Chicago -
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Irresistible front office meets immovable coach. Plus: Back To Blackhawks; The White Sox’ Most Unforgivable Sin; Cubs Still Have That New Car Smell; and A Chicago-Area School Will Win The National Men’s Volleyball Championship.
Posted on May 8, 2015
By Dan O’Shea
It’s always fun when you draft a player onto your fantasy baseball team with one or two particular stats in mind and then find out that not only can he deliver in those areas, but he’ll pay you off with a bonus stat, too.
Such is the case this year with Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, already a top five 1B based on his HRs, OPS and, to some degree, runs scored (As a No. 3 hitter on a lesser team, he hasn’t been an RBI leader, but that could change). One month into the season, Rizzo has reliably delivered in the categories we expected, with his current line reading 5 HRs, 13 RBIs, 21 runs and a 1.025 OPS. He’s also excelled in a category where we didn’t expect a payoff – stolen bases.
Posted on May 6, 2015
By Marty Gangler
Despite what many Back to the Future enthusiasts think is destiny, it may be a good time to pump the brakes on the 2015 Chicago Cubs.
Which got me thinking, if the Cubs were a car right now, what kind of car would it be? It would certainly be the first model of a new car company and you probably wouldn’t want to buy it right now. But it would look great in your driveway and that one neighbor from the other side of the street would come over and be super jealous of your car. And then he’ll ask you to pop the hood. And the engine looks great. Then he’ll ask you to start it up. And despite a ton of horsepower the timing wouldn’t be right and all the cylinders wouldn’t be firing at the same time. And it’s so new and has so few road-tested miles that oil doesn’t even get to all parts of the engine. So it just doesn’t run that great and sputters a lot. And then he’ll ask to take a ride, but there would be an issue with the steering as all the linkage just isn’t quite right. So you would have to fight to keep it in the correct lane. Not to mention the transmission – it’s a stick and getting it into the middle gears isn’t easy to do, and sometimes the car just sits in neutral and makes a lot of noise but doesn’t go anywhere. It’s got a sweet new stereo system but it’s probably too big, and it can only seat two people as the back doors don’t open and the back seats are just metal frames right now. And you could have rented a car from just over the border for a while to make everyone a little more comfortable in the short term but you were a little too proud of your car to do that.
So yeah, you can get what I’m talking about with this Cubs team and this great looking car. Oh, and your garage doesn’t have a roof and is under construction.
Posted on May 5, 2015
By Roger Wallenstein
If the White Sox thought the corner would be turned in Minneapolis over the weekend, they were sorely mistaken. In a four-game sweep, they were outscored 31-8, outhit 50-36, and out homered 5-0. The Sox did, however, “win” one category. Thanks to four errors on Sunday, they had six in the series to three for the Twins.
No team in baseball has scored fewer runs than the team’s 70. The Sox have hit just 12 home runs – none since April 22nd – which also puts them dead last. So it makes sense that our fellows also are 30th in total bases and 27th in slugging percentage.
They do get some hits – obviously mostly singles – but primarily at the wrong time. With runners in scoring position during the disaster in Minnesota, the Sox were a miserable 6-for-32. They’ve grounded into 22 double plays so far this season, or one per game, as they’ve lost 14 of the first 22. That’s not horrible, but their DPs have come at inopportune times.
Posted on May 4, 2015
By Jim Coffman
Don’t look now but the Hawks are finally hitting their stride, on skates . . . which means they are really, really striding and going really, really fast, on their way to big victory after big victory.
Patrick Kane is completely recovered from his broken collarbone and was delightfully opportunistic on Sunday on his way to a couple goals including the back-breaker that doubled the Hawks’ lead (to 2-0) with only 20 seconds left in the second period.
The defense has hunkered down in front of Corey Crawford. Heck, even favorite fan scapegoat Michal Rozsival was strong on the back line as the Hawks pulled away from the Wild 4-1 last night for a 2-0 series lead.
Posted on May 4, 2015
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Crab legs vs. Claire’s. Plus: Daft Town; Publix Enemy Number One: Kevin White Is Right; Bulls Got Next; Blackhawks Go Wild; Sox Suck; and Maddon’s Magic.
Posted on May 1, 2015
By Roger Wallenstein
I live across the street from the North Shore Baptist Church, a venerable community institution that’s been around for more than a century. I’m pals with the pastor. I like having the church in the neighborhood – it’s called Lakewood-Balmoral – because it’s a stately, tasteful building that houses many social programs in addition to its religious mission.
Aside from Sunday morning, it also frees up a lot of on-street parking for the residents. North Shore Baptist is in the midst of some major renovations and improvements to its facility. And this is where the NFL draft, complete with the conditions it has imposed on our city, intersects with my neighborhood. Let me explain.
Posted on May 1, 2015
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.
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.
Posted on April 28, 2015
