Class dismissed

Fans have the tendency to stand up for their favorite athletes, especially when one of those athletes' integrity is called into question. When you hear that one of "your guys" have been arrested at this bar or called into question for their involvement in this or that, or hear about them getting DUI's or busted with drugs, or even fathering love children outside of their marriages, we jump up and scream from every mountain top saying "he would never do that!" just because he was league MVP in 2004.

Well, what do we really know about that athlete? How many times have we had intimate conversations with that person? How many times did we go to their child's birthday party? Exactly, we do not know, we have not spent that time with them. We may appreciate what those athletes do for your favorite team, and although they are not heroes, we place them on the pedestal. Thing is we have no clue who they are, I am somewhat surprised they know they are after they have been through their public speaking classes and what to say and what not to say. If it wasn't for sports maybe they are stealing your car or creating a cure for cancer, we will never know.

One thing I do know is these athletes have a platform to tell us if the infractions brought against them are true or not. These athletes have the ability to apologize to fans, teams, and cities. These athletes can go home and deal with the ramifications of their actions with family and friends. Unfortunately one man cannot do this, and that is why the book on Walter Payton is so outrageously misguided, selfish, and complete irresponsible. I have not, nor will I read any part of this book as for one, it tarnishes the memory I have of one of the greatest athletes to walk this Earth, as well as tarnishes the image of a man who, from all accounts was a very great, honest, and trustworthy man.

This book is irresponsible, and the writer, as well as the publishing company who is backing this book should be held accountable for their gross misuse of judgement as the person they are talking about no longer has the opportunity to defend his name, his legacy, or his life. I do pray that a more sensible idea crosses these people's mind, decide to can this book idea, and move forward.

Huh, to think, this author has the ability to walk onto any TV or radio show or newspaper and defend his thoughts behind this book, however the subject of his material is not, doesn't sound too fair in my opinion.

Smith v Smith

I am typically a proponent of keeping sports made to be violent, violent. I do not like the NFL hitting rules, I do not like some of these charging and boarding rules in hockey. I understand why they are there, but I am in the belief that 95+% of these professionals respect each other enough, their careers enough, and what it means if you try to hurt someone enough to know not to resort to violent behavior when playing. What about the heat of the moment you might say, well if they are smart enough to hold up if they get penalized for it, they are smart enough to not do it because they respect each other too.

I am however hoping Brendan Smith gets the harshest penalty possible when Brendan Shanahan rules on the vicious hit he had on Ben Smith. It is not because the hit was that bad, I have seen so many more (see Niklas Hjalmarsson's hit on Jason Pominville), it is because of the unnecessary elbow he threw at the end of the hit while he was projecting his shoulder into Ben Smith's head. 





These are reckless, and there is no place for this in professional sports. I hope a message gets delivered with this hit, and athletes of all sports open their eyes and make sure they are looking out for each other cause who knows, maybe one day you will be teammates.

Chicago Sports

Are you insightful? Do you like sports? Do you like Chicago sports? If so, you might be overqualified, but I'd love to have you on my team helping out! Drop me a message as I look to add someone for all things Chicago sports! Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Sky, Fire, college, general insight! Send me a message jmbaker23@hotmail.com

Day 162

I know I know, this is labeled a Chicago sports site but I need to write about this night of baseball. Coming into tonight I wasn't that excited about tonight as I came home from work. Maybe I wasn't excited because my Cubbies were so disappointing, maybe because I had no real vested interest in any of the teams alive, maybe it is because I figure it didn't matter who made it in today because the Phillies and Yankees will end up going to the World Series anyway.

That was about 6 hours and 3 amazing games ago.

The first game, and it was a no doubted all night was the St Louis game. They came out and led right away and didn't look back. They take down the hopeless Houston Astros by a score of 8-0.

That means the NL comes down to the Braves Phillies game. The Braves lead this game going into the 9th with their young rookie sensation closer Craig Kimbrel. Now he has had some shaky periods throughout the year, but you had to figure this game, this one right here he would close this one out and there would be a playoff tomorrow. Well he blows the save and 4 innings later the Phillies pass the winning run across the plate (hit by possibly my favorite active player Hunter Pence) the game is over and the Braves are packing their bags to go home and watch the postseason.

Next up, the Red Sox are playing Baltimore, and winning 3-2 when there is a rain delay. I always think rain delays are bad cause crazy stuff usually occurs afterwards. Then just a little ways down the coast in Tampa, the Rays are losing 7-0 in the bottom of the 8th inning. Looks like Boston and Red Sox nation will be planning another playoff trip, even after their insane implosion.

While I was watching the Braves game, and Chipper almost won the game for the Braves which would have been fitting, I notice the Rays loaded up the bases. Good for them I thought, give a fight for your team, your fans, and your city before you close the season. Well I look up about 5 minutes later and notice the squeaked a run across, then another, and before you know it the Rays trail by one after the Evan Longoria 3 run blast. WOW! I thought, this will be a game!

So a I watch the bottom of the 9th in Tampa, I could just feel something was going to happen, I didn't know what, but I could just feel it. After the 1st 2 batters go down, and go down pretty quick that feeling started to go away, and was almost gone when Dan Johnson recreated his heroics just a few seasons ago by hitting a screaming line drive home run to tie the game with 2 strikes on him. I was excited, the fans were excited, and the players were excited.

That's it! I'm hooked on baseball tonight!

I keep watching, with the help of the MLB Network (sponsorship???) and flipping to ESPN 2, I am watching 3 teams fighting, scratching and clawing to get to the postseason. The first game to come down was the Braves. After getting people on a couple of times they could not get a runner home. The Phillies found a way to get some people on base, moved them over, and with a small flare score what would be the game winner. Then it's Boston. A 3-2 lead, Jonathan Papelbon On the mound. Chris Davis, who most people would ask, whose that? Hits a double to the right center gap. Then Nolan Reidman nails another double to the gap scoring the pinch runner for Baltimore. And then Robert Andino smacks a 0-1 fastball down the Left Field line, it drops and the Orioles win the game forcing the Sox to watch what their fate may end up.

Then just minutes later, the Rays hero and one of the best young players in all of baseball, Evan Longoria ends the best night baseball may have ever had with a screaming line-drive home run to win the game for the Rays. They beat the Yankees and add a very tough team to an American League Playoffs which will prove to be very competitive in all series'.

My favorite memory of the night was easily MLB Network's on field in game camera where they showed the fan reaction to Boston losing. Everyone erupts, but even more fantastic was every player on the Rays started jumping, clapping, screaming. Just a phenomenal camera capture. A funny side note was the eruption might have cost BJ Upton an at bat, but for the finish it was well worth it.

Wow baseball, tonight proved to me the Wild Card was one of the best additions over the last 50 years. You've created memories that will live on with so many baseball fans new and old alike. God bless baseball, one heck of a ride.

Oz goes back to Kansas... Er... Miami

Last night we all quickly learned about the second craziest Chicago sports personality will be leaving town. Although I'm a Cubs fan by heart, and possibly by fault, Ozzie Guillen has raised expectations of all Chicago sports franchises since he led the Sox the 2005 World Series and won. Before then we were a big city whose sports landscape consisted of lovable losers, consistent flops, gimmicks, and constant disappointment. I mean if you took the 85 Bears and the 90's Bulls out of the equation, Chicago wouldn't of had a championship sports franchise in 40 some odd years. Some would say Chicago is the weatherman of sports franchises, we don't win much but when we do we talk about it for years.

Since the Sox won the World Series look at the pressure all Chicago franchises had to win, and see how most stepped up to the plate. The Cubs won back-to-back NL Central titles, and had 3 consecutive winning years, something that hasn't been done in like 60 years. The Bears, although a lot of people would call it luck, won 2 NFC North titles and competed to go to the Super Bowl last season. The Bulls found a franchise player in Derrick Rose and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, and were at least in talks to add players like Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, among others. The Blackhawks rose from the ashes and won the Stanley Cup, as well as the cities heart once again. And the Sox made the playoffs twice more since then. I believe this is because Ozzie led the team he wanted to lead and won the World Series.

Fast forward now to 2011, and this baseball season. Or is it still rewind cause it's basically happened already? Either way... The entire year Ozzie sounded like Lance Briggs and demanded a new contract. All of this while trying to hold onto a marriage with Kenny Williams, that just wasn't going to work out. In my opinion the Sox would have kept Ozzie, Jerry Reinsdorff's favorite little toy, and parted ways with Kenny. However, Ozzie had to push the buttons, ask for the contract, threaten to not be there next year, and then storms into Jerry's office to ask for his deal. When he walked out, tail between his legs, and a huge smile on his face he was off to the sunset, in beautiful Miami.

Baseball kept steroids more of a secret than Ozzie going to Florida. Everyone knew he would go there, everyone knew he was the next manager there, I think somehow Barbra Walters even spoke about it on The View, not that I have seen it... I digress... Ozzie ended up getting his way, and Kenny ended up getting his way, but I think sports fans of Chicago will now suffer. The Cubs are going to search for a new GM and probably a manager, the Sox will need a new manager and possibly GM, the Beats will need a new Offensive Coordinator and GM, the Bulls wont even play this year, and the Blackhawks are a year or two from their talented prospects possibly competing.

See where the fans hurt is instead of sports franchises moving forward, we are now moving backwards. We are rebuilding all but one sports franchise, and rebuilding is not something Chicago sports franchises do very well. Just ask us Cub fans, we have been rebuilding for 103 years.

So while Guillen is allowed to move on down to Florida, along with him goes a lot of Chicagoans hopes for winning teams. So Ozzie, grab your cabana hat, light a Cuban cigar and enjoy Miami. Chicago will somewhat miss you.

Bears v. Packers 2011 ver. 1

In the seasonal series that is always overbilled, yet hardly ever holds up to expectations, the Green Bay Packers once again showed the world the Bears have a very long way to go to be considered an elite franchise. The Packers, with the perfect amount of veteran and youth. Front office leadership who understands the need to prepare for today and in the future. Finally players on field that have extremely high skill levels, understand their roles, and deliver perfectly flawless performances on field.

Then we have the Chicago Bears. The pure definition of idiorocity (not sure I know the definition of that but I hope you get the picture). The Chicago Bears have littered the field with old and older players. If they have a younger player on the field, he is underskilled or undisciplined. The Bears have seemed to take the Chicago Cubs approach to fielding a team, toss a couple of higher paid stars (or semi-stars) throw some hot garbage around them, ensure you don't run out of beer and count your millions. When you ask Bears front office personell what their long term plans are they reply, "we look at things one week at a time." When asked what are your seasons goals they reply, "to beat the Green Bay Packers." Most premier franchises will have plans, most premier franchises want to win the Super Bowl, most premier franchises have won the Super Bowl in the last 10 years. Sure the Bears made it to the Super Bowl, have won divisions, and even contended the eventual Super Bowl Champs last season, but the sky sure does seem to be falling on this franchise.

We have a mid-30's linebacker who is the heart and soul of the team. We have another Pro-Bowl linebacker who demands to be out by next season. We have a possibly treat QB with a classic gunslinger mentality with no weapons and no one to block for him. We have a potential Pro Bowl running back, with an Offensive Coordinator that gives up on running as soon as the other team scores. We have 4 head coaches that don't know how to teach and motivate a team. And our special teams is second to none, but the NFL has changed rules to make it ineffective.

So while we watch Aaron Rodgers hoist Lombardi trophies, watch Tom Brady break passing records, and watch the Steelers do what we're suppose to do, only a lot better, we still hope for a ball bouncing our way, refs giving us a call, or a receiver that after he makes q game winning catch let's go of the ball just a bit too soon. All our franchises have legitimate football plans, we'll just keep holding our rabbits foot.

Jay Cutler to Michael Vick "Stop crying!"

Jay Cutler was sacked for his league leading, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth times on Sunday he has been by far the most hit quarterback in the NFL over the past 3 years. Jay's mother has bruises on her ass, as well as the bruises to Jay's ego. Cutler was hit so much and so hard he almost married media starlet Kristen Cavallari in the offseason. Jay in fact was the only NFL player who continued to get hit while there was a lockout, unfortunately those hits were to his ego.

Michael Vick was the NFL's darling of 2010, and that extended into the early 2011 season. Although he was the Black Sheep of the NFL just 5 years ago, he has somehow risen above this and is now on the Mount Rushmore of ESPN's NFL coverage. Vick has done so much to restore his image including attending and speaking at animal cruelty events, donating to Humane Societies, and promising to not say dwag when when talking to friends. He rode his new found popularity to a plus $100 million contract, title of most loved Philadelphian, and Sports man of the year.

This is why hearing the public outcry against Michael Vick is so surprising! All he basically said is, ref's I am getting beat up back there while Tom Brady gets the benefit of getting calls when defenders are anywhere within 5 yards of him. It is entirely true Michael Vick gets hit, but not as much as Jay Cutler.

So in a test of true quarterbacking ability, I challenege Michael Vick to stand behind teh Chicago Bears offensive line. I want to see him last a couple of weeks watching blown blocking schemes, guys falling at the line of scrimmage, and offensive linemen turning away from the man they are suppose to block. In fact, if there were a sports god, I would imagine that he would have placed Vick behind the Bears very offensive line. Karma's a bitch, and I don't mean female dog.

Jerry Angelo, playing for another team?

After a Chicago Bears frustrating loss on Sunday to division rival, the Green Bay Packers, many of the Bears faithful are left screaming, "why haven't added offensive help!"

It seems the crack group here at Chicago Sports has found out why the Bears have not added any significant offensive line help, or any real weapons at Wide Receiver. For weeks now CS has followed Chicago Bears GM, Jerry Angelo and noticed he seems to receive some mail from the Offices of the Green Bay Packers weekly. Through our tough investigation techniques we came to realize these were checks paid from Green Bay made out to, Jerry Angelo.

We have learned that Jerry uses these checks for a good cause, his enrollment in an online college, University of Football Management and Services Online. When reaching out to the University's Head Chancellor, Dr. Jonathan Madden, he stated "Although we do not speak publically on any current student, BOOM, tough acting Tinactin!"

Calls to the Chicago Bears or the Green Bay Packers were not immediately returned.