By Jim Coffman

So do we think Marian Hossa was really injured or did the savvy Hawks perhaps say, um, Mr. NHL veteran superstar who almost certainly is the difference between us contending for another Cup or us bowing out of the playoffs early, perhaps you should take a break?
You’ve had a sizable workload this season (three-quarters of the schedule and the Olympics) and we don’t want you to overdo it?
Hossa missed the five games leading up to Sunday night’s 4-1 victory over the Red Wings at the United Center. At the start of his absence, I saw one local report that included the words “shoulder injury” but after that the usual wall of silence descended between Hossa’s health and the public.

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Posted on March 17, 2014

Another Beachwood Special Report

In perhaps the city’s biggest loss of an athlete since Mark DeRosa’s painful departure, Bears backup quarterback Josh McCown has left in free agency to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Gross.
While McCown is widely believed to have left Chicago for both more money and the chance to start, the Beachwood has learned that many other factors informed McCown’s decision.
* Lovie Smith assured him Josh is our quarterback.
* Was always a huge Lee Roy Selmon fan.
* Tired of paying street tax for his Cuban cigars here.
* Doesn’t like the way Rahm is privatizing Chicago’s school system.
* Grossed out by Roberto Garza’s butt.

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Posted on March 12, 2014

By Dan O’Shea

In previous chapters of my 2014 fantasy baseball draft guide, I’ve been ranking players by position. This week, I put all the puzzle pieces together in what amounts to the first five draft rounds for a 10-team league.
You’ll notice a couple of differences from my position rankings. For example, on the strength of a good spring, I’ve bumped Ryan Braun ahead of three guys I originally had him behind. I’m not going to go back and revise my position rankings from previous weeks, so time to get your red pencil out and make the changes yourself, since I will assume by now you have printed out the rest of draft guide, blown it up 200%, and have it covering the walls of your man cave as you prepare for your league draft.
The Fantasy Fix Top 50, round by round:

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Posted on March 12, 2014

By Jim Coffman

I’m afraid I’ll have to deploy a wet blanket today. I usually avoid it but a sports fan needs to have one around, you know, in case of fire.
And a team should definitely keep firefighting materials handy when it employs Joakim Noah. He has to be the absolute No. 1 candidate in the sports world for suffering spontaneous combustion.
I’m drenching a comforter in the aftermath of Sunday’s Bulls win not to point out for the millionth time that what the Bulls are doing is nice but they’ll still lose to Miami in the playoffs. No, there are thousands of cynical NBA fans who have that task taken care of.
I’m dousing the flames of irrational confidence in light of the fact that while the Bulls’ run since the start of the year has been nice (they’ve had the best record in the NBA since Jan. 1), their primary identity is still that of a lucky Eastern Conference club. Here, they are a game out of the third spot in the conference standings.
In the West, they’d still be a few games out . . . of the playoffs.

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Posted on March 10, 2014

By Dan O’Shea

If you have read my previous fantasy baseball draft guides, you already know that my least favorite part of any draft (and any draft guide) is choosing relief pitchers.
The list of closers with real value is very short, and it got even shorter after last season with the retirement of Mariano Rivera, who was the very model of consistency at a position that has very little consistency from year to year.
Yet, in Mo’s wake, it seems we do have another year-in, year-out dominant RP emerging. He’s the clear No. 1, though I still wouldn’t go out of my way to draft him before late fifth round or early sixth round in a 10- or 12-team league.

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Posted on March 5, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

Simply the idea of going away to school was enough to create a modest case of anxiety for me as a college freshman.
So how did the small liberal arts college in Mt. Vernon, Iowa welcome me and others who might have been experiencing self-doubt and a few butterflies? For openers, we were required to carry the upperclassmen’s bags up to their rooms. Some of us were issued onions to wear around our necks. If a junior or senior told us to get down on all fours and lift our leg against a tree – in an apparent attempt to impress one of the ladies on campus – we complied.
At the end of this traditional equal-opportunity hazing (there were no fraternities) week, we found ourselves in the pitch black confines of the indoor track in the basement of the fieldhouse. All of the freshmen “men” were lined up to receive a solid whack on the ass with one of those fraternity paddles.
Just before the fun began, the dean of students appeared, gathered us, and said, “Now if any of you don’t want to do this, you can leave now.”
Yeah, right!

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Posted on March 3, 2014

By Jim Coffman

Now that the Knicks have left town after Sunday’s all-encompassing embarrassment of a matinee against the Bulls, can we ease up on the “Will Carmelo or won’t he?” chatter for a little while and get back to enjoying what is turning into a great season?
The Bulls grabbed their ninth victory in their last 10 games with a 109-90 decision that wasn’t half that close. They temporarily took sole possession of the third seed in the Eastern Conference before Toronto won last night to again match the Bulls’ record (33-26). It is the first time this season the Bulls have been seven games over .500.
And while we’re easing up on things, perhaps we could take a break from saying, “Of course the Bulls won’t have a chance against Miami in the playoffs” at least for a little while. I say that while simultaneously acknowledging they almost certainly won’t have a chance versus the Heat.

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Posted on March 3, 2014

By The YES Network

Optionality puts estimate of new contract north of $200 million – annually.

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Posted on March 3, 2014