By Roger Wallenstein

At long last. Relief.
Why be concerned whether D-Rose can lead the defense-less Bulls deep into the playoffs or whether the Blackhawks can turn it on when it counts? Finally we have an alternative to hearing about the status of Brandon Marshall and quarterback whatshisname. No longer do we have to wonder, “What in the world?” about the coverage of a future NFL millionaire who runs a measly 40 yards faster than other potential millionaires or bench presses more weight more times than other sculpted Adonises.
The mundane now fades into the background because pitchers and catchers have reported. The biting chill of minus-zero temps and carving out a curbside parking space have been assuaged since Chris Sale is throwing off a mound, and David Robertson – a genuine, true-blue closer – is in the building. Melky Cabrera can spray hits from both sides of the plate, and no one is overly concerned whether new utility man Gordon Beckham regains his rookie form. Single game tickets go on sale Friday.

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Posted on February 24, 2015

By Jim Coffman

Many fans and commentators in this town believe the Cubs brass has what it takes to draft and develop the team into contention for a title. And all those folks have to be loving the first few days of spring training, where we can all fawn over the prospects without having to worry about those pesky things known as results.
Because of course there still aren’t any positive major league results of note for Cubs hitters who have come up from the minors in the past few years other than Jorge Soler hitting reasonably well in his 24 games at the end of the 2014 season. Unfortunately, Soler, like so many of the team’s prospects, isn’t exactly an on-base machine. Happiness about his .292 batting average (with five homers and eight doubles) during his almost-month in the majors is tempered by his .330 on-base percentage.
But if people really want to admire drafting and developing in this town, they should forget the North Side. Go west, young sports fans, all the way to the United Center. Because, particularly in light of Tony Snell’s recent surge, it is clear that the guys doing the best drafting and developing around here are Bulls general manger Gar Forman and coach Tom Thibodeau.

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Posted on February 23, 2015

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Pols pander; Ponce punts. The Jackie Robinson West charade continues. Plus: Let The Combine Begin! And: Bulls Sit Tight While Rest Of The NBA Goes Trade Crazy; A Pall Over The Blackhawks; Baseball Players Report To Work; and Illini Golf Beats The Cold To Lead The Nation.

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Posted on February 20, 2015

By Jim Coffman

Have you enjoyed your break from football? Because it is about to end.
The NFL Network will air the first of nearly four dozen hours of live coverage of The Combine on Wednesday starting at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time with an introductory press conference. I won’t be watching any of it but hey, it’s out there.
Large athletes will don the traditional skin-tight workout clothes that provide us with too much information about their physiques, and they will engage in activities such as the shuttle run. They will have their vertical leap measured and their 40-yard dash timed. And of course, plenty of weight will be lifted and drug tests will be conducted.

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Posted on February 17, 2015

By Dan O’Shea

Many weeks before Marshawn Lynch should have been handed the ball to bring the Seattle Seahawks their second straight Super Bowl win, I handed him the ball to help me win a fantasy football championship – and he promptly threw up all over it.
A tummy ache. Marshawn Lynch has a fucking tummy ache. This is how my fantasy football season ends?
That is what I was thinking at a little after 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 21. I had managed to navigate my ESPN fantasy league team Irish Car Bombs to a 10-4 regular-season record in a very competitive 12-team league. My ticket to the playoffs was not even punched until the final minutes of my last regular-season game, when it became clear I was going to win a close match-up against a team I’d lost to earlier in the season.

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Posted on February 16, 2015

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Almost everything. Plus: Bulls Take Midterm: Blackhawks Slackhawks; The Cubs Are Still A Last-Place Team Until Further Notice; Blue Demons Down; Illinois Up; and Loyola Rambles On.

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Posted on February 13, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

“Chicago cannot embrace being called a football city and bristle at meeting the conditions to stage the 2015 NFL draft,” Tribune sports columnist David Haugh writes in response to his paper’s revelation of said conditions.
To which I say: Why not?
Are no conditions too demanding, too absurd, too expensive to bristle at and embrace being called a football city at the same time?

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Posted on February 10, 2015

By Jim Coffman

There was nothing wrong with the Bulls that a little luck couldn’t cure. If they get a little more, they might just go into the All-Star break feeling slightly better about themselves than they have in over a month.
Okay, so it took a lot of luck for the Bulls to sweep their weekend trip to the Southeast with victories over the New Orleans Pelicans and the Orlando Magic. But the Bulls have had plenty of the other kind of fortune so far this season so they were clearly due for some breaks. And they benefited from about a half-dozen of them in the last 36 seconds early Sunday evening as they rallied from an ultra-late six-point deficit to eke out a one-point win.
Going forward, it is natural for everyone to set their sights on the Cleveland contest at home on Thursday, the team’s last game before the break. The Cavaliers have been red-hot, winning 13 of their last 14.
But Tuesday’s game against Sacramento will be more telling. Will the Bulls, led by inconsistent point guard Derrick Rose, fail to rise to the occasion again against a team they perceive as inferior? So far this season the Bulls have been extraordinary in only one way: their ability to play down to the level of competition in game after game after game. And many of the worst of those games have been played at the United Center.

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Posted on February 9, 2015

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

The Post-Super Bowl, pre-baseball depression. Plus: The Gloomy Bulls; The Sunny Blackhawks; Bears Draft Mockery; Mocking The NFL Draft; and Joe Maddon vs. Kris Bryant.

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Posted on February 8, 2015

By Jim Coffman

Non-football fans ask, “Given all of these scandals and with so many participants at risk of suffering serious consequences to their short- and long-term health, how is this game still so popular?”
The latest, bestest answer: “Did you watch Super Bowl XLIX?”
In fact, the whole of the 2015 NFL playoffs featured one amazing game per week, with Detroit suffering a drama-packed loss to Dallas to start things off, Dallas then falling to the Packers in similar fashion and then the Packers absolutely blowing it against the Seahawks in the NFC championship.
The game is still the thing.

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Posted on February 2, 2015