The Murder of Sean Taylor: Trying to Express All That’s Inside BY D.K. Wilson
Evil man make me kill you…
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f Sean Taylor was Sean Doe in Liberty City, Fla.; in Anacostia, Washington, D.C.; in Hunter’s Point, San Francisco, nobody would give a damn about his death. We wouldn’t hear Michael Wilbon saying that he isn’t going for the, “Taylor changed his life” story, because it is his belief that the story is the creation of the Washington Redskins PR department. No, if it was Sean Doe, Wilbon would get in his Range Rover and drive to his exclusive Washington, D.C., or D.C. — area home, turn on the dish and watch an NBA game or three and not give a damn. If this was Sean Doe we wouldn’t hear Newsday’s Shaun Powell beg to bring up Taylor’s past and have the temerity to say that because the murders didn’t take anything and didn’t harm Taylor’s fiance and child that it was his past that caught up to him. Black sports journalists like Wilbon and Powell are racing headlong to be the first and loudest black man to condemn Taylor and scream to the world, “I told you so! He deserved it, just like all these other thugs who pass for humans.” When confronted by the television camera, they say they are saddened by the young athlete’s murder while leaving no doubt that they feel he somehow brought this on himself. On television, Wilbon - who writes for the Washington Post - said he didn’t know Taylor “at all” during his last two years with the Washington Redskins. But when talking in a Post “chat” Wilbon said the following about Taylor: ...people’s opinions are shaped by the way
they’ve grown up, the way they see the world, what they know about the world the person in question grew up in, etc. Sean Taylor isn’t the only guy I know who fits his general profile. I’ve known guys like Taylor all my life, grew up with some. They still have shades of gray and shouldn’t be painted in black and white… I know how I feel about Taylor, and this latest news isn’t surprising in the least, not to me. Whether this incident is or isn’t random, Taylor grew up in a violent world, embraced it, claimed it, loved to run in it and refused to divorce himself from it. He ain’t the first and won’t be the last. We have no idea what happened, or if what we know now will be revised later. It’s sad, yes, but hardly surprising… it always seemed to me that Sean Taylor loves his life and the way he’s living and has no instinct to change. And then there’s this nugget from the same chat: Columbia, Md.: What makes you think that Taylor was still embracing his old ways? Everything we have heard from the Redskins and Portis is that this is a new Sean. Apparently the birth of his child really helped to straighten him out. Is this contrary to what you know? Michael Wilbon: Sorry, but I’m not in the habit of having companies with their own public relations agenda tell me about black men and what they feel or don’t feel. Pardon me if I’m not that easy. What Wilbon doesn’t tell you is that the Washington Post and the Washington Redskins have an antagonistic relationship. When owner Daniel Snyder tired of what he felt was purposely negative reporting by the Post’s beat writers and colum-
nists, he began his own Internet television show for the team. Snyder controlled the type and tenor of the information to be disseminated. This rightfully rankled people at the Post, and the two have been at war ever since. So, some of - perhaps much of - Wilbon’s previous statement stems from his ill feelings towards Redskins management. However, if he wanted to get a little closer to the widely-held notion that Taylor was in the process of evolving into a wholly responsible man, he could have put forth the effort to contact his teammates. Or, Wilbon might have put his ill feelings aside for a moment and realized that the questioner mentioned that it was Clinton Portis, Taylor’s teammate and a former University of Miami running back, who spoke of Taylor’s on-going transformation. But it’s much easier to be venomous and use Sean Taylor to voice his discontent with the Redskins organization. Writers like Wilbon and Powell are old enough to be intimately touched by the 1960s and early 1970s, and the civil rights movement, and the killing of black Panthers by police, and the FBI’s COINTELPRO program - in which J. Edgar Hoover proclaimed that there must never be another black leader who can be perceived as a “black messiah,” and went about ensuring that black communities in America were pounded until they fractured and became splintered into a thousand pieces. They are also intelligent enough to know that, like the rest of life and nature, racism must evolve if it is to continue to exist. However, they have turned a blind eye to its evolution and now pretend as if it largely does not exist. So they use their cynicism
to condemn black athletes, rather than continue to seek to understand these young men in the context of this evolution. This was Sean Taylor’s America. Evil man make you kill me… The murder of Sean Taylor is a crime that happens more to black people in America than it does to any other people of any other race. I’ve heard and read that when writers like me bring up race in relation to Taylor’s murder, we’re playing “the race card” in a situation where race is not involved. I’ve heard and read people try to say that this is about class, that Taylor was poor and never escaped being poor and the nefarious people that go with being poor. Taylor was the son of a police chief and grew up a middle-class child in a middleclass environment. But it is easier to paint Taylor with the broad stroke of “ghetto boy gone wild,” throw in the nouveau code word for nigger (“thug”), and provide the public with the litany of compiled instances of lawlessness at Taylor’s college, the University of Miami, and voila! There is the template for the age-old practice of assuaging white, maledominated, Western society’s guilt through blaming the victim. Don’t worry, your hole card has been peeped so many times it isn’t worth arguing the point. “Blaming the victim” has been used since Old Testament biblical times to maintain a certain level of accepted misogyny and racism throughout the eons. It’s just that this time it was being used to assail a dying man who was attacked in his own home, in his own bedroom in the presence of his fiance and his 18-month old
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The Premiere Community of Sports Fans, Publisher, lead photographer & Editor in Chief Warren Wimmer Contributing Writers Tom Alexander (founding publisher) Glenn Anderson Andrea Beaver Dustin Beutin Bert Beiswanger Jesse Brasher Charlie Danoff Dustin Michael Harris Eli Kaberon Matt Kolsky Brian Livingston Phil Meyers Lloyd Poast D.K. Wilson Dennis Wierzbicki Contributing Photographers Roger Cook Michael DiNovo Michael Proebsting Dennis Wierzbicki PUBLISHED BY: The Chicago Sports Review The Chicago Sports Review is published weekly and can be found at Chicagoland White Hens & 7-Elevens The Chicago Sports Review is not responsible for display advertisement, advertising articles and their contents. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. For questions or comments contact: THE CHICAGO SPORTS REVIEW 13520 St. Mary Circle, Orland Park, IL 60462 708.403.3285 office | 708.774.4464 cell | 708.460.8949 fax To read more great sports articles visit chicagosportsreview.com
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McDonough named President of Chicago Blackhawks Hockey: Former Cubs Exec takes reigns of 71-year-old franchise.
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HICAGO -W. Rockwell “Rocky” Wirtz, chairman of The Chicago Blackhawk Hockey Team, today named John McDonough to the office of president. “We have moved rapidly in the last several weeks to assemble a group focused on bringing the Stanley Cup to Chicago,” Wirtz said. “By hiring John McDonough, we are adding one of the top talents in sports management and marketing. I am thrilled we found a guy who grew up in Chicago, stayed here and achieved outstanding success here. There are 81 years of history with the Blackhawk franchise and John understands that.” “While it takes a special group of athletes on the ice to win a championship, we need those same star qualities of creativity, vision and leadership in the front office. John has those qualities and will compliment the talents of General Manager Dale Tallon and Coach Denis Savard,” Wirtz added. McDonough, 54, Wirtz joins the Hawks after working in the Chicago Cubs organization for close to 25 years, the last year as the president. As the Cubs chief, and in his previous role as senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting, he was widely viewed as a sports marketing and management innovator who has been credited with playing a major role in growing the Cubs’ fan base and attracting sponsorships for one of the most successful pro sports
franchises in the country. “What John did was create the partnerships that brought resources to the Cubs so they could pursue talented ballplayers. We will be relying on his creativity as he takes the helm of the Blackhawks to help us reach our ultimate goal of winning a championship,” Wirtz said. Under the multi-year agreement, McDonough will be responsible for all day to day operations both on and off the ice. He will report directly to Rocky Wirtz, who will remain actively involved, and work closely with Tallon and Savard “I am honored to be here. From a professional standpoint, I can’t think of a more exciting challenge than the one that lies ahead. I view this as a tremendous opportunity that will allow me to leverage all of my skills and experience. I look forward to working with Rocky, Dale and Denis to continue the positive momentum they have created with this team. And I know with that continued commitment, we can and will bring a Stanley Cup back to Chicago,” explained McDonough. Rocky Wirtz assumed the role of chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks following the passing of his father William W. Wirtz in September, 2007. Prior to today’s announcement, he moved to reMcDonough align front office staff and struck a deal with Comcast SportsNet to put a select group of this season’s home games back on television, with discussions about additional games continuing. McDonough joined the Chicago Cubs in 1983. He rose through the managerial ranks and in October, 2006, was named president of the organization. An Edison Park native, McDonough is a graduate of Notre
CSR Photo by Warren Wimmer Chicago Blackhawks Chairman, W. Rockewell Rocky Wirtz (left) and newly named Chicago Blackhawks president John McDonough display a Hawks jersey with McDonoughs’ name, during a press conference at the United Center in Chicago Tuesday Nov. 20, 2007.
Dame High School in Niles, Illinois and St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota.
He resides in the Northwest suburbs with his wife, Karen. They have three children.
Comcast SportsNet adds four Blackhawks home games The Chicago Blackhawks and Comcast SportsNet have announced that four (4) additional home games have been added to the GAME ON!: The Home Series telecast schedule for the remainder of the 2007-08 season. The additional four games brings the total to 11 Blackhawks home games that Comcast SportsNet will televise this season. The additional games added to the home telecast schedule will include the final four Wednesday night home games of the season beginning with March 5th when the Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks visit the United Center. The other Wednesday night games include March 12th versus the Carolina Hurricanes, March 19th versus Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, and April 2nd against the Central Division rival Detroit Red Wings. “We want to continue the momentum that the Blackhawks have begun to generate in the marketplace,” said Blackhawks President John McDonough. “We have seen the surge in fan interest with the exciting team we have on the ice this season. We want to continue to give our fans an opportunity to
be a part of that excitement.” The series includes games against division foes the Nashville Predators and the St. Louis Blues, the Calgary Flames with perennial All-Star Jarome Iginla and visitors from the west coast including the Phoenix Coyotes and the San Jose Sharks. The remaining schedule is as follows: The 11 game home series will be presented by the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Chevy Dealers. “Comcast SportsNet is very excited to be delivering four additional home games to the Blackhawks GAME ON! series this season,” said James J. Corno, President of Comcast SportsNet Chicago. “With the terrific presentation, solid feedback and advertiser support we received for our first home game telecast this season, we felt it was only natural to support this Blackhawks initiative by adding additional home games to our schedule to showcase the electric atmosphere of the United Center, along with presenting this thrilling young and talented hockey team in high-definition. With a big thanks to our advertising partner Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Chevy Dealers,
Date Wednesday, December 26 Sunday, January 6 Wednesday, March 5 Friday, March 7 Wednesday, March 12 Wednesday, March 19 Sunday, March 23 Wednesday, April 2
Time 7:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 2:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
Chicago sports fans will get to enjoy even more great action from the United Center this season.” Prior to each of the 11 home game telecasts, Comcast SportsNet will air “Chevy Blackhawks Pre-Game Live” featuring live reports from the United Center. The games will be immediately followed by locker room interviews and head coach Denis Savard’s press conference on “Crown Royal Blackhawks Post Game Live.” “Chevy is proud to bring the Blackhawks into the homes of the millions of fans throughout the Chicago area,” said Tom Gollinger, President of the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Chevy Dealers As-
Opponent vs. Nashville Predators vs. Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks vs. San Jose Sharks vs. Carolina Hurricanes vs. Washington Capitals vs. St. Louis Blues vs. Detroit Red Wings
sociation and Dealer/Owner of Woodfield Chevrolet. “The Blackhawks are a great complement to the Chevy brand, matching our drive to succeed and exhibiting spirited performances every day on the ice.” Viewers can find Comcast SportsNet on Comcast Cable and RCN channel 37, DIRECTV channel 640 and DISH Network channel 429. Comcast SportsNet is available in HD on Comcast Cable channel 200, RCN channel 540, Wide Open West (WOW) channel 220, DIRECTV channel 640-HD and DISH Network channel 379-HD. Viewers can visit www.comcastsporsne.com for the exact channel location of Comcast SportsNet in their area.
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Can a window be closed before it even opens? By Charlie Danoff
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et me take you back Bulls fans. Take you back a few years and a million lifetimes ago, before I ever had any foolish dreams about wanting to be a writer. Entering the 2003-04 season, Bill Cartwright was the coach of a young Bulls franchise that featured unproven young bucks: Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Jamal Crawford, Jay Williams, and a rookie named Kirk Hinrich. Since that fateful season, the Bulls have been shaken out of their losing ways and forced into playing “hard” and the “right way” en route to three straight playoff appearances. Using the Skiles method, perfected by Paxson finding players to fit his system, has had many costs however. Before I get into the lost opportunity costs, let me begin with the tallest, most obvious costs: Curry and Chandler. Now, aside from being drafted together out of high school in 2001 and being relied upon to double-handedly bring the Bulls out of rebuilding and back into a championship contender (a), they were very different players and left for different reasons. Curry was the aloof, local 19 year old, maybe a little too talented for his own good. Though he has not worked as hard to hone them, his post moves come more naturally than Yao Ming. He is one of the biggest players in the NBA, but also one of the smoothest and most athletic. Most importantly, he is one of the rarest commodities in sports these days, a true center (no, Ben Wallace does not make this group). Given all of these positives, you may forget why he was dealt. Paxson traded him following the Bulls first playoff run of the millennium, in the summer of 2005. The biggest reason was because he was a lazy kid who did not rebound and who did not fit into the Scott Skiles cookie cutter image of a basketball player. Publicly, the Bulls made the deal all about Curry’s supposed heart problems and forcing him to or not take a DNA test to see when he would die. Even if Paxson did a good job covering his rear, he wanted
Curry gone because he did not feel the the 2007 season. Paxson had another lotKrause drafted player had it in his “chartery pick, and his team was being picked acter” to be a championship NBA player. by many an “expert” to win the Eastern Chandler, on the other hand, was a very Conference. different case. Given this bevy of riches in his portfoHe too was a 19 year old phenom who lio, Paxson decided to stand pat. He made probably could have used a couple years his moves the previous summers, cashing of college seasoning before beginning his in on all of Jerry Krause’s chips, and was NBA career, but that is where the compari- unwilling to do the same with any of his sons stop. The California boy had no offen- draft picks. Facing up against an Eastern sive game whatsoever at the 2005 stage of Conference won by Cleveland last year, his career. He seemed to be modeling his why should he of improved his team? offensive big man skills So what if two of in a Ben Wallace-esque the top five NBA playvein. ers in the NBA were aving assets Yet, even with his available to him. when a great offensive shortcomings, Paxson stood aside Chandler shined on the as Danny Ainge traded: player is available defensive end of the Ryan Gomes, Gerald is a like an eclipse hardwood. While Curry Green, Al Jefferson, disappeared defending Theo Ratliff, Sebastian it s rare event and the opposing center, Telfair, a 2009 first you better catch it round draft pick for Chandler defended the paint like it was his Kevin Garnett. Could while you can home. Blocking shots, a package of Deng, taking charges, and Duhon, the 2007 #9 rebounding, Chandler arlan pick and a sign and made up for the defentrade with PJ Brown chreiber have gotten Garnett? sive deficiencies of many Sports Writer a teammate. Who knows, but it On-court prowess seems to be a much aside, the big divide better deal to me, than between Chandler and Curry was in terms what Minnesota accepted. of effort and attitude. Chandler seemed to Similarly, when the Kobe Bryant trade be looking for the leadership roles Curry circus came to full fruition this preseason, constantly shunned. He was a positive inPaxson stood aside. A package of Hinrich, fluence on his teammates and the franchise Deng, Wallace and Thomas works under in general. the cap for Bryant and Kwame Brown. Nevertheless, one summer after trading Other player combinations would have away Curry, Paxson decided that Chandler worked as well, but once again the venertoo did not fit into his plans. He gave Tyable Mr. Paxson passed, he preferred a son up for more or less nothing, save cap diminuitive back court to one featuring the space, and chose to go with a poor man’s NBA’s best 2-guard since MJ. Tyson Chandler eight years down the line, So, after giving up on Curry and Chanby signing Ben Wallace. Thanks to this dler, and not exercising their opportunities player personnel wizardry, the Bulls last with Garnett and Bryant, where does this year were able to sweep the Miami Heat in leave the Bulls today? round one of the 2006 playoffs. Well, currently they sit at 2-10. Under It was the first time the Bulls had gota Scott Skiles coached team, this is not a ten out of the first round since Jordan left, cause for alarm as they always start slow. and everything seemed peachy heading into Don’t worry fans, coach Skiles will figure
Harry Caray’s presents 2008 benefit Join Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella, General Manager Jim Hendry, Ron Santo, current Cubs players, coaches, prospects, broadcasters and front office personnel at the Cubs Caravan luncheon at Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse on Wednesday, Jan. 16 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Luncheon tickets are $100 each and available for purchase Monday, Dec. 3 at 10 a.m., by calling 773404-CUBS. Admission includes a buffet lunch at Harry Caray’s (33 W. Kinzie Street, Chicago), a Cubs gift and the opportunity to hear General Manager Jim Hendry speak about the upcoming season in an intimate setting with a Cubs representative seated at each table. Cubs personnel also scheduled to attend include pitching coach Larry Rothschild, first base coach Matt Sinatro, players Ryan Theriot, Carlos Marmol, Geovany Soto, Kevin Hart and more, minor league pros-
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pects Jeff Samardzija, Tyler Colvin and Rocky Roquet, broadcasters Pat Hughes, Bob Brenly and Len Kasper and additional Cubs office staff. Players and personnel appearing at the luncheon are subject to change. Please visit www.cubs.com for the most updated list of luncheon guests or contact the Cubs with questions at 773-404-CUBS. Proceeds from the luncheon benefit Cubs Care. Space is limited and table seating will be assigned at random. The opportunity for autographs may be limited. Cubs Care is a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. Since 1991, Cubs Care has granted more than $12 million in the city of Chicago to support youth sports, children with special needs, victims of domestic violence and a variety of charitable and social service organizations serving the Lakeview community.
“H
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out this mess and have his Bulls team lose in the early rounds of the playoffs once again. Does it matter that last year Chandler led the league in FG%, finding a way to make his limited offensive skills work? Or, that Curry has started to rebound, while still averaging nearly 20 a game shooting over 57%? Consider too, in comparing Eddy to Wallace, that Wallace will stop more people at the defensive end. Does that make up for the fact Curry will score basically 10 more points/game than Ben, and make it a lot easier for Hinrich and Gordon to score? Whatever, I mean, its not like young, talented 7-footers are the hardest commodity to find in the world or anything. Besides, Paxson still could had either Garnett or Kobe with our current assets. Except, he did not make the necessary moves. Now, Garnett is leading the best Boston team since the Larry Bird era, and Kobe, at the least, has a less talented surrounding squad sitting at 7-6 in the harder Western Conference. One of the NBA’s best unknown writers, Harlan Schreiber, described the Bulls and Bryant situation thusly, “Having assets when a great player is available is a like an eclipse, it’s rare event and you better catch it while you can.” And, how often do two eclipses come in the same summer? It took me a while, but now I agree with him. It is time to cash in on our young assets while they still can. I guess the more correct way to put it, is if they still can. If I were the Lakers, I might have traded with the Bulls in training camp, but not any more. I mean, New York has twice as many wins as the Bulls. Indeed it seems to be a very strange time to be a Bulls fan. First, they slammed shut their window of ever winning a championship by trading Tyson and Eddy. Then, through hard work and “grit” they somehow got fans to believe it might open again, but by not capitalizing on their assets, it has now shut before ever really being open or even re-opened.
Blackhawk Hockey
Martin Havlat lights the lamp for his second goal of the contest during the second period of play.
Brad Richards of the Tampa Bay Lightning tries to redirect the puck away from Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks during the second period of play. The Blackhawks downed the Lighting 5-1 at the United Center in Chicago.
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from the
Brent Sopel (5) and Andre Roy watch as Hawks goal tender, Nikolai Khabibulin makes one of his 22 saves as the Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Tampa Bay Lighting by a final score of 5 to 1 at the United Center, Chicago, Illinois Wednesday Nov. 28, 2007
Tuomo Ruutu, (15) Chicago Blackhawk center, chases down a loose puck during play against the Tampa Bay Lightning
mages ce November 25, 2007 Blackhawks 5 Lightning 1
CSR Photos by Warren Wimmer
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Near miss nearly spoils Patriots perfect season analysis: Philly’s Folly at Foxboro in the final moments BY D.K. Wilson
In three weeks we will know with certainty the effect of Philadelphia’s 31-28 near-upset of New England. Granted, an upset over the Patriots would have been a feather in the Eagles’ caps. Granted, a win over the Patriots would have moved Philadelphia to 6-5, one game behind the New York Giants in the NFC Wild Card chase. But it appeared the Eagles wanted to win this game at the cost of the remainder of the season. Keeping John Madden from saying the Patriots might be the best team ever seemed to mean nearly as much as it did for the Eagles to win the game. Reid’s intent seemed to be to upset New England, no matter the cost. The Eagles may have played the best game they will play all season. However, the Eagles are not 6-5. Despite Reid and defensive guru Jim Johnson dumping much of their playbooks into this one game, they lost. And Philadelphia is 5-6. You see, after pulling out most of the tricks from their bag of plays, Reid must now coach against Mike Holmgren, Tom Coughlin, and Wade Phillips in succession. Each man’s team, for different reasons, badly needs to defeat the Eagles. And of course, at 5-6, every game is a must-win outing for Philadelphia. Unfortunately for Reid and Johnson, now there is little new they can show these men and their teams. Johnson used most of his blitz packages in an attempt to hit New England quarterback Tom Brady as often as possible. Johnson loaded one side of the line with blitzers to simply outnumber the Patriots blockers. Johnson played a three-man front and blitzed from all angles with two men, rather than using the Eagles usual four-man front with one defender blitzing. The thrust of Johnson’s cover schemes was to keep Randy Moss from beating the Eagles secondary deep. Eagles corners fearlessly played bump-and-run defense against Randy Moss and Dante Stallworth because there was always a safety behind them. They allowed no completed deep passes. Reid applied an offensive strategy that mirrored that of New England. The Patriots were convinced that if they took away Brian Westbrook, A.J. Feeley would be lost. Reid countered by having Feeley spread the ball to as many different receivers as possible and pass far more than run. The key to the strategy was to continuously occupy Patriots safety Rodney Harrison with a tight end, and turn him into a cover safety instead of allowing him to roam free in the middle of the field. Reid had Feeley work the seams and the middle of field with nearly every throw. It was a largely successful ploy, as the Eagles seemed to score almost effortlessly at times. However, on each side of the ball there was a fatal flaw that New England exposed. And the next three teams on the Philadelphia schedule will continue to pick at these flaws like frail scabs. The blitzes and safety-over coverages on the New England wideouts left Wes Welker to run wild through the Eagles secondary. After Belichick figured out Johnson’s schemes, New England used their tight ends to fill the areas opened by Welker. Once the blitzers were slowed and wary of passes flying by their earholes, New England actually ran the ball effectively when absolutely necessary. And rather than force the ball to his favorite areas of the field, Brady seemed more disciplined than the Eagle defense as he proved to be just as happy to complete eight-to-12 yard passes as he was 30 to 50 yard passes. The cumulative effect of New England’s four receiver and often no huddle offense left the Philadelphia defense spent from the middle of the fourth quarter to the game’s end. And when the Patriots needed to drive down the field most, they did so with ease. The New England secondary seemed to be baffled by the fact that Feeley continuously threw to the middle of the field. They finally figured out that Feeley’s arm is too weak to throw deep out passes, and as the game drew toward its end, the Patriots secondary forced receivers
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outside of the hash marks and made Feeley miss with his throws. The game-clinching interception was on a bend and fade pattern, where the receiver takes the corner briefly toward the hash and then bends outside in the direction of the end zone pylon. New England cornerback Asante Samuel covered the pattern so well that he appeared to be the intended target of Feeley’s pass. Samuel intercepted the pass easily in the end zone, and the game was effectively over. In the end, Reid’s gambits failed and he was checkmated by the grand master, Belichick. New England won on a day when they played less than their best and took an inordinate amount of time to adjust to the Eagles unforeseen wrinkles. They won while attempting only 16 rushes and gaining only 48 yards on the ground. They won with Brady throwing 54 times, a recipe that almost always spells defeat for NFL teams. They won despite allowing the Eagles to strafe them for 391 yards of total offense. This game that makes the Eagle 5-6 could be Reid’s undoing. There are no more mysteries to the Eagles. All
their beauty marks and warts are now on the table for every team to see. Fortunately, they have a bit of scheduling luck with them next week. Seattle must travel across the country and play a 1 PM game in Philadelphia, which for the Seahawks’ internal clocks means the game begins at the ungodly hour of 10 AM. The last time Seattle made this trek was six weeks ago, and they were trounced by Pittsburgh, 21-0. But Philadelphia won’t be so lucky the following two weeks as they play the Giants, who must win to keep the Eagles at bay. Then they travel to Dallas, a team that would love nothing more than to sweep their division nemesis. For Andy Reid, we will see in three weeks if the New England game was a final, desperate attempt at glory for a franchise in flux, or if it was the spark that served to rekindle Reid’s desire and acted to renew his legendary, single-minded focus that has been fractured by a home life gone dangerously awry. Three weeks from now the Philadelphia Eagles locker room will resemble a funereal viewing room or a space of hope. Whichever it will be, in three weeks we will know.
Denver’s Great Hester Experiment BY Dustin Beutin
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he clinical definition of “insanity” is surprisingly free of references to slobbering, yelling or gnawing of limbs. It also lacks mention of eating turkey until pain sets in or vomiting occurs. Rather, the definition of insanity is simply stated as doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results each time. On Sunday, two teams and their respective coaches played a match that should forever be known as the Chase Bank “Insane Bowl” - brought to you by Geico. Sure, the Bears won in magical fashion. At first blush you might say the only insanity exposed on Sunday was the Broncos’ idiocy in being determined to add to Devin Hester’s resume. Amid the sleet, rain, hail, and frozen rain slurry that pelted down despite assurances from forecasters that the weather would be “44 degrees and sunny,” the Bears maddeningly did their best to match Shanahan and Co.’s raving lunacy screech for screech. Before this week, the Broncos raved wildly about not playing “chickens@!t” football. Perhaps someone should have snuck into their locker room and reminded them that discretion is the better part of valor. Whether it was the thin oxygen in Denver or the free-flowing Rocky Mountain water, Denver chose to ignore oodles of game film showing Mr. Ridiculous weaving through opposing special teams units. Wacky. Most Bears and Bear fans laughed off the bravado of the men from Denver, assuming that it was all a bluff in the everlasting chess game that is the week between NFL games. You can’t take such comments seriously - much as you can’t believe people who claim they can eat oyster stuffing without gagging. For some silly reason (insanity), Denver chose to kick to the only player on the Bears capable of hurting another team with regularity. The first couple of times, it seemed as if it were a safe plan. It even seemed brilliant when Devin strangely slapped at a rolling punt and caused a painful turnover. To the foolish, cocky Broncos - who had yet to share the field with Mr. Ridiculous - it must have seemed certain they would continue to play this game of roulette without consequence. That’s what insane people do: they convince themselves that their decisions are rational in the face of evidence to the contrary. As should have been expected by anyone who had seen ESPN in the last two years, Devin Hester finally burned the Broncos on a punt-return, leaping over prostrate Bronco kicker Todd “I want to make Chicago happy that I no longer play here” Sauerbrun. With a run into the tunnel to put an exclamation point on his statement, Hester threw the Broncos’ plan to stop him back in their face. For most sane coaches and teams, that display would have been enough - just ask Tony Dungy how he reacted to seeing Devin run back the first kick at the Super Bowl in Miami. But, when you’re insane (expecting different results while doing the same thing over and over) you don’t see things the same way as rational people. So the Broncos kicked to Mr. Ridiculous again. And again he made them pay, allowing the Bears to hang in the game long enough to steal a win from the amusingly surprised Broncos. There should be laws against taking advantage of teams with such little grasp on reality, but all is fair in love and war. Sadly, the Bears have their own issues with reality. Over the last ten games, anyone who has seen the Bears play can tell you that
Devin Hester (23) of the Bears returns a punt from his 12 yard line for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos during the 3rd quarter of play. The Chicago Bears would go on to defeat the Denver Bron-
Fred Miller doesn’t look right. With all due respect to a talented player who has given great effort and excellent play to two different Super Bowl teams, the biggest disappointment on a highly disappointing offensive line has been watching Fred Miller get burned by defenses as if he were a revolving door at Marshall Fields. (By the way, the windows are decorated at Marshall Fields, but someone needs to fix the signage - it’s red and several letters too short.) The whack-job Bears, however, have continued to trot out Fred Miller as a sacrificial lamb every week, despite clear proof that a toll-booth attendant would be better at slowing people down. It’s been sad. It’s been embarrassing. It’s been the bane of Rex Grossman and Brian Griese’s collective existence. For three quarters on Sunday, the Bears watched defensive linemen rip past Miller and into Grossman’s face, hoping that somehow if they watched their right tackle get beaten enough times, they would see different results. Finally, someone, somewhere on the Bears must have said “maybe the penalties, sacks and forced passes aren’t worth saving Fred Miller’s ego.” The insanity mercifully
CSR Photo by Warren Wimmer cos by a score of 37 to 34 in overtime at Soldier Field, in Chicago Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Hester returned a punt and kickoff for a touchdown against the Broncos.
ended in the fourth quarter when John St. Clair came out to replace Miller. The results were instantaneous. Suddenly, Rex Grossman had time to throw and was able to find open receivers. The running game found holes as defenders weren’t able to destroy plays in the backfield. The offense gained rhythm. The offense scored points. All the while, Miller stood on the sideline like a vet and great teammate. The change will hopefully be permanent, lest the Bears desire to prove their lack of lucidness once more by putting Miller back in the starting lineup. Unfortunately, the Bears’ problems maintaining a grip on real life don’t end with Fred Miller. Mark Anderson continues to get destroyed by teams who run the ball. In the first quarter, the Bears watched as Denver ran three times in a row over Anderson before replacing him with Alex Brown and ending the madness. Who up at Halas Hall can see this happening week after week and approve of the decision to start the young pass-rusher over the proven Brown? Crazy. The wide receivers continue to drop passes and run incorrect routes on a regular basis. It is insanity to think these problems will solve themselves. Someone who is will-
ing to take responsibility for the quality of this team needs to address the wide receiver coach and/or Ron Turner to inform them that it isn’t good to see footballs bouncing off the hands of Bear wide receivers. Maybe show them some game film of the New England Patriots - you won’t see a lot of dropped passes. Happiness can be enjoyed from Muenster to Waukegan today, though, as Mike Shanahan and his traveling crew of brave, crazy souls out-insaned the Bears. Lovie should send Shanahan a sympathy card tomorrow: can you imagine the beating he is about to take in the Denver press for kicking to Hester after the first return touchdown? The Broncos came in to Chicago determined to prove they wouldn’t shy away from Devin Hester. Any team that wants to kick to him deserves to lose, no matter how much better they are than the Bears. Congratulations to the Bears on not being the craziest team at Soldier Field on Sunday. And congratulations to the Broncos for proving just how courageous and generous they are, and giving Devin a chance to build on his roster of NFL records.
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A tarp keeps the playing field under protection prior to game action. The New York Giants beat the Chicago Bears by a score of 21-16 at a rainy and cold Soldier Field, Chicago, Sunday Dec. 2, 2007.
Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman is sacked fourth quarter of play.
No Hay for Bears, Despite Shining Sun BY Dustin Beutin
Farmers know that life is a series of opportunities. Nothing is guaranteed. As the old expression goes, farmers know well to “make hay while the sun shines.” It’s a simple phrase. The idea being that when things are going well - when things are going right - you should take advantage. Rainstorms will come. Snow and frost will arrive. So while the sun shines, get that work done; spread that fertilizer, take advantage.
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The Bears are from the Midwest, so you’d hope they would have taken some advice from the farmer neighbors who live north, south and west of them. Nope. Do the Bears deserve a series of love and kisses for a game in which Rex Growth-man looked pretty good and Adrian “I will make you forget Cedric Benson” Peterson put on an NFL-caliber attack? No, no and no. A thousand times no. Did they earn love for causing turnovers
and building great field position through “The Hester Effect”? Sure, they deserve credit for those things, but did they take advantage of it? No, no and no. A million times no. Chicago would love, love, love to point out the great things the Bears are doing. Chicago would die for the opportunity to wax poetic about Rex’s chutzpah in ignoring criticism from everyone in Chicago except his immediate family and his ability to grow in such a hated environment. This is the
emotionally tough kind of person that can become a legend in the Windy City. Chicagoans would be extremely happy to talk about Brian Urlacher’s leadership, Adewale Ogunleye’s playmaking and the smart decision to bench Adam Archuleta. All of that would be a dream. In reality, however, why would anyone spend an inordinate amount of time talking about any of that when the only thing that matters is that there is a big, fat “L” in the Contined on Page 9
CSR Photos by Warren Wimmer Linebacker Brian Urlacher in action during the fourth quarter of play. The New York Giants beat the Chicago Bears 21-16 at Soldier Field, Chicago Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007.
Chicago Bears linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo expresses his displeasure with a Giants player. Continued from Page 8
Chicago Bears tight end Desmond Clark gains yardage after catching a Rex Grossman pass during the Bears first possession.
loss column? Consider this: the Bears earned 10 penalties for 71 yards. Let that sink in. 10 penalties. For 71 yards. Some of the sensitive people at gloomy Halas Hall will snap that the fans in Chicago haven’t seen “the film.” After all, the fans only saw the entire game from the vantage point of the stands or the field. They didn’t see the mystical, all-telling film, which apparently doesn’t show the Bears being flagged more than an Indy Car racer. So, since no one in Chicago really saw what happened with the Bears - ever - let’s celebrate. At least they didn’t get 8 penalties! HEY! Not only is this improvement, it’s what should be expected from a team that just last year was in the Super Bowl. It would be wonderful if the only thing to say
about this game was that the Bears made a lot of Stupid - that’s right, Stupid with a capital “S” - penalties. Instead, the Bears exposed this afternoon why they are no better than a competitor for a low wild-card berth this season by blowing multiple opportunities to put this game away. They could have slammed the door on a Giants team that was begging to be beaten; instead, the Bears slammed the door on their own fingers. The Bears made it inside the opposing team’s twenty-yard line several times - they scored one touchdown. If we were to treat this situation as the Bears’ PR department would so desire, we could say the Bears under-utilized these opportunities. Unfortunately, most fans in Chicago wouldn’t use such gentle language. In fact, they’d say it like it is: the Bears choked on the opportunity to beat the Giants like a small dog chokes on a T-bone.
Continued on Page 14
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Chicago Bears cornerback Devin Hester celebrates as he leaves the field of play after the Chicago Bears defeated the Denver Broncos by a score of 37 to 34 in overtime at Soldier
Field in Chicago Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Hester returned a Todd Sauerbraun punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the game.
S
unday’s scenes at Soldier Field November 25, 2007 Chicago 37 Denver34
CSR Photos by Warren Wimmer
Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman drops back to pass during the Bears first possession of the game Soldier Field, Chicago Sunday Nov. 25, 2007.
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Bears linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is introduced before the game against the Broncos at Soldier Field, Chicago Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007.
Bears wide receiver Bernard Berrian gains 12 yards on a Grossman pass as Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams makes the tackle at Soldier Field in Chicago Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007.
Continued from page 2
Wilson: No simple answers in Sean Taylor’s Death daughter. How cowardly. How dastardly. How savage you must be to consider thinking at such a low level at such an inappropriate time. Before Taylor exhaled for the final time, he was vilified. Walt Sedensky of the Associated Press made sure of that. And if that wasn’t enough, three reporters from the Washington Post made sure that incidents in which Taylor was exonerated were part and parcel of the blame game. He is now barely dead and he continues to be vilified. And with each minute piece of early evidence from Taylor’s murder and the break-in of his house eight days earlier, all those white people who jumped to include Taylor’s past are using these crumbs to bolster their paper-frail argument and maintain that race should not be involved in the discussion of this 24-year-old’s death. As of yet, there has never been a condemnation of a negative aspect of white culture where the main players are white and those who succumb to the negative aspect are viciously dragged through the mud. Think of steroid abuse. White origins, and for decades the major participants in its evolution and use have been white. Yet our poster boy for steroid abuse is — Barry Bonds. Professional wrestlers are dying at younger ages than do ex-NFL players by nearly a decade, yet no one is calling wrestlers in front of Congress; no government agency has infiltrated the world of wrestling, and busted their dealers, and dragged their superstars into court, and threatened their friends with contempt of court charges. No one is demanding the banning of professional wrestling as we know it. The reason has nothing to do with the relative popularity of wrestling as compared to Major League Baseball. The various popular wrestling federations always sell out 20-40,000-seat arenas for their meekly matches, of which there are three-to-five each week. Terry “Hulk” Hogan had his own Hogan family reality show. Wrestling more than holds its own as a major “sub-sport” form of athletic entertainment, and everyone involved in upper management – and every “star” – has plenty of money. No, the reason professional wrestling and its environment of abuse has not been called to the carpet is because too many whites are so afraid of confronting the idea of their own racism that they will do anything - including contradicting themselves - to run from the thought of introspection. This was Sean Taylor’s America. Evil man make me kill you… Take a look around the sporting landscape that created Sean Taylor. He was ID’ed as a star in high school. He was pegged for brilliance. Taylor was a man-child on the football field, a physical freak who really did put the proverbial “fear of God” in opponents’ hearts. He was fast-tracked on the conveyor belt so popularized by William Rhoden. Hell, Taylor was in and out of the “amateur” portion of the belt so quickly that he was in the NFL by age 20. Ask yourselves what you were doing as a 20-year-old college sophomore or junior, or what you’re doing now, or what your son is doing. Ask yourself how committed you were or are to anything at that age. Now, ask yourself what you would do at that age if you suddenly had millions of dollars at your disposal and a job that demanded much more of your time than the average 40-hour per week job. But your
supervised work year was only six months. The other six months you’re left to your own disposal, but you are expected to return to work a more accomplished employee than you were the year before. Many of you have seen the photos of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger drunk at a basement party with a large bottle of alcohol in one hand and a college-age woman on his other arm. Or you’ve seen the pictures of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart scurrying away from a hotel room after a night with Paris Hilton. Or you’ve seen the photo of Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman in the back of a limo with a bottle of alcohol as large as that of Roethlisberger’s, and an aging garden tool in the process of wrapping herself around him. These young men were older than Taylor when they entered the NFL, and all play the most important position on their teams, yet they could be found indulging in unproductive folly. Other than the incident where Taylor was attempting to retrieve a stolen vehicle, he was not known to be involved with hand guns or deadly weapons of any sort. However, unlike his white peers, Taylor traveled to clubs where young, black men partied, and often these clubs can be dangerous, even for someone’s whose job entails that the more violent you are, the more successful you can be. A feeling of immortality comes with surviving and prospering in that world week after week. That feeling is carried with the NFL player whether he is at a basement party, in the back of a limo, or in a club. Roethlisberger nearly lost his life on his motorcycle before taking life and his job seriously. Both Grossman and Leinart have lost their starting positions at various points in their young careers. It is said that the reason for this is because they exhibit a lack of commitment to their jobs. From all reports, Taylor - after his fiance gave birth to their daughter - has pursued
the straight and narrow. Last season he ended his year with a trip to Hawaii for his first Pro Bowl. This year he led the NFL in interceptions so far, even though he missed two games because of injury. It is said that he was on his way to becoming one of the game’s all-time great safeties. This was Sean Taylor’s world. Even though we’re only families apart... Few of those who read this and other articles about Sean Taylor will ever know what life is like for the high school star athlete from Liberty City, or Anacostia, or Hunter’s Point. Fewer of us know what life is like for the high school star who awakens each day in those hopeless environments, or the thousands like them splattered across America. And fewer still know what it is like to awaken in\ those environments knowing that if you hadn’t regarded high school so lightly, or if you hadn’t chosen to deal drugs or traffic in illicit anything, or if you mother or father was home, or if your younger siblings were cared for - if you didn’t have to quit school to work or hustle or both to put food on the table… Instead, on Sunday you must watch that dude you ran down and kept from the winning score seven years ago. Fewer of us still know how it feels to once be the pride and hope of your neighborhood, and now be told when you rehash back in the day when you ran that dude down, “Shut up Mr. Once Was, cause now you Mr. Just Like Us.” And rather than the feeling of immortality coming from walking off that field each Sunday battered but whole, you now find that feeling in the fact that you’re strapped and “ready to get down for yours.” Do any of us know how much waking to lead paint walls and instant oatmeal for breakfast, a bologna and welfare cheese sandwich for lunch, and Mickey D’s for dinner feels, when you know you could have been Mr. Sunday or Monday Night? The damage to a soul is untold. The void in
one’s heart must be a hellishly cold place - and a volatile space. This could well be the location of the hearts and souls of the once friends of Phillip Buchannon who, but for the grace of whoever you pray to, would have been the first Sean Taylor. You see, early in the morning of March 13, 2006, Buchannon was stripped naked and pistol-whipped in his suburban Atlanta home. At one point a gun was shoved in his mouth. His assailants demanded $20,000 - right then. Buchannon didn’t have that kind of money in his house. Luckily, the robbers thought better of killing the cornerback, and instead stole many of his valuables, including an SUV. Somehow he was allowed to live. We do not know the motives behind the actions of Taylor’s killers. We do not know if they are once-athletes whose minds and hearts went the way of the projects. But for Taylor to be such a target, to appear to be the subject of acts that - perhaps until the bedroom door was flung open - seem to be premeditated, it would not be a surprise if Taylor’s killers were, in the past, familiar with him in some way. What is known is that Sean Taylor’s murder is loosing raw emotion from us. Some of the responses - the public ones - have been graceful, like that of Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman as he sat next to Shaun Powell on the Jim Rome Show. He asked that we put aside our notions of linking his negative past with his death. He asked that we respect Taylor, his family, and those close to him. Some of the responses are better forgotten, except that they serve as reminders of the darkness that is just under the surface within us all. Hopefully, today we know just a little more about ourselves and each other. After all, we really are only families apart. And this too, was Sean Taylor’s world. (The lines in bold and italics are lyrics taken from “Machine Gun” by Jimi Hendrix)
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Sox sign reliever Scott Linebrink
White Sox 2008 Spring Training Schedule
Cintron,Podsednik released
Day Date Opponent
Site Time
Wednesday Feb. 27 Thursday Feb. 28 Friday Feb. 29 Saturday March 1 Sunday March 2 Sunday March 2 Monday March 3 Tuesday March 4 Wednesday March 5 Thursday March 6 Friday March 7 Friday March 7 Saturday March 8 Sunday March 9 Monday March 10 Tuesday March 11 Wednesday March 12 Thursday March 13 Friday March 14 Saturday March 15 Sunday March 16 Monday March 17 Tuesday March 18 Wednesday March 19 Thursday March 20 Friday March 21 Saturday March 22 Sunday March 23 Monday March 24 Tuesday March 25 Wednesday March 26 Thursday March 27
TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK Hi Corbett Field Tucson Electric Park Tucson Electric Park TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK Hermosillo, Mexico Surprise TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK Hi Corbett Field TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK Tempe TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK Peoria TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK Surprise TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK
2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 3:05 p.m. TBA 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. TBA 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m.
TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK Tuscon Electric Park Maryvale TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK Phoenix Scottsdale Mesa TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK Peoria Hi Corbett Field TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK
2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. TBA 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. TBA 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m.
CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms on a four-year, $19-million contract with free-agent right-handed reliever Scott Linebrink and have requested waivers on infielder Alex Cintron and outfielder Scott Podsednik for the purpose of granting their unconditional releases. Under terms of the deal Linebrink will receive $4 million in 2008, $4.5 million in 2009, $5 million in 2010 and $5.5 million in 2011. Linebrink, 31, combined to go 5-6 with a 3.71 ERA (29 ER/70.1 IP), 21 holds and 50 strikeouts in 71 appearances last season between San Diego and Milwaukee. His 21 holds tied for 11th in the National League. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Linebrink was 33 with a 3.80 ERA (19 ER/45.0 IP) in 44 games with the Padres and 2-3 with a 3.55 ERA (10 ER/25.1 IP) and 25 strikeouts in 27 games with the Brewers after being acquired on July 25. Over eight major-league seasons with San Francisco (2000), Houston (2000-03), San Diego (2003-07) and Milwaukee (2007), Linebrink is 30-16 with a 3.21 ERA (158 ER/442.2 IP), 118 holds and 378 strikeouts. He has averaged 7.7 strikeouts and 8.2 hits allowed per 9.0 IP and has held left-handers to a .218 average. Since the start of the 2004 season, Linebrink ranks second among major-league relievers in holds (111), fifth in IP (303.2) and tied for sixth in games (290). Linebrink went 7-3 with a 2.14 ERA (20 ER/84.0 IP) and 28 holds with the Padres in 2004 and followed with his best season in 2005, going 8-1 with a 1.83 ERA (15 ER/73.2 IP) and 26 holds. His 36 holds in 2006 are tied with Tom Gordon (2004) for the highest total since that statistic has been recorded. Cintron, 28, batted .243 (45-185) with two home runs and 19 RBI in 68 games in 2007. He hit .268 (127-473) with seven home runs and 60 RBI in 159 games over two seasons with the White Sox after being acquired from Arizona on March 8, 2006 in exchange for pitcher Jeff Bajenaru. Podsednik, 31, was designated for assignment by the White Sox on Nov. 20. He batted .243 (52-214) with two home runs, 11 RBI, 12 stolen bases and 30 runs scored with the White Sox in 2007. In three seasons with the club, Podsednik hit .270 (3361,245) with five home runs, 81 RBI, 196 runs scored and 111 stolen bases.
Email: johnrac@ fleetequipment.com
11
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Cubs Announce 2008 Spring Training Schedule
C
HICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today announced their 32-game Spring Training schedule for the 2008 Cactus League season. The Cubs begin their 2008 slate Thursday, February 28 against the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale and play their first home game of the spring the next afternoon against San Francisco, the start of the Cubs’ 15-game schedule at HoHoKam Park. The Cubs enjoy a stretch during which they play six home games in eight days between March 13-20 and conclude their Arizona portion of the schedule Thursday, March 27 against Milwaukee, also the HoHoKam Park finale. The Cubs wrap up their 2008 Spring Training campaign with two games in Las Vegas against the Seattle Mariners March 2829. After an off day March 30, the Cubs begin the 2008 regular season March 31 in Chicago against Milwaukee. Individual game tickets for the 2008 Chicago Cubs home spring training games at HoHoKam Park will go on sale Tuesday, January 8 at 10 a.m. CST on www.cubs.com or by calling 1-800-9053315. The ticket box office at HoHoKam Park will open for the sale of individual game tickets for the first time on January 15, 2008 at 9 a.m. MST. Season tickets for 2008 at HoHoKam Park go on sale Monday, January 7 at the HoHoKam box office or by calling 480964-4467. Ticket prices for the 2008 Chicago Cubs Spring Training games at HoHoKam Park are as follows. For 12 games, field box seats are $24, terrace box seats are $22, terrace and field reserved seats are $17, grandstand seats are $11 and lawn seats are $6. For three premium games (March 8 vs. Arizona, March 16 vs. the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and March 22 vs. the Chicago White Sox), field box seats are $26, terrace box seats are $24, terrace and field reserved seats are $18, grandstand seats are $12 and lawn seats are $6.
Day Date Opponent
Site Time
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Scottsdale Mesa Tempe Mesa Peoria Mesa Tucson Phoenix Mesa Mesa Phoenix Surprise Maryvale Mesa Surprise Mesa Mesa Tucson Mesa
2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m.
Mesa Mesa Scottsdale Mesa Tucson Mesa Peoria Mesa Scottsdale Tempe Mesa Las Vegas Las Vegas
2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 2:05 p.m. 9:15 p.m. 3:05 p.m.
Feb. 28 Feb. 29 March 1 March 2 March 3 March 4 March 5 March 6 March 7 March 8 March 8 March 9 March 10 March 11 March 12 March 13 March 14 March 15 March 16 March 17 March 18 March 19 March 19 March 20 March 21 March 22 March 23 March 24 March 25 March 26 March 27 March 28 March 29
San Francisco San Francisco LA Angels San Francisco Seattle Milwaukee Arizona Oakland Seattle Arizona (ss) Oakland (ss) Kansas City Milwaukee Oakland Texas San Diego LA Angels White Sox LA Angels OFF DAY Kansas City Oakland (ss) San Francisco(ss) Colorado Colorado White Sox San Diego Texas San Francisco LA Angels Milwaukee Seattle Seattle
All games are Central Standard Time. Dates and times subject to change. Home dates in BOLD. (ss) – split squad game
Chicago Cubs, Kerry Wood agree to one-year contract CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs and right-handed pitcher Kerry Wood have agreed to terms on a one-year contract for the 2008 campaign. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. A member of the organization since being selected with the fourth overall pick in the 1995 draft, 2008 will mark Wood’s 14th season in the Cubs organization. The righthander has posted a 72-57 record with a 3.67 ERA in 211 appearances (178 starts) in all or part of nine major league seasons with the Cubs. Wood ranks fourth on the club’s all-time strikeout list with 1,323 while his .215 batting average against is the lowest of any Cub pitcher in franchise history (minimum 1,000 innings pitched). The 30-year-old Wood pitched exclusively in relief in 2007 for the first time in his career, going 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 22 appearances after making his season debut August 5 vs. the Mets. That outing was his first since June 6, 2006, as he missed nearly 14 months due to
right shoulder ailments. Overall in 2007, Wood tossed 18 scoreless appearances and allowed one run or less in 21 of 22 appearances, as six of his nine runs allowed came in two outings. He limited opponents to a .207 batting average and struck out 24 batters in 24.1 innings. He finished the campaign with eight consecutive scoreless appearances covering 9.2 innings, striking out 13 and walking only three in that span. Wood was named the 1998 National League Rookie of the Year after posting a 13-6 record with a 3.40 ERA in 26 starts, making history when he became the youngest pitcher in major league history to strike out 20 batters in a game at the age of 20 on May 6, 1998 vs. Houston. Wood was also a member of the 2003 N.L. All-Star team when he went 14-11 with a 3.20 ERA in 32 starts in helping to lead the Cubs to the National League Championship Series
Chicago Cub pitcher Kerry Wood works out with the team while before the start of action at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Wednesday, June 17, 2007. Wood recently signed a one year contract with the Cubs. CSR Photo by Warren Wimmer
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Bulls early season report card By Charlie Danoff
E
ven though I know for a fact Bulls coach Scott Skiles reads my columns on a regular basis looking for guidance, he neglected to take my advice concerning changes to the starting lineup. He ended up replacing Tyrus Thomas with Andres Nocioni. While Noce had been playing well enough to deserve to start, so had Tyrus. Maybe he was a little inconsistent, but so were the rest of the starters, and its only his second year in the league. He played particularly strong in the win over the Pistons, bringing in 14 boards to go along with 19 points and two blocks. Apparently, though, that was not good enough for Skiles, as Tyrus, has averaged only 15 minutes/game over the last three. I could understand feeling that Tyrus has not proven enough to start, but if the team is going to have any kind of success this season, he will be a big part of it. Skiles should be careful not to alienate the talented, if raw, big man, like he did with Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry. Taking the “hard line” really cost the Bulls with those two, hopefully Thomas can buck the trend. Despite the slip in Thomas’ performance and losing two of the last three, things have not been all bad for the Bulls. Nocioni has responded very well to starting, averaging nearly 18 points and 7 boards in the three games. His energy and toughness have been much needed shock therapy for the Bulls 1st quarters. Beyond Noce, Hinrich, Gordon and Wallace also have all improved. Hinrich is still shooting awfully, but he has managed to only get 2-3 fouls each game. This is huge, because earlier in the year he was fouling himself into too little playing time. Even if he’s far from perfect running the team, he’s still the best option. Furthermore, defensively he is amongst the best at his position in the league.
Gordon has been scoring like he should, averaging 23 a game over the beginnings of the circus trip. Even with a healthy Deng, if Gordon does not get close to 20 points each game, the Bulls are going to have a really tough time winning. Ben Wallace stopped playing like a dead man walking, and had hist first two double digit rebound efforts. He played particularly well in the win over the Clippers on Saturday, netting 13 boards, 6 steals and 3 blocks. Now that is my 33 year old! Against the Clippers, he even had a “Is that a black 6-9 Steve Nash?” smooth give and go with Luol Deng for a dunk. Defensively there were some encouraging results as well. The Bulls held Steve Nash to only 10 points, so what if he had 15 assists, and controlled what had been their Achilles Heel, big 2-guards. Cutino Mobley who torched the Bulls for 33 points in their first meeting, only got 9 this time around. Corey Maggette was injured, which really helped the Bulls get their second win. And then, the future Bull who wasn’t, Kobe Bryant, only scored 18. The Lakers won the game, but holding Bryant to 6-16 shooting bodes well for the Bulls going forward against the rest of the league’s 2’s. Now that I have gotten through the praise, let’s get down to reality. Luol Deng is hurt. Any time a team loses their best player its bad news. When a 2-7 team loses their best player, it’s devastating. Adrian Griffin’s 13 minute, zero points performance against the Lakers was not an encouraging first game replacing Deng in the lineup. Even if Deng had failed to live up to his heightened expectations so far this season, losing him for any stretch of time is debilitating. I have said it before and I will say it again, the only way the Bulls even begin to deliver on their preseason predictions is if Deng becomes an All-Star. He is the best player on a good team, and should start acting that way. It’s unclear how long
he will be out, but the team desperately needs him to get out of its current funk. Although they have been playing better, Hinrich and Gordon are still shooting less than 30% from the field and not even 20% from the 3-point line. Given that the Bulls are like one of those average NCAA Tournament teams that goes on a big run because they make a lot of threes, this is the worst of news. Those teams can score an upset or two, until they face a really good team and their 3’s stop falling. That is where the Bulls are at currently. Yes, it will be difficult for Hinrich and Gordon to get good looks without an established inside presence. C’est la vie gentlemen. Deal with it, and do it soon. Gordon, especially, I don’t think you’ll get anywhere near the $50 million the Bulls offered you this upcoming off-season. You unquestionably will not if you continue playing like this. To make it worse, Hinrich and Gordon almost never get to the line, 2.2 and 4.9 free throws attempted/game, respectively. The league’s top scorers usually get at least 10 trips a game to the charity stripe. Make it easier on yourselves guys. Go to the hoop, and do not go hoping to be fouled. The refs can tell that and will not give you the call. Go to the hoop looking to score, and the refs will give you the benefit of the doubt, “And 1” baby! Given all this doom and gloom, is all hope lost for the Bulls? No, not quite yet. Even if I let my heart blind me to the real team when I thought they could win the East heading into this season, they are not THIS bad. They are still a playoff team. What they need to do is play the way they did in the 1st quarter against the Clippers. They got defensive stops and then beat the Clippers down the floor for fast breaks. Running and gunning is the only way this team will get easy baskets, and that is really important for a team that starts Ben Wallace at center.
Bears defense can’t stop Eli Manning in fourth quarter Continued from Page 9
The Bears also gained multiple turnovers and, with them, great field position. Yet they gained minimal points going 3-and-out on two drives. If we are to believe the Bears, no one watching the game really saw that happen, since no one saw the magical “film.” The magical film which will make all of that look good. In reality, the Bears will enjoy the criticism from fans and media this week as much as a person enjoys a colonoscopy. And that’s fair: no one comes to your job site and asks why you missed the memo explaining the new filing process. But you also don’t make millions of dollars off of public money. And you don’t play a sport that makes billions of dollars off of public interest. A bit of criticism is warranted when the public pays to watch you. The Bears are not good this year. They aren’t bad. No. They just aren’t good. Sorry to point it out. The best thing that can be said about what was readily apparent at Soldier Field Sunday is that Rex Grossman should be
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given a free drink in every bar this side of Schaumburg for the next few months. He hasn’t played a lot of great football in Chicago. He hasn’t won a lot of games so much as he has allowed the team to win. That said, he not only continues to show improvement, he has the ability to take public criticism in quantities that would drive most men and women to insanity. Added to that, he is the only person on the Bears willing to come to the press and public and tell it like it is. In Rex Grossman’s post-game interview with AM radio station WBBM 780, the unfairly beleaguered QB admitted that you can’t keep going into the red zone and coming away with field goals. Thank you, Rex, for calling a spade a spade. He could have gone further to criticize his offensive coordinator for continuing to call passes - six in a row on consecutive drives for two consecutive 3-and-outs - but, he would have been put in the Halas Hall basement with Brian Griese for telling that kind of truth. Considering that Rex has suffered more in Chicago than most sportsman suffer in an entire lifetime, yet continues to
treat the team and the fans with respect, he deserves an incredible amount of respect back. Sure, we would all prefer that he improve to Montana-like levels, but his receivers drop passes and his coaches make insane decisions: how sad will it be when he is released to another team with a great coach who turns him into the next Brett Favre? Or at least a good NFL QB? It is wrong to live your life week-toweek. Foolishness to think that the season is over in Week 3 with a loss, or that the playoffs are attained in Week 10 with a win. But by Week 13, when a team has not won two games in a row - nor defeated anyone so much as they have stolen five wins - it is time to interview some farmers out in Mattoon or Lena. When you have opportunities to win games, when you have opportunities to get back into the competition, you have to seize them. There is a time to plant and a time to plow. The Bears didn’t make hay while the sun shone and now, with the season all but written off, they must reap what they have sown and spend the off-season hungry.
Leading by example: Crawford’s journey to Ball State BY Bert Beiswanger
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ometimes life doesn’t go according to plan. Things happen. We have great dreams when we’re young, but many times are faced with unfortunate circumstances that get in our way, slow us down or completely blind us to our youthful vision. And yet, when those dreams and aspirations meet roadblocks along the way and don’t become reality, too often we blame other people or other things. The roadblocks become us - the dreams don’t. When Northern Illinois University faced Mid-American Conference rival Ball State University in DeKalb, Illinois, Ball State lined up a 31-year-old sophomore named Brandon Crawford at defensive end. Ball State, which defeated the Huskies, was playing for a chance to go to a bowl game. Crawford, who leads the Cardinals in tackles for loss and sacks, and forced a fumble in the game, was playing because he can - because he never stopped pursuing his dream. To understand the motivation, you have to know the story. You also have to understand that this isn’t as much a story about overcoming adversity as it is about achieving success. Thirteen years ago - in high school in Ft. Wayne, Indiana - Crawford had plans to go to college and play football. He was working toward a scholarship and talking with various schools. Then, a roadblock got in the way, an unfortunate circumstance. He got into a car with some guys from around the neighborhood. “We were riding around going to a Pizza Hut,” Crawford says. “After a Friday game everyone hung out at the Pizza Hut back then.” That’s where the fun ended. As it turned out - unbeknownst to Crawford - the car was stolen. Before he knew it, he found himself involved in a high-speed chase. When informed the car was stolen, Crawford thought, “Man, so I’m in the middle of this situation?” As luck would have it, if you want to think of it that way, the joyride ended behind his grandparents’ house, with his grandparents standing at the back gate. “At that point,” Crawford says, “I thought, no way, I wasn’t raised like this. This is not how I was brought up with my family structure. It all just hit me then.” Crawford received probation. Gone was any chance at a scholarship. College would have to wait. That led to Crawford working in a factory with his brother for a short while. As he tells it, “I saw that wasn’t working for me. I always wanted to serve in the military. I had family members who were in the Marine Corps. I always wanted to serve my country.” So Crawford bid the factory farewell and proudly entered the United States Marine Corps in 1999, where he served through 2003. Yes, sir; no, ma’am - treat people how you want to be treated. That’s how Crawford was raised by his tight-knit family. The military was a perfect fit. But Crawford never stopped thinking about school, about furthering his education. Upon being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, he registered for summer classes at Ball State in 2004. At that time, he also discussed with his Mom walking on to the football team. Remember the initial plans? Crawford approached head coach Brady Continued on Page 14
Continued from Page 13
Hoke about trying out for the team. Things were going well. Things were happening. After taking 12 credits during summer sessions, though, Crawford had to return to Ft. Wayne for a year to tend to family matters. No problem, it was just another circumstance. Besides - family, to Crawford, is his “main rock.” Crawford returned to Ball State in 2005. Toward the end of that season, he talked with recruiting coordinator Dennis Moynihan, who walked Crawford into Coach Hoke’s office to speak with him again. Eventually, Crawford was given a tryout; and the rest, is history. From the outset, Crawford spent his time working on technique, absorbing coaching, studying film and being his own worst critic. After all, he was 10 years removed from the game he loved, and the man teammates sometimes refer to as “Crawdaddy” didn’t need to be told how hard he needed to work. “You have to be a good follower before you can be a good leader,” says Crawford. “Alot of kids come in from high school expecting to get right on the football field, and you have to work at it. Any time I get to touch [the field] it’s a blessing for me. When you see me running hard, when you see me giving it that extra effort, it’s because I missed this game and almost had it taken away, so I’m blessed to even be on the field right now. I’m giving it everything I have every play.” As far as his influence on the younger players, Crawford doesn’t push his life experiences on his teammates. But he isn’t afraid to share them, either. “A lot of them know my story,” he says. “If they have questions, I tell them to ask. Everybody has their own decisions to make as a young person. But a lot of [younger teammates] come to me and ask me questions, and I help them when I can. I think just me going through what I’ve gone through and seeing my work ethic out on the football field; that plays a big part as far as setting that example. “Every down I play I try to give it my all and I try to play for my team. They mean so much to me, because we’ve worked so hard just to be able to be out there and be competitive and win.” Coach Hoke knows what he has in Brandon Crawford. He sees it every day in practice. He sees it when the team is on the road and Crawford gets up at his normal time of 4:30 a.m. and his freshman roommate is up with him. “He brings, obviously, a lot of maturity; a guy who’s very passionate,” Hoke says. “I think his passion draws from being away from [the game] and always loving football. Having that taken away for a period of time, it really makes him more passionate about how he plays and how every snap matters. It’s no different than practice. He chases the ball just like he does in a game. He fights through everything. He’s a great example.” So, you want to start teaching at age 32? Great. You want to become a sports writer at 35? Go for it. You want to start playing D-1 college football at age 30? Knock yourself out. You see, sometimes, life happens for all the right reasons. If you’re like Brandon Crawford, you’re truly blessed when it really happens. After his playing days are over, Crawford is thinking about going to law school and getting involved with FBI work. I wouldn’t bet against it.
Former White Sox Exec Schaffer Passes Long-time Bill Veeck associate Handled a variety of roles
CHICAGO – Rudie Schaffer, long-time business associate of Bill Veeck in a variety of sports endeavors, passed away Tuesday, Nov. 27 in Menlo Park, Calif. at 96. Schaffer, who held positions ranging from assistant to the president to general manager to business manager, joined Veeck in baseball five different times, including two stints with the White Sox (1959-69 and 1976-81). In addition to the White Sox, Schaffer and Veeck teamed together with the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers, the Cleveland Indians (1946-50) and the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles (195154). Schaffer also spent time with the Toronto Maple Leafs minor-league baseball team in the mid 1950s, at Boston’s Suffolk Downs Race Track, in professional basketball with the Baltimore Bullets and running the Cincinnati Stringers of the World Hockey Association. Schaffer last worked for ARA, a national food service, after leaving the White Sox in 1981. “No matter who you talk to, Rudie Schaf-
fer always is described the same way,” said Jerry Reinsdorf, White Sox chairman. “You hear the same words again and again: fans, fun, energy and ideas.” “He really was Bill’s alter ego,” said Mary Frances Veeck. “They enjoyed a great relationship. They were the ‘Triumvirate,’ Bill, Rudie and Roland Hemond. The three ran the Sox.” Described variously as Veeck’s “idea man,” “colleague” and “pal,” among the ideas credited to Schaffer were: inventing Bat Day, creating the Picnic Area at old Comiskey Park and introducing the very first exploding scoreboard in 1961. In 1977, he had all Sox fans throw out the ceremonial first pitch with whiffle balls on Opening Day. “What I really am is kind of a catchall for Bill Veeck,” Schaffer said in the 1960s. “We exchanged ideas and stimulated each other. I guess we were a pretty good team.” A native of Waukesha, Wis., Schaffer was hired by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1935 after working with the club as an
outside CPA. He is survived by: daughter Su; son David and David’s wife, Kathleen; and daughter Mary Frances. David, who has worked for the White Sox for over three decades, is the club’s senior director of park operations. Rudie Schaffer was married to his wife, Elizabeth, for 65 years. Schaffer was with Cleveland in 1948 when the Indians captured a World Series title, and he was involved with seven different pennant winners over his career in baseball. His signature is on the Indians’ contract with Larry Doby when the first baseman broke the American League’s color barrier in 1947. That contract resides in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Schaffer also was part of a famous threeperson photo taken in 1976 that re-enacted a famous Revolutionary War painting. Bill Veeck dressed in the Spirit of ’76 as a fife player, Paul Richards as a flag bearer and Schaffer as the drummer. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Schaffer’s name to any worthy charity
MLS: News & Notes Midfielder Ivan Guerrero Lost In Expansion Draft On Wednesday, Nov. 21, Chicago Fire midfielder Ivan Guerrero was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2007 Major League Soccer Expansion Draft. Guerrero was one of 10 players chosen by the Earthquakes, who will join Major League Soccer’s Western Conference for the 2008 season. The 29-year-old joined the Fire as a Senior International on February 5, 2005, from Peñarol of Uraguay. During his three seasons in Chicago, Guerrero recorded three goals and 16 assists in 74 games played (71 starts). In 2005, the midfielder served as Chicago’s lone representative in the 2005 MLS AllStar Game, as well as being named the 2005 Fire/Honda MVP and Fire Defender of the Year. His team-high nine assists during the 2006 season were good enough for eighth overall in MLS on the season. Guerrero also served as an integral part of the Chicago side that won the 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup crown, appearing in all four matches and recording an assist against D.C. United in the semifinals.
day, Nov. 23 and will include training sessions and matches against the reserve teams of Rayo Vallecano FC and Real Madrid. The young MLS players will also attend three matches as spectators while in Spain: this Sunday’s Atletico Madrid vs. Valladolid fixture, a UEFA Champions League match between Sevilla and Arsenal on Tuesday, and next Sunday’s Real Madrid vs. Racing Santandar contest. The Generation adidas group is slated to return stateside on Monday, Dec. 3. About Generation adidas: Generation adidas, which was established ahead of the 2005 MLS season, is Major League Soccer’s youth player development program designed to identify and nurture the elite youth soccer talent in the United States. The youth players who join MLS as part of the Generation adidas program receive unprecedented opportunities to develop their game and hone their skills at the professional level in Major League Soccer. In addition to training and playing on a weekly basis with one of Major League Soccer’s 13 professional clubs, Generation adidas players also receive educational grants to further their college education.
Barrett, Soumare In Spain For Generation adidas Tour Holiday Packs Now On Sale Fire forward Chad Barrett and midfielder Bakary Soumare are among a group of 16 Generation adidas members of MLS’s brightest young talent currently participating in a three-game Generation adidas tour of Spain. The 12-day journey began on Fri-
Chicago Fire Holiday Packs are on sale now starting at $89. Each package includes four tickets to the 2008 Fire home opener (date TBA) as well as a hat and glove set to help keep your special Fire fan warm. Fans have the opportunity to purchase more than
four tickets per Holiday Pack, and for every two additional tickets ordered, an additional hat & glove set can be purchased for $12. For more information, visit www.chicagofire.com.
Fireworks For Kids Accepting Donations This holiday season, the Fireworks for Kids Foundation once again turns to the generous Chicago Fire Soccer community for support in raising money for the Annual Holiday Fund. This year, your financial contributions will assist the FireWorks For Kids Foundation in supporting the inspirational wheelchair athletes of the Chicago Fire Power Soccer team. Donations can be sent to the following address: FireWorks For Kids Foundation Holiday Fund c/o Chicago Fire Soccer 7000 S. Harlem Bridgeview, Ill. 60455 While a contribution of any amount is greatly appreciated, for every contribution of $25.00 or more, the Fire Works For Kids Foundation will send you an autographed action photo of Chicago Fire forward Calen Carr. For more information or to donate, please contact Jessica Yavitz with the FireWorks For Kids Foundation at 708-4966740.
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