ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

I'm slowly increasing my focus on hockey in Chicago. The Blackhawks are doing a lot of crazy things. (un-Wirtz like) The latest craziness involved signing Scotty Bowman as a senior advisor to Dale Tallon. Huh? Bowman, ye of Red Wing fame? Yes, you read that right. Bowman is the king of hockey. He pretty much restored the Detroit prestige and crushed my hopes of ever being safe in the United Center when the Red Wings come to Chicago. 

It's actually one of my favorite stories to tell. I was at a Hawks game with my brother one year. This was awhile ago. Probably '94? Not sure, but that doesn't matter. The point is that the Red Wings and the Hawks were always a great rivalry, and not just on the ice. The fans took it to another level back in those days. (not sure if they do any more) If you sat in the upper deck, with the die-hards, you saw a ton of fan fights. I remember one Red Wings fan sitting there screaming at this Hawks fan after the Wings took a 3-2 lead. The Hawks fan was a father of 2, and he decided to bring his 2 boys to the game. It was a fun experience, to be sure...especially when the Red Wings fan proceeded to instigate a fight with pops. It was pretty awful for those 2 kids to see daddy get his ass beat. Anyway, I am rambling...

The point is that the Hawks are making all the right moves during this offseason. Bowman is just the icing on the cake. I will always equate him with winning hockey, and Detroit. Maybe he can help us forget his years in Detroit by building a new dynasty at the United Center.

It might finally be ok to pull out that old Hawks hat...

I was awoken from my train-sleep by MJ's txt message. It was a simple txt message. "Fox is reporting Sox got junior from Reds". I was surprised. This wasn't the move I expected Kenny Williams to make at this year's deadline. I was hoping for a pitcher. I'm always hoping for a pitcher. If you were a betting man, you'd say an extra arm is exactly what the White Sox need. You would have been right on that bet. It's pretty simple. Contreras, Linebrink, and Jenks have either seen the DL or are currently sitting on it. Javi Vazquez hasn't exactly been himself either. Buehrle and Gavin Floyd (nice win yesterday GF) have carried the team since the All-Star break. Danks hasn't been bad, but I just watched him throw a meatball  to Morneau to give up another 4 run lead in Minnesota. (God I hate the Twins) So yea....I think we needed an arm.

That's not to say I don't like KGJ. Junior is a Hall of Famer. He is the most prolific, and most likely CLEAN home run hitter I have seen in my lifetime. He is a stand up guy, who doesn't come with any baggage. Well, he travels to Chicago with empty bags that both the White Sox and the Reds have to fill with cash thanks to an ENORMOUS contract.  The Sox gave up Masset and Richar for KGJ. That's the preverbial "sack of baseballs". Then again, Griffey is 38 years old and there is no place to put him.

You have to ask, does this move make any sense for the White Sox? Does it solidify our position as the team to beat in the AL Central? The answer is resounding NO. I don't understand this move. I don't hate it, but I don't love it. I am sort of indifferent to it. I think my pal Zorio summed it up best when he sent this gem out on our daily email thread:

Kenny Williams was infatuated with Griffey 2-3 years ago and tried to trade for him then. Dude has fallen off considerably since then (substance free). The Reds took him out of everyday centerfield for a reason- because he's in his late 30s. I think it's much ado about nothing. Limited downside, and I s'pose only good can come of it. Williams' mental masturbation becomes reality and he can claim that he "made moves" to improve the ballclub. Griffey can still hit, but he does strike out a lot more- it'll be interesting if Guillen sticks him into front of Dye in the batting order.

And there it is, yet another attempt by Kenny Williams to show he is "active" and still a mad genious. I agree with assesment completely. I don't think we have anywhere to put Griffey. He will most likely do exactly what Z described above. He plays some DH, and maybe center field and Konerko's time is split with Swisher at first. So I'll leave you with a question Sox fans:

Which old man pick up is going to be more important down the stretch? The Cub's Jim Edmonds or the Sox and Ken Griffey Jr. ??

You decide. (and yea, Edmonds just hit another home run as you were reading this)

GO-GO-WHITE SOX!

Summer vacation is over. I am back and full of stories from Bourbonnais, IL. I drove down to Bears training camp this morning with my lovely wife. I was giddy. This was my first trip down to training camp. I didn't know what to expect. The first thing that had me worried was the drive. Summertime in Chicago means construction time. This year is no exception, but I have to say I was surprised to see that the trip only took one and half hours from the north burbs. I can't say enough about how easy it is to get down there, and from the size of the crowds today, I am preaching to the choir. (Just go, take the kids and have a good time)

There are a lot of questions about the Bears this season. I came to camp prepared with a cooler filled with G2, some fresh rope sausage from St. Louis, and a camera. I couldn't get answers to every question on my list , but here are my notes:

• What are we doing with the quarterback position?

Suffering. That's what. I sat around and watched all four quarterbacks practice and do drills. Orton, Grossman, Hanie and Nick Hill (from SIU) all took some practice snaps. I saw them throw a few deep balls and a ton of quick outs. Surprised? I didn't think so. Orton and Grossman aren't that different. I saw each of them miss the mark a few times in various drills. I even saw one broken play before the ball even snapped. That was when Grossman was under center. I'm guessing from the heckling in the crowd, Grossman must have fumbled the snap. He fumbles the snap even in practice. With no rush. What a freaking joke. I got close enough to get some good pictures. Check them out here.

• Who looked good? 
  

Believe it or not, Nick Hill looked good. I saw him taking some throws early in the afternoon and he did well. He seems pretty big (listed at 6'3) and he had some nice zip on the ball. He did miss one of the tight ends on a curl pattern, but over all I think he impressed me the most. That is to say, I didn't notice the other QBs, unless they made a mistake. I think Hill might have a chance to make the team, but let's see what he does in game this preseason.

• Ok, cut the crap. How was Hester? 

Hester was Hester. He was running around as if he was a newly minted millionaire...wait, he IS a newly minted millionaire. This was Hester's first real practice, with a contract and a magically healed, contract-itis caused, hamstring. If this guy had a leg problem, I'm M. Olympia. He was unbelievably fast. I saw him return kicks and it was amazing, even without hitting, how he was able to weave his way forward for 50-60 yards. This guy is the only bright spot on offense. He took some reps as a wideout too. He ran some decent routes and made an especially amazing catch while falling backwards on a tight in-pattern. It was the highlight of the day. The bottom line is that Hester is healthy, fast, and seems to be ready to put the work in to become a great wide receiver. Now all we need is a quarterback, left tackle, and a run game.

•  So, is there a run game?

I'm not sure. I didn't get a chance to see the running backs do much of anything. There was a drill they were doing on the side of one field that wasn't especially fun to watch. They basically went after a tackling dummy. Now that I think about it, it was a "chip" drill. This is probably something they expect rookie running back Matt Forte to handle since the line is weak on the backside. That just reeks of wins doesn't it? Speaking of Forte, I didn't get a chance to see him run. This pissed me off to no end because I am high on Forte and would have loved to see him tear into our defense. But, I can tell you he is bigger than you think.

Ok kids, I gotta head to work. Part II of this write up will hit the wire later tonight. We'll talk about the facilities and the other side of the ball - the defense.

BEAR DOWN!

The Bears are done hibernating. Finally. The Halas Hall braintrust has actually signed a veteran running back to support rookie Matt Forte in the backfield. Kevin Jones signed a 1 year contract for a little over $600k. This is a great move, if I do say so myself. I had to look up the contract details on ESPN, here. The [Bears] website never has contract details (I've pointed this out in the past). So let's get to it. Why am I so high on Kevin Jones? Is it because I miss a different running back named Jones?! (Thomas) Nope, that isn't it. It's simply because this is a no lose deal for the Bears. It is pure upside. What is the worst thing that happens? Jones isn't fully healed from his recent injury problems? That is what cost him his job in Detroit. If he isn't healthy, we wasted $600k and are left with Forte anyway.

The bottom line is that Matt Forte isn't going to be able to carry the entire load for us this season. The coaching staff wasn't planning on starting Forte this year. The running back out of Tulane was supposed to be the spark that the now departed Cedric Benson needed to do his job. Thomas Jones was that spark a few years ago, and it isn't far fetched to believe that Forte would have pushed Benson to a level of play we haven't seen from the laggard. But Benson is now gone, and the Bears needed depth at the position that defines the franchise. Going into training camp with Peterson, Wolfe, and Forte would have been irresponsible.

Kevin Jones comes to Chicago and plans to prove to the league that he is healthy. He gets the chance to stick it to his old team twice this season. If he is healthy, he may get that chance every year. He is excited to be a Bear, and he has worked hard to get himself back into shape. Unlike Benson I get the feeling that Jones just loves playing football. We're not going to win the division because of this move. Then again, if another disgruntled NFC North player wants to get revenge on his old team, Chicago is more than willing to help.

Go BEARS!

I'm pretty exhausted tonight. No idea why. Probably because work has been a pain in the balls, and there just aren't enough hours in the day to finish all the things on my ever growing To-Do list...

At least the Sox won (again) tonight against the Royals. 7-6. We stole this game. I watched the first 2 innings before basically giving up. It is only because I saw Javi strikeout 10 batters and still lose the game against the A's last week. I couldn't stand watch him lose to the Royals. Javi is struggling and it is starting to worry me. 6 runs in 5 and 2/3rds? Yuck.

Some points I just want to quickly make as I fall asleep at the keyboard tonight:

1. First, are there any Royals Bloggers out there? Turns out there are. And some pretty damn good ones. Like this one from our old pals at the SB Nation. This site clearly has way more traffic than our little blog here in Chicago. The comments section is interesting only because they stopped talking about the game after about 10 posts. Nice.

2. Pauly is back. You know how I know? He struck out 4 times tonight. 

3. I never got an All-Start snub rant up. You know why? Laziness, perhaps? No. Actually. I really don't care if we get snubbed. I'd rather get snubbed and win the division. We're playing some pretty good baseball. Our pitching is great and while we are relying on the home run a bit too much (what else is new Sox fans?) this team is making great progress. Give me a playoff run and I'll get over the All-Star game. Remember, you don't get a ring for going to the All-Star game. If you are really jonesing for a snub article, the fine young men at the Sox blog at MVN have one here.

4. There seems to have been a clubhouse "discussion" in tonight's game between Cabrera and JD. Hawk and DJ were speculating that it had something to with Cabrera's base running while JD was up. I'm not sure what this is all about. I'm waiting for Comcast to start talking Sox baseball...which leads me to # 5:

5. I hate Comcast. They had both the Cubs and the Sox on this freaking network and they buried the Sox game on Comcast Plus (ch 668 for you DTV'ers) When the White Sox game ends, DTV yanks the chord on the KC feed and forces us to jump to the main Comcast SportsNet channel. Of course, they're still talking Cubs and I'm going insane trying to figure out why Cabrera is starting static on a FIRST PLACE TEAM. Great clubhouse guy. Nice teamwork.

6. The Red Sox swept the Twins. They smoked them today 18-5. Brutal. Thank god someone took them behind the woodshed. The timing for the White Sox is great and as a result I'd like to send out a big thank you to the BoSox. 

One more thing:

Q - our All-Star outfielder saved our asses again. He hit 2 home runs. 

We still have to talk about who should be our closer while Bobby Jenks is on the DL, but I'll save that for tomorrow's post.

And if you are curious, Konerko just struck out again. (just kidding Pauly...)

Go-Go-White Sox!

Buster Olney just reported on ESPN's Baseball Tonight that C.C. Sabathia is now a Brewer. I know a lot of Cubs fans where praying that the Cy Young Award winner would come to the north side, but he is instead heading further north to Milwaukee. This isn't good news for the Cubs. While they handled the Cardinals this past weekend (with ease) I'm not so sure the Cardinals are who they should be worrying about. The Brewers pulled off a deal sending nothing but position players to Cleveland. (at least that's what I thought I heard Olney say)

They're not playing for next year. This much is clear. I guess when the White Sox buried the Cleve last week, it opened the doors for the trade.

 More to come....