The Cubs' Milton Bradley is not happy. So what else is new? Besides, he's now the Ricketts family's problem.
The White Sox have lost four in a row and five of their last six. The Bleacher Reporter ask if they're heading in the wrong direction. Hmmm...let me think about that one.
Don't let Jay Cutler's cool demeanor fool you. According to ESPN he's a little jittery about returning to Denver as a member of the Bears this Sunday. Elsewhere on the Bear beat, Matt Forte is looking for balance and Dusty Dvoracek is looking at a doctor this Friday.
As if running a triathlon (like the Chicago Triathlon this weekend) wasn't difficult, try throwing cold, rainy weather into the mix. Here at some tips for coping with that.
While the state debates video poker, the real thing is going on in a tournament in Arlington Heights tonight. Wanna play? Ante up here.
The Chicago Sky host a benefit this Friday to promote breast cancer awareness.
It's going to take a little more effort for local Chicago Sky fans to see their favorite WNBA team. They announced today that the team will move to the Allstate Arena in Rosemont for the 2010 season. The front office and President and CEO Margaret Stender trumpeted the decision, saying, "The Allstate Arena is a great choice for our team and our fans as we enter our next stage of growth. The central location and benefits of our new home will help our Sky family continue to expand." The move is a fan-friendly one in that the Sky will not raise tickets prices for their new digs. In addition, the team will host a couple of "housewarming" parties for fans to welcome them to their new home.
Posting the best home start of their short existance, the Chicago Sky will try to push their UIC Pavilion record to a perfect 5-0 when they take on the Sacramento Monarchs tonight at the arena, Harrison and Racine.
The Sky are 5-3 and in second place in the Eastern Conference of the WNBA. The Monarchs, with a 1-7 record, look to be an easy mark for the Sky, but have a 4-2 record against the hometown team and won two games at the Pavilion.
Below are highlights from the Sky's 68-63 victory over the Washington Mystics Saturday.
On the other side of town, the Cubs' top pick says he was hoping they would select him all along because he admires their history...
...which, as a Tribune article states, has been well documented on film.
A golf foursome with Ben Roethlisberger, Justin Timberlake and Michael Jordan? Somebody pinch former Chicago cop Larry Giebelhausen, because he must be dreaming.
Chicago's long history of heavyweight boxing add another chapter as Frez Oquendo takes on Gonzalo Basile in a June 26 bout.
Fire fan favorite C.J. Brown looks back on 12 years with the team.
Finally, meet the man who motivated Michael Jordan to greatness (by beating him out for the last spot on their high school basketball team): Leroy Smith. (If he looks a little like Charlie Murphy, that's purely coincidental, we're sure.)
So when Tony Dungy said signing Jay Cutler was risky for the Bears, did he stop to consider who the previous three or four Bears quarterbacks were?
Author Sarah Paretsky takes time off from documenting the exploits to private investigator V.I. Warshawski to discuss another dark subject: the Cubs. She compared Cubs fans to "tired women living with alcoholic men." Ouch.
If the news that Matt Hagan will trade the Shelor.com Funny Car body for a FRAM Tough Guard design on the Dodge Charger, you probably want to be at Route 66 Raceway this weekend.
(Editor's Note: The Sky's game against the E-League was held Tuesday night, and will not be held on Saturday as indicated. The Sky will open their regular WNBA season on Saturday at Minnesota and host their first home contest on June 12. We apologize for the error.)
While it does have its staunch supporters, the WNBA hasn't really become the must-see sporting event it hoped to be when it was launched in 1997 under the catchy slogan "We Got Next". Individual franchises like the New York Liberty or Los Angeles Sparks may pull in decent sized crowds, but for the most part the rest of the league has audiences on a par with the old CBA in their best days. According to one website, Women's Basketball Online, seven of the league's 14 franchises saw a drop in attendance in 2008. Since its inception, the league has seen five franchises fold and two relocate (though there is still talk of expansion to places like Nashville and Toronto).
Those lackluster attendance numbers are not for lack of quality talent. While the initial crop of WNBA stars boasted such talent as Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes, the current list of league stars might just be the best female basketball stars ever, with former Naperville Central star Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks but out on maternity leave) getting Michael Jordan-like praise as the possible savior of the league.
But there are still those sparse arenas, those gimmicky attempts to get butts into the seat. Which is why the Chicago Sky will be playing actor Michael Clarke Duncan in a basketball game tonight at 7pm at the UIC Pavilion.
Montana may officialy be known as "Big Sky Country" but Chicago's getting close with the addition of another towering presence in the lineup of the Chicago Sky of the WNBA. The Sky announced Tuesday the signing of Chinese National Team center Chen Nan. The 6'5" Chen will join 6'6" fellow center Sylvia Fowles to present a formidable obstacle for opponents in the middle. The Sky also have another big center in 6'5" Tye'sha Fluker. Having Chen on their side just might help the Sky over the hump. They went 12-22 last season and just missed the playoffs. (Photo from Sky website)
Clothing designer Novem has created the ultimate Chicago sports fan t-shirt.
Designed by Paul Deters, it features the mascots of every major league team in Chicago: a totem pole of White Sox, Cubs, Bulls, Bears and Blackhawks, with the Fire behind and Sky above.
It's available for $29 online or in their studio store at 1104 N. Ashland.
First, there was Barack Obama in the White House. Now there's Pat Quinn in the State House. Politically speaking, White Sox Nation just keeps getting bigger.
Speaking of the Sox, as SoxFest kicks off this weekend, Ozzie Guillen says the team will try "small ball"... again. And will Joe Crede join former Sox teammate Juan Uribe in Frisco? His potential replacement, Josh Fields, is wasting no time just in case he does.
Detroit WR Mike Furrey...free agent QB Chris Simms (son of Phil)...Super Bowl starter Kurt Warner...all rumored to be on the Bears radar. Really?
Does Richard Dent REALLY need someone to go to the NFL Hall of Fame committee and plead his case?
This is THE weekend for the Windy City Rollers, as they make their UIC Pavilion debut.
But don't forget to show some love to the city's other roller derby queens, The Outfit, as they host a benefit party tonight.
You'd think getting punched in the face and crotch, sometimes at the same time, would be high on the pain scale for a UFC star. But for one Hammond, Ind., there's something more painful: being a Cubs fan.
No, we didn't expect the Bears to beat the Colts last Sunday night either. But if they're going to build on that, there are three things they must do to beat the Carolina Panthers this Sunday.
Even if they don't win the game, the Bears are still scoring touchdowns at the bank.
Arguing over who gets the last drumstick is one thing. But a Cubs-White Sox World Series could drive one family nuts.
REALLY old school White Sox fans will mourn the death of former manager Don Gutteridge.
Current White Sox star Carlos Quentin hopes to be healthy by the playoffs. Question is: will he be playing or watching?
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Towes, the Blackhawks' Teen Titans (OK, they're not really teens but it's not far off) get some more (inter)national publicity.
From Kansas City to Chicago on a bike: Are gas prices THAT high?
The marathon gold-medalist from this year's Olympics, Constantina Tomescu-Dita of Romania has joined the field (pdf) of runners for the 2008 Chicago marathon. Hopefully, we'll have better weather this year.
The Sky take on the New York Liberty in their next-to-last game of their WNBA regular season.
Chicago teams finished third, fourth and fifth in the 2008 North American Gay Amateur Athletic Association Gay Softball World Series.
You're in Lisle. You're riding your bike. You have a hankering to see a play. What are you going to do?
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.
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
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.
It’s a homecoming for one and a chance to become a hometown hero for the other.
The WNBA’s top two rookies, Naperville native Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks and Sylvia Fowles of the Chicago Sky, will try to show why they went one-two in this year’s draft when the two teams meet at the UIC Pavilion tonight, 7 p.m.
It’s the only appearance of the Sparks (3-1) in Chicago this season and represents a big test for the Sky (1-3), who showed signs of improvement last season and suffered a couple of close losses this season.
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.)
With the addition of highly-touted rookie center Sylvia Fowles, the writing was apparently on the wall for Bernadette Ngoyisa. The former Sky center was traded to the Indiana Fever for veteran guard K.B. Sharp.
Ngoyisa missed the entire 2007 WNBA season with an injured shoulder. In the 2006 season, she averaged 10. points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game.
In Sharp, the Sky get a veteran guard who appeared in all 37 games last season. She averaged 3.2 ppg and 1.4 apg. Howeverr, during the 2007-08 offseason, Sharp played in France and averaged 11.4 ppg.
So low on the radar that some people wondered if they were still around, the Blackhawks saw their profile rise when they (finally) arranged to have home games televised on a regular basis. And having a decent season with some up-and-coming youngsters didn’t hurt either.
Now the Chicago Sky, the city’s WNBA franchise, is hoping for the same results after signing a new TV broadcast deal with WWME-TV, Channel 23.
The seemingly ubiquitous Me-TV will broadcast eight regular season Sky home games beginning with the May 22 home opener against Sacramento. Eric Collins will provide play-by-play while former Bull Stacey King will be the color analyst.
The Sky will continue to have their games broadcast on radio on WVON-AM, 1690 with local broadcast legend Les Grobstein as play-by-play man and Tauja Catchings as analyst.
The complete TV broadcast schedule is: May 22, Sacramento 7 p.m.; May 29, Minnesota, 7 p.m.; June 3, Los Angeles, 7 p.m.; June 13, Washington, 7:30 p.m.; June 28, Detroit, 7 p.m.; July 22, Indiana, 7 p.m.,; September 4, Seattle, 7 p.m.; September 14, Houston 3 p.m.
No. 1 vs. No. 2 is always a big draw, particularly in sports. Think Ali vs. Frazier in boxing. Navratilova vs. Evert in tennis. Bird vs. Magic in the NBA. Kobayashi vs. Joey Chestnut in hot dog eating.
Soon, we may be able to add Parker vs. Fowles.
That’s Candace Parker, the No. 1 over all pick in this year’s WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks vs. Sylvia Fowles, the No. 2 pick in the draft by the Chicago Sky. The two superstars-in-training will meet for the first time as pros tonight, 7 p.m. at the Sears Centre, 5333 Prairie Stone Parkway in Hoffman Estates in the last preseason game for both teams before the WNBA regular season begins.
Clothing designer Novem has created the ultimate Chicago sports fan t-shirt.
