Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni. ✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
Continuing the Big Ten's recent trend of odd rebranding decisions, Big Ten Network has rebranded itself BTN, with a new logo that changes to fit the colors of your favorite Legends and Leaders.
The logo makes its TV debut in July with the network's coverage of Big Ten Football Media Days. The network also gets a new URL, btn.com -- it's live, but currently just forwards to bigtennetwork.com.
Perhaps it's just me, but all I can think of when I see the BTN acronym is "button."
There are losses, and then there are losses that stick around for awhile. You'd think overtime in Game 4 would be one of the latter, one of the games that Bulls fans would remember as a heartbreaker for a long time to come. But somehow, Thursday's epic Game 5 collapse surpassed it with incredible ferocity.
Despite a 12-point lead with just over three minutes remaining, the Bulls fell to the Miami Heat 83-80, ending their season in the Eastern Conference finals.
I approached this game thinking Miami wouldn't try too hard. They're a glittery team -- tough at times, but still flashy. Furthermore, they looked confident, and I expected that would manifest as overconfidence and a halfhearted effort that might send the series back to Miami for Game 6.
For 45 minutes, that's exactly what the Heat looked like. You could suggest it was the Bulls' defense that was making Miami look mortal again, but not for long.
Not after Miami closed the game with an 18-3 run, erasing a 77-65 deficit with 3:10 left. The Heat earned a return date with Dallas in the Finals with a combination of smothering defense (LeBron James again took on Derrick Rose for the final minutes of the fourth quarter, and promptly shut him down save for one fantastic shot) and an explosion of offense (including the previously comatose Dwyane Wade erupting for eight points in the final three minutes, including a four-point play).
There aren't a lot of lessons to be learned from this game, just one very harsh one. For 45 minutes, the Bulls did almost everything right. Before the fourth quarter, Wade had made two shots from the field all night. James started the game well; in fact he was the only player on the Heat able to make shots in the first quarter. But he eventually went cold too, letting the Bulls take command of the game.
This was, dare I say, a boring game for large parts of it: the Bulls led by four or eight points, Miami lacked focus and routinely turned the ball over through mistakes and turnovers, and all looked good for a return flight to South Beach.
But then, with just a few minutes left, the bill came due for Chicago.
Memorial Day Weekend features two notorious destination races for Chicagoans: Saturday's Snake Alley Criterium in Burlington, Iowa, and Sunday's Gravel Metric in DeKalb.
The Snake Alley Criterium has boasted some of the toughest, most technical climbs in Midwestern road racing for 29 years. Amidst 123 feet of elevation change over the 15-block course loop, a one-block climb up Snake Alley features five switchbacks in 60 feet. The average grade of the grueling hill is 12.5 percent, according to the race's website.
The historic, brick-paved Snake Alley is a favorite viewing point for fans and hecklers, fighting for spots to egg racers on as they try to defeat hills many flatlanders have only seen in the movies. Only a few of the most svelte Chicagoans have made it atop Snake Alley's podium in the past.
DeKalb's dusty country roads, in contrast, stretch flat to the horizon. North Central Cyclery and Half Acre Cycling's Gravel Metric (62 miles), in its second year, gained a punishing reputation because of last year's 90-degree heat. Sunday's forecast looks slightly more forgiving, but with promises of more gravel and more mud riders should still fear the worst.
Tobie DePauw, owner of North Central Cyclery, said the goal is "to have it be just painful enough to be interesting, but not so exclusive that people are unwilling to try." DePauw called the race a "tasty sample" of some other Midwestern endurance races, like Trans Iowa or Almanzo 100.
Good luck to riders making the trip to either race. You'll need it.
Despite miserable weather at Wrigley yet again, the Cubs took care of business Thursday afternoon against an old rival, beating the New York Mets 9-3 to win the first series of a nine-game homestand.
The conditions suggested it would be a pitchers' duel, but it was anything but that. Just as in Tuesday's 11-1 win, the Cubs put on their hitting shoes. Carlos Pena put them in front for good in the fourth with a two-run homer, and Alfonso Soriano added to the lead with a two-run double in the fifth.
Carlos Zambrano earned his fifth win of the season with six strong innings, only allowing one earned run on six hits. Z has been the most consistent starter on this Cubs staff. Perhaps he has finally turned the corner.
The Cubs (22-26) have shown signs of breaking out of their hitting woes and these two wins -- sandwiched around a 7-4 loss Wednesday -- are prime examples of how good they can be when they hit.
Also, facing a sub.-500 Mets team riddled with injuries doesn't hurt. If they are going to turn this thing around, winning a homestand against the Mets, Pirates and Astros is imperative -- mainly because after that, they head out on the road to face the powerful Cardinals, Reds and Phillies.
Well, that one was quite a dagger, as far as basketball games go.
The Bulls played their best defense since Game 1, had the opportunity to take advantage of their deep bench with the game going into overtime, and yet threw away Game 4 with three turnovers in the extra period as Miami won their third straight, 101-93.
Trailing the Eastern Conference finals 3-1, Chicago now needs to win three straight, starting Thursday back at home, to keep its season alive. Only one team in NBA playoff history, the 1995 Rockets, has pulled off that kind of a comeback.
Nobody had a pretty game Tuesday night; while there were certainly a few stellar dunks and acrobatic finger-rolls, the marquee attraction was the all-out intensity of both teams, particularly on defense. Any preseason worries about whether the Heat's stars would be willing to put in the dirty work defensively have been decisively put to rest in this series, while Tom Thibodeau's men had a return to the defensive form that got them this far in the first place.
While Chicago's dominance in Game 1 is starting to look like a fluke, Game 4 at least was a return to some normalcy, as the Bulls shot 40 percent but held Miami to 42 percent. Yet despite their offensive troubles, Chicago still had the chance (two of them, really) to win the game in regulation -- but Derrick Rose was unable to get anywhere close to the basket due to the intense defense of LeBron James. The new MVP wound up attempting two long, step-back jumpers, and with that lack of creativity and conviction, it's not so surprising the Bulls wilted in overtime.
This game was a prizefight, with both teams landing good combinations before the other would bounce off the ropes and return the favor to even it up. With the defense each team was playing, it never felt crazy to say "it's only a four-possession game."
But after a frustrating, potentially decisive loss for the Bulls and their fans, these were my biggest takeaways:
1. LeBron James is better than Derrick Rose.
The traditional stats tell only part of the story: James scored 35 points on 11-of-26 shooting, hitting all 13 of his free throws, while Rose had 23 on 8-of-27 shooting. But James' ability to finish off the Bulls this series almost single-handedly has been the biggest reason they've won.
The view from our seats in the right field bleachers / Photo: Brian Livingston
BOSTON -- It took 93 years for the Cubs to return to Fenway Park. Unfortunately for those of us Cubs fans who made the pilgrimage to Boston, the results this weekend were similar to the 1918 World Series.
Even worse for me, I missed Saturday's win and attended the twogames the Cubs lost. My track record for watching them in American League venues is now 1-9, with the lone victory coming eight years ago on the South Side.
But results aside, it was a great trip.
Like Wrigley, Fenway is one of the most iconic ballparks in baseball. Having never been to Fenway prior to this trip, the excitement had been building before Friday night's game. When I arrived on Lansdowne Street I was overtaken by the atmosphere, the tradition and the history that entrench the park.
Upon entering the park, the ticket taker jokingly said, "Welcome to Wrigley." I sat in the right field bleachers for Friday night's contest. When I emerged from the concourse and took in Fenway Park for the first time it was as if I were a child on Christmas morning. My eyes opened real wide. Goosebumps covered my arms. Unless you were behind a pole -- of which Fenway has many -- there isn't a bad seat in the house.
Aside from the two losses, the overall experience at Fenway was awesome, other than a few drunken idiots who heckled me with chants of "1918." (Shouldn't it have been "1908," since that was the last time the Cubs won a World Series?) This baffled me because up until 2004, the Red Sox and their fans were in the exact same boat.
Otherwise, there was no real animosity between the two fan bases. I found Red Sox fans to be very friendly and welcoming. Salt of the earth, if you will. As I told the fans I spoke with during this weekend, if I weren't a Cubs fan I'd be a Red Sox fan. Banter between fans was friendly and rarely were there any heated arguments.
I, like many others, dream of a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. The weather this weekend felt like October and while the outcome wasn't what Cubs Nation had hoped for, the experience is something I won't soon forget.
Chris Gould kicks off for the Rush / Photo: Etheria Modacure
By Etheria Modacure
Halfway through the Arena Football League's first 18-game season, the Chicago Rush are looking good in their quest for a 10th straight playoff berth. In order to do that, the team, led by Bob McMillen, the franchise's rookie head coach and all-time leading rusher, will need to develop cohesion in all three phases of the game.
Sunday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, the Rush faced fellow Central Division contender Dallas, with both teams tied with 6-3 records and led by outstanding quarterbacks. Chicago's Russ Michna, a third-year pro out of Western Illinois University, squared off with Dallas' Dan Raudabaugh, who entered the contest with 42 passing touchdowns this season.
The Rush needed a victory against Dallas to remain in first place and pull even against divisional opponents this season. Dallas looked to keep its unbeaten record within the division intact. Unfortunately for the Vigilantes, they watched the Rush outduel them in nearly every facet of the game.
Chicago won, 69-57, taking firm control of its potential playoff seeding with eight games remaining in the season. Michna passed for seven touchdowns without an interception and linebacker Kelvin Morris returned an interception for a 55-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
"I think offensively, we're slowly coming together," Michna said. "We hit a few bumps along the road but I think we're starting to see the big picture."
The Heat were in charge most of the night, but Chicago hung around, trailing 68-66 with 11 minutes left, before Miami's Big Three took over and engineered a closing surge similar to Game 2.
Now with their first back-to-back losses since February, the Bulls are looking for the defensive strength that helped them romp in Game 1. Miami shot 50 percent from the field, their best mark of the series. The Bulls limited the scoring of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but instead saw James and others dish the ball off to Chris Bosh all night, giving the Heat power forward ample opportunities for easy buckets.
Bosh had a game-high 34 points on 13-of-18 shooting -- possibly the best big-game performance of his mercurial career -- while James added 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting with six rebounds, 10 assists, two steals and two blocks, and Wade had 17 points (6-of-17), nine rebounds and three assists.
Carlos Boozer played a great game for Chicago, despite missing his first five shots, mostly around the rim. But after he stepped back a few feet, he seemed to heat up with jumpers from 15 to 18 feet, and ended up with 26 points and 17 rebounds.
BOSTON -- After 93 years the Chicago Cubs make their return to historic Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox this weekend.
To say it has been a while would be an understatement. The last time the Cubs were in town was the 1918 World Series, which they lost in six games. Before 2004, of course, that was the last time the Red Sox had won a championship.
These two teams have always had a similar line. Both allegedly "cursed," one by a goat the other by Babe Ruth. Their fan bases share a similar level of passion and loyalty.
I'm in Boston for the weekend, and if the plane ride here was any indication the Cubs will be well represented this weekend in Beantown.
This meeting will be their second since interleague play started. The Red Sox came to Wrigley in 2005, with the Cubs taking two out of three.
I don't doubt Fenway will be rocking all weekend long. The calendar says May, but it is going to feel like October for the next three days.
Puttering along through what looks like another unremarkable season, the Cubs at least have more wins than the White Sox. But Sun-Times columnist Joe Cowley hasn't abandoned his vision of a Chicago united under the Sox banner.
If you ever wondered what the adage "defense wins championships" means, I present this stat from Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals: The Bulls missed 14 of their first 16 shots, and yet led by seven points after a first quarter capped by Luol Deng's 60-foot buzzer-beater.
The philosophy of a coach like Tom Thibodeau is that sometimes, no matter how many good looks you get (and there were quite a few open shots), the shots just won't fall. But you can control how well your opponent shoots, and as long as your defense keeps it close, you're still in the game.
And yet, the other part of the adage is "offense wins games." Keeping the Heat under 90 points yet again is certainly an accomplishment and one of the keys for Chicago in this series, but when the Bulls themselves can't crack 80, defense won't be enough to win the night. With players like LeBron James, a scoring run is always right around the corner, and you need to find the points to respond.
This game was an ugly but determined effort by the Bulls. Ugly because they couldn't hit their shots (they shot 34 percent from the field), yet inspiring because of how many offensive rebounds they grabbed (a 17-10 advantage) only to miss the put-backs. Still, those offensive boards limited the Heat's number of possessions, and that's what kept it close until the end.
Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, Edwin Jackson, John Danks, Jake Peavy, Phil Humber
Phil Humber's start last Friday signaled the beginning of an experiment for manager Ozzie Guillen and the Chicago White Sox.
While Guillen is anything but conventional at the helm of the White Sox, his decision to go with a six-man rotation for 20 days seems especially unusual. But with no off days until June 2, it works for him.
With Jake Peavy's successful comeback start on Wednesday, his first since undergoing surgery to repair a detached lat muscle near his throwing shoulder last July, the White Sox are blessed/cursed with too many pitchers Guillen wants in his starting rotation.
"I hope all those guys throw the ball good, so we keep it there," Guillen said. "The only reason we change it is if somebody struggles or we need more help in bullpen or that thing don't work. But we have a pretty tough stretch of 20 days. The way the starters throw right now, it's a perfect time to do it. We'll see after that how that works. We have a Plan A and Plan B if everything don't work. We'll figure out what to do."
But some would argue that the decision to have a six-man rotation, even for a limited time, is a bad one.
With the six-man rotation, half of the rotation will have one fewer start, which equates to (on average) seven fewer innings pitched this month. Over the length of the entire season, it would be around 56 innings of lost pitching. But is limiting fatigue for a major-league pitcher a good thing?
Former Cy Young winner (and Ph.D in kinesiology) Mike Marshall was very critical of the decision in an interview with the Tribune.
"The more an athlete rests, the weaker he becomes," Marshall told us. "The body does not get stronger by sitting around doing nothing. You lose bone density, you lose muscle fitness. ... It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. ... The research is clear in swimming and track, where they do meaningful research, that rest is the worst thing you can do for the body if you're trying to be a high-quality, high-intensity athlete."
With the six-man rotation set up, a setup these starters have never faced, there's a possibility that they fall out of routine and struggle more during their starts. And more rest doesn't necessarily equal better health -- there's no real correlation between more rest (beyond 4 days) between starts and injury prevention.
With the six-man experiment, the White Sox ignore their biggest issues: the instability of the bullpen and their spotty offensive performance.
Of the 40-man roster, 12 of those are pitchers. Of those 12, six are now starting pitchers, removing the possibility of an extra bullpen arm or an extra bat that could help with run support.
Though the White Sox finally have a closer in Sergio Santos, who is 6-for-6 in save chances and hasn't allowed a run in 20 innings this season, most of the bullpen remains in distress. Matt Thornton, Will Ohman and Tony Pena all have ERAs over 6.00 and Chris Sale isn't much better.
But with a struggling bullpen, and a plethora of starters, wouldn't it make more sense to convert one of the six starters to a long-relief position? But then the question becomes, which pitcher should make the transition?
Hopefully after this 20-day experiment, the answer becomes clearer, but with Ozzie you never know.
Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd and John Danks will keep their slots in the rotation, unless they are injured. The $8 million dollar man Edwin Jackson will also remain as a starter. That leaves Humber and Peavy vying for the last rotation spot.
Humber's early-season success comes as a big surprise as he moved to 3-3 with a 3.18 ERA after a solid six-inning win against the A's on Friday. His success this season was what prompted the six-man rotation in the first place, and it seems as long as he's being productive, he'll remain in the rotation as well.
Then there's Peavy. His White Sox career has been plagued by injury ('09 ankle injury, '10 shoulder injury), but he would make a lot of sense as a long-reliever in the bullpen.
A lighter workload could keep his lethal arsenal of pitches refined and effective -- and having a pitcher who can work pitches and get strikeouts like Peavy would be a strong asset to the sinking bullpen.
So for now, it's a six-man rotation where the best pitchers start less, the worst pitchers don't move to the bullpen, and the starters learn to make adjustments to a new routine for this 20-day experiment.
But if the six-man rotation turns out to be effective, what does Guillen do?
His unconventional management style makes it likely that could continues the experiment longer, as the White Sox try to make up a 10-game deficit in the AL Central.
All was not right in Cubdom last night. After blowing a 4-0 lead Monday and losing 7-4 to the first-place Reds, the Cubs self-destructed again Tuesday, taking a 7-5 loss.
Monday's loss prompted a closed-door meeting, but that didn't immediately fix the problems last night in Cincinnati. Things started out promising for the visitors as Carlos Pena blasted his fifth home run of the year to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead, but if we've learned anything this season, it is that no lead is safe.
Poor fundamentals and once again a lack of timely hitting are to blame in this one. It all began to unravel in the bottom of the fourth. With two on and two out, the Cubs opted to walk catcher Ramon Hernandez to face pitcher Edison Volquez -- a smart decision considering Volquez doesn't have a hit this season.
But Volquez hit a ball to Pena at first that took an eccentric hop and got past him. Smartly backing up the play was second baseman Darwin Barney, but his throw to Matt Garza covering the bag was late. Garza then threw wildly toward the plate, trying to prevent the runner on second from scoring, and the ball went into the dugout, bringing Hernandez all the way around from first.
Outfit jammer Sweet Mary Pain (right) gets a hand from Suzie Crotchrot (center) / Photo: Steve Stearns
There was a theme at Saturday's Chicago Outfit bout at the Windy City Fieldhouse: Hit 'em hard and don't let up. At this, their first hometown bout of the season, the Outfit's A and B teams both enjoyed wins with wide margins.
The first game pitted the Outfit's B team, the Shade Brigade, against the So ILL Rollergirls of Southern Illinois. From the first whistle, the Brigade gals snagged lead jammer time and time again, a tactic that ensured they stayed on top. While So ILL's jammers were stuck in the box, the Brigade came to a halt, employing slow derby tactics to allow their jammer to cruise through the pack without much hassle. By the half, the score was in the Brigade's favor 110-27, with some excellent jamming by Graves. The game wrapped up with a 207-70 win for the Shade Brigade.
Afterward, the league's A team, the Chicago Syndicate, rolled out in their game against the Tri-City Rollergirls of Kitchener, Ontario. As far as the Outfit teams' gameplay and strategy, this game was a whole other beast from the first. It was also a much faster game, although the Syndicate still dipped into slow derby waters from time to time. Aided by the smooth moves of agile jammers such as Sweet Mary Pain, the Outfit doggedly built their point base. Although Tri-City came close to flipping the score, they never quite managed it, ending the half with the Syndicate leading 71-34. The Syndicate widened the spread in the second half until their ultimate 102-47 win.
The next hometown Outfit bout is Saturday, July 9, featuring a double header against the Arch Rival Roller Girls of St. Louis.
A Ghost Bike on Lincoln Avenue honors a fallen cyclist / Photo: Angie Naron
On the third Wednesday in May, cyclists in cities around the world gather to honor riders who have been killed or injured while biking on public roads. Started in 2003, the Ride of Silence aims to raise awareness for cyclists' right to share the road.
Tomorrow, cyclists will ride in silence at a slow pace, wearing black arm bands in solidarity for victims or red arm bands to signify a personal injury from an accident. Routes pass by the crash sites of cycling victims, which are marked with ghost bikes in many cities.
This thing the Cubs are doing -- it's not easy to do.
It's not easy to have the National League's third-best on-base percentage and fourth-best slugging percentage and still rank 11th in the league in runs per game.
OK, yes. Right. We didn't say this thing they're doing is a good thing to do.
But as we've touched on before, the Cubs (17-21) are beginning to develop something of a reputation as they approach the quarter pole:
They don't hit for power (28 home runs, 13th in the NL) and they don't draw walks (6.8% walk rate, last). But they hit line drives (20.6% line-drive rate, second) and they don't strike out (19.5% strikeout rate, third).
They put the ball in play, and so far the results are working out ... to a point. Their .327 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is the best in the league. But that statistic includes a huge dose of luck. It's not likely all those singles will keep falling in.
Even if their .234 batting average with runners in scoring position normalizes a bit, the Cubs still will need to find power sources beyond Alfonso Soriano and his 11 homers. As they set out on a seven-game road trip, Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena and Marlon Byrd need to start hitting the ball out of the yard.
Let's hope warmer weather, whenever it gets here, can get Chicago's bats jumping, because their rivals from St. Louis and Cincinnati sure haven't wasted any time getting going.
Two hallmarks of the Chicago Bulls combined in the second half Sunday to take down the Miami Heat 103-82 in Game One of the Eastern Conference finals. A deep bench along with Tom Thibodeau's trademark defense (executed almost flawlessly by Luol Deng & Co. ) held LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to a combined 33 points on 12-of-32 shooting.
Derrick Rose played well, but not out of his mind, finishing with 28 points and six rebounds on 10-22 shooting. The game's high scorer was Miami forward Chris Bosh, who netted 30 points, but wasn't able to do much else in the way of damage as Chicago owned the glass with 45 rebounds to the Heat's 33.
Through two quarters, this game was largely as everyone expected it--tough defenses controlling the pace, with both teams prone to turnovers and shaky shooting. But in the second half, with both Miami starters tiring and a Chicago bench surging, the Bulls pulled away.
Miami led 58-57 with 7:30 left in the third before the Bulls took a 17-point lead with a 26-8 run.
After months of waiting, after the perfunctory dismissals of two inferior opponents, it is time for the biggest basketball games in Chicago since the Jordan years.
The Bulls are back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 13 years, set to open a best-of-seven series against the surging Miami Heat on Sunday night at the United Center.
As good as Derrick Rose & Co. have been this season -- most recently in Thursday's decisive Game 6 in Atlanta -- it's hard not to give the Heat a slight edge initially after seeing them handle Boston in five games. Twelve of 14 ESPN experts picked Miami to win the series -- which is not to suggest, oversensitive Bulls fans, that Chicago cannot win this series, but simply that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are probably the best two players in the league, with all due respect to Rose's achievements this season.
There is a strong possibility this will not be the most beautiful team basketball we've ever seen, given the ability and propensity of Rose, James and Wade to simply explode to the basket seemingly at will. You won't, on balance, see the five-man ball played by Boston or Dallas at their best. But with both teams closing out the semifinals in peak form, every game should be a must-see event.
Nine more scattered thoughts:
1. Yes, the Bulls won all three of their meetings with Miami this season. No, that doesn't really mean anything. Both teams are different now, especially a Heat team that is using vastly different lineups these days.
2. Very few teams have anyone who can stay in front of Rose, but Miami point guards Mike Bibby and Mario Chalmers will get positively torched if they try to guard him. There's little chance Dwyane Wade won't draw the assignment during the biggest moments of the game, if not throughout.
3. This should settle the 2011 MVP debate once and for all. LeBron still is the game's most dominant player, but if Rose can carry the Bulls into the NBA Finals, it'll be hard to deny him every last shred of glory.
4. Carlos Boozer vs. Chris Bosh is a delightful matchup of perhaps the two most frustrating power forwards in the league. It's not entirely fair to call them underachievers, but it would certainly be nice to see one or both of them step up in this series. Boozer took a big step in that direction last night.
5. I'm excited to see what Luol Deng, one of the game's most underrated players, can do defensively against LeBron. He's got as good a chance as anyone to slow him down a bit.
6. The Bulls' 10-man rotation worked wonders at times against the Hawks' much shorter bench, and it's hard to see that not being a significant edge for Chicago again in this series. Taj Gibson, Omer Asik, Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver have all had big moments in the playoffs.
7. The center matchup between Joakim Noah and Joel Anthony should be a nice battle between two of the league's most active big men. (Boy, I'm fond of superlatives today.) Neither is especially skilled -- though Noah continues to distinguish himself as a passer -- but they make up for it with indefatigable hard work.
8. How will Chicago receive Wade, their basketball ex-boyfriend? Here's guessing the Robbins native gets some love and LeBron gets all the hate.
9. Reasonable minds can disagree on the distastefulness (or awesomeness?) of LeBron, Wade and Bosh joining forces to chase championships, but please, don't let them tell you it's no different than what Boston did in assembling the triumvirate of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
Miami's three were free agents in the prime of their careers; Boston's were potential (or sure-fire) Hall of Famers, to be sure, but all closer to the end of the line than the beginning. The Celtics took on significantly more risk. They did it "the right way" by building up a cache of young talent and trading multiple pieces for two singular stars, instead of simply using the sun, sand and nightlife of Miami as a lure. And of course, they kicked things off with a team-bonding trip, not a grotesque exercise in premature coronation.
Whatever hopes the NBA nation had for a thrilling Game 6 last night in Atlanta were dashed quickly by the Bulls, who put together one of their best wire-to-wire performances of the season, beating the Hawks 93-73 to win the series and a date with Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Chicago was led by Carlos Boozer(!), who owned his jump shot to the tune of 23 points and 10 rebounds. He even handed out five assists.
Derrick Rose took on the role of setup man, tossing out 12 assists, while scoring 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting -- a big drop from the usual 23-28 shots per game he's been taking all series.
The 4-2 series win puts Chicago in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time the since final Jordan championship in 1998. Awaiting them are the Heat, who struggled for a time with gigantic preseason expectations -- including going 0-3 against the Bulls in the regular season -- but are looking great as they come down from the high of eliminating the Celtics in six games.
Beyond winning the series, the Thursday's biggest story undoubtedly was Boozer. I'm not even sure what I can say about him, as so many weeks of mediocre contributions have me in disbelief that he really just played that game. But by grabbing the first rebound of the game and scoring seven of the Bulls' first 11 points, he made it clear to all on the court that this would be his game to lose.
The way Boozer had been playing, with 10 points and 5-10 rebounds per game, made the Bulls a very good team, as long as Rose plays up to his potential. But what we saw Thursday is the difference between a very good team and a championship team. It was a giant reminder of how good Chicago can be if everything falls into place, and I'd truly forgotten what that looked like.
Cravin' some skatin'? Look no further, friend. On Saturday, enjoy a hometown doubleheader with the Chicago Outfit. This marks their first home game of the season, and for this round their A team, the Chicago Syndicate, plays the Tri-City Rollergirls out of Kitchener, Ontario. The Outfit's B team, the Shade Brigade, will take on the SO-ILL Rollergirls, representing Southern Illinois.
The Outfit have had a great season so far, with the Syndicate enjoying a 3-1 season so far. Hometown games are always more amped up than usual, so it'll be exciting to see what the gals can deliver.
The bout will take place at the Windy City Fieldhouse (2367 W. Logan), where you will find free parking. Doors open at 6 p.m.; the game starts at 7. Tickets start at $15; get yours online or at the door.
The Outfit's Valerie of the Dolls is coming for you. (photo by by Marc Lebryk)
Where do I begin? This has gotten real old, real fast.
If I've said it once, I've said half a dozen times: If you don't hit with runners in scoring position you aren't going to win very many ball games. The Cubs dropped Thursday's rubber match against St. Louis, 9-1. If they continue this way, it is going to be a very long season on the North Side.
The most puzzling thing about it is this team is better than last year's. What's worse is the conditions Thursday favored the hitters too. It never ceases to amaze me how the visiting team seems to take advantage of said conditions and the Cubs don't. Of course some credit has to be given to Cardinals starting pitcher Jamie Garcia.
It was Jake Peavy's first regular-season start since his injury last July. It was also the rubber game against the Angels and a chance for the White Sox to win their second series in a row as they try to improve one of the worst records in baseball. If the South Siders have had a must-win game yet this season, this was it.
Peavy started strong, fanning Erick Aybar on three pitches and getting Bobby Abreu to fly out. Then the clouds gathered and the Sox showed the former Cy Young winner the kind of fun they've been having in his absence. Maicer Izturis -- inexplicably, hitting third for the punchless Angels -- singled, stole second and scored when Juan Pierre dropped a deep fly ball by Torii Hunter.
Welcome to the 2011 White Sox, Jake.
Peavy had a moderately successful start, with definite room for improvement. He pitched six innings and allowed seven hits and four runs. He only struck out four, but his fastball had batters hacking at the air all night. He didn't allow a single walk and looked strong after 87 pitches.
In all, this was about as good as we could have hoped for in his first game back.
The offense did their part to familiarize Peavy with their 2011 brand of maddening frustration as well. The Sox hitters left men in scoring position in every inning until the sixth, when they went 1-2-3. Aside from Adam Dunn's solo homer in the third, the offense was dead for most the game.
Alexei Ramirez stopped a double steal and a rally in the eighth by interfering with a pitchout. It looked like that would have been the ballgame. There was a lot to be mad at from the Sox fan's perspective.
In the end, when trying to pitch around Paul Konerko in the 10th, Walden threw a high, wild pitch and Ramirez crossed the plate. Brent Lillibridge followed with a single to center to score an earth-quaking Dunn, giving the Sox a 6-4 lead. That would be all they needed, thanks by back-to-back cracker jack defensive plays by a shockingly limber Paul Konerko in the bottom of the 10th.
Toppled in Game 4 by a late Atlanta surge, the Bulls put together an explosive finish of their own in Tuesday's Game 5, turning a one-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter into a 95-83 win at the United Center.
The mercurial Hawks submitted their second straight determined effort, but Derrick Rose set game-highs with 33 points and nine assists, Luol Deng added 23 points and Taj Gibson came up big down the stretch, scoring all 11 of his points in the fourth.
The win gives the Bulls a 3-2 lead as the seven-game series shifts back to Atlanta for Thursday's Game Six, putting them one win away from their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since the final Jordan championship 13 years ago.
Chicago started the game on a 10-2 run, eventually stretching its lead to 15. Atlanta hung around, though, and managed to whittle down the margin with strong defense and fast-break points, eventually taking its first lead at 64-63 late in the third.
But in the fourth, the Bulls came out firing, and in a show of confidence in his bench, coach Tom Thibodeau trusted three of them down the stretch. Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer came out for a rest late in the third and stayed out, as Thibodeau closed with Rose, Deng, Taj Gibson, Ronnie Brewer and Omer Asik. The three reserves played the whole fourth quarter, sparking Chicago to a 26-15 quarter.
A coach who, you might recall, shares as much credit as Michael Jordan for the Bulls' six championships.
Jackson's 20-year NBA coaching career ends -- apparently -- with a record 11 championships, a record .704 win percentage and a record 229 playoff wins. His total of 1,115 regular-season wins ranks fifth all-time.
"I definitely believe that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step," the Zenmaster said. "My first step was being hired by the Bulls, and it all happened in the strangest way. My birthday [Sept. 17] just happened to fall on the day [in 1987] when the Bulls had lost assistant coach Gene Littles, who left to accept a job coaching the Charlotte Hornets.
"My telephone number just happened to be on Jerry Krause's desk when somebody called him asking for it because they said they wanted to wish me a happy birthday. So since the Bulls had to pick up another coach at the last minute, those circumstances all came together to put me in the right spot at the right time. So Jerry called and offered me the job. I took my first step when I accepted the job, and the rest is history."
As the two-time defending champion Lakers fell apart in Dallas, the Atlanta Hawks came out Sunday night determined to right their own ship. They did so with a fantastic final push, beating the Bulls 100-88 in Game 4 by closing the game with an 18-6 run in the final five minutes. The win evens the series at 2, with Game Five scheduled for Tuesday night at the United Center.
Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 34 points and 10 assists (though he needed 32 shots to get there) and Carlos Boozer had his best game of the series, scoring 18 points in 35 active minutes despite playing with torn ligaments in his right big toe.
Despite a surprise eight-rebound performance from Omer Asik and 11 rebounds from Joakim Noah, it was the Hawks that owned the boards, particularly Josh Smith. Making his first real statement in the series, Smith amassed 23 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and a steal.
Atlanta's Al Horford and Joe Johnson also combined for 44 points on 18-of-25 shooting, including 3-of-5 on 3-pointers by Johnson. Many looks went uncontested for the Hawks, leaving Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau with the task once again of instilling in his team the desire to play each defensive series like it's the last of the game. The Hawks hit 40 of 81 field goals, no doubt boosted by their 56-40 point advantage in the paint.
A Bouledogue Tout Noir rider rails it up the Fox River Grove climb / Photo by vectorbug
Two of Chicagoland's more unique and popular criterium races are happening next weekend. Saturday, May 14, the action will be heating up on the Hyde Park Plaisance at the Monsters of the Midway, a 1.1 mile rectangle loop around the Plaisance. A deceptively challenging course due to the wind factor, the Monsters race is often one of attrition due to the high speeds forced by packs of racers desperate to shell all riders not up to snuff. What's especially cruel about Monsters is that one can see the entirety of the course from most spots, which if you're one of the shelled riders, truly hits home how much you need to do your homework. Registration for the fun is here.
Sunday, May 15, the fury on wheels heads west to Fox River Grove. Saved from the jaws of death with a last-minute effort by Psimet Wheels, the Fox River Grove race is a unique one in that it has terrain. Honest, there is an actual hill - and a steep one at that - to race on. A true treat for most Chicagoans whose only concept of terrain involves the rollers of suburban Sheridan Road or the boat ramps, the hill of Fox River Grove will have most riders cursing for they must make the climb every lap. But what goes up must go down and the course also features a winding descent that may have flatlanders white-knuckling as they negotiate the turns. Registration is here.
If last night was the first Bulls game you've seen this year, you might be surprised to hear they struggled a bit on the road this year. You also might be surprised to hear Carlos Boozer is their highest-paid player. But if you're surprised at all at the performance Derrick Rose turned in, you clearly haven't been paying attention at all.
The league MVP went off against a porous Atlanta Hawks' defense, scoring a career-high 44 points to lead Chicago to a 99-82 win and a 2-1 lead in this second-round series.
Rose's scoring coupled with a suffocating defense meant the Hawks were doomed from the start. The Bulls scored the game's first six points and pulled ahead by 13 at halftime before cruising through the second half.
Seemingly shaking off the ankle injury he suffered at the end of Monday's Game 1 loss, Rose continued to improve his play this series by really nailing down his jumper. It was hardly necessary, given the wide open lanes in Atlanta's defense, but he could clearly step back and hit his shots as well, going 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Rose also dished out seven assists, grabbed five rebounds, grabbed a steal and blocked a shot--all while committing only two turnovers and one personal foul.
It's a big weekend in Chicago sports, with the Bulls hearing a Chorus of Booz as they prepare for two critical games in Atlanta; the Cubs starting a key homestand with three against Cincinnati; and the White Sox ... oh, let's just be grateful they and their worst-in-baseball record are hiding on the West Coast for the next 10 days. Plus, the Fire and the Force are both playing at home tomorrow.
But who cares? Check out these rad new T-shirts!
Nike's got a new "Hair-itage" collection (above) featuring silhouettes of famously mustachioed and/or bearded baseball players, mostly from the '70s and '80s. Andre Dawson and Ozzie Guillen represent the Cubs and White Sox.
Meanwhile, the NBA Store is fairly overflowing with Derrick Rose swag these days, including two new MVP T-shirts:
After a masterful performance Wednesday by Carlos Zambrano and a day off yesterday, the Cubs return home for nine games against division rivals Cincinnati and St. Louis and the defending World Series champions from San Francisco.
This homestand could help sort out whether or not the Cubs (14-16) have a chance. The Reds, last year's NL Central champions, are scuffling along at 16-15, but they are expected to contend again for the division title. Sooner or later they're going to get it rolling; let's hope for the Cubs' sake it's not this weekend. The Cubs didn't fair well against the Red Legs last season, going 4-12 against them. If they expect to contend that number will undoubtedly have to change.
A West Town Bikes-sponsored rider at a 2010 cyclocross race / Photo: Amy Dykema
Many people cite a feeling of freedom among the reasons why they ride a bike. In Chicago it can mean freedom from cars and traffic or freedom to get around the neighborhood without relying on a bus schedule.
Outside the city, this freedom can mean something else entirely.
West Town Bikes and The Bonebell are partnering to help help kids explore this feeling with West Town Bikes Trail Days. The program will take youth and young adult participants to Palos Forest Preserve to try off-road riding. It will offer urban kids a rare opportunity to escape the pavement and explore nature while they try out a different way to ride a bike. The first ride is scheduled for May 7.
[UPDATE: The first Trail Day is still pending, due to weather and transportation conflicts. Sorry!]
Volunteer ride leaders from various local cycling teams will take small groups of kids out on the trails, instructing them on the technical handling skills needed to steer bikes over small roots and rocks. Bicycles and helmets will be provided by West Town Bikes and sponsors are helping cover picnic lunches and transportation costs for the four tentatively scheduled Kids Trail Days, but total fundraising goals have not yet been met.
After losing the first game of their second-round series with Atlanta, the Bulls and the defense that carried them to an NBA-best 62 wins this season finally arrived Wednesday in Game 2. Chicago won 86-73 by holding the fifth-seeded Hawks to 33.8 percent from the field, including 3-of-13 on 3-pointers, and earning 44 of their 58 rebounds on the defensive glass.
And of course, newly-minted NBA MVP Derrick Rose led the way with 25 points (though on 10-of-27 shooting), six rebounds, 10 assists and two blocks.
In true (Coach of the Year) Tom Thibodeau fashion, the Bulls came out committed on the defensive end. Joe Johnson, dominant in Game 1, was held to 16 points, while Jamal Crawford shot 2-for-10 and Josh Smith was 4-for-14.
As Chicago focused its attention elsewhere, second-year point guard Jeff Teague went to town, scoring a team-high 21 points while committing zero turnovers -- an impressive stat for a talented but inexperienced 22-year-old playing major minutes only because of Kirk Hinrich's hamstring injury.
Geovany Soto came through in the ninth inning last night, but for the most part, clutch hits have been hard to come by for the Cubs this season. A month into the season, they are hitting a putrid .216 with a .616 OPS with runners in scoring position, well below their overall averages of .270 (fifth-best in baseball) and .723.
Hitting hasn't been the problem as much as hitting when it matters most.
The middle of the order has been the main problem. With runners in scoring position, Marlon Byrd is 5-for-32 (.156), Aramis Ramirez is 6-for-28 (.214) and Carlos Pena is 3-for-22 (.136). They have two combined home runs, though it was definitely nice to see Pena finally get his first as a Cub last night in Los Angeles.
Alfonso Soriano leads the majors with 11 home runs, but nine of those homers have been of the solo variety. And his 5-for-29 (.172) effort with runners in scoring position hasn't been great either.
If the Nos. 3, 4, and 5 hitters can get going this team should be able to turn it around.
But if the big guys can get going, the Cubs (13-16) could start to turn things around in the tightly packed NL Central. Soriano, Starlin Castro, Jeff Baker, Darwin Barney and Kosuke Fukudome are hitting, but rarely with runners on base.
This team is much better than last year's and while it is still early in some respects they need to get going before it is too late. The division very much up for grabs and if they can get any kind clutch hitting they will be right there at the end.
"Why not?" Derrick Rose asked before his third NBA season.
"Why can't I be the MVP of the league? Why can't I be the best player in the league?"
It was a surprisingly bold public statement for one of the game's least talkative stars, but Rose backed it up every night on the court. Tuesday afternoon the 22-year-old Bulls point guard was introduced as the 2010-11 NBA MVP, becoming the youngest player to win the award.
We'd been building to this day for some time, as Rose earned plaudits from players, coaches and media throughout the league, but the moment was no less special for the lack of suspense.
Typically stoic in his public appearances, the Englewood native choked up during his acceptance speech when he thanked his mother, Brenda, calling her "my heart. The reason that I play the way that I play. Just everything."
Rose said whenever he needs motivation to work harder, he thinks of what she sacrificed as a single mother raising four sons.
"Those are hard days. My days shouldn't be hard because I love doing what I'm doing, and that's playing basketball.
"You keep me going every day and I love you."
Rose's speech begins above at the 2:20 mark, with the sappy mom stuff at 4:40.
At 11-20, after the worst April in franchise history, they're in last place, 10 1/2 games behind the first-place upstarts from Cleveland, and the vultures are closing in for the kill. Phil Rogers is flailing about for a solution -- "do something," he implores, calling for the head of Juan Pierre -- while Joe Cowley sensibly figures there's little the Sox can do with this "$125 million pile of dung."
Cowley:
Now the sobering part of an ''All In'' campaign-turned-bad joke: There is no help coming.
Not now, not any time soon.
That's a statement you're just going to have to wrap your arms around and embrace.
It was, to say the least, a wake-up call for the top-seeded Bulls, as the fifth-seeded Hawks showed a determination to win it from the start. With Atlanta racing off to a 9-0 lead, the first quarter was a demonstration of masonry by soon-to-be-named-MVP Derrick Rose, who missed his first seven shots before finally getting a layup deep into the second quarter. Unfortunately for Chicago, his poor shooting was the least of their troubles.
Against a Bulls team known for its defensive prowess, the Hawks shot 51 percent from the field, including 53 percent from behind the arc. They shot 58 percent in the first half, and it was only with a second quarter run by the reserves that the Bulls were able to pull within one point at halftime.
But the Hawks reasserted themselves in the second half, taking control for good with a 15-2 run across the third and fourth quarters. And then, with five inconsequential seconds remaining, Rose rolled his troublesome left ankle. He needed assistance to get back to the locker room.
"This room has several paintings in it. Some are big, some are small. People did them and they are here now."
That's sort of how I feel about the NFL Draft: The Bears have several new players. Some are big, some are small(er). People picked them and they are here now.
But until we can assess the real impact these rookies will have on the field, whenever they actually take the field, let's entertain ourselves by assigning them heroic new personas.
You've already met first-round pick Gabe "The Bear Jew" Carimi, and following quick on his oversized heels is Stephen Paea, the Oregon State defensive tackle Chicago drafted in the second round. At 6-1, 303 pounds, he was the strongest player at the NFL Combine. He bench-pressed the standard 225 pounds 49 times, which might or might not be a combine record but is undoubtedly insanely impressive.
Here he is pressing that weight 44 times last year:
With the first round done and dusted, albeit with more difficulty than most people expected, the Bulls begin the Eastern Conference semifinals tonight at home against fifth-seeded Atlanta. The athletic Hawks knocked off Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic to get here, so they're eminently capable of challenging a top seed like Chicago. But if anyone can take apart an opponent, it's NBA coach of the year Tom Thibodeau.
This is the point at which earning that No. 1 seed pays off, as the Bulls get to watch the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat face off in what will almost certainly end up being seven games of tough, competitive, high-pressure basketball. That's not to say the Bulls can take it easy, however, as the Hawks will definitely present a few challenges along the way.
1. Battle on the boards
Carlos Boozer has a painful toe injury, but he said this morning he plans to play in Game 1. The bigger question is, healthy or not, how effective will he be? The Bulls power forward averaged 10 points and 10.2 rebounds in the first round, shooting 35.8 percent from the field -- not quite what the Bulls expected they'd get when they signed him for $75 million last summer.
Joakim Noah, the other banged-up big man, has seemed to regain the form that abandoned him near the end of the regular season, as he had a couple great games against Indiana and averaged 12 points and 10.6 rebounds in the series -- and of course, played far better defense than Boozer. His energy in particular will be a huge asset against an Atlanta team that's known to take entire quarters off.
While it's generally accepted among White Sox fans that the team is prone to slow starts, did anyone expect another one this bad? After five straight losses and 15 in 18 games, the past three to perennially hapless Baltimore, they sit at 10-19, a full 10 games behind the surprising, first-place Indians.
In the words of Cab Calloway, "Boys, things are bad."
So bad, in fact, that the Sox are actually worse than they were this time last year.
Everyone remembers last season right? Do we all remember the 24-33 start that made winning 26 of 31 games not just a thrill but a necessity?
Well get ready, because if the Chicago White Sox are going to play any October ball at all they'll have to dig themselves out of a grave like Beatrix Kiddo, and right now this team is lacking any punch.
Everything is wrong and little is working. At no point in any of the Sox losses over the past three weeks did anyone expect them to pull through. While the rotation has been mostly adequate, posting a 4.44 ERA, the lineup ranks 11th in the AL with 3.9 runs per game -- and even when they can scrape together enough runs to take a lead, there's little hope the bullpen can hold it.
Just look at the eighth-inning calamity between A.J. Pierzynski and Matt Thornton in Saturday's 6-2 loss. If you only needed to watch one inning to sum up how this April went, this was it.
Frank Kaminsky and Farragut's DJ Tolliver shined brightest among a cast of all-stars at the inaugural Chicago United Hoops Classic at DePaul's Sullivan Athletic Center. Kaminsky, the 6-11 Benet Academy product --and University of Wisconsin-bound center-- led an at times dominating display as the West Side all-stars took down South Siders by a not as close as it appears margin of 114-102. The final score mattered little to the high schoolers on the hardwood though, as the game served more as a showcase for the best and brightest of Chicago's youth basketballers and was a fundraiser for the Norm Van Lier Scholarship Fund.
