Chicago -
By Dan O’Shea
This column is not about Tim Tebow.
If you’re still reading, it is about a QB who has passed for more yards than Aaron Rodgers, has more total TDs than Tom Brady or Drew Brees, and who has run for yards than any QB except Michael Vick.
Cam Newton, QB, Carolina, is my choice for fantasy football MVP for the season’s first half.
Posted on November 2, 2011
By Red Bull PR
Eight of the globe’s top snowmobilers are descending upon Wrigleyville for Red Bull Fuel and Fury, a freestyle snowmobile competition that will take place outside of iconic Wrigley Field. The event, which will send competitors soaring against the night skyline, will mark the first time that extreme snowmobiling has touched ground in the heart of Chicago.
The competition will take place on one of the most jaw-dropping courses that the sport has ever seen. Thousands of cubic yards of woodchips, dirt and turf will be laid to the asphalt beneath three mammoth steel ramps. Between flips, grabs and big-air tricks, the unrelenting series of kickers will let riders ferociously vie for victory in front of captivated onlookers, and a panel of heavyweight judges. The competition will be judged in a double eliminated bracket.
Posted on November 1, 2011
By Jim Coffman
In the midst of the bye week, please allow me to be the last to weigh in on the arrival of The Savior on the North Side.
There is no arguing with Theo Epstein’s credentials to run the Cubs, and it is clear he has brought in able lieutenants to assist in the procurement of maximum talent.
The big problem with Theo is the curse factor, i.e., the belief, which I’m sure has already gained tremendous purchase in Cutesy Cubbie Nation, that because Theo was able to deliver Boston from the Curse of the Bambino, he surely is the man to save the Cubs from the Curse of the Goat.
Please.
Here’s Chicago comedian Jeff Garlin, best known as Larry David’s sidekick on Curb Your Enthusiasm, on the rank stupidity of the Billy Goat curse:
Posted on October 31, 2011
By Thomas Chambers
Random thoughts that must find the light of day before the heavy golden doors of the monastery seal behind us as we solemnly vow ourselves to pace and speed contemplation and wagering enlightenment just a week out from the 2011 Breeders’ Cup World Championships:
Will Goldikova add even more to her brilliant legacy with a fourth straight victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (Grade I, turf)?
Be thankful for another visit by the truly great Irish-bred as the now six-year-old daughter of Anabaa returns to the scene of her scintillating 2010 Mile victory, the turf at Churchill Downs.
She’s due to arrive in Louisville Saturday – Goldikova’s certainly used to the trip by now – and trainer Freddy Head has already pronounced her “better than ever.”
Posted on October 27, 2011
By Dan O’Shea
Finally, officially, Theo Epstein is joining the Cubs, not as GM, but president of baseball operations. It might be the ideal position for a proven winner with a proven system, but who might need others on his management team to balance his recent willingness to risk big deals on big free agents.
You see, the best part of this deal might be the deals to come – the likelihood that Epstein cohorts Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod could be joining the Cubs, too, as GM and assistant GM, respectively.
Posted on October 26, 2011
By Dan O’Shea
The three fantasy football performances people are talking about the most after Week 7:
* Tim Tebow, QB, Denver: 161 yards passing, 65 yards rushing, 2 TDs, 1 2-pt, 0 INTs
* DeMarco Murray, RB, Dallas: 253 yards rushing, 1 TD
* Plaxico Burress, WR, San Diego: 25 yards receiving, 3 TDs
What these performances have in common – in addition to the fact that none of these guys had been among weekly fantasy leaders before Week 7 – is that match-ups, and how coaches reacted to them, played a significant role.
Posted on October 26, 2011
Thank You, Chicago Fire!
By local Chicago musician Nick Vitogiannes before the club’s 2011 season finale on October 22 vs. the Columbus Crew at Toyota Park.
Posted on October 25, 2011
By Jim Coffman
The Bears took advantage.
They tortured their fans all through the fourth quarter, but the team took advantage of a road game played at a neutral site, pulling out a 24-18 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to take a winning record into the bye.
The halfway point of the season arrives a week and a few days hence, so it certainly isn’t too early to start speculating about a possible wild card playoff spot (especially since the Packers show no signs of allowing the Bears even a glimmer of hope for a repeat division title). And the Bears’ 4-3 mark ties them for second-best among the non-division leaders in the National Football Conference, only a game in back of the top such team (Detroit).
Posted on October 24, 2011
By Carl Mohrbacher
How’s The Meriweather Up There?
No seriously, how is he up there on the safety depth chart and Chris Harris is prowling the sideline in his Bears onesie pajamas? Are 15-yard personal fouls a new wrinkle in the cover two shell? The move is an active roster allegory to a Lovie-thrown challenge flag, though since it didn’t cost the Bears any timeouts, you could make the argument that it was less detrimental.
Posted on October 20, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
Let me say first that – in a sports fan kind of way – I hate the St. Louis Cardinals. Not because I follow the Cubs (I decided I was no longer a “fan” a few years ago), but because I have long found the Cardinals (like the White Sox) to be unlikable in so many ways, starting with manager Tony LaRussa. What a whack job. Truly one of major league pricks of the game and – if you read Three Nights in August you know this – sort of a psychopath (like so many “successful” people).
So it’s kind of a big deal for me to admit that I finally have to give in and give LaRussa and, indeed, the entire Cardinals organization the props he and they deserve as they get ready for the opening game of the World Series tonight.
Damn. The last time the Cards won the World Series was in 2006 with an 83-win team – one of their worst teams of recent vintage. Sounds familiar. The 2011 Cardinals made the World Series? I still don’t even know how they got into the playoffs, but I’m quite certain that LaRussa – and more obviously general manager John Mozeliak – must have had something to do with it.
Posted on October 19, 2011
