Sunday Night Showdown

Griese Chicken Report: I'm hoping he's shaken the rust off. He looked ok last game against the Lions, but he will be going against a better team this week. While Green Bay's defense has been playing good enough for them to win, they haven't been playing that great. Griese should be able to pass against the inexperienced defense of the Packers. The problem will be all the injuries on the offensive line. If they can get healthy and give Griese time, he should have a decent game.

Key Matchup: Bear's Defense vs. Brett Favre. Brett Favre is looking like the Favre of old. He's breaking all kinds of records this year and he seems unstoppable. The only problem for him is is that he doesn't have much of a running game so far. If the Bear's can stop the pass and force them to run, Favre will have problems. I agree with Russ over at Bears Gab that Bears are going to get better.

It's Not Over

Every devoted fan goes through the "change" some time in their following of a team. And no, in case you are wondering, it's not the one 40-year-old women go through...although it does have some of the same aspects: hot flashes, bursting into tears at the drop of a pin, angry outbursts. Of course, I can only be talking about frustration. The art of frustration is known to all fans in every sport around the globe. It kills your mood but it does not kill your love for your team. I have to admit, last night was one full of frustration for me. The Cubs dropped Game 2 losing 8-4 to the Diamondbacks. Ted Lilly struggled, the Cubs failed to hit well, and I was frustrated.

I know we still have another game to turn this series around but it's hard to have the faith. There is, of course, no doubt that if the Cubs play the way they have the past two games, they're going down. Arizona is capitalizing on their hits whereas the Cubs are hitting the ball every couple of batters only to leave them stranded on base. It seems the only way we can get runs is to hit home runs and since there has only been one in the two games, that isn't something to rely on. The two loses have nothing to do with having bad luck or the curse of the billy goat...we're losing because Arizona is out playing us. Either it stops in Game 3 or the Cubs are done for another disappointing season.

Don't get me wrong. I'm going to watch Game 3 and cheer my little heart out. I still think, deep, deep down that we can take this thing into five games and make a great comeback.

Game 3 is going to be played at Wrigley Field (Yay for home games!) at 5:00 p.m. and hopefully the Cubs will start playing like they have all year long. GO CUBBIES!

While I'm cheering on the Cubs, might as well add something about my favorite college football team. Just to let you all know, a major upset will be taking place tomorrow night in West Lafayette, Indiana where the Boilermakers are going to defeat Ohio State. Tomorrow is going to be a great day for Cub fans and Purdue fans alike. Let's just hope frustration doesn't set in.

Pitchers Domintate Game 1

Last night wasn’t so pretty. I was tired, in sweat pants, stuffing pizza into my mouth…it just wasn’t a good sight to see. Oh yeah, and the Cubs lost to Arizona 3-1. It wasn’t even close to being the best game ever watched or even anything I was expecting. After Derek Lee struck out in the first inning, I figured we had our work cut out for us. However, I’m refusing to blame Lee for this slow start. I blame it on a jinx my friend Ryan put on him before he even stepped up to the plate.

“Lee is probably going to strike out.”

I was too much in shock to knock on the coffee table. No one was even in the room to help me. When Lee was walking toward his dugout with his head down, I was shaking mine at Ryan. After that, things didn’t improve much. I couldn’t very well blame multiple Cubs’ strikeouts on Ryan, as much as I tried.

There is no doubt that the pitchers, from both teams, dominated the game. Zambrano was solid in his six innings on the mound, giving up one run on four hits, striking out eight, and walking only one. Piniella pulled him out of the game in the sixth inning, though fans weren’t sure as to why, putting in Marmol who gave up a home run in the seventh to push the D’backs ahead. As I watched Mark Reynolds’ ball fly over the outfield into the stands, I couldn’t help but think, “Why is Zambrano being taken out?”




"I took a shot with my bullpen, it didn't work today," he said. "We've done it all year. I have confidence in them. Period. End of the story."

Also, the Cubs’ manager wanted to save Zambrano for a potential start in Game 4 on Sunday. Ok, so Piniella knows what he’s doing…right? Big Z only pitched 85 pitches and seemed fairly capable to finish off the game. Would the Cubs have pulled off the game if the team's ace was left in? The world will never know.

What it comes down to is Arizona’s pitcher, Brandon Webb, earned the victory last night. He threw seven innings, allowed one run on four hits, and striking out nine. Webb pitched well and the Cubs did not hit. Soriano, who fans can usually count on to get on base, went 0-for-5. Lee went 1-for-4. When you only capitalize one run on four hits, you’re usually not going to come out on top.





That first game is now out of our minds and hopefully out of the Cubs’ system. We can only look forward to the rest of the series and the missed opportunities of last night will be fulfilled tonight. Or the next game. Or by the fifth game at least.

There was one benefit of staying up late to watch the game: the Aquafina commercial with Lou Piniella in it. I wish I could supply you with the actual clip, but sadly, I could not find it anywhere. Maybe it will run again tonight. If so, I’m staying up for sure.

Maybe the Cubs have gotten used to the desert air, and maybe the bullpen will come through tonight, and maybe the Cubs will win Game 2. Maybe? Nah, they will.

Start The DAMN Season Already

So I have been waiting for some sort of actual "playing of basketball" to happen, and it is finally almost here. Training camp started on October 1st. The roster was completed with the signing of Andre Barret, Joseph Blair, Justin Cage, Thomas Gardner, and Jared Homan. Obviously not all of these players will make the final roster. Of these five players, Andre Barrett was the only player to have previously played with the Bulls. With the addition of these five players, the roster is now set at 19...for now.

The first preseason game will FINALLY take place on October 9th, which is less than a week away, against the Milwaukee Bucks. Thankfully, I will finally get some actual basketball action to talk about and begin my first player and team reviews. The Bulls will face-off against Milwaukee, Dallas, Washington, Toronto, and Indiana during the preseason. The first official regular season tip-off for the Bulls will occur on October 31st against New Jersey. Chicago's first home opener will be on November 2nd against Philadelphia. But until then, I will continue to talk about random shit involving the Bulls.

Random Shit #1

My projected starting line-up for the Bulls will be as follows: PG-Kirk Hinrich, SG-Ben Gordon, SF-Luol Deng, PF-Tyrus Thomas, C-Ben Wallace. The power forward position will be tossed around a lot this season. Scott Skiles has thrown Joakim Noah into the starting five at practices hoping that he would get the feel of the fast pace play. I predict Coach Scott Skiles will utilize Joe Smith, Joakim Noah, and even Andres Nocioni in the starting poward forward position sometime throughout the season as well. I am looking forward to finding out which of these players earns the permanent starting power forward position, but I doubt that it will be figured out until at least the all-star break.

Random Shit #2

I'm glad that those five players mentioned in the first paragraph are getting a chance to actually play and possibly be signed with the Bulls. The sad thing is that during the regular season, they will be lucky if their feet will touch the floor more than ten times. Last season, Andre Barrett only made six appearances during the regular season, but he did have a remarkable preseason. He had a few buzzer beaters that iced off victories for the Chicago Bulls in preseason. Andre Barrett, 5'10" on a good day, then beat out Luke Schenscher, 7'0", for the final spot on the Bulls roster.

Random Shit #3

Coach Scott Skiles is one bad dude. Bulls Executive John Paxson credits much of the Bulls success and improvement to this man. Scott Skiles has a very firm way of playing the game. He is happy with the young talent that he has that can go along with his somewhat up-tempo playing style, but he isn't afraid to get on the rookies' asses if he feels that they aren't keeping up. Skiles has also been working a lot with Tyrus Thomas in hopes that he can be Chicago's starting power forward. He has turned this team into a single unit that always makes that one extra pass. Skiles has been credited by many coaches about the ball movement he has taught his team. I believe passing the ball more conserves the energy of the Bulls but wears down the defense. I know Scott Skiles will get the job done doing it the only way he knows...the Scott Skiles way.

Once again, I look forward to next week because I will finally be able to get to see the Bulls in some action. Until then...enjoy my random shit.

Top 5

The Bears are obviously in need of a new quarterback, and with the way they have been playing they'll get the opportunity to draft high and get a franchise quality quarterback. Chances are that they'll just go with someone who wasn't good enough to be a back up somewhere else. It seems even if the Bears do draft a quarterback in the first round he'll be a bust, like Sexy Rexy. Here's my top 5 list of college quarterbacks who should be on the Bear's top 5 list.

5. Chad Henne-Michigan-While Michigan has looked like absolute shit at the beginning of this year, it still takes skill to be a 4 year starter there. Even in their 2 losses to start the season Henne had a rating of over 100 in both games and against Northwestern he threw for 3 touchdowns and no picks. He's not a running quarterback but he's a hell of a passer.

4. JD Booty-USC-He's only lost two games as a starter and each of those were by less than 4 points. The Bears can almost be sure he has skill just by the fact that he starts for USC. And as much as it pains me, they can be sure he's had quality coaching under Pete Carroll. In 4 games this season he's already thrown for 875 yards.

3. Andre Woodson-Kentucky-A beast of a quarterback at 6'5", 230 pounds, he's this years equivalent of Jamarcus Russell. He's thrown for 1,309 yards, 16 touchdowns, and only one interception which would make for a breath of fresh air in Chicago.

2. Tim Tebow-Florida-Another massive quarterback at 6'3", 235 pounds, but with the ability to run like a running back, and not in the fashion of McNabb or McNair. They get hyped up about their ability to run but generally can't. Tebow's rushed for a touchdown in every game this season. He's also thrown for 11 touchdowns with only two picks against the toughest conference, the SEC. And with the picture at the top of the page how could he not make the list?

1. Pat White-WV-Not the biggest guy on my list at 6'2", 185 pounds, but he is an elusive runner, which Chicago will need because of it's aging line. His stats aren't as good as others, 717 yards passing and 6 passing and 6 rushing touchdowns, but his rushing ability sets him apart and makes him a good fit for the Bear's offense.

A year full of excitements, but also a year full of disappointments

Ok, so it was mainly a year full of disappointments. But the Chicago White Sox’s 2007 season wasn’t a complete bust. There were many incredible highlights. So I just thought I would take some time out to sort of do a recap of the 2007 season.
I always like to start with the negative and then the positives because then you leave with a more optimistic state of mind. So that is what I am going to do.

You might be asking yourself “What exactly went wrong?” I know I am because the White Sox were expected to have a very successful year. Well like I said in my previous post, the Sox didn’t exactly start the season off on a good note. In their first game they lost to Cleveland 12-5. That was in a way, a map of the future. The two biggest reasons that I think the Sox didn’t have a successful season were pitching and injuries. Injuries played a key role because the ones we lost to injuries were major players like Joe Crede and Pablo Ozuna, who were both out for most of the season. Another answer to “What went wrong?” question would probably be the Sox pitching. Yes we did have some pitchers who had awesome seasons (mainly Bobby Jenks and Mark Buehrle), but the pitching staff as a whole wasn’t up to par.

Ok so enough with the disappointing stuff. I got that out of the way. Now, to the White Sox’s 2007 season highlights. I think we all know at least one. Yes, I am talking about Jim Thome hitting his 500th career home run. Mark Buehrle also threw a no-hitter on April 18. And this season Bobby Jenks retired 41 straight batters to tie the current record. Lastly, Josh Field’s amazing rookie season (I’m definitely glad he is coming back next year!)

So as you can see, the season wasn’t a complete dissatisfaction. Yes the results as a whole were, but individually, the players did awesome. Some tied records, while others broke them. So I think 72-90 is just a number. Not a very pleasant number, but a number to re-build on.


In conclusion, for those of you who might be curious about the statistical information, here are some players who lead the Sox in offensive stats:

Best Batting Average: Jim Thome, with a .275 batting average
Most Doubles: This was tied between Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko, who each had 34.
Most Triples: Scott Podsednik with 4
Most Home Runs: Obviously Jim Thome, who had 35 home runs this season
Most Runs: Jim Thome, with 79
Most RBIs: Jim Thome, again, who ended the season with 96 RBIs
Most Stolen Bases: Jerry Owens, who had 32


Here are just a few pitching stats:

Most Wins: Javier Vazquez with 15
Most Losses: Jose Contreras with 17 total losses in the 2007 season
Best ERA (for a starting pitcher): Mark Buehrle, with a 3.63 ERA
Most Saves: Bobby Jenks with 40

The Chicken

In case you haven’t heard, the Cubs are in the playoffs. You might have thought it was a rumor or maybe just some crazy fan ranting about his latest dream, but it’s true. Tomorrow, at this time, the Cubbies will be warming up at Chase Field for the beginning of a best-of-five game set against the Diamondbacks. With the Chicago winning the NL Central (85-77) and Arizona’s success in the NL West (90-72), it’s bound to be a good playoff series.

Of course, you’ll have Lee, Zambrano, DeRosa, Soriano, and other veterans leading the way for the Cubs, but what about the boys who are not as well known? The ones who will come off the bench when they’re needed the most. Boys like, my favorite Cubs player, Mike Fontenot.



Michael Eugene Fontenot is 27 years old, bats left handed, throws right, plays second base, has one years’ experience in the major leagues, and is heading to the playoffs with the Chicago Cubs. It looked like Fontenot might not even play in the MLB this year as he was overlooked for spring training. But when the Cubs were short an infielder, they turned to the Triple A and found their man. When Fontenot joined the Cubs in June, he was given a shot at second base. He then hit .397 in that month with three homeruns and 15 RBIs. Since then, he hasn’t seen much playing time while Mark DeRosa is playing at second. However, Fontenot is still keeping his swing up to standard and is ready to help whenever he’s needed.

"Sometimes it's tough, but I'm still working every day and every time I get a chance to start, I feel normal," he said. "Just trying to do whatever I can here to stay ready."

In the playoffs, Fontenot will give the Cubs a powerful left-handed bat off the bench. And don’t be fooled by his nickname, the “Chicken”. Some believe he’s called this because of his 5 feet 8 inches but Fontenot believes otherwise.

"I had my hands in my back pockets and I started doing a little dance," Fontenot said. "They started calling me 'Chicken,' and it kind of stuck."

It doesn’t matter if it’s because he’s shorter in stature or because he can dance, the “Chicken” doesn’t have to prove himself. He might not be starting against the Diamondbacks in this upcoming series, but if Piniella needs a powerful hitter or a sound second-basemen, he’s going to know who to turn to. My man, Mike Fontenot.

The Rollercoaster Ride is Now Over

On Sunday night the Chicago White Sox’s season came to an end. The result of their last game was pretty much a summary of their whole 2007 season. Basically, the outcome was not good.

Attendance at U.S. Cellular Field totaled 33,154 fans. I’m sure the outcome was one they were hoping wouldn’t happen. It would have been nice to end the season on a good note, especially after the very roller-coaster like season the Sox had this year (most of the time they were going down the hill instead of up.)

As a result, the White Sox players headed home with a 13-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers sitting on their shoulders. It was almost an exact replica of the season opener when they lost of Cleveland 12-5. So they started the season off bad and ended it bad. Maybe we should start the 2008 season off good so it will end well. Sounds like a pretty good plan to me.

You’re probably wondering exactly how the game went. Well there were four reliefs for Contreras, all of them gave up at least one run to the Tigers. So you can see that the bullpen struggled. But so did the offense. But let’s be honest. Most of the South Siders’ fans sort of became immune to this kind of showing.

With the season now officially over, the White Sox finished the season with a losing record. This was the first time since 1989 that they finished below third place in the AL Central. And I hate being the one to deliver the bad news to you, but they also had their worst regular season record ever this year. They finished 72-90.
But all this information means is that it can only go up from here. Next year will be a better season for them and we are going to consider this a rebuilding year. We have a lot of great players coming back and I’m sure this was a learning experience to all, coaches and players.

I’m sure Ozzie is glad that this season is over. Actually I know he is glad because he told us that. “Thank God we're done with this nightmare. For the rest of my career, hopefully this is going to be the last one that feels this way.” So to sum it up, Ozzie wants the Sox to improve, but hey, what coach wouldn’t after an almost embarrassing season.

This loss doesn’t necessary mean that the White Sox players are pessimistic about the season or the seasons to come. I have to admit, we did see a lot of pretty remarkable things happen this year. Matt Thorton makes that clear when he made the statement on Sunday night, "We saw some great things, with [Mark] Buehrle's no-hitter, pretty much Thome's entire season and Bobby [Jenks'] streak [of 41 straight batters retired]. Just awesome things, but it doesn't make the season better. It's been a rough year, but that's why you come back next year ready to go."

Deep Shit

Griese Chicken Report: Sadly, as of now, the Griese Chicken Report will replace the Sexy Rexy Report. That's right fans, no more Sexy Rexy, probably ever. As I mentioned earlier, I don't think this is the right move, but anyways. I'm just wondering if Lovie will be able to swallow his pride and put Rex back if Griese gives them less than a chance to win. Many people want to see Orton put in, but from the looks of the pictures floating around the Internet, I'm not sure he can stay sober long enough to play. Back to Griese. He was in typical Bear's quarterback form, which seems to be some sort of fuck-up-at-the-worst-possible-moment retarded interception throwing machine. Griese isn't entirely to blame as I agree with Da' Bears Blog that Bernard Berian looked like an elementary school lineman trying to catch the ball.

The Good: Even with the secondary that started the season completely out, the defense performed well through the first three quarters. They kind of fell apart in the 4th, but the defense not playing horribly the entire game is all the good I could find. That and Hester was a manimal again.

The Bad: For starters, we lost. And it was to the Lions, which is embarrassing enough, but them having Jon Kitna as their quarterback makes it worse. The Bears fumbled the ball 5 fucking times, but were lucky enough to not lose it. That probably won't happen again. Griese looked Rusty throwing for 3 interceptions.

The Ugly: Besides Kyle Ortons beard, the 4th quarter. The Bears gave up 34 points in the 4th quarter to lose the game. Bad teams generally don't give up that many points in the 2nd half. I get chills just thinking about how bad it was, and that it doesn't look any better. Also, Benson's 50 yard rushing performance is terrible. Give the ball to Peterson, because he actually tries. Benson gives a half assed performance every week so far, but they haven't benched him like they did Grossman. Why? Because Lovie Smith is a sorry excuse for a coach. And for no reason in particular, Orton gets a plaque this week.

October: Halloween and Playoffs

Wednesday is the start of what is sure to be an interesting playoff season. Of course this is true for every game, but here I’m focused on the Cubs and the Diamondbacks. Arizona has a 50-31 record at home and a 4-2 record against the Cubs this season. Impressive numbers but nothing to be extremely intimidated by. Chicago seems to struggle every time they fly out there and all fans can do is hope that they have more success than in previous games. Looks like it’s going to be a late night.

What’s the schedule look like for the rest of the series?

Game 2: Thursday at 9 p.m. (at Arizona)
Game 3: Saturday at 5 p.m. (at Wrigley)
Game 4: Sunday at noon (at Wrigley)
Game 5: Tuesday at 9 p.m. (at Arizona)

Piniella plans to start Carlos Zambrano (18-13) in Game 1 and hopes to possibly have him pitch one more game if necessary. Big Z hasn't faced Arizona this season.

''They're a good young ballclub that plays hard, similar to the way the Marlins play, with a lot of energy,'' shortstop Ryan Theriot said. ''And you know what you're going to get with their pitching: good starting pitching and a great bullpen.''

But, Theriot added, ''I like this matchup. This one's good for us. We'll see what happens. We've got Big Z going, and we feel real confident with him on the mound and everyone else coming behind him.''

Remember when I asked about Cubs playoff tickets? Well, I’d still love some as would many Cubbies fans. Postseason tickets are going on sale at cubs.com starting at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, October 4. Now all I need is $275 for a dugout box and a car to get to Wrigley Field. I guess I could take a bus and only spend $90 for the bleacher box. But hey, it’s the playoffs and the Cubs are playing! Might as well go all out.



Speaking of going all out, the downtown rally honoring the Cubs was held this afternoon. Hundreds of fans gathered, even in the rain, to celebrate the Cubs making it into the playoffs. All who attended agreed on one thing: this is our year.

The Pride of Argentina...No, not Manu Ginobli

I'm talking about the guy on the left. That man is Bulls forward Andres Nocioni. Argentina has produced a number of other talented players that are in the NBA, such as Carlos Delfino (Toronto Raptors), Walter Herrmann (Charlotte Bobcats), Luis Scola (Houston Rockets), and Fabricio Oberto (San Antonio Spurs). Manu Ginobli and Andres Nocioni are the two knock-around guys of Argentina. Playing physical is a very big part of both of their games. Both have a similar style of play. Manu would win the 'driving the lane' battle, but Andres would win the 'shooting' battle. But being a Bulls fan, I have come to love Andres Nocioni. I love him so much that I am writing a blog entry solely on him.

Nocioni was picked up by the Chicago Bulls at the start of the 2004-2005 season, which was right after Argentina won the gold in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. No one knew how good he would be in the NBA, but he began playing as if he was a veteran. He even began to make a name for himself among the NBA. Everyone refers to this Nocioni as someone you hate to play against, but someone who'd you love to have on your team. There's no doubt that this guy is a human charge machine. If there was an NBA Best Actor Award, it would easily go to Andres Nocioni. This guy gets laid out more than Rex Grossman, but he does it willingly. Rex Grossman just sucks.

But anyways...I realized that most teams have at least two primary defensive stoppers: one to protect the lane and one to frustrate the opposing team. San Antonio has Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen, Phoenix has Amare Stoudamire and Raja Bell, and the Pacers have...oh wait, nevermind. Chicago's down low enforcer is obviously Ben Wallace. Andres Nocioni fits the description of the second defensive stopper. Even though he is not in the starting line-up, Nocioni is one of the guys on the bench that comes into the game to charge up the defense, and even the offense. At only 6'7", he was the team's 3rd leading rebounding. He averaged 5.7 boards while coming off the bench. Offensively, he averaged 14.1 points while shooting a .467 field goal percentage and a .383 3-point percentage.

In the 2006 playoffs, Nocioni was a firecracker averaging 22.3 points in 38.3 minutes. Unfortunately, the Bulls only lasted 6 games. In the 2007 playoffs, Nocioni averaged only 8.8 points in 19.7 minutes. I know that was a significant drop, but at least the Bulls made it to the second round. I believe his limited playing time was due to his right foot injury. During the 2006-2007 regular season, he only played in 53 games due to plantar fasciitis. His injury still remains, which is why he skipped out on the 2007 FIBA World Championships. After receiving a new 38 million dollar 5-year deal, Nocioni is glad to be returning to Chicago. If Chicago would not have signed Nocioni, he would likely be on the Memphis Grizzlies. Nocioni, Chicago, and John Paxson's wallet is hoping that Nocioni will make a healthy recovery just in time for the beginning of the 2007-2008 season. In my opinion, Nocioni possesses as Kukoc-esque way of playing basketball. He may not have the same moves as Kukoc, but he is an international sensation that has already made a mark on the city of Chicago. Nocioni will continue to shoot well, grad rebounds, draw charges, and piss off opposing players. We can only hope that the hard-nosed Nocioni will continue his game IMPROVEMENT (AHH! It's the secret word!) and will have to do a better job of protecting his family jewels because they will be taking another beating this year.