By Carl Mohrbacher

Offseason Review
The 2014 offseason was driven by GM Phil Emery’s plot to upgrade Chicago’s suddenly one-dimensional defense. By which I mean last year’s defense was born of a dimension in which doctors unsuccessfully try to surgically remake people who can tackle running backs into either hideous cave monsters or Maxine Stuart.
Here’s the good news, Bear fans: If the Chicago can give up fewer than 5.3 yards per carry this season, we’re seeing tangible improvement.
Improvement akin to growing some hair back on the stub of your severed left hand, but I’m a glass is half full (of whiskey) kind of guy.
Let’s examine the sweeping changes that are going to help the 2014 squad eclipse the crappy, crappy standard set by its injury riddled predecessor.

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Posted on August 28, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

I know everybody is having good-time feelings about the Cubs right now because Jim Hendry amateur free-agent signee Arismendy Alcantara is hitting .228 after 41 games in the majors and Jim Hendry draft pick Javy Baez is hitting .207 after 20 games, though he does have 36 strikeouts and four walks to go with his 11 home runs, but let’s not move on from Tarpgate so quickly, because it is so revealing of a franchise skating by right now on the excitement generated simply by the act of calling up prospects rather than those prospects’ actual production in the major leagues.
For starters, the Cubs are trying to create an impression that Sun-Times beat writer Gordon Wittenmyer got the story wrong when he reported the grounds crew was shorthanded that ridiculous night due in part to a cutback in hours resulting from an effort to evade paying health benefits per Obamacare.
For finishers, the incident is a reminder that Cubbie Occurences don’t happen because the team was once cursed by the owner of a goat, but because the team has been cursed by the worst succession of owners in global sports history except maybe some hapless squad of gladiators in Roman times that I don’t know about; only the meshing of this clownish history with the magic of Wrigley Field has saved the franchise (or doomed it to perpetual misery, depending on how you look at it), which is ironic because each bunch of hacks running the place have neglected that chief asset at best and tried to destroy it at worst, though it’s the only thing filling their pockets with gold.
Let’s take a look.

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Posted on August 27, 2014

By Jim Coffman

It still didn’t matter. Let’s be clear about that.
No matter what happened in Seattle late last week, the mantra remains the same: Preseason games do, not, matter.
Of course in this case, saying it makes a Bears fan feel like a sucker. And that’s because their team could not possibly have made a bigger fool of itself than it did in the 34-6 loss to the Seahawks that could have been 60-something to whatever.
So it was a terrible game and watching it was a terrible waste of time. But that doesn’t mean the coming regular season will be terrible for the Bears. And there are several factors to consider regarding last week’s’ game that were utterly outside the Bears’ control. Even those who absolutely refuse to downplay the importance of exhibition games have to acknowledge that:

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Posted on August 25, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

Sitting at a crowded restaurant in the middle of Evanston Sunday night were two well-dressed octogenarian ladies at the table next to us. Midway through the meal, one leaned over and asked, “Do you know how the Chicago Little Leaguers did today?”
“They got beat 8-4,” I told her, “but they made a nice comeback in the last inning when they scored three runs.”
“Too bad,” she said, “but they still did okay.”
They did even better than that, otherwise the lady wouldn’t have been asking. Had we been dining at adjoining tables, say, last June during the Stanley Cup playoffs, no way would she have asked for a Blackhawks score. Nor would she have inquired about the Bulls even in their ’90s heyday. And absolutely no one – not old ladies, old men, Generation Xers, or Millennials – is asking these days about the Sox and Cubs.
The breadth and scope of the grip that the 11- and 12-year-olds of Jackie Robinson West Little League held on the city had a different feel than any other bandwagon, finger-waving, we’re-number-one experience of past Stanley Cup, World Series, NBA or Super Bowl championship seasons.

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Posted on August 25, 2014

By Steve Rhodes and Jim Coffman

Only Chris Conte could get a concussion while missing the tackle. Plus: Cubs waiting for shovels to go on sale, Coach K does Bulls a solid, Gordon Beckham’s four-year slump finally catches up to him, the Blackhawk who got away, this week in the Sky, and Jackie Robinson West.

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Posted on August 23, 2014

With the rise of points-per-reception leagues, WRs have started working their way up the fantasy football player ladder. If you’re in a 12-team league, one or two top-ranked pass catchers could be taken in the deep end of the first round.
TEs are another matter. Though the top-ranked TE is a first-round talent and very nearly the best of all options in PPR leagues, fantasy value and reliability falls sharply after the top five at the position.

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Posted on August 20, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

* Tom Ricketts depositing another million dollars into his bank account.
* Rick Renteria liking everything on Facebook.
* Javy Baez swinging at a pitch bouncing three feet in front of the plate.
* Darwin Barney getting a World Series ring.
* Edwin Jackson cashing a paycheck.
* Len Kasper fixing a bump to get through another three-and-a-half hour game.

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Posted on August 19, 2014

By Jim Coffman

These guys do not mess around.
Phil Emery, his scouting staff, cap guru Cliff Stein, Marc Trestman, whoever was in on the decision to sign receiver Santonio Holmes – and obviously Emery had the final say – you have to be impressed with this move.

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Posted on August 18, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

The Chairman doesn’t lose too many battles, but Jerry Reinsdorf’s attempt to install a fellow chairman, the Red Sox’ Tom Werner, as the next baseball commissioner fell short last week.
Most fans in these parts never had heard of Werner or the newly-anointed Rob Manfred prior to the owners’ conclave in Baltimore. However, now it’s common knowledge that Reinsdorf wanted someone with the potential to be a hard-liner when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2016 season. The Chairman figured that Werner could fill that role even though Manfred was the chief negotiator for the owners in 2011 when the current contact was enacted. Apparently Jerry didn’t think Manfred did a very good job.

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Posted on August 18, 2014

By Steve Rhodes and Jim Coffman

Podcasting from the picnic tables: Jackie Robinson West; The Bears’ #FirstDivisionProblems; Cartoon Cub; Jose Abreu Is Tired; Kiss The Sky.

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Posted on August 16, 2014