By Aaron Clark
From The Beast to The Raptor to The Prowler – the Midwest’s best roller coaster teasers.
Posted on March 13, 2012
SportsMonday: Kyle Korver, The Torch And A Cinderella Story
By Jim Coffman
Did you see Kyle Korver stroking it over the weekend? Or his equivalent one level down? As bracket madness takes over during the next few days and weeks, don’t forget the game – especially in Illinois where for the second time in three years our schools were completely shut out of NCAA tournament berths.
And the best thing about the game around here of late was Korver’s shooting. With Joakim Noah out with the flu and Luol Deng sitting down to try to reduce inflammation in his left wrist, the Bulls were just about dominated inside against the Jazz on Saturday. The team from Utah out-scored their hosts 62-42 in the paint.
But it didn’t matter because the Bulls were overwhelmingly good from the outside, led by Korver’s six threes on his way to 26 points. The Bulls finished with seven three-pointers as a team. Utah did not connect once from beyond the arc on its way to a 111-97 loss.
And I’m confident I speak for intense basketball fans everywhere when I say there is nothing like a pure shooter heating up and using perfect form to drain shot after shot. Despite operating exclusively from way out on the perimeter, Korver connected on 10 of his final 12 shots to thrill the Chicago faithful.
Posted on March 12, 2012
TrackNotes: Satellite Dishes And Starting Gates
By Thomas Chambers
The latest research results are in.
Sure, all data is anecdotally based, but the conclusion is indisputable: The pull of Thoroughbred horse racing and its attendant wagering action is very strong indeed.
At the conclusion of a successful season handicapping the Bears and the NFL right through The Big Game, opportunities fell off precipitously.
Wagers on teams where leagues play a gazillion games every year seem silly. There was that one game where the Knicks, on what turned out to be the tail end of Linsanity, traveled to Miami, but more on that later.
I hadn’t really stopped reading the Daily Racing Form or The BloodHorse. But the rage after a botched 2011 Breeders’ Cup was real and justified. The BC has become a classic example of the committee making itself and its bloated racing card and the boastful “marketing” hoopla of the whole thing the main focus, instead of treating it for what it is, a very nice two days of racing. “World Thoroughbred Championships” indeed. Ask any Chicagoan what tossing around the word “world” will get you.
Posted on March 9, 2012
Guided Tour: Inside The Berto Center With Derrick Rose
By NBAFilmsTV
He doesn’t lift much, doesn’t eat fish or red meat, and longs for what’s in that trophy case (look at his eyes).
Posted on March 8, 2012
A Tame Version Of What A Cubs World Series Championship Would Look Like
Clearly Not Produced In Chicago
So real it’s unreal. Like, where are the overturned cars and alcohol-poisoned bodies stacking up at the morgue?
Posted on March 7, 2012
Fantasy Fix: Catching Hell
By Dan O’Shea
Catcher is often one of the shallowest fantasy baseball positions. This year, it’s not only shallow, but completely vexing. The only player you could call a sure thing, Victor Martinez, is out for the year. One of the best young catchers, Buster Posey, is coming back from a terrible injury and no one knows what to expect. Joe Mauer has fallen out of favor. Alex Avila is – who is he again?
My top 10 catchers:
Posted on March 7, 2012
Chicago Golden Glove Wins Silver At Nationals
By Adam Grosch/PR
Chicago boxer Alex Martin has won the 2012 USA Boxing Welterweight (152 pounds) Silver Medal. Martin lost to Patrick Day of Freeport, NY 24-16 in the championship bout Saturday at the Special Events Center in Fort Carson, Colorado.
“I didn’t fight my fight today; I wasn’t quite myself in there, but I am proud to bring a medal back to Chicago,” said Martin.
Posted on March 6, 2012
SportsMonday: Box Scores Are Back
By Jim Coffman
The Bulls rolled on and the Blackhawks bounced back in a big way again on Sunday. It was great to check out the highlights and read the gamers early this morning. But the highlight of the first few hours of my day was the first box score of the spring, the one that detailed the Cubs’ exhibition opener.
The North Siders suffered a 12-10 defeat against Oakland at good ol’ Hohokam Park in Mesa. The classic top line of the box showed the A’s pulled it out with two runs in the top of the ninth.
Posted on March 5, 2012
Justifying Bears Ticket Prices
By The Beachwood Consumer Affairs Desk
“Coming off their fourth non-playoff season in the last five years, the Bears are raising ticket prices for the ninth time in 10 years since the opening of new Soldier Field in 2003,” the Sun-Times reported this week.
So we paid to build the new stadium, which delivers more revenue to the privately owned football club than the old one; we pay to cover any shortfalls the stadium experiences, and then we pay increasingly more to attend the stadium we’ve already paid for and keep paying for – to watch crappy teams. Nice!
As a public service to both fans and the Bears, we’ve run the numbers and determined the only possible ways this season’s ticket price hike can be justified.
* The purchase of an additional second of protection for Jay Cutler.
* Bus leaves training camp without Roy Williams.
* Tuition now covered to send Lovie Smith to that red flag penalty review seminar.
Posted on March 1, 2012