationally, and they play against teams across the nation. They had big-time recruits at several different positions. Miami and Nebraska came off already disappointing seasons, Notre Dame went to a BCS bowl. They sent a kid to the pros (Quinn) who has his face plastered over about every single advertisement that isn’t already covered by Peyton Manning. They are constantly overrated, constantly welcomed to bowl games they don’t deserve, and handed every gift in the world, and still went 3-9.

Pat Forde wrote a column on ESPN.com about the “Arch Rivalry” between Illinois and Missouri. Two teams that have massively underachieved over the past few years, especially considering their facilities and recruiting bases. They did underachieve, but have seemingly made good with new directions. It is unacceptable for schools with the kind of facilities and resource that Illinois and Missouri to go through 3-9 seasons, especially consistently.

Just think how unacceptable it must be for Miami, Nebraska, and Notre Dame.

AJD

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rNMvwAAk2UE

Can anyone tell me if this comedy is unintentional?

Sunday we get another precious opportunity to watch Rex Grossman in action. In the past, I have been a Rex-sympathizer, or “Rexathizer.” It’s not because I think Rex is great, or even very good, or even average.

I don’t like Brian Griese.

You can see it in the post-game interviews. The whole team has to make an attempt to like Brian Griese, just like they do with Cedric Benson. He’s a little smug, and he’s even thought aloud of his abilities being superior to Grossman’s. What Griese was alleged to provide was a steady hand and fewer turnovers. What we got was ten interceptions, a few because ol’ spaghetti arm couldn’t get the speed or air underneath his passes that he needed.

To his credit, Griese did a nice job under pressure, and his skills are built well for the two-minute drive, which he operated very well.

The Bears are really going to have to battle to make a run at the playoffs. I’m not sure if Rex gives us the ability to do that, but who says that Brian Griese gives the Bears a better chance. This team’s defense isn’t as good as it was in 2005 and 2006. Protecting the football is important, and both quarterbacks have struggled with it. Grossman gives the Bears a chance to open up their offense, and his presence on the field and in the locker room, when he’s starting, almost seems to make the whole team play better, as evidenced on Sunday.

Ron Turner can open up the Rex playbook on Sunday, and I hope he doesn’t conserve too much. The playoffs are a long shot, and what the Bears need to do is see what they have in their quarterback before his contract year is up.

AJD

What a day. The greatest thing about sports: it’s like life, if it didn’t matter as much. We get little lessons. Good opportunities for us to learn ways to approach our very own everyday lives

Here’s a surprising one.

Coach Zook brings this to us, after what might be the most satisfying sports event in Chicago this year. With a so far disappointing Bulls team, this is what we have, after the Illini win over Ohio State.

“But if you believe in something, and you know you’re doing the right thing, you just got to stay the course.”

Sure, it’s a college, but their helmets don’t read anything about a college. Their helmets say “ILLINOIS.” And our state, everyone from Chicago to Cairo, Palatine to Paxton, Aurora to Alton, got the chance to experience something special.

It’s okay, you can feel that. That’s called pride.

The Bulls’ slow starts have grown tiresome. With the team being so widely promoted as “the team to beat in the East” and being guaranteed as a 50-game winner by many analysts, an 0-3 start is not what anyone expected. But, it should have been.

In Skiles’s first season as head coach, the Bulls started 0-9, only to end up 47-35. Last season, after the addition of Ben Wallace, and with a rapidly maturing Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, the Bulls appeared to come sprinting out of the gate, with a 40-point win at defending champion Miami. However, the Bulls stumbled to a disappointing 3-9 after their usual “Circus Trip” to the West Coast.

Skiles is heralded for showing real improvement in his teams as the season goes on, and that really cannot be argued. Going 47-28 after an 0-9 start in 2004-05, and then storming back from a 28-37 record in 05-06 to end up at .500 and in the playoffs are real signs that: a) Skiles develops and matures his young players as the season goes on, and b) his players give A-game effort every single night.

But now Skiles coaches a team without the influx of a couple new major contributors, and while t here is still young talent, it is young, veteran talent with NBA experience. The young core is growing up. Gordon and Deng are in their fourth seasons, Hinrich is in his fifth. Tyrus Thomas enters his second season in Skiles’s system, probably splitting starting time with free agent addition Joe Smith. Ben Wallace is a 11-year NBA vet, an all-star, and also entering his 2^nd season under Skiles. The Bulls add one young player, and hopefully a night-to-night contributor in Joakim Noah, and one seasoned vet in Smith. The bench appears deep, with Chris Duhon in his fourth year, either Smith or Thomas night-to-night, Noah, Thabo Sefolosha entering his second season, and rookies Aaron Gray and JamesOn Curry hoping to contribute. On paper, sure, it’s a 50-win team.

Chemistry is always an important factor with Skiles, but the heart of this team has played together for a season. Only one major addition of a player with much experience learning new systems (Smith) and only one rookie who figures to contribute every night (Noah) would not figure to agitate the team’s chemistry that much. It shouldn’t take another 3-9 start to get the Bulls on track.

On paper, the Bulls get 50 wins, the Cubs win the pennant, the Bears are in the playoffs, Rashard Mendenhall wins the Heisman, Patrick Kane is only 18, and everyone should buy stock in Boston Market and K-Mart.

The only paper that matters is the one with the standings printed on it. Today it says “Chicago 0-3.”

AJD

I’ve never really known much about professional hockey. I would watch the highlights on SportsCenter. I usually at least knew a couple of names of the star players, and the quality players for the Blackhawks. I would know who was playing in the Stanley Cup Finals, and I was usually at least aware, whether that be willingly or subconsciously, of who won. I remember I wasn’t too heartbroken about the lockout, especially with the improving Bulls and the sorry state of the Hawks.

A couple of my friends are pretty big hockey fans, and since I started this blog, I felt like maybe this was an opportunity to give it a shot. I think I picked a pretty good time to start watching the Blackhawks.

The Hawks pretty much lost my generation of fans as Ben Finfer said on ESPN 1000 a few days ago. When I was about five they went to the Stanley Cup Finals and were swept by Pittsburgh. Those were the years of Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, Eddie Belfour….some other guys (???). The Hawks had the longest streak of playoff appearances until about 1997, I think, until they really took a dive.

They don’t play their home games on TV, they have been extremely bad right in this time where my generation of fans started to develop their own allegiances, and become really aware of their teams, instead of just watching when their parents sat them down in front of the TV. Right in that time when I was 12-18, becoming a stat-monger, playing Madden and NBA Live, learning the names of Cubs farmhands, the Hawks were terrible, and only on TV half the time. With such a deep tradition in the city, one that stretches way past that of the Bulls, as well as a fantastic venue and a major market, they’ve been largely insignificant in the past ten years.

While Bill Wirtz was a quality person, a great philanthropist, and a smart businessman, he was a terrible owner. Reluctant to spend, archaic beliefs on team ownership, and poor relationships with media outlets made him seem completely aloof, and turned the Blackhawks into what ESPN called “The Worst Franchise in Pro Sports.”

With ten years of pretty high draft picks, its seemed that either they haven’t put together many good drafts, or they’ve traded those picks and players away, or lost them to free agency. I remember Eric Daze never turning out the way he was supposed to. But “Here Come the Hawks” with Patrick Kane, age 18, and Johnathan Toews, age 19.

Wirtz’s son has gotten ten home games on Comcast, Bill Pulford has been promoted right out of the team operations. The Wirtz family has put the hockey operations right into the hands of what appear to be two very smart hockey people: Dale Tallon and Denis Savard. They have a quality goaltender in Nikolai Khabibulin, who is backed up by a talented Patrick Lalime. They have some real scoring threats with Kane, Toews, Tuomo Ruutu, and a rehabbing Martin Havlat. They still have some weaknesses on defense, but it appears that Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith are improving almost every night. If the defense can give Khabibulin some help, this Hawks team could finally be returning to the playoffs. (I’m a 50 WPM typist, and I can only go about 10 WPM when I’m typing the names of Hawks players).

Waddle and Silvy on ESPN 1000 were playing a game on Tuesdays with Mark Giancreco, the ABC 7 sportscaster. They would send an intern to HawkQuarters, the Blackhawks apparel store on Michigan Avenue around 11 AM to count how many customers were inside the store. The answer was usually the same: zero. There is new hope for the future of that store.

AJD