By Jim Coffman

They might just be doing it the best possible way. The Bears might be rebuilding on the fly in the manner that gives them the best chance to bounce back the fastest.
They are doing it without ever losing on purpose, i.e. pulling a Cubs-style tank job. And they are making it clearer and clearer that they allowed themselves one year and one year only (as opposed to say, three) of sub-standard football (during which time they still fought for every victory they could get). Next year it will be playoffs or bust.
Let’s run down the latest developments, shall we? With pleasure.

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Posted on March 14, 2016

By Jenny Flinn/The Conversation

UFC fighters Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey are becoming household names and Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, is rapidly making the move from minority to mainstream sport.
Although MMA only emerged in the 1990s, its growth has been, quite simply, phenomenal; it is currently one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
According to a recent report, MMA is second only to adventure racing when it comes to growing participation, recording a 19.5% increase since 2013.

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Posted on March 12, 2016

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Pace, Fox make their moves. Plus: Fighting Lovie; Jimmy Butler And Derrick Rose Finally On Same Page!: Shout To The New Blackhawks Guys!; Dear Cubs: Enough With The Brotherhood. Geez; White Sox: Borrrrring; Bryce Harper Wants to Bring Pimping To MLB. So Do We; Triton Top Seed In Little Big Dance; and The Everton Minute.

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Posted on March 11, 2016

Our Chicago Cubs enter 2016 with the sort of problem no fantasy baseball team ever has: They have four catchers, and at least three of them – Miguel Montero, Kyle Schwarber, and prospect Willson Contreras – seem worthy of playing time (though Contreras is likely to spend the season in the minors as the Cubs let David Ross have a farewell tour).
Most fantasy teams won’t keep more than two catchers on their rosters, and plenty of team owners are fine just having one, then playing waiver wire roulette if they end up needing a replacement for a stretch during the season.
If you do like to keep an extra catcher on your bench, there are plenty of choices this year, though keep in mind there is only one truly safe bet for high-level fantasy production at this position (and his name ain’t Schwarber).

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Posted on March 10, 2016

By The World Surf League

COOLANGATTA, Queensland/AUS – The world’s best surfers are converging on Australia’s Gold Coast for the opening stop of the 2016 WSL Championship Tour, to be held from March 10-21.
Adriano de Souza (BRA) and Carissa Moore (HAW), reigning WSL champions, will lead the men’s and women’s fields respectively.
The trailer:

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Posted on March 9, 2016

By Triton Athletics

The Triton College men’s basketball team now knows who their opening round opponent will be in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Tournament in Danville, Ill.
The top seeded Trojans (31-2) will face Metropolitan Community College (MCC) Penn Valley from Kansas City, Missouri, in the first round on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

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Posted on March 9, 2016

By Triton Athletics

The Triton College men’s basketball team won their sixth Region IV championship in school history with a 59-47 triumph over Black Hawk College-East on Saturday 5 at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove.
The Trojans now advance to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Tournament March 15-19 in Danville, Illinois. Triton will learn who their first opponent will be when tournament pairings are announced by the NJCAA on Tuesday. The team has won a school record 27 consecutive games, boast an overall 31-2 record and are the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.

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Posted on March 8, 2016

By Jim Coffman

Keep it simple Illinois fans: Lovie Smith is a way, way better coach than you could have ever dreamed would be on the Illini sideline next fall. His hiring was finalized Monday morning.
Heck, in Tampa Bay he even finally hired a competent offensive coordinator, something he never managed to do with the Bears (in fact, a big reason Lovie was fired despite going 10-6 in his last season with the Bears four years ago was because that assistant coach was going to be fired again and management decided not to let him hire a fifth OC).
Finding that assistant in Tampa Bay apparently got Lovie fired, but still . . . that was Dirk Koetter of course, who was so good at the job, at least according to Buccaneer management, that they couldn’t risk losing him to head coaching another team. So they fired Lovie and gave Koetter the head job instead.

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Posted on March 7, 2016

By Thomas Hastings/The Conversation

Few Premier League seasons have produced as many upsets as the one currently unfolding. In August, Leicester City began the English football season at 5,000-1 to win the top-flight league, Chelsea were favorites for the title, and last year’s promoted trio (Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich) were strongly tipped for relegation. Yet with 10 games to go it is Leicester who are (still) top of the league, Chelsea languish in mid-table, and other high profile “mega-clubs” have so far failed to sustain a title-push (see Manchester United and Liverpool).
Alex Ferguson famously tried to explain football’s twists and turns with the elegant phrase: “Football? Bloody hell!” But dig a little deeper and there are concrete factors that can help us to explain this trend to unpredictability in England’s top-flight division.

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Posted on March 5, 2016

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

No detail too mundane, every lame joke an instant classic. Plus: The White Sox Are Also Holding Spring Training But Let’s Talk About Other Stuff; Memo To Maddon: Up Your Game; Ivy League Not So Smart: Brandi’s Brain; Boring Bears Banishing Bennett; I Don’t Want To See Athletes’ Smelly Naked Dicks; Blackhawks Babble; Bulls Babble; Go Trojans; and The Everton Minute.

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Posted on March 4, 2016