News Thu Oct 02 2008
- Eddie Vedder, Schmeddie Vedder. The Tampa Bay Rays have their own crooning fan in Kevin Costner.
- Sure, they're involved in a heated playoff series. Doesn't mean that Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa shouldn't think about their longterm future.
- The Wrigley Field faithful aren't the only ones singing "Go, Cubs, Go". A "fan" in California wants them to win too, although for admittedly selfish reasons.
- If the Twins had their way, it would have been double-or-nothing against the White Sox. (OK, not really, but...)
- According to one writer, the Fire fans are some of the nicest around town.
- Got an extra $90,000 or so lying around? You can sponsor your own triathlon.
- Two more elite runners (PDF) announced for the Chicago Marathon field.
- Now that Ben Gordon is back in the fold and Derrick Rose is in the lineup, the Bulls should be a front-runner in the NBA's Central Division, right? Not so fast...
- Got crazy flipper fingers? A supple wrist? Check out the pinball expo.
- The Chicago Outfit Roller Derby team host their last clash of the season when they take on the Hammer City Rollergirls of Hamilton, Ontario.
- Ken Green |
News Thu Sep 04 2008
- The Chicago Sky go for their fourth win in a row, a franchise record, when they host the Seattle Storm tonight at the UIC Pavilion.
- A Los Angeles resident tells about the great time he had seeing the Cubs at Wrigley Field recently. Of course, this was before their recent, ahem, troubles.
- Despite their contract differences, a Sporting News writer thinks Ben Gordon and the Bulls are "destined" for each other.
- The Bears' Kyle Orton says he's not the same QB he's been in the past. Thank God.
- Meanwhile, another NFL quarterback with a Chicago connection, Donovan McNabb, tells of growing up a Chicago sports fan.
- The next time your significant other complains about your obsession with sports, show them this.
- Now that you've seen the commercials a bazillion times, you might as well go out and see that Red Bull Flugtag thing in person.
- Got the need for speed? It's a big weekend for racing at Chicagoland Speedway.
- Or if you like your racing a little more sedate, try model boat racing at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
- And speaking of water (don't you love these segues?), the Big Shoulders Open Water Swim Classic is this Saturday at Ohio Street Beach.
- Chicago has a champion on the diamond, thanks to the Chicago Maccabi softball team who took gold at the Maccabi Games.
- Ken Green |
Feature Wed Aug 13 2008
It's not a stretch to say that Nike probably owes their corporate life to Michael Jordan. True, the Oregon-based company was around long before Jordan was JORDAN. But they didn't become the No. 1 selling brand of athletic shoe in the world thanks to the silhouette of Steve Prefontaine or Bo Jackson on the side of their footwear.
And while there have been other athletic shoes named after famous ballplayers, did anyone really buy Converse All-Stars because Chuck Taylor endorsed them? Heck, wearing a pair of Joe Lapchick's was considered a good excuse for a beat down in my neighborhood. He might have been a great player in his day, but as a shoe pitchman he lacked the cachet of the kid from North Carolina.
Even though MJ left the court for good in 2003, his departure hasn't affected the popularity of the shoes, which continue to be produced and sold in as many variations as possible. How enduring in the Cult of Air Jordan? Consider that a movie is currently being filmed, not about Jordan the Man, but Jordan the Shoe.
Continue reading this entry»
- Ken Green |
News Thu Jul 24 2008
- In case you’ve forgotten, the Chicago Force are going for the IWFL title this Saturday at North Park University’s Holmgren Athletic Complex. Cheer them on.
- The White Sox’ Juan Uribe to the Red Sox? It might make a lot of people happy.
- Cook County Commissioner Mike Quinn got a lot of Detroit Red Wings fans ticked off when he managed to skewer the team in his resolution celebrating the outdoor game against the Blackhawks at Wrigley Field...
- ...But here’s guessing he’ll have an easier time getting tickets to the game than you do.
- A half-game lead (as of Thursday afternoon)? Are the Cubs done for? One writer seems to think so (though he admits he’s a Sox fan but insists that has nothing to do with it… right.)...
- ...But never fear Cubs fans, there are enough pro-Cubby blogs to ease the pain. In fact, there’s a whole army.
- The need for (man-powered) speed: The Chicago Criterium is this weekend.
- A Chicago hospital offers a free women’s sports injury prevention pamphlet…
- ...Which you might need if you attend tryouts for the Grand All Star League (GALS, get it?) women’s basketball tryouts for females 50 and over.
- Ken Green |
Sky Tue Jul 22 2008
Chicago Sky fans will breath a sigh of relief tonight when star rookie center Sylvia Fowles returns to the lineup against the Indiana Fever tonight at the UIC Pavilion, 7 p.m. She blogs about her return here. Fowles isn't expected to start, but will see action. Fowles missed 17 games after injuring her left knee while blockiing a shot in a game against the Los Angeles Sparks on June 3. Small consolation for Fowles, but the play marked the first goaltending call in WNBA history. The Sky went 6-11 in her absence
- Ken Green |
- Steve Stone joining Hawk Harrelson in the White Sox TV booth? According to the Tribune, it could happen, though the dominos have to fall in just the right way.
- ESPN’s Scoop Jackson says the Bulls’ drafting of former Simeon High School star Derrick Rose evokes the memory another Simeon hoopster tabbed for greatness, Ben Wilson, whose murder 24 years ago stunned the city.
- Deposed WSCR morning man Mike North says he has four deals on the table. No word on whether any of them involve dishing out extra relish.
- A new online marketplace offers fans the chance to put in a bid for playoff and World Series tickets for the Cubs (provided they make it) from season ticket owners looking to dump them. Presumably the website will offer the same deal for (ahem) the White Sox.
- The Chicago Rush take on the Grand Rapids Rampage (don’t you love those Arena Footbal League names?) in an AFL Divisional Round playoff game this Sunday, 2 p.m., at Allstate Arena. In other Rush news, wide receiver Donovan Morgan was named AFL Rookie of the Year
- The Sky’s Sylvia Fowles is getting a bit antsy since being sidelined with a knee injury, as she reports on her WNBA blog.
- White Sox catcher A.J. Piersynzki needs your help in selecting his at-bat music. Though the website lists suggestions (“Panama” by Van Halen?) , I’m sure there are more appropriate songs...right?
- Also, the White Sox host the first Double Duty Classic, featuring the top high school baseball players from across the Midwest, on Monday, July 7, 2:30 p.m. The game will honor the legacy of the Negro Leagues and is named for legend Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe.
- Ken Green |
Parents up around the North Chicago area can arrange for their kids to attend a free three-day basketball camp with an NBA professional.
Miami Heat star Shawn Marion is hosting his third free hoops camp for kids at North Chicago High School, but to be eligible, parents must register their children tomorrow, from 4-7 p.m., at the school. The camp runs from June 8-10.
Why North Chicago? Well, that's where Marion was born and attended school up to the third grade.
- Ken Green |
Bulls Mon Jun 09 2008
Finally! After a coaching search that seemed to last longer than an explanation of the infield fly rule, the Bulls have reportedly made an offer to Phoenix Suns Assistant General Manager Vinny Del Negro to lead the team on the floor.
- Ken Green |
...maybe you can too. Will Farrell's portrayal of the aforementioned '70s American Basketball Association star in the recent film "Semi-Pro" no doubt gave a boost in notoriety to the upstart basketball league, known for its groundbreaking three-point arc, red, white and blue ball and a plethora of gravity-defying afros (not necessarily in that order).
But if you've always wished for ABA stardom, you now have a chance to make it a reality. A new version of the league is up and running and tryouts for the Chicago chapter will take place this Sunday, June 8, 9-11am at the Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway. According to owner/coach Ron Hicks, the team is slated to begin play this November. "The competition is going to be very strong this year," Hicks said. "We have some great teams in our division. We need great players."
There is a tryout fee of $100. For more info, contact HIcks at hicksron@aol.com, or call 773 254 9640. You can also visit the ABA website.
Oh, the team apparently doesn't have a name yet. Maybe you can suggest one if you're there.
- Ken Green |
Bulls Thu May 29 2008
The Sun-Times is reporting that "a source" says Doug Collins will be the next coach of the Bulls. Collins was the Bulls' coach from 1986-89, and took them to the Eastern Conference championship before being fired by Reinsdorf. He went on to coach the Pistons and then the Wizards when Michael Jordon was on the team.
- Andrew Huff |
Sky Tue May 27 2008
It’ll be somewhat of a minor achievement, but the Chicago Sky will try to move above .500 for only the third time in their existence when they take on the Minnesota Lynx Thursday night, 7 p.m., at the UIC Pavilion.
The Sky (1-1) won the first home opener in their three-year history this past Thursday when they defeated Sacramento 87-77. In that game, Sky guard Armintie Price, who picked up her WNBA Rookie of the Year award before the game, scored a career-high 22 points, along with four steals and four assists. Forward Candice Dupree added 22 while rookie center Sylvia Fowles chipped in with 11 point and seven rebounds. (Fowles blogs about her first year in the WNBA along with other top league rookies here.)
Continue reading this entry»
- Ken Green |
Pals since the old "Mars Blackman/Air Jordan" days, director Spike Lee and The-Greatest-Chicago-Bull-Ever Michael Jordan have teamed up for a documentary on Jordan, aka The Man Who Put Nike On The Map. The documentary, set to debut at Cannes next year, will reportedly feature exclusive footage from Jordan's later playing career with the (yawn) Washington Wizards. Not to question Spike's film rebel nature, but since the flick is being financed by the NBA, should we expect a PR job free of the stickier issues such as his gambling forays, among other things?
- Ken Green |
Bulls Tue May 20 2008
The Miami Heat did everything they could to get their hands on the top pick of the 2008 draft. They shut down their franchise player in March and, in an unprecedented move, their head coach left the bench mid-season to scout college talent. However, the basketball gods have frowned upon this wanton and scarcely veiled attempt at tanking for the top pick and instead have delivered it to Chicago.
However improbable it may seem (given the Bulls' lottery odds - 98.3 percent improbable to be precise), the hoop deities have seen the devotion of Bulls fans through thick and thin. They even forced them to acknowledge as much in the ad campaign for the '04-'05 season. What followed were two years of tremendous overachievement follow by two years of chronic underachievement (it was too painful to revisit this until a a couple hours ago), but these were merely Herculean labors to deliver us our much-need superstar.
Continue reading this entry»
- Aaron Rubens |
If being a suspected pedophile weren’t enough, we now learn that R. Kelly is a ball hog and a sore loser.
An Southtown Star newspaper article reports that Kelly hurled a basketball at a suburban reporter who had come to the Harold Murphy Recreational Center in Markham to watch the R&B singer play basketball. Kelly, we learn, is crazy about hoops and rents out the center on a regular basis for private games with friends through an “unusual arrangement” with the Markham Park District. When the reporter and a photographer entered uninvited, the “I Believe I Can Fly” crooner whipped the ball at them and ordered a body guard to show them the door.
Kelly’s reputation takes a further hit when an “insider” says the singer takes control of the game despite his limited skills.
“(He) hogs the ball and shoots all the time,” they said, conjuring images of Kobe Bryant, Gilbert Arenas or even early Michael Jordan. And when Kelly loses? “His team wins every night or he gets upset.”
Let his legal team take note of that last bit of info.
- Ken Green |
Bulls Wed May 07 2008
The lauded auteur behind the critically acclaimed 2005-2007 Phoenix Suns, Coach Mike D’Antoni, seems to favor bringing his frenetic brand of basketball to the United Center rather than spending another season in the desert. The former Euroleague Champion advises his teams to put up a shot within “seven seconds or less” leading to copious amounts of scoring. Since D’Antoini’s Suns started lighting up scoreboards around the league, many teams (the Raptors, Hornets, and pre-Jason Kidd trade Nets to name a few) have copied his up-tempo approach and line-ups filled with smaller, more athletic players who can out run the opposition.
Sporting an impressive 232-96 record during his Suns tenure, why is this savant all the sudden willing to trade the 80˚ winters of Phoenix for our lovely December climes? Blame it on ex-Bulls sharpshooter and current Suns GM Steve Kerr who apparently ticked off D’Antoni with the meddlesome suggestion that he should devote some more practice time to defense. It seems Coach D feels that management no longer supports him, but with the Suns giving up an average of 104 points per game during his régime its tough to argue with Steve. Nevertheless, D'Antoni is so ideologically committed to his style that he would rather move on than try to grind it out defensively in the über-talented Western Conference while having to trot out the rapidly-aging Steve Nash and Shaquille O'Neal as starters.
Why Bulls GM John Paxon (Steve Kerr’s predecessor as the Bulls token white three-point specialist) would be interested in bringing D'Antoni aboard is a bit perplexing, though. The Bulls he built have been pretty vanilla with their focus on defense, fundamentals, and toughness, not unlike the defending champs the San Antonio Spurs (who happen to have won four championships in the last decade, and coincidentally eliminated D’Antoni’s Suns three times). For Paxon to pull a full 180 means either A) he's doubting himself (after all, last season’s 33-49 record can’t be put on Scott Skiles or Tyrus Thomas’ antics alone) or B) Jerry Reinstorf’s worried the Bulls need some more sizzle to justify $6000 a season for the choicest spots at the UC. The Bulls have the athletic personnel necessary to run and gun in D’Antoni’s system but the question remains whether they should if they wish to excise the ghosts of champions past?
- Aaron Rubens |
Another day, another play on words. Using "bullish" to describe the NBA playoffs refers both to my excitement surrounding the competition level and also the chance to watch some former Chicago Bulls in action. Four of the more prominent ex-Bulls still playing are Tyson Chandler, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, and Darius Songaila. Please join me on this pathetic journey of what could have been in Chicago Bulls history.
1. Tyson Chandler. Bulls fans remember Chandler as half of the high school phenom front-court Jerry Krause promised would resurrect the struggling franchise. Chandler now routinely records double-doubles for the surprising New Orleans Hornets. Along with Chris Paul and David West, Chandler anchors a young, talented team capable of long playoff runs for the foreseeable future (I desperately want to say the same about the Bulls).
Although Chandler would be a nice component of the current Bulls nucleus, I struggle to criticize Paxson's decision to ship him to New Orleans. As a Bull, Chandler suffered from chronic back pain, inept offense, foul trouble, and other typical ailments of inexperienced athletes. Wonder if Chandler's stint with the Bulls would have faired differently with two years of college prior to the NBA? Support Chandler and the New Orleans playoff effort on his well-designed web portal.
Continue reading this entry»
- Andy Angelos |
As recognized in Ken's recent epiphany, the Chicago Bulls are still playing basketball! The 2008 season officially ends this Wednesday versus the playoff bound Toronto Raptors. Regardless of the vacation some players might enjoy after Wednesday's game, the off-season work has already commenced. A team of mathematicians and analysts are graphing simulations on the team's future as you are reading. Below are some of the perplexing mathematical models facing fans, management, and players.
#1: Linear regression plotting recent seasons against Jim Boylan's NBA experience. After three consecutive winning seasons fueled by balanced scoring and defense, the 2008 Bulls allowed an average of 100 points per contest. If Eastern Conference success is connected to defensive strength, Boylan's brief assistant stints with sub par Phoenix, Vancouver, and Atlanta squads are probably not sufficient for head coaching duties.
Continue reading this entry»
- Andy Angelos |
To some, it’s probably akin to spray-painting your name on The Vatican. That’s the high regard that some baseball purists, and even casual fans, have regarding Wrigley Field. Words like “shrine” and “temple” are often bandied about when talk about Wrigley in the context of ballpark esthetics comes up. Even when Cubs teams throughout the years stank up the joint something fierce, there was always those appealing bricks and ivy to make stench palatable. Even quite a few White Sox fans have had to admit that in the era of whiz-bang, high-tech, Corporate-Name-Of-The-Month ballparks, Wrigley is a gem. Well, except for Ozzie.
So it’s not without a little bit of consternation that Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin questions the latest addition to the ballpark: the letters “CBOE” painted on in bright yellow letters on a new section of ground-level seats that the Chicago Board Options Exchange is sponsoring this year.
The lettering, located on the wall between the Cubs’ dugout and the left field bullpen, raises the question of whether this bit of advertising violates City of Chicago landmark ordinance.
Continue reading this entry»
- Ken Green |
You want it to mean something more. You want it to be some sort of signal that things are changing, that there is hope, that we have reached a turning point and people will see that things can be different.
You know it probably won’t change things, cynic that you are. That it will take something other than a basketball game, even an NCAA title game, to stem the tide of violence and murder. Still, you kinda hope.
When former Crane star Sherron Collins met former Simeon star Derrick Rose on the court in the NCAA finals Monday night, it was possibly the only bright spot for the Chicago Public Schools in quite some time, a bright spot that they sorely needed. Suffice to say, it’s been a rough year.
Continue reading this entry»
- Ken Green |
