I'm sorry, but these uniforms make me feel like I'm watching a Pop Warner game.
It has gotten totally out of hand, this infatuation that professional sports teams (primarily football and baseball) have with "alternative" and "throwback" uniforms. Bears fans were forced to shield their eyes last Sunday as the Seahawks unveiled hideous slime-green jerseys. The Bears, of course, subject us to orange jerseys a couple of times each season.
In an "Afternoon Sports Club" essay on our Web site Tuesday, Dan Cahill asked readers to vote on the all-time worst sports uniforms. As of 10 p.m., the 1976 White Sox uniforms (complete with short-pants option) led the way with 25 percent of the vote. Click on the accompanying photo gallery for a taste of some really bad taste in sports attire.
Jonathan Toews, Cristobal Huet, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa made the cover of ESPN the Magazine.
Do the Blackhawks deserve to be preseason favorites to win the Stanley Cup? ESPN the Magazine chose to adorn the cover of its NHL Preview issue with the Hawks quartet of Marian Hossa, Cristobal Huet, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, pegged to a feature about the team's tumultuous offseason. The mag picks the Hawks to meet the Bruins in the Cup finals, with the Boston given a slightly higher power rating.
Various Internet pundits already are declaring that the Hawks now must overcome a cover "jinx" (not that such a thing actually exists, even when it involves Sports Illustrated's cover). But given that ESPN has featured hockey on its cover only 12 times since 1998, it's fair to say the Hawks will have to deal with the pressure of being in the national spotlight's glare this season.
Bears rookie Johnny Knox celebrates his third-quarter TD reception with Matt Forte.
Dick Stockton's commentary rarely can be described as profound, but the Fox play-by-play man hit the nail on the head during the fourth quarter of Sunday's Bears-Seahawks game. With the Bears trailing 19-17 after an Olindo Mare field goal and only 5:12 remaining, Stockton observed that the Bears acquired Jay Cutler for situations just such as this.
What followed was a thing of beauty in what had been something of an ugly game: a six-play, 71-yard touchdown drive capped by a 36-yard Cutler-to-Devin Hester connection. A two-point conversion pass to Earl Bennett made it 25-19, and the Bears defense held firm to seal a hard-fought road victory.
Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck fractured a rib on this hit by the 49ers' Patrick Willis.
This was supposed to be the killer portion of the Bears' schedule. An 0-3 start seemed an ominous possibility, given an opening-night trip to Green Bay, a home game vs. the Super Bowl champs and a long journey to Seattle. Instead, considering that the Seahawks are banged up and likely to be without their starting quarterback, the Bears have a good shot at being 2-1 when the dust settles Sunday evening, with a home game against lowly Detroit coming up next.
Only two weeks into the season, the schedule already has taken on a different complexion. And a victory in Seattle could go a long way toward putting the Bears into the playoffs.
Sox GM Ken Williams is disappointed his midseason deals weren't difference-makers.
Ken Williams gave his annual end-of-season State of the Sox assessment Wednesday, and the straight-talking GM was blunt in his conviction that this team didn't reach its potential. "They are underachievers," Williams told reporters at the Cell. "We're not playing up to our capabilities. Period."
Maybe -- or maybe the 2009 Sox just never were that good. Despite Williams' lofty playoff hopes after the late-season acquisitions of Jake Peavy and Alex Rios, this team suffered from serious flaws, was too young at key positions and got too old too quickly at others.
So the question for Sox fans is: Do you agree with Williams that the team underachieved, or do you think the expectations were unrealistically high?
Lou Piniella has said he plans to fulfull the remaining year on his contract, but ...
Another easy win Tuesday night in Milwaukee for the Cubs, who are 3-0 since they jettisoned the malingering Milton Bradley. Meaningless games, you say? Not necessarily. If the Cubs finish up the season on a nice roll, it could help ensure the return of Lou Piniella as manager for the final year of his contract, despite the failure to achieve a playoff berth this season.
The big question for Cubs fans: Do you really want to see Lou back in the dugout in 2010?
Umpires were just one of Milton Bradley's many problems in a disastrous season.
Rarely, if ever, have we seen a free-agent signing blow up so spectacularly in a general manager's face: Cubs GM Jim Hendry rolled the dice on Milton Bradley and it came up snake-eyes almost from the get-go. And virtually everyone else could see it coming.
On Sunday, Hendry finally threw up his hands and suspended the mercurial outfielder for the rest of the season. But where do the Cubs and Bradley go from here?
Kellen Davis hangs on after a hit by James Farrior for a second-quarter TD catch.
What a difference a week makes! So much to like about the Bears' 17-14 victory Sunday over the reigning Super Bowl champion Steelers. Jay Cutler showed the poise that was lacking against Green Bay, avoiding the rush and making clutch completions. Johnny Knox, Greg Olsen and Kellen Davis provided Cutler with dependable targets. The defense, even without Brian Urlacher, was rock-solid again.
And Robbie Gould came through one more time, making the game-winning kick after two big misses by his Steelers counterpart Jeff Reed.
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger will put the Bears' Urlacher-less defense to the test.
We've had five days to wring our hands about Jay Cutler's postgame demeanor. Five days to fret about the season-long loss of Brian Urlacher. Five days to anguish over the importance of Sunday's game against Pittsburgh. A loss would leave the Bears 0-2 and facing a tough Week 3 road game at Seattle, where the Seahawks romped 28-0 over the Rams.
Jake Peavy's debut with the Sox on Saturday is lacking the anticipated luster.
Good seats still available! Jake Peavy will make his long-awaited Sox debut Saturday against Kansas City, and it's a home game, so a huge gate at the Cell would fill the team's coffers. Trouble is, at this point, does anybody care anymore?
Carlos Zambrano has a no-trade clause, but has hinted he would go to certain teams.
Carlos Zambrano, the enigmatic Cubs ace, was in fine form Tuesday. Pitching a day after the one-year anniversary of his no-hitter against the Houston Astros, Zambrano baffled the Brewers for four innings, striking out eight and leading 4-0. In the fifth, he completely fell apart, yielding five runs before escaping with a no-decision in the Cubs' 13-7 victory.
It was just the latest chapter in a disastrous season for Big Z. He
missed a crucial stretch of August games due to a bad back that may
have been caused by excessive batting practice, and admitted he has
been "lazy" about doing preventative abdominal exercises. He twice has
been on the DL and was suspended six games for "inappropriate and
violent actions" after melting down during a May game against the
Pirates. When Zambrano unraveled during a June loss to the White Sox, a
local baseball columnist urged the Cubs to cut the hotheaded hurler
immediately.
That was ridiculous, but it's certainly reasonable to ask: Would unloading Zambrano be addition by subtraction?
Brian Urlacher (with Packers' Brady Poppinga) leaves the field wearing a wrist brace.
Talk about your worst-case scenarios: First Jay Cutler struggles and the Bears lose a last-minute heartbreaker to the hated Packers. Now we learn that defensive stalwart Brian Urlacher is out for the season with a dislocated wrist.
A couple of weeks ago, we lamented the premature end of the baseball season in Chicago and were counting the days till the Bears kicked off. So now we must pose this question: Is the Bears' season already over (in terms of playoff hopes)? Do we start counting the days till the Blackhawks drop the puck and the Bulls tip off?
Jay Cutler's disappointing debut extended beyond his career-high four interceptions.
So what are we to make of Jay Cutler's four-interception Bears debut Sunday in a 21-15 loss at Green Bay? Well, the picks certainly weren't all his fault. We were worried about the lack of experienced receivers, and it showed on at least a couple of the interceptions when Cutler and his pass-catchers clearly were out of sync. The Packers' defense pressured Cutler all night, and he can be forgiven for struggling in his first outing with a new team.
A bigger concern in some corners was Cutler's apparent lack of poise. His growing frustration became painfully obvious throughout the night as he ranted at officals and railed at teammates for not running proper pass routes. Does this illustrate a lack of maturity that has been cited by the likes of Tony Dungy and Mike Ditka? Or does it mean that in Cutler, the Bears finally have an on-the-field offensive leader in the Michael Jordan mold, one who demands excellence not only from himself but also from his teammates, and won't hesitate to get in their face if they fall down on the job?
Bears coach Lovie Smith's record fell to 7-4 after Sunday's loss in Green Bay.
UPDATED: What a nightmarish debut for Jay Cutler, who was intercepted a career-worst four times and often seemed flustered and angry during a 21-15 loss to the Packers. Thanks to a stellar defensive effort, the Bears still were in position to win, leading 15-13 with under two minutes to go. But Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers hooked up with Greg Jennings on a third-and-one play, burning cornerback Nate Vasher on a game-winning 50-yard TD pass with 1:11 remaining. Even worse, the Bears lost Brian Urlacher to a dislocated wrist and his status is uncertain for next Sunday's home opener vs. Pittsburgh.
Let's hear your thoughts, observations, frustrations and analysis on what happened in Green Bay and what it means for the Bears going forward.
Michael Jordan enters the Hall of Fame tonight (5:30-8 p.m. Central time, ESPN).
Cherished memories of Michael Jordan: The list is potentially endless. His game-winning shot to beat Utah and clinch the Bulls' sixth championship in 1998. The shot over Craig Ehlo in 1988 that beat Cleveland and began the Bulls' playoff run. The double-nickel game in which he put 55 points on the Knicks in Madison Square Garden after coming back his first retirement in 1995. You could go on and on and on.
Four FCP experts like Devin Hester's Bears to beat the Colts in a Super Bowl rematch.
Yes, there's still time to post your "official" prediction on how the Bears will fare in 2009. As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, we had 33 respondents, with nearly one-third of them (10) forecasting an 11-5 finish. Curiously, four of our experts foresee a Super Bowl XLI rematch against the Indianapolis Colts in which the Bears this time come out on top.
Derrick Rose will renew excitement in Chicago come October, as will the Blackhawks.
Typical Sox: After taking three of four from the Red Sox, they get blown out by the A's on Tuesday and miss a rare chance to gain ground on Detroit. They're still eight games out, way too big a deficit to make up even with six remaining games vs. the Tigers.
Typical Cubs: They spank the Pirates for the second straight day, but again fail to gain any ground either on St. Louis (which rallied in the ninth to beat Milwaukee) or on wild-card-leading Colorado. Amazingly, the Cubs still haven't gained as much as a half-game on St. Louis on any day since Aug. 4, falling from a tie for the division lead to 11.5 games out.
Baseball season is over in Chicago, and no matter how exciting Jay Cutler and the Bears may be, we can't talk about them every day. So thank goodness that some familiar friends from last spring soon will be back in action.
Calling all sages/soothsayers: Peer into the future and tell us how Bears will fare.
OK, the preseason finally is behind us. We've read the various and sundry proclamations from most of us on how we think Jay Cutler and the Bears are going to finish this season. But I liked the suggestion that Anthony made a few posts back: Let's get everyone on the record with their "official" prediction on the Bears, and at the end of the season, we can all look back and clearly see who knew their stuff and who didn't.
So, polish that crystal ball once more, peer into the future and tell us what the Bears' final record will be.
Rookie receiver Johnny Knox gave fans something to cheer about Thursday.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated Thursday his support for an expansion of the regular-season schedule to 17 or 18 games, eliminating two preseason snooze-fests. That has to be welcome news for fans who later that night were forced to pay full regular-season prices for tickets to watch the Bears beat the Browns 26-23 in their preseason finale.
Postgame congratulations have been rare recently for Bobby Jenks and the Sox.
The Crosstown Classic resumes today! Cubs vs. Sox! You can just feel the excitement ... can't you? Well, it's not quite what we expected when it was announced this makeup of a June rainout at Wrigley Field would be played Sept. 3. The expectation then was that pennant hopes would be on the line for both teams. Instead ... well, we've been over all that. But one question still needs to be answered:
Which team has been the bigger disappointment: the Cubs or the Sox?
Brett Favre gets up after making an illegal crackback block Monday against Houston.
Who was that broken-down old-timer making a nasty, illegal crackback block Monday night? Sports-talk radio in Chicago was abuzz Tuesday with accusations that 39-year-old Brett Favre is a dirty player for taking out the knees of Texans cornerback and former Illini star Eugene Wilson during the Vikings' 17-10 preseason win.
Favre, who inexplicably was lined up wide in the wildcat formation on the third-quarter play, said he was trying to protect rookie Percy Harvin, who took the snap. Wilson was injured, but afterward said he was OK. He did have one question for the venerable Vikings quarterback: "What was up with that?" Wilson asked. "Seriously, what was up with that?"
Jim Thome to the Dodgers signals the end of the Chicago baseball season.
Before taking time off last week, I wondered aloud where the Sox and Cubs would be in the pennant chase upon my return. The answer: Dead and done.
Today is Sept. 1, and for the first time since 2002 (when the Sox finished 13.5 games behind the Twins and the Cubs 30 behind the Cardinals), it's clear neither Chicago team will be a factor in the final month. The Sox waved the white flag late Monday, shipping slugger Jim Thome to the Dodgers ahead of the trade deadline.
