Chicago Sports Review

Page 2

Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Super Bowl XLII: Separating fact from fiction

BY D.K. Wilson

They choked.

In the end, the Patriots cracked under the constant media scrutiny and pressure of the last 12 weeks; cracked under the weight of perfection.

Wading through all the nonsense of the “Eli came of age” talk, the New England Patriots, from the coaching staff to the players, must take the lion’s share of the blame for their losing Super Bowl XLII. Why was Ellis Hobbs, the Patriots shortest cornerback, allowed to play one-on-one at the goal line against one of the tallest wideouts in the NFL? In that circumstance, Bill Belichick committed an egregious error in allowing the ball to be snapped - gag.

On fourth and 13 why did Bill Belichick fail to attempt a field goal or execute a pooch punt? Why did offensive coordinator McDaniels fail to pass more often on first down? Even the average NFL fan knows that by game’s end the two strategies that tire a defensive line and by extension the entire front seven most, are a punishing running game or a short pass passing attack where the line is consistently a split-second late getting to the quarterback. New England executed this game plan to perfection against Jacksonville yet did not attempt to duplicate it against New York until the second half of Super Bowl XLII - gack.

How is it possible that, given two weeks, that Belichick and his staff could come up with such a milquetoast game plan on both sides of the ball, but particularly on offense?

Belichick’s refusal to consider that he might need to open his playbook more than ever to combat the inevitable adjustments made by

Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was as pompous a move as Pete Carroll’s refusal to do the same against Texas in their national championship matchup.

The fact is, certain players on New England’s team felt the pressure more than others and did not play up to their standards. Until the second half, and then the middle of the third quarter, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels never consistently took pressure off his offensive line long enough for them to regroup and gain confidence. He failed to frustrate the Giants with a continued dose of intermediate passes.

Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick flat out failed to put their players in position to win.

However.

The reality of the New York Giants is that their 2007-08 team was 10-6 and a Washington Redskins field goal away from being 9-7 and missing the playoffs altogether. They were a Patrick Crayton and a Terrell Owens dropped pass away from being out of the playoffs in the second round. Even in the end and after a Super Bowl win, they are a six-loss team.

So, the next time someone says you are what your record says you are, or, you are what your stat say you are, remind me to shoot them - figuratively, of course.

Roger Goodell should be embarrassed that a team with that poor a record won the biggest game of the NFL season.

The NFL should be equally embarrassed that the New York Giants players reacted to the victory by trash talking the Patriots. The media should be excoriated for saying nothing about the gross classlessness of Antonio Pierce, Michael Strahan and crew after the game.

And the next time a member of the media blows hard about an athlete’s lack of “class” everyone with an ounce of integrity should remember that writer’s failure to blast the reprehensible postgame behavior of too many New York Giants players; people like Tom Jackson and his hearty laugh on the ESPN Mike and Mike in the Morning show after this comment about Bill Belichick leaving the field with one second left after shaking Tom Coughlin’s hand: “He probably wanted to leave a little bit before that.”

Jackson is absolutely vile.

That no one recognizes Eli Manning’s throwing four ducks in the final drive and having the unprecedented luck to get away with every one is reprehensible because it illustrates the malice with which the New England Patriots are treated. That Eli Manning is said to have outplayed Tom Brady is patently ridiculous. Until the final drive, the Patriots front four was stymied by the Giants offensive line. Brady, on the other hand, was under constant pressure, yet threw no interceptions and had a better completion percentage than Manning.

Why was Ellis Hobbs, the Patriots shortest cornerback, allowed to play one-on-one at the goal line against one of the tallest wideouts in the NFL?

It is difficult to reconcile the fact that Eli Manning won the MVP award instead of the New York Giants front four. Hell, it’s difficult to reconcile the fact that, after three mediocre seasons as a starter, Manning wasn’t the Giants second-string quarterback to start the 2007-08 season. Last night, just as he has his entire career, within the same game Manning played both well enough to win the game and poorly enough to lose it. And for that - Eli being Eli - he was rewarded.

But after all that is the career pattern with the Mannings. Reward without the performance to match seems to be the way with Peyton, Eli, and their father Archie.

In the end, though, the only classy team on the field was New England. In the end Tom Brady did his best Joe Montana impression, but was let down by his defense.

Perhaps, in an odd way, what foretold the final 83-yard drive for New York’s Super Bowl touchdown was this: moments after Tom Brady surgically dissected the New York defense and drove the Pats offense 80 yards down the field for the go-ahead score Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi shared a hug on the sidelines as if the game was won.

The Patriots defense then took the field and played as if their mere presence would cause the Giants to fold. Perhaps that few seconds of emotional release by Seau and Bruschi was shared by all the members of the Patriots defense.

And perhaps that minute change in attitude was just enough to cause the New England Patriots to leave the field in historic fashion that is not likely to be repeated: as the only 18-1 NFL team to not win the Super Bowl.

Finding reasons for another abysmal Bulls season the offensive half of the court, the opposing team is well-set in their defense. The Bulls There have been a million excuses for this then pass it around, look for a good shot, usually settling for a long jumper. Given the year’s abysmal Bulls performance. Writers, limitations of their current roster, this system including myself, have speculated ad nausehas resulted in a the worst field goal percentam about the preseason contract extensions age in the league at 42.43%. never signed, the Kobe rumors, It is time for the Bulls to Scott Skiles “losing” them, start playing a “run and gun,” missed opportunities in the past fastbreak oriented offense. The lotteries, the small backcourt, team’s offensive weaknesses the lack of inside scoring and on are not going to change until and on. the personnel does. Until While some of those may that happens, the Bulls should even be valid reasons for this adopt a system that maximizes team’s failure, it is time to move their current potential, as opon. The explanation no longer posed to one that exacerbates matters. Until GM John Paxtheir weaknesses. son chooses to make personnel Playing a more up-tempo changes, the team needs to ulls game would make everyone on figure out how to make the best team better. Let’s begin of their current bad situation. asketball the with the worst offensive player Enough of the BS. This team in the league (and league hisis clearly not as good as critics eat tory?) Ben Wallace. thought heading into the seaBen cannot shoot free son, but they are also not as bad throws, jump shots, or make a post move to as they have shown. save his life. Usually when the Bulls play As a first step to getting more out of offense, opposing teams only have to guard what they have, I suggest a switch in offenthe other four players on the court. Asking sive systems. I would like to see what this group could do playing an up-tempo offense. Ben to beat the opposing center one-on-one with his back to the basket is an exercise in Currently, the Bulls play a half-court stupidity. offensive game. Whether it be Hinrich or But, the Bulls are still gonna play the Duhon bringing the ball up the floor, they man. do so slowly. By the time they finally get to by

Charlie Danoff

B

B

B

Despite his advancing age and decline in production, I think most fans would agree, Wallace remains one of the more athletic starting centers in the NBA. Athleticism

is different from on-court basketball ability.

Wallace is clearly lacking in the latter, but the drop-off has not been so huge in thez

Please See Danoff on Page 10

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 Graydon Gordian Dustin Michael Harris Jon Kerr Matt Kolsky Brian Livingston Phil Meyers Benjamin Pietruca Lloyd Poast D.K. Wilson Dennis Wierzbicki Contributing Photographers Roger Cook Dennis Wierzbicki Matthew Bolt

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Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Page 3

The Hawks are back for the long run Resurgence on ice begins in front office Benjamin Pietrucha

C

heer up Hawks fans. You have suffered through the likes of head coaches Alpo Suhonen, Lorn Molleken and Trent Yawney. You have suffered through this decade in which they have made the playoffs only once (2001-02; Lost to the St. Louis Blues 4 games to 1 in the first round.) The tip of the iceberg to your disappointment was a 2004 poll conducted

by ESPN that proclaimed the Hawks to be the worst professional franchise in all the major sports, but the Hawks have turned things around and you have come back to the United Center this year with the team hovering around .500 at the AllEye Candy Star break, and showing signs •Photos from a that they are a game against legitimate playoff the Blues can be contender in the found on pages 8 Western Conferand 9. ence.

•Photos a game Longtime against Red owner Bill Wings can found Wirtz died of on page 15 cancer just before the season began; and oddly enough that is where changes started to take place left and right. His son, Rocky Wirtz stepped in and put his nose to the grindstone. He did the unthinkable: he put a package of home games on television, and planned to put all games on television next year. He swayed Cubs president and marketing whiz John McDonough to come and work on the west side of town.

Maybe the resurgence on ice would have happened whether or not all the shocking moves occurred off the ice or not, but there is no doubting the young talent the Hawks have. Led by 26-year-old winger Patrick Sharp, who leads the team with 22 goals, 19-year-old winger Patrick Kane, who leads the team in points with 45 and the other

CSR

photo by

Warren Wimmer

Chicago Blackhawks rookie forward Patrick Sharp, skates against the Tampa Bay Lighting at the United Center in Chicago November 28, 2007. Sharp leads the team with 22 goals.

19-year-old center Jonathan Toews, who is fourth on the team in points with 32. With a goaltender that won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nikolai Khabibulin, the Hawks can do some damage in the second half.

They have experience in one area where it counts the most: goaltending. If a team has a hot goaltender or the team gets on a roll around postseason there is no telling where the team can go. Just ask the members of the

2007 Colorado Rockies or the Super Bowl bound New York Giants. The lesson is to peak at the right time. There is nothing better than having a hot goaltender in May and June. It will take the pressure off Toews and Kane.

One of the big reasons the Hawks have a .500 record at the All-Star break is injuries. Toews went down with a knee injury in late December, and they promptly lost eight games in a row. Injuries will decimate a

young team but that comes with good luck.

If the Detroit Red Wings lost goaltender Chris Osgood, or winger Henrik Zetterberg they would not have been running away from everyone in the Western Conference.

If the Hawks do not make the playoffs this year, they are well positioned to make a run at the Stanley Cup next year, With an aging Detroit team and other beatable teams in the division, they should have no problem making the playoffs.

Defenseman Brent Sopel resigned by Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon announced that the Chicago Blackhawks have signed defenseman Brent Sopel to a three-year contract extension.

Sopel was originally signed by the Blackhawks as a free agent on September 28, 2007.

“Brent has been a key addition to the Blackhawks because of his play on the ice and his leadership in the locker room,” said Tallon. “He contributes in all situations and is a positive influence on our rapidly maturing defensive corps.”

Sopel, 31, has appeared in 33 games for the Blackhawks this season, contributing ten assists and picking up 12 penalty minutes.

Sopel also owns the second highest plus/minus rating among Blackhawks defensemen at +10.

Brent Sopel’s Career Statistics Season 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2005-06 2005-06 2006-07 2006-07 2007-08 NHL Totals

Team GP G A Pts PIM Vancouver Canucks 18 2 4 6 12 Vancouver Canucks 52 4 10 14 10 Vancouver Canucks 66 8 17 25 44 Vancouver Canucks 81 7 30 37 23 Vancouver Canucks 80 10 32 42 36 New York Islanders 57 2 25 27 64 Los Angeles Kings 11 0 1 1 6 Los Angeles Kings 44 4 19 23 14 Vancouver Canucks 20 1 4 5 10 Chicago Blackhawks 33 0 10 10 12

467 39 152 191 235

One humble sports writer’s odyssey covering the Hockey Showdown by

Charlie Danoff

Day One

G

iven that at this early stage of my writing career, I have yet to get paid enough from my brilliant articles to support myself, I have a “day job.” I only mention this, first to hint to my editor to raise my salary into the seven digits I deserve, and to explain that I, unfortunate-

ly, missed the Friday’s 4:00 PM game, where Bowling Green played Northeastern.

I got out of work around 3:00, and then because I obviously did not pack the night before, I did not leave my house till around 4:15. I spent a lot of last minute time looking for recording equipment, with my father’s assistance, I managed to get: a tape recorder, digital camera, and old school video camera to bring with me. My mind was swimming with the possibilities of the different ways I could cover the weekend’s

action. I envisioned a video documentary, featuring action photographs with killer interviews spliced in via the tape.

That was what I pictured, at least.

After all my delayed preparations were finally complete, I hit the road. The drive from Chicago to Madison, Wisconsin should take around three hours. There was a snow warning in Chicago that day, but luckily, the predicted snowfall figures fell from 4-8 inches, to only 1-3.

Please See Danoff on Page 5

Page 4

Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Clean slate for Cubs to equal success in 2008?

Construction comes from unlikely source by

Brian Livingston

The Cubs improved their home field advantage this off-season by upgrading the drainage system and removing the 14 inch crown in the infield. Wrigley was one of the last parks in the major league baseball to remove the crown drainage system.

Interestingly enough the Cubs are getting help from unlikely source The White Sox. Sox’s head groundskeeper Roger “The Sodfather” Bossard is over seeing the $1.5 million project. More than 15 million pounds of dirt will be removed in order to level the field for the new playing surface.

The old crown system meant for a sloppy infield after a significant amount of rain had fallen. The outfield prior to the upgrade was with out a drainage system which meant it was left for the ground itself to soak up the water. The outfield now has 8-inch perforated pipes beneath the playing surface allowing water to drain easier.

The system is designed to hold 60,000 gallons of water. The system consists of 1.5 miles of plastic pipes which is angled toward a catch basin in the right-field corner. The system allows for the playing surface to be ready for play in 20 minutes after a lengthy rain delay. The system consists of two levels underneath the sod. 10 inches of sand below the grass, 15 inches of pea gravel which house the perforated pipes that allow for drainage.

The new grass is from Colorado and is a hybrid bluegrass which won’t be affected by the summer heat of Chicago. The playing surface has been leveled out and is no longer uneven which was complained about from outfielders of the visiting team. Home and

Photo

away outfielders will also take comfort in the fact the outfield warning track has been expanded by three feet as well, by expanding the warning track it should allow for better judge as to where the wall is.

Aside from a poor playing surface and long wait times after rain delays the improved field now allows for Lou Piniella to see his right-fielder from head-to-toe. Before the leveling of the field Cubs managers in the

Minor league coordinators announced CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs announced the club’s minor league coordinators for the 2008 season, highlighted by the return of five instructors from the 2007 season.

Dave Bialas returns as the minor league field coordinator for the sixth consecutive season and his 14th year in the Cubs organization. A 36-year veteran of professional baseball, he has 13 seasons of minor league managerial experience, compiling a 912-881 record and leading his teams to six league championship series. As a player, Bialas spent his minor league career as an outfielder in the Cardinals system, compiling a .274 batting average in 1,019 games from 1972-1982.

Bobby Dickerson begins his third season as infield and bunting coordinator after managing at Double-A West Tenn in the Cubs minor league system the previous four seasons from 2002-2005. He has seven seasons of minor league managerial experience, guiding his team to the postseason five times. In 2002, he managed West Tenn to the Southern League title.

Bob Dernier returns for his second season as the Cubs outfield and baserunning coordinator. Dernier roamed the outfield for the Cubs from 1984-1987 and compiled a .255 career batting average in 904 major league contests with the Phillies (1980-1983, 19881989) and Chicago. He stole 218 bases in the majors, and was caught just 63 times.

Dave Keller continues his duties as hitting coordinator for the fifth-straight year.

Prior to this stint with Chicago, he was a major league staff assistant and bullpen catcher for the Cleveland Indians from 2001-2003.

Keller played professionally in the Cincinnati Reds organization for three seasons (19821984), batting .289 with 22 homers and 108 RBI. Casey Kopitzke returns as the catching coordinator for the second consecutive sea-

courtesy of

Steven Green/Chicago Cubs

The playing surgace at Wrigley field is being overhauled in off-season by White Sox head groundskeeper Roger Bossard.

son. Originally drafted by the Cubs in the 27th round of the 1999 Draft, he spent his entire eight-year pro career in Chicago’s farm system. The former catcher committed just 11 errors in 2,057 total chances (.995 fielding percentage) from 2002-2006.

Carmelo Martinez enters his 11th season in the Cubs organization, and his first as Latin American field coordinator. The former major league outfielder and first baseman spent the previous 10 seasons at Rookie League Mesa, handling managerial duties in 1999-2003 and 2006. His 2002 Mesa club won the Arizona League title with a 35-21 record.

Mark Riggins begins his first season as pitching coordinator after handling the same duty with St. Louis for the past 12 seasons.

In 1995, he served as the Cardinals pitching coach under Joe Torre and Mike Jorgensen.

Riggins pitched five seasons in St. Louis’ farm system after he was signed out of Murray State University in 1979.

Additionally, the Cubs have promoted area scouts Jose Serra, Rolando Pino and Hector Ortega. Serra is the organization’s Latin American operations manager after logging time as an area scout in the Dominican Republic. Pino, who has scouted players in Florida and Puerto Rico, has been named Latin American coordinator while Ortega is the Latin American supervisor thanks in part to his time scouting talent in Venezuela.

The Cubs have added to their scouting department, as Charlie Aliano has been named eastern regional supervisor.

Bill Harford returns to the organization as a major league scout after working for Chicago’s scouting department from 1979-1992.

Additionally, Mike Valarezo joins the Cubs as special assistant to the general manager after serving as full-time scout with the Arizona Diamondbacks last season.

past were only able to see their right-fielder from the waist down. That was the result of the 14 inch crown that existed, but it has all been leveled out now.

Perhaps what Cubs need is a new playing surface. A clean slate, wiping away the ghosts of 100 years. After all Wrigley is built on the grounds of a seminary. No remains were found during the process, no goats, no black cats, not even Dusty Baker’s career; however,

the bases of the goal posts from when the Bears played at Wrigley , were discovered.

Even though Bossard is head groundskeeper for the White Sox he may bring a little luck his work. Bossard has been responsible for installing new surfaces for the Diamondbacks, Yankees, Red Sox and White Sox and the following year after that said team won the World Series. Cub fans can only hope the trend continues for the Cubs as well.

Cubs 2008 Spring Training Schedule Day Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Date Opponent Site Time Feb. 28 San Francisco Scottsdale 2:05 p.m.

Feb. 29 San Francisco Mesa 2:05 p.m.

March 1 LA Angels Tempe 2:05 p.m.

March 2 San Francisco Mesa 2:05 p.m.

March 3 Seattle Peoria 2:05 p.m.

March 4 Milwaukee Mesa 2:05 p.m.

March 5 Arizona

Tucson 2:05 p.m.

March 6 Oakland Phoenix 2:05 p.m.

March 7 Seattle Mesa 2:05 p.m.

Saturday Saturday Sunday Monday

March 8 March 8 March 9 March 10

Arizona (ss) Oakland (ss) Kansas City Milwaukee

Mesa Phoenix Surprise Maryvale

2:05 p.m.

2:05 p.m.

2:05 p.m.

2:05 p.m.

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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

Oakland Texas

San Diego LA Angels White Sox LA Angels OFF DAY Kansas City Oakland (ss) San Francisco(ss) Colorado Colorado White Sox

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.

Mesa Mesa Scottsdale 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.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

March 23 March 24 March 25 March 26 March 27

San Diego Texas San Francisco LA Angels Milwaukee

Peoria Mesa Scottsdale Tempe

Mesa

2:05 p.m.

2:05 p.m.

2:05 p.m.

2:05 p.m.

2:05 p.m.

Friday Saturday

March 28 March 29

Seattle Seattle

Las Vegas Las Vegas

9:15 p.m 3:05 p.m.

All games are Central Standard Time. Dates and times subject to change.

Home dates in BOLD. (ss) – split squad game

Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Page 5

Danoff: The hurdles of college hockey in the Heartland Continued from Page 3

Thankfully, then, getting out of Chicago was easy. Even the car crash I encountered near Milwaukee, where traffic was slowed to an ant-marching pace was fine. I got into the Madison proper area around 7:45, plenty of time to see most of the second game featuring the hometown Wisconsin Badgers playing the Colgate Raiders.

To make this story even more embarrassing, I have been to Madison multiple times. One of my good friends from high school attended school there, so over breaks from school I traveled with people to visit him and enjoy Wisconsin’s beautiful capital. Coming from Chicago, Madison is a pretty small town. Nevertheless, without exception, every time we drove there we got hopelessly lost in its strange circuitous layout, where every street looks the same and what should be a helpful landmark, the Capital Building, looks the same from every side.

At least during college getting lost could be blamed on the fact my compatriots and I were a little less than sober when we arrived. This time I had no cool excuse for getting lost, I just flat out got completely turned around. Driving for so long I lost track of time, I went up and down the same streets multiple times trying in vain to find the Kohl Center, where the games were being held.

My Dad, thinking ahead as usual, gave me a Tom-Tom GPS navigational device to bring with me for situations like these. Feeling that technology has gotten too advanced and is now a crutch that is making people stupider by thinking for them, I idealistically refused to use the device. Until, of course, I realized there was no way I was going to find my way to the rink without its help.

Cashing in my pride once again, I turned on the TomTom and asked it for a walking route to the rink after I parked near the Capital building. It could not get a GPS signal inside the parking garage so I went outside, only to find that apparently Madison is outside the scope of space satellites. The device refused to work, only telling me to take a left on Sheridan road, the street connected to my house back in the North Chicago suburbs.

Frustrated dually for giving in to technology and for being screwed by that same technology, I started walking. I reasoned with myself that as the Chinese proverb goes, “A journey of 10,000 miles starts with one step” I had less than 10,000 miles to go, but I had to get going. After walking for about 15 minutes with no better idea of where I was in relation to my destination, I gave up on my man pride once again and asked for directions.

“You know how to get to the Kohl Center” “Oh yeah, just follow State Street that way for a while, then take a left on Frances and you’re right there.”

Obviously, the way down State Street was the exact opposite way I had been going. Angrily retracing my steps I somehow finally managed to make it to the rink by about 8:45.

One of the things I love about getting a press pass is the semi-VIP status deliverd on those who possess them. It is an amazing feeling to walk up to a building dressed “alternatively” to enter apart from the usual fans. Normally some angry pig decrees, “Hey, sorry chump you gotta go in with the general folk over there.”

“Oh really bud, guess you didn’t expect this.”

At which point I flash my press credentials and he usually apologizes and asks if there is any way I would ever forgive him, to which I say, “certainly not.” Looking forward to such an exchange following my stupid, never-ending journey, I strutted into the Kohl Center just waiting for some representative of “The Man” to try and tell me what’s what.

I was greeted by a man and a woman, closer to dead than 80, who greeted me with smiles. I said I was part of the press, and they gave me an envelope with my two day passes, saying they had been waiting for me. They did not even ask for my ID. Deflated once again, I walked down to the media room. I had even missed my other favorite perk, the free food.

You are probably wondering when I will actually get to writing about the games, given that you most likely started reading this column looking for some college hockey coverage. While I find my life to be the most interesting thing in the world to write and talk about, odds are you might slightly disagree.

Anyway, the game I missed between #11 Northeastern and #19 Bowling Green. Bowling Green’s best player this season has been Senior tri-captain Derek Whitmore, their leading scorer. He had hat tricks in back to back games in November. For the non-puck savvy, that means he scored three goals each game and was rewarded by fans throwing their chapeaus onto the ice.

Whitmore did not score Friday night, but their 3rd leading scorer, Jacob Cepis, did early in the second to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead. With Calgary Flames prospect Jimmy Spratt in net, Bowling Green looked to cruise to a surprisingly easy victory over the Huskies. On a side note, when I saw Spratt walking I had to do double-take, because I swore

it was Jon Bon Jovi. Compare the two pictures below, while Spratt still has some work to do developing his “Blue-Steel” look in the eyes, his hair and attitude clearly scream lame rock star.

Getting back to the game, despite being 10th in the CCHA in goals against average, Spratt faltered this night, letting in four goals over the next two periods as Northeastern roared back for a 4-3 victory, setting them up to play the winner of the night game in the championship Saturday.

Despite only having 4 goals in his first 11 games this year, Senior Jimmy Russo scored back-to-back goals for the Huskies, securing their victory.

Of course I missed all that action, as I did not actually arrive at the rink till around a little before nine. One thing I promised myself heading into the weekend was that I would be completely objective in reporting on the four different teams. You see, I went to Colgate University for my sterling undergraduate education.

That aside, though, if you could not tell by now, I am first and foremost a professional. I am not one to sacrifice my ethics lightly. Well that’s not true. At least, I was hoping that within my role as a journalist I would not be completely useless and spend my time cheering for my alma mater as opposed to covering the story.

Despite these promises I could not help but do a personal pound when I walked in to see Colgate leading 1-0 against one of the best hockey programs in the country. I was impressed to see the Kohl center so packed on a weekend where all the students were gone for holiday break. Empty seats were hard to find, and, not surprisingly, ‘Gate fans were

nearly completely absent.

Late in the second period, Wisconsin took two dumb penalties within twenty seconds of each other. The Raiders were left with the best situation in hockey, a 5 on 3 advantadge for over a minute and a half. Doing my best to keep my excitement to myself, I watched the seconds go by as Colgate had a chance to really place a firm hold on the lead and steal all the home ice advantadge from the Badgers.

Dejectedly I heard the crowd’s decibel level go up every ten seconds as Colgate again and again failed to score. Soon enough, the penalties were over, and the entire Kohl Center was on their feet clapping their hands in appreciation.

While I was mad at the team for wasting the golden opportunity, I was pleasantly impressed with the hockey knowledge of the entire stadium.

Even at NHL games, fans rarely understand just how important these types of situations are. To see an entire stadium cheer together for a non-offensive display of greatness warmed the cold puck in my heart.

Given the successful Badger penalty kill, the game headed into its final period still with Colgate up by 1. The lead did not last too long, as 1:36 into the 3rd, Wisconsin forward Aaron Bendickson tied it up with one of the prettiest goals I have ever seen live as a player or spectator.

Coming down the right side of the offensive zone, Bendickson made the Colgate defender look like a 5-year-old, as he poke checked for the puck, only to have Aaron pull it around his stick, then through his legs. It was the hockey

Please See Danoff on Page 13

Page 6

Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Making sense of the BCS through the lens of March Madness

BY Eli Kaberon

A

college football season just ended, with two different prevalent trains of thought regarding who should be crowned national champion. Some would make a case that LSU, the team that won the official BCS title, is the best team because their performance over the course of the season. The Tigers were 7-1 against teams in the Top 20 of the AP Poll, won the nation’s most difficult conference - the SEC - and walloped Ohio State 38-24 in the final game of the season. Yet they lost their regular season finale to Arkansas, a huge argument against them.

Another position is that either USC or Georgia should be considered the best in the land, because of how each finished the season. Both the Trojans and Bulldogs finished the year on long win streaks, with USC taking their final five contests and Georgia finishing the year with seven consecutive victories. If college football had a playoff, this argument goes, LSU wouldn’t have been able to knock off either of these two schools the way they were playing when the season ended. The problem with that is, both teams have a strike against them: Georgia failed to win its own division of the SEC and USC lost at home to a bad Stanford team.

So the debate comes down to what’s more important: A team’s strength and consistency throughout the entire length of the season or just how they finish? Thankfully, in college basketball, both of these elements are key to a squad’s success. To cut down the nets at the end of the year, a team must have some great accomplishments during the regular season, but also get hot down the stretch. Mess up either one, and it’s over for you.

There are some fans of March Madness that don’t watch much hoops action during the regular season. They say it is pointless, since so many teams make the NCAA tournament, and because the gap between the elite teams and the average teams in college basketball is so wide. Others say that because every conference - excepting the old fashioned Ivy League - has a conference tournament, the records from November through February don’t even matter. And then there’s the thinking that the only two regular season college basketball games that matter are the

two times Duke and North Carolina square But in basketball, a coach can prepare his off. These fans like the one-loss-and-done players for the schedule and layout of the aspect of college football’s regular season post-season. The NCAA tournament sched(though LSU tossed a monkey wrench in ule - playing a game on either Thursday or that theory) and the basketball tournament.

Friday with the winner advancing to play a The problem with this thinking is that it game either Saturday or Sunday - is easily simply isn’t true. Despite the differences in duplicated in the regular season by playing how they determine a champion, the games two games in three nights. This schedule is played in the regular season are important not easy for any team, but the mental and in both college basketball physical grind it takes is as well as football. The 25 worth it in terms of exDespite differences perience. Because come or so contests that each school plays before March March, no team wants to in how they help their position in the be put in an unfamiliar determine a tournament, both in terms situation. champion, games of seed and location. ReguAlong those same lar season action also prelines, no team wants to played in the pares a team for the postbe matched up against an regular season are opponent in the tournaseason schedule and the different styles of play they important in both ment that runs a style of may see. And, of course, offense or defense that basketball as well is different or unusual. the regular season games give fans a better chance Going all season against as football. to understand a squad’s teams that play simple strengths and weaknesses man-to-man D won’t be - which helps us fill out our tournament much help to a school if in the first round brackets in March. One loss may not end of the NCAA’s they are matched up with a a season, but it can play a huge role in a squad like Syracuse, and their famous 2-3 school’s overall success. zone defense. Same goes for a squad used Because college basketball actually has to guarding a motion offense when they are a post-season that crowns the best team on matched up against North Carolina’s secthe court - as opposed to the best teams ondary fast break attack. Coaches prepare in the polls - the regular season is used to for the unknown of March by facing all diforganize and evaluate who the best teams ferent varieties of teams in non-conference are. This translates to the seeding for the play, a luxury that college football teams do tournament, as well as the location of the not have. games played. For example if the University A great example of this was last March, of North Carolina - who was the number when USC faced off against Texas in the one team until their loss to Maryland second round of the tournament. Most continues to do well in the regular season, people thought the Longhorns would win they might never have to leave their home easily, because they had the National Player state to go to the Final Four. With first- and of the Year in freshman Kevan Durant and it second-round games scheduled to be played was assumed there was nobody out there, or in Raleigh, and regional semifinal and final at least not a five seed like USC, who could games set for Charlotte, the Tar Heels could stop him. But the Trojans knew how to hanbe given a number one seed and a tremendle a guy like Durant. Earlier in the season dous reward for their regular season success. they had faced - and lost to - the University Another importance of the regular seaof Kansas, a squad with tremendous depth. son is preparation for the tournament. In a The Trojans figured out after that game that normal football schedule, a team plays every team play is much tougher to stop than just Saturday during the regular season followed one guy. So they let Durant get his stats - he by a month or longer layoff before their bowl finished the game with 30 points and nine game. This often leads to rust, with players rebounds - and limited everybody else on so used to a normal routine and then having the Longhorns roster. The other Texas playeverything shift around. ers shot a combined 13 for 40 (33%) and

Why are the Bulls not going after Jason Kidd?

S

By Graydon Gordian

ince Jason Kidd’s recent announcement that he wants out of New Jersey, several teams have tried to barter for the man who may still be, despite his age, the best pure passer in the NBA. Like the big three in Boston, Kidd’s veteran status may be making him increasingly hunger for the ring that has eluded him all these years. A brilliant ball distributor who is both wise and hungry for a championship? If I had to offer a prescription for what is presently ailing the Bulls, this would be it. But for some reason the Bulls seems to be nowhere near the trade rumors surrounding Kidd. Certainly there is the lingering sting of paying way too much money for Ben Wallace, a hungry veteran who has won NBA championships, and the fear that Kidd would merely be one more overpriced aging superstar isn’t entirely misguided, but it also isn’t the whole picture.

From an offensive standpoint, the Bulls are just shy of a total mess.

Every time Hinrich brings the ball up the floor, he neither looks as if he knows what he is about to do, nor what the other players should do. He is not, nor may he ever be, an effective distributor. Although based on his passing options, how can you blame him?

Nocioni, however much he wishes he could, cannot consistently create his own shot. The phrase “create my own shot” has never been spoken by Ben Gordon, or at least shouldn’t

be, as every time he chooses not to catch and shoot but instead puts the ball on the hardwood, my heart skips a beat. And Deng, however much I would love for him to be the future of this franchise, has not been playing with the same hunger he showed against the Heat and the Pistons in the playoffs last year.

Kidd genuinely could change all that.

Kidd’s ability to slash from the top of the key would open up the outside shooting game considerably, as well as make post defenders stay in the paint rather than float outside to protect against the mid-range jumper. I mean, why would they stay home now, in order to defend against the offensive juggernaut that is Ben Wallace? Obviously Kidd, at age 34, is not going to be the centerpiece of Bulls basketball for the next decade. But if you are looking to get a few solid, playoff bound years out of a group of very talented but disorganized and leaderless young ballplayers, Kidd may be just the man to do it. And with a decently deep front-court (an area that the Nets, as evidence by their most recent trade with Memphis, are looking to develop) it may be possible to actually make it happen while not completely pillaging the back-court.

And who knows, maybe Kidd’s miraculous court vision will rub off on Hinrich and he’ll suddenly see the cutter as opposed to just stand there with that empty corn –fed Kansas look on his face.

From an offensive standpoint, the Bulls are just shy of a total mess.

USC won easily, 87-68.

That game didn’t help my bracket, considering I had the Longhorns penciled in all the way to the elite eight last March, but my picks were helped plenty by watching regular season action. Following the sport all winter informs a fan on who the best players and teams are and why certain teams do or don’t match up well with others. For example, if Georgetown was set to play Massachusetts in the NCAA tournament this upcoming March, my guess is that most folks would take the Hoyas. GU has been a top-ten team all season, they have tremendous depth, and were in the Final Four just last year. But if you’ve been paying attention, you’d know they have trouble against teams that get to the free throw line.

In G-Town’s two losses, at Memphis and at Pittsburgh, their opponents made a combined 39 free throws, 16 more than the Hoyas did in those two game. In a third game, a three-point win at home over UConn, the Huskies scored 18 points at the charity stripe, again more than Georgetown did. Massachusetts is seventh in the nation at free throws attempted this season, with 447, almost 200 more than G-Town has. I’m not saying that the Minutemen would necessarily defeat GU, but that wide differential in free throws would definitely be something to consider before filling out a bracket - and something you wouldn’t necessarily know unless you followed college basketball’s regular season.

If the BCS determined a champion of college basketball, schools would follow the formula that has worked in football: play bad teams in the non-conference at home, win your league, and hope the teams ahead of you in the polls lose. But thankfully, college hoops has a better way of crowing the best in the land. The long and grueling regular season followed by the NCAA tournament means teams have to be consistently good throughout, then get hot at the end. Getting a better seed or tournament location, scouting different types of teams and preparing fans for the tournament all are important aspects of the basketball played between November and February.

They are also the reasons that the fans who say college hoops is only good come tournament time have no clue what they’re talking about.

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Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Page 7

College sports thrive outside the shadow of Chicago

by Jon

Kerr

A

s a lifelong Chicagoan, it’s rare that I walk in anywhere in Milwaukee and say: “Why can’t we have this?”

As I turned to my buddy Owen and uttered these words, we had just finished a treacherous climb into our seats, high above the court at the Bradley Center. The event?

Marquette was hosting DePaul in men’s college hoops.

As I surveyed the arena – layered with yellow t-shirts worn by the boisterous student body, showcasing their allegiance to the top 25 program- I was reminded why I love college basketball. But I also thought how cool it would be if, rather than drive 90 miles north, I could just hop on the red line and

experience the same joy.

DePaul is a brand name program in college basketball circles. This mainly due to the run of success by the late Ray Meyer, a coach whom over a coaching career that spanned over 4 decades, led the Blue Demons to 21 post season tournaments and two Final Fours. A laundry list of coaches- Ray’s son Joey Meyer, Pat Kennedy, Dave Leito, have come and gone since Meyer stepped down in 1984. Under these men, the program has muddled along, with periodic runs of success, but nothing sustained. The current coach is a guy named Jerry Wainwright.

When I googled him, at least he’s the first Jerry Wainwright that came up.

Compared to the hyperkinetic Marquette coach Tom Crean, Wainwright makes Lovie Smith look animated. But that should not

be an indication of his aptitude as a coach.

Under Wainwright, the Blue Demons are building momentum- coming close to an NCAA bid last season- while entering this game in the top half of the Big East conference. Led by a Chicago product, 6-10 freshman Mac Koshwal, the Demons were down just 2 at the break. Koshwal is a skilled big man whose gritty paint play our city’s pro team could use an injection of. Although Marquette pulled away in the 2nd half, eventually winning by an 8 point margin, this is a DePaul team where 2 of its top 3 scorers are freshman. We always see potential in our children, don’t we? And with a rare dry spell in our city’s sports calendar- this caused by the Bulls unexpected fall from grace- this is a team Chicago would embrace. If only we knew who they were.

Because we live in a city of the Bears, Cubs, Sox and Bulls, college sports are treated like the opening band at a U2 concert- a necessary nuisance. Because DePaul has been unable to build an on-campus arena in Lincoln Park, forcing them to play their home games in Rosemont- a commute only the most ardent hoops fans find tolerable- these Blue Demons are relegated to obscurity.

So as I stood in the 400 level (even these were double face value), soaking in one last collective cheer from the 19-thousand plus Marquette faithful, I thought of how cool it would be to have this in Chicago. Then I thought- ‘hey, so what if no one else back home appreciates this? At least I do.’

And pitchers and catchers report in just a few short weeks.

spread plus defend against the run.

This continuing cat-and-mouse game between offense and defense effectively made the running quarterback extinct. In his place came the statuesque signal caller who could stand in the pocket with defenders flying around them and wait patiently for a receiver to come open. The famed quarterbacks of this era were Otto Graham, John Unitas, and Y.A. Tittle. While Graham was a reformed single-wing quarterback, the other two were of this new mold of passer who could make every throw and mix the run and the pass in their play-calling with requisite aplomb.

Since 1953 the drop back passer, or pocket passer, has persisted as the prototype for all NFL quarterbacks.

Here, a question relative to Vince Young needs to be asked and answered: What role does the black quarterback play since pro football began to evolve into what it is today?

First, a myth needs to be broken. Outside of Marlon Briscoe, who played quarterback one year - 1968 - for the AFL Denver Broncos, black men who played quarterback in the NFL or the AFL did not hit the ground scrambling. James Harris, Joe Gilliam, Doug Williams, and Warren Moon, the first four black quarterbacks in the NFL were all pocket passers.

Other black quarterbacks who played in the NFL during this period mostly filled backup roles. They included: John Jones from Fisk University (New York Jets - 1975), Carlos Brown (Green Bay 1975 - 1976), Parnell Dickinson from Mississippi Valley State (Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976), Dave Mays from Texas Southern (Cleveland Browns 1976- 1977 and Buffalo Bills 1978), John Walton from Elizabeth City (Philadelphia Eagles 1976 - 1979), and Vince Evans from USC (Chicago 1978-1983). These quarterbacks too were known more for their

skills in the pocket than for their ability to scramble.

Then came Randall Cunningham. And with him came the myth that persists today.

It is important to note that the omission of Cunningham from the Hall of Fame is as close to a criminal offense as can be committed by the journalists with votes. In NFL history only Jim Brown, Y.A. Tittle, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, and Randall Cunningham have won three MVP awards and other than Favre who will be, all but Cunningham are in the Hall of Fame. And no player other than Cunningham, who won the MVP award in 1988, 1990, and 1998 has, won the award eight years from his previous honor.

Between 1987 and 1990 Cunningham averaged more than 3,000 in passing yards and 24 touchdown passes per season. But he also led the Eagles in rushing in 1987 and 1990. In 1990 Cunningham passed for 3413 yards and tossed 34 TDs. He also rushed for 942 yards, at the time the second-most for a quarterback in NFL history (Bobby Douglass ran for 968 yards in 1968). He led the NFL in passing and was ninth in the league in rushing. No quarterback has before or since had a season like that of Cunningham’s in 1990. Randall Cunningham’s receivers that year? Calvin Williams and Fred Barnett.

His tight end was Keith Jackson. The Philadelphia Eagles leading receiver in 1990 was running back Keith Byars with 81 receptions for 819 yards. Jackson was the team’s second-leading receiver with 50 receptions.

Williams caught 37 passes, while Barnett caught 36.

Cunningham retired due to injuries after the 1995 season but was called on by the Minnesota Vikings to join their team midway through the 1997 season. In 1998 Cunningham was elevated to the starting role for the Vikes. For the first time in his career Cunningham had stars at wide receiver in Hall of Famer Chris Carter and

prolific rookie Randy Moss. However, by this time in his career, Cunningham was a pocket passer only. He responded by throwing for 3704 yards, 34 touchdowns to only 10 interceptions, with an astounding passer rating of 106. The Vikings’ record was 15-1 and but were upset by the Atlanta Falcons in overtime in the NFC championship game.

Despite his unprecedented ability to control a football game with his arm or his feet, Randall Cunningham the runner is the player who is selectively entrenched in the memory of football fans and football writers across the country. The “problem” with Cunningham, in the opinion of most football writers, appears to be that he never led a team to the Super Bowl and obviously, never won a Super Bowl.

What is saddest about the Cunningham saga is that while Randall dominated the highlights, his contemporary, Warren Moon, a classic drop-back passer, was putting up monster numbers with solid, but not exceptional receivers in Houston. Moon and his team, like the Eagles with Cunningham, was known to be a good to great regular season team but a team that never was able to get over the hump. And in this time of quarterbacks receiving too much credit for wins and too much responsibility for losses, Moon and Cunningham were forced to quietly endure “choker” labels despite leading teams that had fatal flaws that were perennially exposed come playoff time.

In the end, though, Moon’s numbers could not be ignored and he was voted into the Hall of Fame. But because there was an inordinate emphasis - and extreme bias - placed on Cunningham’s running ability, Cunningham’s importance to the history of the game he will more than never receive his due - and never be placed alongside other quarterbacks of legend in the Hall.

The Black Quarterback: Running from the Devil

BY D.K. Wilson

T

his is an article that has been on my mind for some time. The subject matter originally was Vince Young and race. You know, black quarterback who, in college is a star - make that super nova. But everyone can see that his mechanics are not those of the “prototypical” QB. In the pros he has a great year and appears to be on the verge of revolutionizing the NFL game.

Then, when defensive coordinators begin to understand the weaknesses of this quarterback, the following season his stats drop. He can never quite do enough to satisfy his fan base. He walks around the practice field with a tee-shirt that reads, “I am a quarterback,” as if that will justify his existence; something you would never see his white peers do.

I read LZ Granderson’s article a while back on VY and thought, okay, this is a great starting point. But there is more to this story than can be said in a column. And there’s more to the picture of Vince Young and the running quarterback than meets the eye.

In the 1950’s pro offenses mimicked famed Oklahoma head coach Bud Wilkinson’s split-T offense, where the quarterback was flanked by a halfback and a fullback.

However, by 1953 the spread offense arose to take advantage of the Greasy Neal-inspired “Eagle Defense” or the “61”, which is the precursor to the modern Cover-2 or Tampa-2 defense. The spread and the spread with a slot receiver were designed to take advantage of the downfield gap in the 61.

This offense required the quarterback to be able to throw accurate passes down the hash marks - seams - of the field. Paul Brown adopted this offense and when his Cleveland Browns became a National Football League team, they dominated the league for five years before defensive coaches developed the 4-3 defense to cover downfield gaps in the

The Black Quarterback: Running from the Devil - part 2

BY D.K. Wilson

R

andall Cunningham’s presence in the NFL did not influence offensive coordinators to want to suddenly begin actively seeking out dual-threat quarterbacks. In fact, it probably did just the opposite; if there were signal-callers in college that displayed this ability they were more than likely actively shunned.

The NFL, despite being the pinnacle of the game, is the place where the fewest football innovations take place, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. The last real innovation in the pros was actually a carry-over from college. It was June Jones’ run-and-shoot offense. Not the run-andshoot that was more a spread offense of the Warren Moon Houston Oilers, but the real deal was run in Atlanta at the behest of head coach Jerry Glanville. And you see where Glanville and Jones are - not the NFL to be sure. And they will probably never again

collect an NFL paycheck. Additionally, there was the cousin of the run-and-shoot, Steve Spurrier’s “fun-and-gun” offense he brought from the University of Florida to the Washington Redskins in 2002; you see how far that got him.

What the NFL is, is a copycat league.

Every wrinkle, every nuance that produces positive results is copied and subsumed into every offense or defense in the NFL within a year. But to attempt something revolutionary or even remotely close to game-altering is a no-no. Remember, there are but 32 head coach positions and 32 offensive coordinator positions in the NFL. Now, if you’re an offensive coordinator on a team and you somehow manage to convince a head coach to run an offense that is not an offshoot of the Paul Brown-Sid Gillman tree, or the Bill Walsh tree and it fails, you can expect to be summarily fired and your highest position with an NFL team from that moment forward might be an advance scout of college talent

scout; you’re like an assistant principal in an elementary school - relatively inconsequential and that replaceable.

Where the Cunningham myth made its biggest impression was in the collegiate ranks. For the first time young black boys were growing up with a dynamic leader at quarterback. Randall was Jordan-esque to black high school quarterbacks. They saw the highlights on ESPN. He could run, pass, jump - do everything but dribble and dunk.

College coaches saw this, too.

NCAA teams ran the veer and the option offenses which required mobile QBs who could both run and throw. But both offenses were run-oriented where the element of surprise was often a pass. Nebraska, under Tom Osborne, for instance, would run 40to-50 times a game, throw perhaps 15 passes all day and win by an obscene margin. The thought of finding “the next” Randall Cunningham, though, meant unpredictability and flexibility in a game plan. Having the

ability to call 40 running plays and 20 or 25 passes changed the tenor of a college game for a coach and his offensive coordinator.

While Cunningham was plying his trade in the NFL, college teams that just two recruiting classes earlier had no capability to make up a fourth quarter deficit were able to throw the ball to take advantage of the college rule where the clock stops after every first down, thus stretching the final minutes of a game to an almost indeterminate amount of time. No-huddle offenses in the final two minutes of a half and a game became viable options rather thzan desperate measures with scatter-armed quarterbacks with mostly bleak outcomes.

In 1989 as a junior, Andre Ware set the table for black college quarterbacks known for their arms as well as their legs when he won the Heisman Trophy while at the University of Houston. Ware played in the pass Please See Wilson on Page 10

Page 8

Monday Feb

St. Louis Blues goalie Manny Legace (34) makes glove save, robbing Chicago Blackhawks center Robert Lang (20) of a sure goal during play at the United Center in Chicago. The Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jordan Hendry (42) chases down St. Louis Blues center Andy McDonald (10).

Chicago Blackhawks left wing Rene Bourque (12) digs in the corner with St. Louis Blues defenseman Bryce Salvador (27)

b.

Page 9

11, 2008

Chicago Blackhawksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Duncan Keith (2) chases downs St. Louis Blues left wing Paul Kariya (9) during play at the United Center in Chicago.

beat the Blues 6-1.

I

Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Sharp (10) makes a break on St. Louis Blues goalie Manny Legace (34) and ends up in the net.Legace was injured on the play, but Sharp escaped unscathed.

mages ce

from the

January 17, 2008 Blackhawks 6 Blues 1

CSR Photos

by

Dennis Wierzbicki

St. Louis Blues defenseman Eric Brewer (4) in an NHL match between the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues, won by Chicago 6-1.

Page 10

Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Wilson: NFL’s quarterback double standard

Wilson continued from Page 7

happy run-and-shoot offense and threw for 4,699 yards and 43 touchdowns.

That year, 1989, was the first time black QBs proliferated at Division I schools. The following quarterbacks played for top college programs: Major Harris, University of West Virginia; Reggie Slack, a junior at Auburn University; Ronald Veal, a junior at the University of Arizona; Quinn Grovey, a junior at the University of Arkansas; Darian Hagan, a sophomore at the University of Colorado; Travis Hunter, a senior at East Carolina University; Charles Price, a sophomore at the University of Nevada Las Vegas; Phil Vinson, a senior at New Mexico State University; Anthony Thornton, a junior at Ohio University; Shawn Moore, a junior at the University of Virginia, and Lionell Crawford, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin. And at the University of Michigan Demetrius Brown and Michael Taylor competed for the starting job.

Four years later in 1993 under Bobby Bowden, Charlie Ward won the Heisman Trophy and brought Florida State its first national championship.

However, between the professional debut of Cunningham and the non-debut of Ward was the dream postseason of the Washington Redskins’ Doug Williams, which culminated in a decisive Super Bowl XXII win over the Denver Broncos. Williams was not a scrambler. Like the black quarterbacks before him from black colleges and universities, Williams, a Grambling University graduate, was a drop-back passer. By the time Super Bowl XXII was played, Williams’ knees were shot so any movement he might have had in his days in the United States

Football League (USFL) or with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was long gone.

While Division I schools across the country were scouring high schools for the next Randall Cunningham, these same schools were actively eschewing black dropback passers. We will never know how many classic black high school signal-callers had to change position to play big-time college football, or were passed by these same schools altogether. Despite Ward’s double dip of winning a national championship and a Heisman Trophy he was not drafted by an NFL team. Though the public complaint was that Ward was “too small” to play quarterback in the NFL, the common talk was that Ward was a product of Bowden’s system and left to his own devices, was not a facile enough decision-maker to play in the pros. Though Bowden lobbied loudly for his quarterback, no NFL GMs listened. Instead Ward, also the FSU starting point guard, had a long career as an NBA point guard.

Ward’s plight was an oft-repeated in the 1990s: outstanding black starting quarterback receives not a sniff from a NFL team.

In the rare instances when black collegiate quarterbacks got a look from the NFL, it was invariably a quick one. “Blacks get two types of opportunities to play quarterback in the NFL,” said James Harris in 1974, when he was the lone black NFL starting quarterback, playing for the Los Angeles Rams, “a chance and a ‘nigger’ chance.” When they didn’t become stars overnight - and quarterbacks rarely do, black or white - there was always talk of shifting them to positions where their “natural athleticism” would serve “them” better. This blatant racism is nearly laughable. NFL people would be quick to point out the plight of 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch. The former Nebraska quarterback was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft as a wide receiver. After one good hit Crouch refused to play any more

receiver. As a result he kicked around the NFL and the Canadian Football League and at 29 is no longer playing football.

However, one Eric Crouch does not in any way make up for the legion of talented black quarterbacks shunned by the NFL. It is not as if the league doesn’t want most of these football players but that is exactly the point. They are wanted. As football players, not quarterbacks. The only way NFL offensive coordinators appear to want to traverse outside of the templates of offensive styles set up for them is when they have that rare athlete on their rosters who can both spearhead their offense and simultaneously be subservient within it. Unfortunately for these coordinators this is a rare occurrence as most black college quarterbacks enter the pros resigned to the fact that they must earn their pay at a position other than quarterback.

But there was one college QB whose hunger to be a signal-caller on the highest level made him willing to do anything for the chance and another with similar abilities who would only be known as a quarterback.

Steve McNair from tiny Alcorn State University was a legend far before he was an NFL reality. A four-sport star in high school, McNair was pursued by the Seattle Mariners in 1990 at age 17. That year as a safety he intercepted 15 passes and was a high school All-American at that position.

Major colleges including Florida State wanted McNair - as a safety. McNair, though, was set on playing quarterback and settled on the one school that would allow him to be its signal-caller, Alcorn St. By the time he was a junior at Alcorn he had the nickname of “Air McNair” and all thoughts of him as a safety disappeared. When his college career ended McNair passed and ran for almost 6,000 yards and 53 touchdowns.

In the 1994 Senior Bowl McNair stood out among his peers on and off the field to the point where the Houston Oilers made him

the third pick in the 1995 NFL Draft.

From there, McNair’s career arc is well known. Early in his career the task of Oilers-turned Tennessee Titans head coach, Jeff Fisher, was to keep McNair from scrambling when his first option was covered. As his career continued, the chore became to get McNair to run when his passing options were closed. Steve “Air” McNair led the Titans to within one yard of tying the St. Louis Rams on the final play of the 2000 Super Bowl. Along the way McNair and the Titans defeated the Indianapolis Colts - 19-16 - and their celebrated quarterback, Peyton Manning.

Since then, McNair has been battered to the point where, after 12 years, his career may be over. It is said that he is a warrior, but one who never quite lived up to his potential.

The quintessential example of the treatment of black quarterbacks in the NFL, though, is that of Kordell Stewart. The former Colorado University star quarterback was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1995. He was given the nickname “Slash”

by Myron Cope, ex-radio announcer for the Steelers because he was relegated by head coach Bill Cowher to lining up mainly at wide receiver and running back and occasionally quarterback.

The result of this alleged innovative move with Stewart by Cowher resulted in Stewart quickly became a dabbler at many positions and master of none. And yet, despite leading the Steelers to the AFC Championship game, Kordell Stewart became a clown-like, novelty figure in Pittsburgh, neither team leader nor valued skill position player. He ultimately fell out of favor with the Pittsburgh football media and more importantly head coach Bill Cowher, and was released by the Steelers in 2003.

2003 was the same season Bryon Leftwich of Marshall University was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Danoff: Depsite dismal season Bulls still in playoff hunt Danoff continued from Page 2

JOHN RACANELLI 555 E. South Frontage Rd. Bolingbrook, IL 60440 Tel: (630) 739-4330

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plays at, is a convenient statistic appropriately called: pace factor. Basketball-Reference. com (1) defines pace as follows: “Pace factor is an estimate of the number of possessions per 48 minutes by a team.”

Simple enough? For teams with established offensive stars such as the Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs or Detroit Pistons, having a high pace factor to score is not necessary. All of those teams have more than enough offensive options to have success in tradition half-court sets.

For teams without those stars, like say the Golden State Warriors, pace becomes more important. The Warriors are 3rd overall in the NBA in pace at 96.9, while the Bulls are 13th at 90.7. Accordingly, the Warriors score a lot more than the Bulls do with an offensive rating of 111.9, compared to the Bulls at 103.4. Offensive rating is a team measure of the number of points scored per 100 possessions.

Baron Davis is clearly a better offensive weapon than anyone on the Bulls. That said, as a top scoring trio, are Davis, Jackson and Ellis really that much better than Hinrich, Gordon and Deng?

And even if they are better, are they eight points per game better? No. The difference is, the Warriors play at one of the highest paces in the NBA, and as a result, get more chances for their best players to score. It follows that if the Bulls created more scoring opportunities, then the overall number of points scored by them would also increase.

As I wrote earlier, the weird part is that the Bulls are playing slower now than they have since they started making the playoffs in the ’04 – ’05 season. Below is a graph of chart and a couple other related statistics.

Each of the past few years when the Bulls have made the playoffs, they have played at one of the top-ten paces in the league. They

have also played better defense, but that is something that is more of a lack of effort than a system failure. For whatever reason, this year’s Bulls team does not have the defensive pride that past teams have had. \While a switch of philosophies would not improve their defense, I strongly feel it would vastly improve their poor offense.

Even if this current group of players will never be the Phoenix Suns offensively, they are definitely better than they have shown so far this year.

At the end of the day, in spite of everything that has gone wrong this season, the team still has hope. Currently, the Bulls are still only a game and a half out of the playoffs. There really is no reason they could not work their way into the top six records in the East, maybe even up to number five. If the Bulls are going to make a playoff “run,” however, it has to start with some on-court running.

•

Like Wallace, though, one thing all of those guys can do, is run. There is no reason Deng or Noce could not beat their men down the floor, especially if Noce is at the 4.

The same goes for Smith and the diminutive backcourt. If Gordon and Hinrich were not at the least quicker than most other NBA guards, they would never have even made it to the league.

Get out and run boys!

As soon as a Bulls defender gathers a defensive rebound, the other four players should already be near the half-court line.

One to two passes later, the ball should be in the hands of a player crashing to the hoop.

This should result in a layup or dunk.

Taking short shots like those would immediately improve the team’s field goal percentage. In addition, opposing defenses would be forced more often to foul running Bulls players, forcing them to go to the line.

Lack of free throws attempted is another huge weakness for this team offensively.

Picking up the pace then, would reduce the number of jump shots taken and replace them with lay-ups and free throws. Seems pretty easy, no?

I realize this has been a relatively simplified way to look at what the Bulls’ offensive problems have been and how easily a new system could work. That said, I still feel it is the correct analysis. Plenty of teams in the NBA use a run and gun type system for offensive success, and there is no reason, with their current personnel, that Chicago could not as well.

The weirdest part of all of this, is that playing faster is something the Bulls have previously used for success. Maybe past teams did not play quite the breakneck fastbreak style offense I am recommending, but they did play faster than this year’s team.

The best way to measure the pace a team

Def. Rating Rank Diff. Win % 105.8 14 -3.0 41.03% 99.6 1 5.3 59.76% 103.4 7 0.6 50.00% 100.3 2 1.1 57.32%

S A L E S

What I am trying to say, is that if you lined up all the starting centers of the NBA for a 100-yard dash, I think Wallace would finish in the top ten. He would unquestionably leave Chris Kaman, Yao Ming, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the dust.

Logically, then, the best way to maximize Wallace’s ability is by getting him to run the floor. In a fast-break style offense, I bet the Bulls could get 3-5 easy baskets a game for the big man as he would beat his opposing center down the floor for an easy dunk.

Will this make Wallace an All-Star or even an average offensive big man?

No. But that is not the point. There is no magic potion that will turn Wallace into something he has not ever been in the past.

Especially, considering, he simply seems not to care about his deficiencies. If he did, he would spend every off-season working as hard as humanly possible to improve upon them. There is no way, over the course of 12 NBA off-seasons, that he could not at least develop one frigging post move.

But I digress. Running Wallace down the floor ahead of his center counterpart would turn a completely worthless offensive piece into a slightly less worthless offensive piece. Sad as that may be, it would make a big difference for this Bulls team.

Moving on from Big Ben, the rest of the roster would also benefit from such a switch.

All of the Bulls top scorers: Gordon, Deng, Hinrich, Nocioni and even Joe Smith are jump-shooters. There is nothing wrong with that, it’s just that shooting from 10 feet and beyond away from the basket over an opposing defender is just about the hardest way to score in basketball.

Within the way the Bulls have been doing things this season, almost every shot these guys have put up has been a hard one.

Having Hinrich methodically bring the ball up the floor and work it around with these guys, using screens or movement to get the best jump shot has led the Bulls to their current sorry offensive state.

Season Pace Factor Rank Off. Rating Rank 2007-08 94.3 13 102.8 25 2006-07 96.0 6 104.9 21 2005-06 95.7 5 104.0 23 2004-05 95.1 10 101.4 26

Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Page 11

Can the United Center Bulls Learn from LaSalle Street’s Bulls? by

I

Charlie Danoff

feel the craziness going on in the financial markets is an excellent metaphor for what is happening with the Bulls. This subprime mess was caused by lenders not accuaretly understanding the true value of the loans they were giving out. The lenders thought the thousands they loaned out today would be millions in a few years. Turned out those thousands they loaned yesterday are probably worth zero in a lot of cases today.

Similarly, heading into the year GM John Paxson thought he had a team that could contend for the Eastern crown.

Turns out his team will probably miss the playoffs.

I got the inspiration for this column (a) reading an article about one of the best GM’s in sports: Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics. What separates Beane is his ability to get the most wins out of a limited payroll. Over most of this millennium he has competed with the Angels, Yankees and Red Sox of the world spending millions less than them.

“I got off the plane from the winter meetings, I said to David, `Who are we kidding?” Beane said. “We can’t let hope be our strategy here. That’s what we’re doing. ... We can’t waste another year. If this needs to be done, it needs to be done …”

“Our status quo as we stood going into the season was mediocrity at best,” Beane said. “That’s my opinion. If anything we’re taking a step back with the idea we have a chance to build something very good for a long time. ... The cost of indecision for us probably would be a bigger mistake.”

The Bulls are in the same place as Beane’s A’s. They just do not have the current talent or young propects in the works to compete in the current NBA. It is time to give up and rebuild. Trying to salvage a few years of making the playoffs would be a “bigger mistake.”

To understand why I think it is time for the Bulls to give up on the majority of their current roster and start over, I will take a completely subjective look at the assets of all the teams in the NBA relative to the Bulls.

The time frame will be from today through the next two NBA seasons. That is to say, I

will divide the NBA’s teams into three categories: better assets, same assets and worse assets. All of those categories will be relative to the bulls. For example, the Boston Celtics are in the first category: better assets than the Bulls. That means, I think the Boston Celtics have better assets today and they will continue to have better assets until the 2010 – 11 season.

Any teams in the better assets category have a superior chance of winning the NBA title than the Bulls for the defined time period. Teams with worse assets have less of chance for the Title than Chicago. You can probably figure out what I want to say with the same assets by these distinctions.

OK, that probably made no sense, but here I go:

Bulls Basketball Beat

Better Assets than Chicago:

ATLANTIC •Boston – KG, Pierce, Allen and Rondo will be a top five point guard within two years.

•Toronto – Bosh and Bargnani both better than any Bulls players.

CENTRAL •Detroit – Will probably win the East this year … something the Bulls were supposed to do.

•Cleveland – Lebron James.

SOUTHEAST •Orlando – Dwight Howard.

•Atlanta – Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Al Horford form a better nucleus and are already winning more.

•Miami – Dwayne Wade.

NORTHWEST •Portland – They are already better than the bulls without the 2007 #1 overall pick.

•Denver – Carmelo Anthony.

•Utah – Nearly won the West last year.

•Seattle – Kevan Durant.

PACIFIC •Phoenix – Could win it all this year.

•L.A. Lakers – Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum = ironic Shaq and

Kobe of years past.

•Golden State – Playing better today and that’s without a mature Andris Biedrins or Brandin Wright.

SOUTHWEST •Dallas – 67 wins last year.

•San Antonio – You know why.

•New Orleans – Chris Paul.

•Houston – Yao. •Memphis – There’s a reason the Bulls are rumored to be giving up a lot of their roster for Pau Gasol and they also have Rudy Gay and Mike Conley.

Relative same level of assets: Philadelphia, Indiana, Milwaukee, Washington, Charlotte, Sacramento, LA Clippers Worse assets: New Jersey, New York, Minnesota I acknowledge my prior categorization was highly subjective, extremely difficult to prove and very easy to argue with. Nevertheless, I feel that most fans would agree the Bulls rank at best in the middle of the pack.

For a slightly less subjective way to compare what the Bulls have I borrowed a financial statistic used to evaluate stocks: ROA (1). Return on Assets measures “how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earnings.” The math can is: ROA = (Net Income) / (Total Assets) More or less what this number tells you is what money a company generates from their company. For the purposes of the NBA I have slightly altered the stat. The acronym will remain the same, but the math is slightly different: ROA = (Wins) / (Payroll) This number will tell fans how many wins a team gets for the money they invest in their players. While no one statistic is good enough to completely explain anything, I feel this number is a quick and dirty way to get a good idea of what NBA teams get for the money they pay. Below is a list of every team in the NBA’s ROA. As a quick note, the NBA’s luxury tax this season is set at: 67.85 million (2).

Even if you do feel the Bulls have underachieved this season (which I do as well) this is still an extremely un-optimistic stat.

Despite having a payroll only 4 million away from the luxury tax, the Bulls have the 23rd worst ROA. For every million the Bulls spend on pay-

roll, 22 NBA teams get more wins out of the same one million spent.

While I agree a more through overall analysis could be done to more precisely Team Wins Payroll* Detroit 27 65 Orlando 23 58 Boston 29 74 N.O. 23 63 Phoenix 25 71 Utah 20 59 Lakers 23 68 San 23 69 G.S. 20 65 Portland 22 73 Atlanta 16 54 Toronto 18 62 Denver 21 79 N.J. 18 68 Houston 19 73 Dallas 24 93 Wash.

17 67 Charlotte 13 52 Indiana 16 66 Mil. 15 62 Cleveland 18 76 Sac. 14 63 Chicago 13 63 Phila.

14 71 Memphis 10 55 Clippers 10 64 Seattle 9 63 Miami 8 72 New York 9 88 Minnesota 5 68

ROA Rank 42% 1 40% 2 39% 3 37% 4 35% 5 34% 6 34% 7 33% 8 31% 9 30% 10 30% 11 29% 12 27% 13 26% 14 26% 15 26% 16 25% 17 25% 18 24% 19 24% 20 24% 21 22% 22 21% 23 20% 24 18% 25 16% 26 14% 27 11% 28 10% 29 7% 30 *in millions

value their roster relative to the rest of the NBA could be done, I do not feel it is really necessary. It is hard to argue that despite the hope coming into this year the Bulls are at best a middle of the road team.

Given they are not going to have much money to spend on free agents, especially if we keep the current core exactly intact and resign Gordon and Deng, bringing a top level star in with a new contract simply will not happen. Furthermore given the Bulls are just good enough to stay in the playoff hunt and maybe get the 6-8 seed or only be a few games out, they will not get a game changing draft pick for the foreseeable future.

Basically, unless moves are made the roster you see today is the roster you will see in the future.

While it pains me to say this … I’m sorry Mr. Reinsdorf, but that simply will not cut it.

Trades need to be made and NOW. I feel the longer the Bulls current parts stay together they will only get worse. Jim Boylan is not the answer. A puppet coach controlled by GM John Paxson is also not the answer. It is beyond the time where fans can acceptably sit back and wait for Hinrich and Wallace to “get better.”

So what’s to do? Trade everyone, save: Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.

Aaron Gray and Duhon can stay because they barely make anything and are worth more than their salaries. Gordon could stay, though he is less of a priority than the first three.

Everyone else? Dump ‘em. Move them right now. Maybe a Ben Wallace trade to the LA Lakers for Kwame Brown’s expiring contract? How about Hinrich to the Heat for Jason Williams and Ricky Davis? Both their deals come off the cap next year.

I realize moving players Paxson has put so much faith and effort into will be difficult. The hardest thing for anyone to do is admit they have made the wrong choices in the past and now it is time to cut their losses and move in a different direction.

The only thing harder is continuing down that wrong path.

The Bulls still do have the quality to get a lot of high draft picks and young talent back in trades. Combine that with the cap room which will come and use that wisely on free agents and within a two to three years there is no reason the Bulls can not have a young championship contender in the works.

Ultimately, I think what I may have come to is when building a team the best thing you can do is wait to start spending money until you have that one star: the Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan type player. Once you have that, building the rest of the team is not so hard.

Page 12

Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Above: Matt Kenseth takes part in the Nascar preseason Thunder at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Jan. 28, 2008. Below left: Jeff Burton (left) and Clint Bowyer (right) at practice.

Nascar p r e s e a s o n

N evada p r a c t i c e in

CSR Photos

Jimmie Johnson, winner of the 2007 season in his #48 race car at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway during preseason Thunder practicing

by

Matt Bolt

Dale Earnhardt Jr., (left) and Casey Mears discuss track conditions at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Page 13

Danoff: Finding the nuances of college hockey and finding the way Continued from Page 5

equivalent of breaking somebody’s ankles in basketball.

Now facing a clear path to the net, Bendickson calmly paused a split second long enough to get the goalie to think he was going to shoot forehand short side. Accordingly, Colgate goalie Mark Dekanich got down on his knees to get flush with the post, only to have the Wisconsin sophomore glide the puck across his own body to his backhand and then into the back of the net.

Despite sitting in the 200 section, my jaw was on the ice.

Refusing to give in, Colgate’s Jesse Winchester scored four minutes later to give the Raiders the lead. In turn, star Wisconsin freshman forward Patrick Johnson scored three minutes after that to return the game to a tie. Tied it stayed for the remainder of regulation and through the first overtime.

Normally in a college game, the contest would be over at this point. Unlike the modern NHL, they do not decide their tie games by a shoot-out, each team just gets one point and goes home to kiss their sisters.

Fortunately, for the purposes of this weekend, the rules were changed so that a champion could be determined.

Officially each team got a point for the tie, but, they had a shoot-out anyway, to see who would play for Saturday’s championship.

A shoot-out involves one player getting a breakaway on the opposing goaltender, with one shot and one shot only.

Skaters get the puck at center ice and can choose between shooting to a spot to try and surprise the goalie, or deking to get him moving and then slip it past him like Bendickson did on his goal.

Sitting in my ivory tower watching over the preceedings I was dumbfounded as to why nearly every player on either side just shot in their shootout attempts. Each team had five chances to score, and neither team scored once. A few players tried deking, but the puck jumped over each of their sticks as they tried to make their moves.

I was a million miles away from ever playing this level of hockey, but I know that it is almost always better off in these situations to deke. If you go down and just shoot, it really comes down to a guessing game for you and the goalie, similar to a soccer shootout. Unlike soccer, the goalies here, especially with their huge pads, are nearly as big as the net.

Even if they guess wrong initially, good goalies usually have more than enough time to recover if they play the angles right for a single shot.

Hence the deke is better in my opinion. Think of Gordon Bombay’s famous “Triple Deke” that went off the post in Mighty Ducks I. With a deke you get the goalie to think you’re moving one way, only to be like “Oh no he didn’t” and then move the puck exactly where the goalie just was to slam it home.

I was deluding myself, chuckling about how much better I would have done in their skates.

Finally, in the second, sudden-death shoot-out, the third Colgate shooter, #9 Tyler Burton scored on a shot that slid into the one-atom thick spot between the goalie’s bicep and chest. The next Badger attempt was foiled by Dekanich and Colgate had won the game.

My ignorance was exposed once again at the post-game press conference as the Wisconsin coach and players all explained that deking was impossible, given the ice surface at

the time. Over the course of a period lots of snow builds up on the ice, which is why before NHL shootouts, they have the Zambonis do quick dry scrape to clear the way. Given the novel nature of this event for a college game, this step was not taken and dekes were impossible.

My frustrating day was finally capped off that night at the hotel bar. After getting lost, AGAIN, in the short drive from the rink to the hotel, checking in, and getting my room in order, it was nearly midnight before I wandered down to the jazz bar alone. By this time the music had stopped and the bar was filled with other weird transient guests looking for alcohol to soothe their wounds.

Not knowing anyone in town, I was hoping to find a young lady to give me a tour and maybe, if things went right, continue the tour all the way back to her room. Finding no single girls at the bar, I decided to try my luck with the cute bartender. Conversation was going fine as I increased my tips with each stiff Gimlet she served me, until I dropped the ultra-slick-in-my-head-line of, “So what does the cool hotel jazz club bartender do after last call for fun?”

“I’m gonna go home to bed.”

Disappointed, but not surprised, I left the bar alone in search of comfort food to distract me from my pathetic pickup line. I found Ian’s a late-night pizza establishment, and ordered one slice of their “gyro” pizza which featured gyro meat and French fries. Unable to stop myself once I started I brought two more with me, before passing out alone in my hotel room.

Turned out I needed all the rest I could get, Saturday …

Sometimes a Great Notion – Day 2 of the Badger Hockey Showdown by

Charlie Danoff

Madison, Wisconsin

“Truth doesn’t run on time like a commuter train, though time may run on truth.”

- Ken Kesey, “Sometimes a Great Notion

Day Two Evening Game Getting to the game itself, the stadium was packed to the brims, despite only being a consolation game. Even if winning their own tournament was out of the question the Badger players and fans certainly did not want to finish LAST. That would be like kissing a thousand of your sisters or something.

Accordingly, Wisconsin played like the #13 team in the country with a roster featuring five NHL prospects. In each of the first two periods they scored two goals to Bowling Green’s one, and they added an insurace goal in the third to coast to a 5-2 victory. While the game itself was not too close, it was fun to watch an elite team playing up to its potential. Afterwards coach Mike Eaves talked about the importance of salvaging the win for his team and using it as a building block headed into the season’s second half. Considering the dominating Badger performance, Colgate winning the game the night before was even more impressive.

OK, I tried my best to be objective, but I’m only a really pathetic human.

Aside from the action, the game’s highlights included everyone in the stadium yelling and clapping every time a score from the Patriots-Giants game was announced. I am not sure exactly what Madison residents have against Bill Belicheck and his players, but they were darn excited to hear that they were losing through the first few quarters.

The other high point occurred during an on-ice altercation. It was a case of one cheap shot after another escalating quickly, and soon all five players on both teams were at eachother’s throats. I was hoping the goalies would get into it, a la Mike Vernon and Patrick Roy from the RedwingsAvs playoff series a few years back, but neither goalie had the balls.

While this was exciting enough, what really caught my eye was the entire north end of the stadium dancing to some sort of Badger fight song. It was not just that everyone was dancing, but that all their moves were insanely synchronized.

I am talking about at least 2,000 people all moving as one. It took the cake as the most impressive display of college spirit I have seen in person. The previous holder of that title was the oscillating “Waves” at Michigan’s Big House.

After the game I was tired from a long day of hard-nosed investigative reporting. Of course, before I got home, I had to get lost driving back to my hotel through Madison’s labrynith of streets. Never mind the fact my hotel was less than a mile away and by this point I had made the drive about four times.

By the time I crawled back into my room I sat down in my lounge chair and cracked open a can of Diesel. Some-

thing dropped and I thought deeply into the early morning about how everything in life is related to circles. Ya know, a sort of WHEEL OF SMASARA OR SOMETHING. Between sips I was enacting a physical metaphor of my dancing subconscious as I twisted my Budweiser bottle round and round. I ultimately came to the conclusion that the only question that matters is: can you create a better tomorrow?

Soon afterwards I passed out, sleeping into the early afternoon again. My hopes of creating a better tomorrow took a hit when I spoke to my father as I was driving out of town around 1:30. He asked what time I expected to be home as he and my mother needed the car, after being nice enough to lend it to me the entire weekend. Let’s just say when I said I’d be home around five his response was a little more substantive than the pop-philosophical conclusion I came to the evening prior.

“Morning” (knock, knock) on the door. (knock, knock, knock) …

(KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK) “Housekeeping.”

Ughhh” from the bed.

(KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK) “Do you want your room to be cleaned?”

“Mmm … What” “DO YOU WANT YOUR ROOM CLEANED?” “Come back later” “Sir, its nearly one in the afternoon, I have already stopped by several times.”

“Come back at a more reasonable hour.”

Following my rude, cruel awakening by the staff at my hotel, I needed some early morning nutrition to get a jump on the day. I rolled over in my hotel bed and was happy to find a couple of slices of pizza left over from the night before. Chowing down on my breakfast of champions, I washed it down with some nutritious Orange-Fanta.

It took me a while to get started on the day, but once I did my first task was to finish up my twice-weekly Chicago Bulls column for the Review. Not wanting to incite the ire of my editor, I made sure to finish the piece before I left for the evening’s games. Experience has taught me that saving a piece for “later” on a Saturday night never works out as one would hope. I wrote it on new Bulls coach Jim Boylan. I felt I had to, after my previous two columns were one praising coach Scott Skiles … only to see him fired a week later, and then one chastising Bulls management for ignoring my advice.

By the time I got to the rink I was once again hungry. I knew I would need all of my energy to ensure that I was at my best to capture all the subtleties and intricacies of the night’s action. I decided a balanced meal would be best, so I chose a hot dog, coke and bucket of popcorn.

Saturday’s afternoon game was the championship of the classic, and featured the two victorious teams from the prior evening’s action: the Northeastern Huskies and the Colgate Raiders. One would not think a game in a small Midwestern city between two East Coast mid-level hockey programs would be well attended, and it was not. There literally could

not have been more than two to three hundred people in 15,000 seat Kohl Center.

Nevertheless, the show must go on. It was a low scoring affair, with Huskie sophomore and Chicago Steel alum Randy Guzior, pronounced “gooz-ee-or” striking first with 13:02 left in the first period. It was particularly bad goal for the Raiders to give up, because two minutes earlier Guzior had gotten a minor penalty for interference.

Following their unsuccessful power play, Colgate let Rob Rassey pass from the defensive zone to Guzior who had just left the box. Catching the pass behind the ‘Gate defenders, Guzior walked in alone for a breakaway. Guzior skated in all alone to beat goalie Mark Dekanich and put the Huskies up by one.

Colgate evened the score in the second when junior forward Tom Riley netted a backhand goal off a pass from defenseman Kevin McNamara. Heading into the third period of the championship, the game was tied. Needless to say, the miniscule number of die hard fans were sitting on the edge of their seats.

The score remained deadlocked for the first eighteen minutes of the final period and looked to be headed into overtime. I was excited to watch another shootut and to see if Dekanich could stop all comers once again. Over the first 58 minutes, each team had chances, but the goalies kept shutting them down. The deadlock was finally broken with just over a minute to play in the game when Huskie forward Ryan Ginard scored the game and showdown winner.

The goal was eerily reminiscent of another championship winner, Bobby Orr’s score over the St. Louis Blues to win the 1969 – 70 Stanley Cup. Known in hockey lore simply as “The Goal (1)” Orr put the puck in the back of the net despite being horizontal at the time, and not in the biblical sense.

While I doubt Ginard’s goal will be remembered for quite as long, it was still extremely impressive. Like Orr, a defender too had just tripped him and his skates were off the ice as he ripped his shot home. It was how superman would score if he wasn’t a hick raised in Kansas.

Despite the loss, Colgate coach Don Vaughn was proud of his team’s weekend performance, and confident about their chances for the remainder of the season. He said they needed to “shore up their defense.” He also praised the play of goalie Dekanich, calling him “one of the best in the country.” The NHL apparently agrees with him, as the Nashville Predators selected Mark in the ’06 draft.

2007 Badger Hockey Showdown AllTournament Team

Forwards:: Jimmy Russo, Northeastern; Jesse Winchester, Colgate; Ben Street, Wisconsin Defense: Louis Liotti, Northeastern; Wade Poplawski, Colgate Goaltender: Brad Thiessen, Northeastern Most Outstanding Player: Brad Thiessen, Northeastern •Note: Despite the high number of already drafted NHL prospects, none of them made it onto the All-Tournament team. Congratulations from The Chicago Sports Review to those who did.

Page 14

Monday Feb. 11, 2008

MLS: News & Notes Major League Soccer unveils 2008 generation adidas class NEW YORK – Major League Soccer and adidas announced the 2008 class of Generation adidas players that will enter the professional ranks for the 2008 Major League Soccer season. MLS and adidas identified nine of the most promising soccer players in the United States. These players signed MLS contracts before completing their NCAA eligibility and can be selected in the upcoming 2008 MLS SuperDraft.

Last season’s class of eight Generation adidas players produced seven of the 13 first round selections in the SuperDraft, including the top three of the top five selections – Maurice Edu (Toronto FC, 1st overall), Bakary Soumare (Chicago Fire, 2nd overall) and Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake, 4th overall).

The 2008 MLS SuperDraft took place on Friday, Jan. 18. Highlighting this year’s class

are seven players that have experience with the U.S. Youth National Teams and a finalist for this year’s MAC Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s version of the Heisman Trophy.

Six of the nine players are leaving college early to enter the MLS SuperDraft - Eric Avila (UC Santa Barbara), Tony Beltran (UCLA), Chance Myers (UCLA), Patrick Nyarko (Virginia Tech), Ciaran O’Brien (UC Santa Barbara) and Rob Valentino (Univ. of South Florida). Three players – Josh Lambo (Chicago Magic FC), Alex Nimo (FC Portland) and Brek Shea (Texans FC) – are high school students who are foregoing their college eligibility to sign professional contracts.

The 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

Chicago Fire trade defender Jim Curtin to Chivas USA BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The Chicago Fire announced today that the club has traded defender Jim Curtin to Chivas USA for a conditional 2010 SuperDraft selection.

“Jimmy is definitely a guy we’re going to miss after so many years with the Chicago Fire,” said Fire technical director Frank Klopas. “With the salary situation as it is, we needed to make sure we had space to acquire new players.

It’s never an easy decision to lose someone as dedicated to the game like Jimmy, but we’re confident he will transition well at Chivas USA.” “First I want to thank Jimmy for his service and his professionalism with the team both on and off the field these past seven years,” said Fire head coach Denis Hamlett.

“He was a great leader for this organization and we wish him nothing but the best with his future at Chivas USA.”

Curtin, 28, leaves the Chicago Fire after playing seven seasons (2001-07) with the “Men in Red”. The Orland, Pa. native was a member of the squad’s 2003 and 2006 U.S. Open Cup championship sides and a winner of the Fire’s 2004 Defender of the Year award.

While with the Fire, the sixfoot four-inch Villanova product assumed the role of “Ironman,” making 68 straight starting appearances through the 2003-05 seasons. Injuries limited Curtin’s playing time through the 2006 campaign when he suffered a fractured right foot and later a shoulder injury in August of the 2007 season. While Curtin’s career totals of four goals and six assists are modest, it is his 151 games played and 135 starts – ranked sixth in club history – and 12,408 minutes played – fifth all-time for Chicago – that cemented his place as one of the steadiest central backs in MLS.

Frankowski to Join Fire for Preseason Camp BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The Chicago Fire announced that Polish international Tomasz Frankowski has accepted an invitation to join the team for preseason training. Frankowski will take part in medical examinations with the Fire first team on Monday, Feb. 4, and Tuesday, Feb. 5, at TOYOTA PARK before departing for preseason training in Bradenton, Fla. on Wednesday, Feb. 6. Frankowski and the rest of the Fire’s preseason squad will be available to the media on Tuesday, Feb. 5, from 12:30–2:00 p.m. CT in the TOYOTA PARK Stadium Club.

The Bialystok, Poland native began his career with Jagiellonia Bialystok in 1991 and has since played for clubs in Poland, France, Japan, Spain, and England, most recently with Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Polish striker spent the majority of his career (177

appearances) with Polish side Wisla Krakow, helping the club to five Polish Championships (1999, 2001, and 2003-05) and two Polish Cups (2002 and 2003). Frankowski took home the title of top scorer in the Polish premier league, the Orange Ekstraklasa, three times (1999, 2001, and 2005).

Frankowski has also recorded 10 goals for the Polish National Team in 20 appearances.

“We are pleased to have a player of Tomasz’s caliber in camp with us. He is a smart player and very clinical in the box,” said Fire Technical Director Frank Klopas. “He brings a wealth of international experience, having played on the club level, as well as for his national team.”

Frankowski will remain in camp with the “Men in Red” for an undetermined period of time.

2008 Generation adidas Class Player Pos. Age Eric Avila M 20 Tony Beltran D 20 Josh Lambo G 17 Chance Myers D 20 Alex Nimo F 17 Patrick Nyarko F 22 Ciaran O’Brien M 20 Brek Shea M 17 Rob Valentino D 22

Hometown San Diego, CA Claremont, CA Middleton, WI Thou. Oaks, CA Portland, OR Kumasi, Ghana Tacoma, WA College Station, TX Cave Creek, AZ

in Major League Soccer. In addition to training and playing with one of Major League Soccer’s 14 professional clubs, Generation adidas players receive educational grants to further their college education. Additional Generation adidas player signings may occur prior to the 2008 MLS Season.

Avila and Myers are currently training with the U.S. Men’s U-23 National Team while they prepare for Olympic Qualifying to begin in March. Myers has appeared with the U.S. U-17 and U-20 National Teams.

Beltran was a member of the U-20 Men’s National Team that advanced to the quarterfinals of last year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.

Lambo, Nimo and Shea were members of the U-17 World Cup Team that competed in last year’s Youth World Championship in Korea. Lambo played in 12 games, starting nine in 2007 for the U-17s. Nimo played in 12 international games, scoring six goals for the U-17s in 2007. Shea played in 11 international games, starting seven, for the U-17s in 2007.

Nyarko, a forward from Virginia Tech, led the Hokies to their first ever NCAA Final Four appearance in 2007 where they fell to eventual NCAA Champion Wake Forest.

He recorded seven goals and 10 assists during

College/Club National Team UC Santa Barbara US U-23 UCLA US U-20 Chicago Magic FC US U-17 UCLA US U-23 FC Portland US U-18 Virginia Tech UC Santa Barbara Texans FC US U-18 Univ. of S. Florida US U-23

the season, was named to the 2007 NSCAA/ adidas NCAA Men’s Division I All-America Team and is a finalist for the Mac Hermann Trophy, honoring the country’s top Division I collegiate soccer player. The award were announced Friday, Jan. 11 in St. Louis.

The class of nine Generation adidas players range in age from 17 to 22 years old, and they represent a broad area of the country.

Five players are from the West Coast of the United States (California, Oregon and Washington), one from the Midwest (Wisconsin), the southwest (Arizona), the south (Texas) and one player that comes from the African nation of Ghana. Eight of the nine Generation adidas players will compete at the adidas MLS Player Combine. The complete rosters for the adidas MLS Player Combine are included below.

Generation adidas, which was established ahead of the 2005 MLS season, is a player development program that identifies and nurtures the elite youth soccer talent in the United States. Last year, Generation adidas midfielder Edu was the No. 1 overall selection for Toronto FC and went to capture Gatorade Rookie of the Year honors and earned his first U.S. Men’s National Team cap in 2007. The Generation adidas program has identified some of the League’s top talent.

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Monday Feb. 11, 2008

Page 15

Chicago Blackhawks right wing Martin Lapointe in action against the Red Wings at the United Center in Chicago.

Blackhawk s n a p

Shots

Chicago Blackhawks left wing Tuomo Ruutu (15) checks Detroit Red Wings right wing Daniel Cleary (11) into the boards during play at the United Center in Chicago.

January 6, 2008 Blackhawks 1 Red Wings 3

CSR Photos

by

Warren Wimmer

The United Center is readied for hockey action for a game against Detroit Red Wings in Chicago.

Chicago Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin makes a save during the 2nd period of play against the Detroit Red Wings at the United Center in Chicago

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