By Dan O’Shea

Baseball has its share of slow starters who can test the patience of fantasy team owners. If they are big enough stars, you can’t just drop them on a whim for another player on a hot streak. But the longer the slump, the harder it gets to keep thinking that way.
Throughout April, we’ve been waiting for several big-name pitchers to settle in and start delivering the fantasy returns we’re used to getting from them, but as the month closes out, our nerves are fraying.

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Posted on April 29, 2015

By Jim Coffman

Yikes.
The Bulls have been trapped in a spider’s web their last two games with the Bucks.
That’s the way Milwaukee’s aggressive yet responsible defense (one that can over-play potential passes to force offensive players out of their comfort zones but then recover fast enough to prevent back-door baskets) can make an opposing offense feel.
The Bulls have the capability to break free but they’ll need to be more forceful than they’ve been the last two times out. A fan can take confidence that the last time these teams met in Milwaukee, the Bulls committed 28 turnovers and yet were still in position to win the game in final minute. Just commit 20 turnovers in Game 6 and win by 10.
But of course it will be more complicated than that.

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Posted on April 28, 2015

By Marty Gangler

If you followed The Cub Factor at the beginning of the Ricketts and then Theo Era, you know that we were never real fans of the rebuild. A deep-pocket large-market team didn’t have to do business like they were the Twins or the Marlins – or even the Royals, whose 30-year plan is finally paying off. But that is all over now. And boy does Cub Nation not care about the recent past.
And I get it; deep down I’m a fan as well and trying not to get completely giddy about what the present and long-term future has in store for this team. It’s like I’ve crawled through a half-mile or however long that sewage pipe was in the Shawshank Redemption and have come out on the other side, basking in the rain as prospects pour down on my smiling Cub-fan face. But there seems to be a dingleberry hanging on me as I assess this team’s construction. It’s still not built to win now.

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Posted on April 27, 2015

By Roger Wallenstein

The White Sox needed something to jump start what heretofore had been a sputtering beginning of the season. Was last Thursday night’s brawl or fracas or what Bob Elson used to call a “donnybrook” the catalyst they were seeking?
General manager Rick Hahn saw possibilities:
“From a team unity standpoint, there are some positives to take away from it. There are real negative repercussions of this [such as suspensions handed down to top-of-the-rotation starters Jeff Samardzija and Chris Sale and a broken finger suffered by reliever Matt Albers], but hopefully from the standpoint of in that clubhouse and the guys knowing that they will fight for each other, there is at least some positive to take away.”
Despite the fact that the Sox grabbed two victories over Kansas City on Sunday – winning 3-2 in the suspended game from Friday night prior to a 5-3 triumph in the regularly-schedule game – history says that White Sox teams that fight together don’t always win together.

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Posted on April 27, 2015

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Shifting fortunes. Plus: The Network Hockey League; Shark Tank; Cubs Make A Shit Ton Of Money; Jackie Robinson Left; and Mock Draft 5.0!

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Posted on April 24, 2015

White-Haired Announcers, Antique Stadiums & No Bat-Flipping Allowed

Last year, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series without a single black player on the team. And the team they beat to get there? The St. Louis Cardinals, also without a single black player.

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Posted on April 24, 2015

By Dan O’Shea

So you missed out on Kris Bryant. Two other players just were brought up from the minors by our Chicago teams, and both carry with them bright, if not Bryant-like, hype:

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Posted on April 23, 2015

By Jim Coffman

The homestanding Hawks better be able to beat a Nashville team playing without an injured Shea Weber. If they didn’t, they might have somehow found a way to bounce back later in this series, but they wouldn’t be going any further.
Now especially if one of the best defensemen in the league remains sidelined, the Hawks better win Game Four at home and put themselves in position to finish this series off in five in Nashville in the middle of the week.

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Posted on April 20, 2015

By Roger Wallenstein

“Wouldn’t it be convenient,” I thought while sitting on the “El” last Tuesday evening, “to be a Cubs fan.”
An admittedly scary notion, but after watching the Sox in Cleveland for an inning – including the ugly shot Melky Cabrera lined off the jaw of Indian pitcher Carlos Carrasco – in just five short “El” stops from my house, I arrived at the construction site still known as Wrigley Field.
My friend Pat had invited me. I knew the seats would be good. I couldn’t let him go alone. I didn’t want to be ungrateful. And I was born in Cincinnati, the evening’s opponent. You make rationalizations when you do stupid stuff.

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Posted on April 20, 2015

By Marty Gangler

Meet Kris Bryant.

• He knows where Clark the Cub’s pants are.
• He can Woo better than Ronnie Woo-Woo.
• He can still see home plate from any rooftop.
• He can turn Budweiser into Old Style.

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Posted on April 20, 2015