Bears vs Eagles

Griese Chicken Report: It's a strange day, a Bears quarterback actually looked good. He looked really good, and not just good for a Bears quarterback. He's starting to get new weapons too, like Olsen and Berrian. Berrian has 30 receptions for 408 yards, and Olsen is tough to cover. He only has 11 catches 148 yards but he can block, which is confusing for linebackers. Jeff at Da' Bears Blog gets it right. Theres no need to cover your eyes when Griese drops back.

Key Matchup: Bears D vs themselves. The Bears defense has been terrible the last couple of games. Philly doesn't have a great offense, but the Vikings really didn't either until Adrian Peterson had a break out game last week. Urlacher looks terrible this season, and the secondary is falling apart. They're going to have to toughen up and stop McNabb this week.

The Secondary

The defense as a whole sucked against the Vikings, but the secondary really looked like shit. The secondary should be playing better than they are. They aren't composed of super-stars, but they are capable of playing better than they have been. Here's a rundown of this group who played terrible.

1. Ricky Manning Jr., #24-Corner Back. He's in for the injured Nate Vasher, who is a badass. Ricky Manning Jr. has 12 tackles this season, which is one less than the league average 13, but he hasn't started every game so this stat is a little deceiving. All of his tackles have been solo tackles this year though, and he should be coming up to assist the linebackers on running players.

2. Charles Tillman, #33-Corner Back. I don't have much complaint with Tillman. He was injured in week 4 against the Lions, but he has 23 tackles and 3 forced fumbles. 2 of those forced fumbles came against the packers, and basically won the game for the Bears because those 2 forced fumbles ended scoring drives for the packers.

3. Daniel Manning, #38-Safety. 2nd year player out of Abilene Christian, he has 22 tackles and an interception on the year. He's getting better as the year goes on, but he still has problems with letting receivers get behind him.

4. Adam Archuleta, #20-Safety. I saved the worst for last. You know a player has fucked up when Lovie Smith gives the old "Adam Archuleta is our safety" bit. Archuleta is a household name for what he did with the Rams, but he sucked in Washington last season, eventually getting benched, and hasn't been playing very well for the Bears this season. He has 26 tackles, but he has more tackles than the rest because quarterbacks pick on him. He does have one interception but the Bears expected him to be a leader in the secondary (I'm not really sure why since fucking Washington benched him) but the Bears benched him after he stood around and watched Adrian Peterson past him several times in the game against the Vikings. To his defense somewhat is the fact that Adrian Peterson looks like he could be the most impressive back in the league.

Joe Smith debuts in preseason win over Wizards

All of Chicago was waiting to see what Joe Smith had to bring to the table. Last night, Chicago got their first glimpse. In his 13 minutes of play, Joe Smith scored 7 points and grabbed 1 rebound. One of his baskets was a jumper from the top of the key. This showed that he possesses somewhat of a mid-range jumpshot.

As a team, Chicago's stifling defense was able to shut down Washington's offense and give them their first preseason loss. Not only did the Bulls beat the Wizards, but they basically laid the smackdown on their candy asses. Chicago held Washington's shooting to 32%. With Caron Butler sitting out, Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison were expected to lead the Wizards to victory, but Chicago had other plans in mind. The only major offense for Washington was done at the free throw line, where they shot 34 for 41. Washington even had twice as many blocks as Chicago, but it was not enough to contain Chicago's momentum.

The first quarter was all Bulls and all defense. Chicago held Washington to only 11 points. Granted the Bulls weren't exactly shooting lights out, but their offense wasn't nearly as disastrous as Washington's. Tyrus Thomas added some major momentum after slamming down a putback dunk, which also granted him the NBA.com Dunk of the Night honors.

In the second quarter, Washington's offense began to pick up due to the up tempo play of rookie Nick Young. But the Bulls kept right up with Washington. Chicago was once again led off the bench by Chris Duhon, who had 6 points and 3 assists in the second quarter. To go along with Chicago's outstanding defense, rookie Aaron Gray earned the NBA.com Block of the Night honors after stuffing Nick Young as he was going up for a dunk. Chicago's 10 point lead diminished, but at the end of the half, they still had a 39-34 lead over the Wizards.

The third quarter was just a continuation of the ass whooping Chicago gave Washington in the first half. The Bulls' passing game was in motion with 12 of their 14 made field goals coming off of assists. Seven different Bulls players scored in the 3rd quarter. The offensive onslaught was started by Deng and Gardner, and then it was finished by Nocioni, Smith, and Hinrich. By the end of the quarter, the Bulls had gained a comfortable 75-54 lead.

In the fourth quarter, both teams emptied the benches and let them go at it. Offensively there wasn't much to see. Both teams finished the quarter with only 22 points each. However, there was one highlight. Chicago's Andre Barrett had a perfect pass through traffic in the line to a wide open Joakim Noah. Noah capped this pass off with a dunk. This assist earned Andre Barrett with the NBA.com Assist of the Night. After the damage had been done, the final score of the game was Chicago over Washington, 97-76.

In my previous post, I said that the keys to the game were:

(1)Contain Arenas and Jamison- They shot a combined 1-12 from the field. Washington went 0-14 from 3-point range.

(2) Battle of the benches-Chicago's bench out-shot Washington's bench 60 to 52.

Chicago's highest scorer was Luol Deng, who finished with 11 points. This goes to show that Chicago can win without a prolific scorer as long as Chicago can continue to play team basketball.

Chicago improves their preseason record to 2-1. Chicago will face the Toronto Raptors on Friday. In order to win and make these Raptors extinct, Chicago must be all over defensive rebounds, and they must stop Toronto's 3-point shooting.

Chicago has continued to improve throughout preseason play, and I know that all of Chicago is looking forward to how much better the Bulls will be once Ben Gordon returns to the line-up. Just a warning for Toronto: Ben Gordon expects to play on Friday.

Box Score of the Game

Video Recap of the Game

It's Dusty in Cincinni

Playoff News: The Rockies are heading to the World Series after they completed a sweep of Arizona this week. Did anyone predict this? To me, the Rockies came out of left field, so to speak, and have been on a run that no one could have imagined. For as easily as the D'backs rolled over the Cubs, the Rockies did the same to them. I was rooting for Arizona so I could say that the Cubs lost to a team who made it into the World Series, making me feel better about my team being kicked out of the playoffs. Sadly, this didn't happen and now all I can do is root for Cleveland. Why? Why not.

Transactions: If anyone cares, the Cubs promoted Jay Blunk to vice president of marketing and broadcasting, Oneri Fleita to vice president of player personnel, Mark O'Neal to director of athletic training, Carl Rice to senior director of information systems and Jenny Surma to senior director of human resources. If you know who any of those people are, then great, I hope you are happy about the changes. I'm more interested in the Reds making Dusty Baker their new manager.

Of course, Baker was once the manager for the Cubs. The Chicago Cubs were 67-95 in 2002, and with Baker at the helm the next season compiled an 88-74 record, winning the National League Central and getting within five outs of the World Series. Does his appointment mean that the Reds will become a force to be reckoned with next season? Cincinnati hasn't had a winning season since 2000 and Baker is ready to turn this around.

"I'm excited about coming here to try to re-establish the winning attitude and winning feeling I've always known Cincinnati to have," said Baker. "I'm in a situation where I wanted to get back on the field, I wanted to be in a situation where I had a chance to win, losing eats me up on the inside like you wouldn't believe. I'm used to winning and being on top. We're going to try to change things," said Baker.

I know this sounds blasphemous but I like the Reds. They are in the NL Central, like the Cubs, and I should hate them with enough passion to make me red in the face. But they are a respectable ball club with distinguished players (Freel, Dunn, Griffey, Jr.) and their fans are always behind them 100%. I've even been to the Great American Ball Park and have seen first hand the energy and devotion that fills the stadium. I even own a Ryan Freel t-shirt. Call me crazy or call me stupid, but I like the Reds. If the appointment of Dusty Baker means that the Reds will begin to rebuild their program and develop into a team that can win games consistently, than I'm all for it. I'd rather watch Cincinnati and Chicago battling for first place in the NL Central than I would any other two teams. But lets not get carried away. My loyalties continue to be with the Cubbies and that fact will never change. I just hope, for the fans' sake, that D. Baker can turn things around for Cincinnati.

Robinson Legacy Award is presented to Minnie Minoso

History Lession:

Minnie Minoso played for the Chicago White Sox for the first time on May 1, 1951 for a home game against the Yankees. He was the first man of “color” to ever play for the White Sox. Over a 17 season career, Minoso had a .298 average including 186 career home runs and he stole 205 bases.

Minoso was considered to be a big aspect to the White Sox organization, and still is. Reinsdorf stated recently, “"Minnie is probably the most popular player in the history of the [White Sox] franchise. People who never saw him play love him. He has an amazing magnetic personality. He draws people to him….”

Minoso played during seven different decades, which is pretty amazing. His most recent appearance was on June 30, 1993, where he set the record with the St. Paul Saints Independent League.

Present Time:

Minnie Minoso was recently presented the Robinson Legacy Award, which is sponsored by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. This organization recognizes baseball’s most outstanding players by giving them bronzed statues.
All of these exceptional athletes will be honored in Kansa City during a gala that will be help on January 12, 2008.


**Quote from Chicago White Sox’s official website**

Damn Loan Sharks

Griese Chicken Report: For a Bears quarterback, Brian Griese was exceptional yesterday. He threw for 381 yards and 3 touchdowns. Throwing 2 interceptions is something he could improve on, but the numbers he put up give the Bears a chance to win. He has steadily improved since he first started, and I think the more he plays the less mistakes he is going to make. I have to agree with Jeff at Da' Bears Blog that it's too early to throw the towel in. No, we aren't going to win the Super Bowl, but to see the Bears go 8-8 would be nice.

The Good: ChiTownBluesFan at Mega Bears got it right. Hester was once again a freak. Olsen is starting to become a weapon. The problem is that they don't get the ball enough. With Clark, the other tight end, the Bears should have no problem throwing the ball to the tight ends. We also saw that Olsen can block. They lined him up one on one against an enormous defensive end and Olsen held his own.

The Bad: The Vikings Adrian Peterson ran all over the Bears defense. He ran for 224 yards. If the Vikings coach wasn't retarded, Peterson could of had around 320 yards easily. The Bears couldn't stop him. He's the only player I've seen this year that is more explosive than Hester.

The Ugly: Benson is terrible. His defenders talk about about how he's equal to Thomas Jones of last year. Thomas Jones ran for 130 yards for the Jets yesterday. The fucking Jets. They are terrible. Archuleta is ass awful. He got his ass handed to him several times. Also, I owe quite a bit of money to unsavory characters because the Bears lost, maybe I should bet against the Bears next week...

Bulls win preseason home opener against Mavericks

The Bulls needed a little redemption after dropping their first preseason game to Milwaukee. So the Bulls decided to put a smile on the face of Chicago after taking down Dallas by a score of 100-92. Luol Deng had a much better offensive game by putting down a team-high 18 points. In 20 minutes, Deng shot 6-7 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line. With Gordon not playing for the second consecutive game, Deng had to step up his game from last week after only contributing 10 points in the last game.

The Bulls squad gained some solid input from rookies Noah, who put up 11 points and 7 rebounds, and Gray, who put up his first double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Tyrus Thomas also contributed by adding 13 points and 7 rebounds. Thomas has found himself going to the line much more, along with Noah, Gray, and Deng. Big men free throw shooting has always been a burden of the Chicago Bulls, especially since the acquisition of Ben Wallace. But it seems the big men have been improving majorly in free throw attempts and percentage. Deng, Thomas, Noah, and Gray shot for a combined 24 for 31 from the free throw line. If these big men can continue to contribute from the line, then Chicago can gain the upper-hand on most teams with poor big men free throw shooting. But back to the game....

Thomas Gardner got the start again since Gordon is still sitting out. His style of play was more controlled and was able to make a minor, but effective contribution in his 12 minutes of play. Luol Deng scored 11 of his 18 points in the first quarter. Victor Kryapa capped of the end of the first quarter to take a 32-30 lead by putting up a quick lay-up off of a Chris Duhon dish.

In the second quarter, Gray carried the scoring load by scoring 8 of his 14 points, as well as grabbing 5 of his 10 rebounds. Chris Duhon has become a terrific leader of the bench and was able to lead the Kryapa and the rookies to consistent quarter to keep up with Dallas. Chicago had a 53-49 lead at the half.

Hinrich has been said to be the leader of this squad, and he showed it in the third quarter. He was able to push the ball in transition, and dish out some assists, including one that led to a Gardner dunk. Hinrich finished with 7 points and 6 assists.

The fourth quarter was pretty stagnant, and Chicago was able to maintain their lead. Noah, Gray, and Nocioni were the main point contributors in the final quarter. Nocioni played limited minutes due to foul trouble. Nocioni finished the game with 5 points and 4 fouls. Rookie free agent Jared Homan scored the final five points for Chicago.

Dallas was lead by F Josh Howard with 18 points, G Jose Barea with 17 points, and star F Dirk Nowitzki with 11 points.

Chicago will host the undefeated Washington Wizards on Tuesday. I believe this game will be a battle of the benches. If Chicago's starting line-up can contain Washington stars Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison, then I believe that the rookie big men will be able to add some offense from off the bench.

Box Score of the Game

Sweet Lou

I am starting to hate the Cubs. I find myself sitting here for longer than I should, trying to find something to write about. I loved them when there were things to write about. Even if they lost, at least I could write something. I wrote about Ben Affleck in my last post for goodness sake. I hope that my contribution to this blog will not diminish simply because my team cannot pull through the post season. No, I refuse to submit myself to failure.

Let's talk about Lou.






Mr. Piniella is of course the fearless leader of the Chicago Cubs and in my opinion, has been doing an above average job in his managerial skills. For those of you who blame the Cubs losing the first game in their post season series with the D'backs, shame on you. Lou was doing what he thought best, keeping Zambrano rested, and that's all there is to it. Granted, he was being saved for Game 4; a game that ended up not even being played. But that whole situation is in the past.

Piniella has been managing baseball for 20 years now. He was named Manager of the Year in 1995 and 2001. He came to Chicago from Florida on October 17, 2006 when he signed a three-year deal. He has managed 3,100 games, has won 1,604 of them, and has 23 post season wins. I think that the Cubs are extremely lucky to have Lou Piniella as their manager. Sure, he may be a little grumpy or hot-headed at times, but he's skilled in the game of baseball and at the end of the day, you want someone like that to lead your team.

If you don't like the man, watch the Aquafina commercial. If you've already seen it, watch it again.

Not only is Piniella a great manager, he was once a great ballplayer. Some of his career highlights include the following: All-star in 1972, 1969 AL Rookie of the Year, and he led the AL in doubles in 1972 with 33. He's played for the Orioles, Indians, Seattle Pilots, Royals, and the Yankees. He was a Yankee for 11 years but I'm not going to hold that against him. I'll try not to at least.

Although he can be incredibly angry at times and seems to have several meltdowns on and off the field, there is no doubting that Piniella can manage a team. I feel very confident with him at the helm that the Cubs can continue to win and hopefully make it to the World Series. Lou "Sweet Lou" Piniella is the man.