Chicago -
By Carey Lundin
Imagine you’re hurtling down the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at speeds above 200 mph. The most minute touch of your steering wheel could send you into the wall. You’re pushing your car to the limits of your control. This is known as “the ragged edge.”
Some drive with the control of a fine lead pencil; others with a crayon. Sharp pencils drive fast, fast, fast.
Posted on May 7, 2009
By Dan O’Shea
Albert Pujols, Ian Kinsler, Evan Longoria, Aaron Hill: Which one of these things is not like the other? If you guessed Hill, you are correct. Those other three chaps certainly were expected by many to be ranked in the Top 10 among position player performances at this point in the season. Hill? Not so much.
Through earlier this week, Hill, 2B, was ranked No. 10 in many Yahoo! leagues after turning in a scorching first month of the season: .360 AVG, 6 HRs, 22 RBIs, 2 SBs, 45 hits (!). Hill’s Toronto Blue Jays are the surprising toast of the American League East, and Hill their surprising superstar. But, can he keep up the good work? Since many people weren’t aware of Hill before this season, they may be inclined to think he’s a flash in the pan. However, Hill gave a pretty good indication of what he was capable of back in 2007: . 291, 17 HRs, 78, RBIs, 47 doubles (the last figure put him among the league leaders in that category.
So, how did his name get lost this year at second base?
Posted on May 6, 2009
By Jim Coffman
The Blackhawks could easily cut themselves some slack at this point in what has already been a wonderfully exciting post-season. Of course they wouldn’t do it consciously. Consciously they’ll just keep pushing forward, maintaining the routines that have put them in this position, three wins from the Western Conference finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs or making adjustments when necessary. But this team has already enjoyed so much relative (to recent seasons) success. And it is much more than just comfortably qualifying for the playoffs and winning a series. These Blackhawks have done nothing less than completely shake free of the yoke of losing that dragged on their organization for a decade.
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Somewhere in the Blackhawks’ subconscious, a little voice is singing these praises. That voice can’t help but be smugly satisfied with this season already. Back home and as comfortable as they can be with an extra day between Games 2 and 3 in their conference semifinal (they are back in action Tuesday evening), the Hawks will have to guard vigilantly against a letdown.
Posted on May 4, 2009
By Marty Gangler
Well geez, it’s about time. That’s what many a Cub fan would have to say after the Cubs opened the week losing two of three to the D-Backs and then taking the last three of four from the Marlins. So they finished the week 4-3, but it feels better than that because they won the last three in a row. But it was still just 4-3. I did some math, and I think it’s right, and if a baseball team won four of every seven games for the whole year they would get 92 or so wins for the year – which actually might be enough to win the NL Central. But still, it doesn’t feel that good this week. With all of this in mind, including the math, we here at the Cub Factor would like to list a few things that feel like this week for the Cubs.
* You think your girlfriend is cheating on you so you confront her about it and it turns out that she isn’t but she’s now considering it because you accused her of it. So, you’re glad she isn’t cheating, but there’s a bad taste in your mouth.
* You really hate your job but don’t want to be fired and then find out that you aren’t fired but you still might be if you don’t show that you like your job. So it’s good you still have a job but it’s still the same job. So you have that bad taste in your mouth.
* You come home from a hard day and you are very hungry. You thought you had a Tombstone in the freezer but you forgot that you ate that last week watching all those Bulls overtimes, but you find a stray Hot Pocket that must have fallen out of the box some time ago so you throw it in the microwave. But then it turns out to be a broccoli and ham lean pocket which really isn’t very tasty. So, you are glad you are not hungry anymore but you literally have a bad taste in your mouth.
And that’s what it feels like to be a Cubs fan this week.
Posted on May 4, 2009
By Green Bay Bill, Tom Latourette and Joe Dillo
A tribute to Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville.
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Posted on May 3, 2009
By Thomas Chambers
The Kentucky Derby is the most exciting two minutes in sports. And the longest two minutes without timeouts. As the field of 20 departs the starting gate, the competition gets sorted out at every furlong in a combination of survival and elan, raw speed and deceptive quickness, calm and drama.
And while every Derby presents the possibility of something special, this year’s wide-open field almost guarantees an uncommon element: pleasant odds across the board.
Posted on May 1, 2009
By Dan O’Shea
Is it too early to panic if your fantasy baseball team is ending the first month of the season in a downward spiral toward last place? I think it is too early to panic, but don’t let me stop you. A little panic actually might help you make some aggressive bench moves or pick up some of this year’s surprise stars before someone else gets them. But the key to managing your panic is to not make any rash decisions about getting rid of proven players who haven’t been pulling their weight yet.
Don’t move Hanley Ramirez or David Wright just because they have yet to earn Top 100 rankings for their performances this year, let alone played up to their pre-season status as Top 5 players. Don’t give up on CC Sabathia or Cole Hamels either, unless someone is ready to offer you a trade that values them at their pre-season rankings (No. 35 and No. 45, respectively, in Yahoo!). Something tells me Ramirez and Wright will get it going, and that Sabathia and Hamels will at least crawl out of the earned-run holes they are in already.
Posted on April 29, 2009
By Carey Lundin
1. The Chase Scene.
I’m a purist. I love a great chase scene – a filmed life and death battle played out on the road. In my opinion The French Connection is the best, followed by a zillion other movies. If you want to catch the essence of a great chase scene, take a look the Indy Car Series. It’s got its share of good guys and bad girls.
I watched open wheel racing in the 60s when A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti were America’s real action heroes. In 1967, A.J. Foyt once drove through a wreck on the homestretch to get to the checkered flag. That kind of stuff wouldn’t happen today, but imagine what it must be like to have him as your coach.
Today Indy Car Racing features endurance athletes who in their own ways are just as bold, a lot more beautiful and just as willing to risk their lives.
Posted on April 28, 2009
By Jim Coffman
The second most appealing thing about Ben Gordon is his cool (do you hear something? Wait, I can just about make it out . . . ah, yes . . . it’s a perfect, high-arching jump shot chanting “I’m number one. I’m number one”). Gordon never loses it when things don’t go his way. Heck, his expression never even changes. But every once in a while when he hits a big shot, he can’t help himself. And after dropping in the three-pointer to tie Sunday’s game at the end of the first overtime, Gordon called attention to what our most recent former governor once referred to as his “testicular virility.” When Gordon finally wrapped up his extended crotch grab, the Bulls were on their way to a double-overtime triumph and a 2-2 tie in the best-of-seven series.
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Gordon’s celebration wasn’t as memorable as the “Hey everyone, look at my giant testicles” gesture used by point guard Sam Cassell after dropping in clutch jumper after clutch jumper during several playoff runs over the past decade-and-a-half. That pantomime also made an appearance in the movie Major League. Gordon’s grab was raw and spontaneous. Now if he could just bring a little more of that angry energy to the defensive end, we’d really have something (yes, I know, if it hasn’t happened by now, as Gordon wraps up his first half-dozen or so years in the league, it probably won’t happen).
Posted on April 27, 2009
By Marty Gangler
As some readers – and Mitch Williams fans – may recall, I am a new father.
Okay, I’m not like a drive the new car off the lot new dad, but my son just turned one, so I still have a hint of that “new dad smell.”
And one year into fatherhood, I’ve just begun to notice a few similarities shared by my son, Mitchell, and the Cubs – particularly when it comes to a batch of new “challenging” habits each have seemed to pick up at the same time. Just like the Cubs are no longer simply cute and adorable, my son is no longer simply cute and adorable. Instead, they’re both driving me crazy. Here’s how.
Posted on April 27, 2009
