By Jim Coffman
It didn’t take long for another seemingly sweet weekend to turn sour for the Hawks. And even if we’re still a ways away from any sort of real concern, if you wanted to see how the home team could end up losing to a considerably less-talented foe in the playoffs, it was on display at the United Center on Sunday.
There have been a handful of games this year (mostly before the 12-wins-in-14-games run capped off by a five-game win streak ended by the Blackhawks’ come-from-four-goals-ahead 6-5 loss at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday) where opponents have managed to take a one-goal lead and hold it for a while. But down the stretch of most of those games the Hawks’ depth of skill and perseverance has eventually prevailed. The squad finds a way to score the tying goal and then hangs on to force overtime to at the very least earn a point (and then the teams have battled for the second standings point in the extra time and, if necessary, the shootout).
The key has been the 1-0 deficit. Once the deficit becomes two goals, the task facing a team is more than twice as hard. Exhibit A is the fact that the Ducks were able to take a 2-0 first-period lead on the Hawks on Sunday and then hang on for an eventual 3-1 win despite a dearth of decent scoring chances (they managed all of 12 shots all game).

Read More

Posted on January 11, 2010

By Jerry Pritikin
As a baseball fan, I have been lucky to see my fair share of ballplayers – visiting or with the Cubs – who came up and stayed much, much longer than for just a cup of coffee. Over the years, I have had Cubs Heroes, and on many occasions met them, too. Sometimes, it is hard to compare today’s stars with those from another era. My dad tried that with me, always comparing his Cubs of 1906-08 with all the Cubs teams since then, but mostly the teams since I became loyal, back in 1945, when I was eight years old, and the Cubs were the National League Champions.
However, when it comes to pick my favorite player who ever played in a Cubs uniform, it would be easy for me to make a choice. On Wednesday, baseball’s Hall of Fame announced its latest member: Andre Dawson. He belongs there.
I watched almost every playing moment he had at the Friendly Confines in a Cubs uniform. I was a Chaplain in Andre’s Army. More of my signs were dedicated to him, and his play, than any other Cubs player of that era. He was the Tribune Company’s best buy ever when they took him up on his “BLANK CHECK” offer.

Read More

Posted on January 8, 2010

By George Ofman
Consider how often we rail against athletes. Not the good guys – the bad guys. Albert Belle and Milton Bradley quickly come to mind. So do Dave Kingman and Ben Wallace. There are others.
Then there are the polar opposites, men like Andre Dawson, a true gentleman who represents his sport the way all athletes should. Too bad guys like Dawson are few and far between.
Dawson all but stands alone in my world. He was a giant of a man when it came to respect and dignity.

Read More

Posted on January 7, 2010

By George Ofman
The quote qualifies as the paradox of the young year.
“Status quo was not an option.”
Bears President Ted Phillips said it often enough during a Tuesday press conference to make us wonder just what status quo means.

Fantasy Fix: Guns, Glory.

I’ll tell you what status quo means: The return of Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo.
Even as Phillips said “We expect to win now, this is not a long-term project in our eyes.”
Phillips must have been wearing rose-colored glasses. The last I looked the Bears do not have a first- or second-round pick in this year’s draft and with an uncapped season ahead, there will be few free agents to pick from.
“Status quo was not an option.”

Read More

Posted on January 6, 2010

By Dan O’Shea

The news that Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton allegedly drew guns on each other in the locker room – in a dispute over a gambling debt – is just one more thing that makes you shake your head about the NBA. I am at the point where a young man’s fascination with the athleticism and grace of basketball has evolved into a somewhat older man’s obsession only with numbers. I know – most of you reached that point a long time ago.
It’s Week 11 of the fantasy basketball season, and here’s a look at a few players we’ll presume to be unarmed unless told otherwise.
Fantasy Find of the Week: Luther Head, PG/SG, Indiana. The former Illini star was only 15 percent owned as of this week. He has been getting a lot of playing time with injuries in the Pacer lineup, averaging almost 20 points per game in the last week.
Fantasy Stud of the Week: Stephen Jackson, SG/SF/PF, Charlotte. I knocked his inconsistency earlier this year as he was traded out of Golden State, but in the last week he’s averaged 29 points per game and 3.0 three-pointers per game last week.

Read More

Posted on January 6, 2010

By Jim Coffman
Hey, would everyone shut up about having Jay Cutler roll out more?
Having Cutler roll out more next season is absolutely not the answer.
Of Cutler’s four touchdown passes against the Lions on Sunday, how many of those happened after rollouts?
None, nada, zip and zilch (okay, he took maybe two steps toward the sideline on the last score – not a real rollout).
And that’s just one of the many meaningful tidbits gleaned from Sunday’s mostly meaningless game against the hands-down second-worst team in the league.

Read More

Posted on January 4, 2010

By Mike Luce
On behalf of everyone here at the College Football Report: welcome back. As most of the country busies itself with gift receipts, returning (if only briefly) to work, and extra therapy visits to offset seasonal depression (it can’t be just us), fans of college football are in the midst of the true holiday season: bowl games.
At the moment, we find ourselves mopping up the last few Vaguely Interesting Bowls and among some prime offerings from the Legitimately Interesting Bowls (punctuated by Wednesday night’s Miami-Wisconsin match-up). We are also fast approaching the BCS Games and the GMAC Bowl (otherwise known as the lone representative of Bowls You Didn’t Know About Because They Come After The BCS Games – although we sense this could be a growing category in the future).
Somewhat surprisingly, Layoff Season has been extended into late December this year by the fiasco unfolding in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech fired head coach Mike Leach on Wednesday for – and we don’t know quite how to put this – poorly managing an injury to the son of an ESPN commentator. We won’t bore you with the details, but the Cliff Notes version reads that Leach mishandled an injury to mediocre sophomore wide receiver Adam James.
Most reports support Leach’s position that he was protecting the player from further injury . . . albeit through such dubious means as allegedly forcing James to stand alone in a shed during practice.
In the pre-Mangino era of Big 12 football, such insensitivity might have gone somewhat unnoticed. (For reference, fellow Big 12 coach Mark Mangino lost his job over similar issues earlier this year. Mangino was forced to resign but ultimately reached a $3 million settlement with Kansas University.)

Read More

Posted on December 31, 2009

By Dan O’Shea
In reviewing the 2009 fantasy football campaign, I came across this fact: Only two players – Adrian Peterson and Maurice Jones-Drew – projected as top 10 stars in the pre-season were ranked in the top 10 going into this week, the final week of the NFL season.
And of those two players, only MJD had the season his owners probably hoped for and expected.
Though Peterson led the league in rushing touchdowns with 17, his fantasy points performance was marred by fumbles and he had fewer truly great games this year as Minnesota’s offense revolved around Brett Favre.
Other pre-season top 10 picks that didn’t pay off: Michael Turner, Matt Forte, Brian Westbrook, LaDanian Tomlinson and DeAngelo Williams. Even Larry Fitzgerald, Steven Jackson and Frank Gore, who rounded out the Yahoo! pre-season top 10, will finish slightly off expectations.
A discouraging year for some top players means the top 10 for next season will look pretty fresh. Here’s my first stab at it:

Read More

Posted on December 30, 2009

By The Beachwood Upset Special Affairs Desk
1. The winning play.
*
2. MNF highlights.
*
3. Madden Simulation Got It RIght.

Read More

Posted on December 29, 2009

By Jim Coffman
Here’s a neat little microcosm of why the Bears are where they are and the Vikings are where they are heading into this evening’s 2009 Soldier Field finale.
A few years ago, the team from Minnesota identified guard as a primary need and proceeded to reel in the best guy available. Many thought the Vikings overpaid ($49 million) for former Seahawk lineman Steve Hutchinson, but with the help of a “poison pill” clause in their contract offer, Minnesota had the man to spearhead its rushing game (and help seal off opposing pass rushers) for the foreseeable future. The Vikings made the deal happen by including language that would guarantee its entire value (most football contracts only completely lock in signing bonuses) if Hutchinson wasn’t the highest paid offensive lineman on his team.
Seattle, which had recently given perennial All-Pro tackle Walter Jones (who has since fallen off dramatically) a bigger contract, wasn’t going to sign on for that and Hutchinson was gone.
Despite finding themselves in possession of almost limitless salary cap space earlier this year (they went into the regular season with a total payroll more than $20 million under the limit), general manager Jerry Angelo tried to fill his needs on the O-Line on the cheap. He signed former back-up Frank Omiyale from the Carolina Panthers to a contract paying him a tiny fraction of what Hutchinson makes. Omiyale played tackle for the Panthers but the Bears slotted him at guard, hoping he could be the physical presence they needed in the middle of the line they needed to combat, in particular, the Williams Wall. That would be Pat and Kevin Williams – the un-related defensive tackles who line up for . . . the Minnesota Vikings. On several occasions in recent seasons, Bear veteran center Olin Kreutz was too often seen being blown back into his own backfield by one Williams or the other. The hope was a stronger force at guard could help Kreutz hold the point up front.

Read More

Posted on December 28, 2009