What Can We Take From the Bulls Preseason?

So right now it's impossible for any Bulls fan to be excited about what they have seen this preseason without hearing someone who roots for another team right there to remind us that it's the preseason. Still, the Bulls are undefeated, and it's not like anyone has just rolled over for them. Still though, there is a lot of truth to what they say, it is just preseason. However, their intention when they say that is to insinuate that there is nothing to be excited about despite everything that has happened during the preseason. This just isn't true. In fact, there is a lot of things that can be looked at as very good things that we have seen. Sure, nothing ensures that this team will contend for a championship, but it does point the team in the right direction

Chicago Bulls and NBA 2013/2014 Season Preview

The NBA season is just around the corner. Basketball at one point was my favorite sport to follow. The game itself is still a great game, but the league itself has been wearing on me. Star calls and superteams, rather they're good or not, are just not the NBA that I remember growing up with. I don't mind change at all, but as long as it's good. I prefer when teams are built up through good coaching and the draft. I prefer when if a game is called poorly, it's called poorly both ways. However, it's still basketball, and it's still at the highest level in the world, and it's almost impossible for me to not get excited about it.

Cubs Prospects Giving Good Reason to be Excited

I am a follower of the Cubs blog bleachernation.com. It's a great blog run by someone who is clearly a Cubs fan, but at the same time, smart about what he says. The man's name is Brett Taylor, a former lawyer turned blogger. Maybe it's because he's a lawyer, but he was one of the people who convinced me early on that what Theo Epstein is doing with the Cubs is the right thing. Now, saying a prospect is a sure thing is always a stupid thing to say. However, you can be more and more sure as they move up. On top of that, the more prospects you bring in, the better the chance is that you get some that succeed. Especially when they're succeeding in a higher league.

LET'S OVERREACT CHICAGO!!!!!!!

Today was a day for overreaction. There was an ugly Bears loss, some minor Derrick Rose news, and and the Cubs fired their manager, so of course everything was flying around about that. Let's also not forget that tomorrow the Blackhawks start, the defending champion Blackhawks, thank you very much. That really should be getting much more attention than any of these other things right now.

Chicago White Sox All Prospect Team: Post 2013 Edition

Just as I did with the Cubs, I'm putting together a team of the top prospects at each position for the White Sox. This is post minor league season, but of course pre-fall leagues. While the Cubs clearly have the superior group of guys in the minor leagues, the White Sox have moved up a bit over the last year and a half. They still have a long way to go to get out of the bottom 10, but at this point a year ago they were arguably the worst in baseball, and 6 months before that they were really by far the worst in baseball. They've come a good way since then. I just need to reiterate, for the sake of argument, I'm not going to include anybody that has played at the major league level, even for a cup of coffee. Anyway, here we go!

Chicago Cubs All Prospect Team: Post 2013 Edition

The minor league season has been over for a while now. Just getting caught up in the excitement for new basketball and hockey seasons as well as the great start to the football season for the Bears has really got the best of me. However, while it may be completely dull and uneventful at this point, the baseball season is still going on, and there are still 2 baseball teams in this town. However, the only thing for either team to get excited about lies in the minor league system. In a two part series, I'm going to put together what I feel is the best possible team with what each team has in the minor league system. Starting tonight with the Cubs.

Total Review of the Bears Against the Steelers

The short version came yesterday, now here's what I thought about the Bears win over the Pittsburgh Steelers from Sunday night. It was a night that saw a lot of good and a lot of bad as well. The worst being the torn ACL of Henry Melton that will have him out for the rest of the season. However, the Bears still finished the game with a win, and that third win is one that cannot be taken away from them.

Thoughts on the Bears Against the Steelers

The Bears first road test has come and pretty much gone (1:30 left, Conte just got the interception along with the Brown penalty). What looked like it was going to be a blowout early wound up being a much more interesting game than it should have been. However, in the end the Bears pulled away to win it 40-23. However it was much closer than the score shows.

Prediction for Bears Against the Steelers

The Bears have started 2-0 and the Steelers have started 0-2. However, none of the 4 games these two teams have combined to play have been blowouts. Sure, the Steelers have looked like they clearly have some major problems and the Bears have been coming up big when it has mattered most, even though there has been subpar play that has led up to that. So where do I see this game ending? Well....

Takeaways From the Blackhawks Early Preseason Games

Much like with any other sport, in hockey, there is no real way to take away too much from preseason hockey. In fact, I almost missed the start of it, as it really crept up on me. I had forgotten about the whole Olympics thing and that the season was starting early (after ending late). Either way, preseason hockey is underway, and the Blackhawks started off strong with a win the other night. However, what does it really mean? Is there really much we can take away from that game?

Total Review of the Bears Against the Vikings

So here is a more complete look at the Bears against the Vikings yesterday. Like I've already said, it wasn't a pretty win, in fact it was a very ugly win, but in the end, a win is a win. It was like the normal roles were completely reversed for the Bears, usually they're the team making the other team look sloppy, but this time it was indeed the Bears that were uncharacteristically ugly.

Thoughts on the Bears Win Over the Vikings

Well, that really wasn't pretty. For the second week in a row the Bears got themselves a very ugly win. This time against the Minnesota Vikings, a team that made the playoffs last season, but was not expected to be anywhere close to as good as the Bengals are expected to be. However, the weather was very sloppy, and that surely played a part in it, but both teams had to play in that sloppy weather....and the Vikings were a little sloppy as well. Not as sloppy as the Bears, but still sloppy.

Predictions for the Bears Against the Vikings

Sunday, September 15, 2013, the Chicago Bears will face off against the Minnesota Vikings in a divisional match-up. The Bears are currently 1-0 after defeating the Bengals in week 1. The Vikings are 0-1 after being defeated by the Detroit Lions in week 1.

So what do I see going down? Well, it's impossible for anyone, no matter how smart (which I am not saying I am) to pick games perfectly. Upsets happen all the time, often without any good reason for them to happen. There's a reason they suit up and play every day.

A Look at the Bulls Roster

Now that the Bears hype has died down a bit and the focus is going to be on the Vikings soon, I'm going to take this chance to acknowledge that sports other than football exist in Chicago. I get as sick as anyone else about the over-coverage of the NFL on ESPN, and under-coverage of the NHL at that, but right now Basketball and Hockey have their regular seasons still a while off, baseball has just been terrible in Chicago, and well, the Bears are expected by a lot of fans here to be contenders, and just had a game where they were able to justify that school of thought somewhat. So, it's understandable that football would be so in demand right now. However, like I said, there are other sports in Chicago, and while basketball and hockey are still a while from starting, there is plenty to look at.

So we're going to take a look at the roster for the Bulls. This will include everyone who is signed with the Bulls as well as training camp invites that we know of. Let's start from the top.

Total Review of the Bears against the Bengals

As someone with no life during the week (not even kidding or being hard on myself, I'm pretty strict on the partying during the week, don't want to do anything really stupid at work because I'm exhausting myself with other things that are ultimately frivilous), I'm going to combine two of my favorite type of review styles into one review, although the two will be kept separate as well.

Chicago Bears vs. Cincinnati Bengals: In Game Thoughts

I guess you can call this a live blog type of thing, even though I don't actually know what live blogging is. I'm not up to date with all of the technical terms and whatnot, all I know is that throughout the game this is where I will post thoughts on what is going on.

Bengals vs. Bears: My Predictions

I'll admit all day that I'm not an expert. I'm a passionate, yet logical fan. In that sense I guess I can be a bit arrogant, and will make no apologies for being just that. You don't see the two mixed too much at all. That means that picking the game between the Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals is something that won't be easy.

Go on the ESPNChicago website and look at some of the things the fans are saying. People are calling for the head of Scott Powers because he would have the audacity to pick a team with a great defensive line to take down a team with an unproven offensive line. It's really something that saddens me as a Chicago fan. Sure, these people don't represent every Chicago fan, and may not even (and probably don't) represent the majority of Chicago sports fans. However, they are the ones making their voices heard.

Cubs Short Season A and High A teams Dominating

Funny how all of the posts I'm making about Chicago's baseball teams are revolving around the minor leagues. However, that's going to be the case when there are 2 teams that are in the middle of a rebuild. However, having positive things to say about any level of a team's system is a good thing, you'd just like to have positive things to say about every level of a team's system. Still, the Cubs teams in Boise (Short Season A) and Daytona (High A) have given fans, once again, plenty of reasons to be excited for the future of the big league team.

The Corey Crawford Extension

The Blackhawks recently made a pretty bold move by extending goalie Corey Crawford for 6 seasons. Crawford was very good this past season, being a huge part of the success the Blackhawks had all season, and when the playoffs came around he turned it up yet another level. There is no doubt that Crawford earned himself some major money with the quality of his play throughout this past season. However, was it too much? Is the contract for too long?

Chicago's 10 Best Baseball Prospects

The end of the minor league season is very close. The playoffs are on the way for some teams, but as a whole, we're about ready to close the book on this year's minor league season. So this is a good time to go over the top 10 prospects combined between the Cubs and White Sox. To no surprise, this list will be Cubs heavy, as the Cubs are well into a rebuild where the White Sox are just starting their rebuild. However, that's no reason for a White Sox fan to not be interested. There are still some very solid prospects that will be coming up for the south siders in the future, including the best pitching prospect right now. This is a list that should really help to paint a hopeful picture for fans who are in the dumps right now about this season.

Getting to Know Erik Murphy

Tony Snell was a pick that surprised some Bulls fans when he became the first round pick at #20 overall. However, people who knew who Tony Snell was knew that he at very least made sense for the Bulls. However, there was another pick that surprised people, but one that still made sense for the Bulls.

The Brandon Marshall Saga

This won't be all that long, mainly because I really don't feel there's a whole lot to talk about. I'll go a little bit more into it, but the comments he made this past week were nothing to look too far into. However, in typical Chicago sports media fashion, they've been entirely over-analyzed.

My Bears Final Roster Predictions: Special Teams and Oopses

I gave it away when I did my post on the defense, but it's not like there were really any surprises. The Bears will have 4 special teams only players on the team this year.

The first of the specialists is the man who has worn the uniform for more games than any other Bears player in team history, oh, and he's the son in law of THE Tommy John. Enough useless trivia though, it's Patrick Mannelly. Mannelly has not only played in more games than any other Bear in history, he's flown under the radar more than any other Bears player in history. When you're a longsnapper, that's a very good thing. Your job is to get the ball to the punter or holder, block, and then run down the field to tackle whoever caught the ball, although there's a good chance that by that time he's been tackled already. The only reason Bears fans know him now is because he's been on the team for so long. Eventually if you're there long enough you'll get noticed. Mannelly's only gaffe that I can remember was when he snapped the ball to the QB on a punt years ago that made it a fake. This wound up being a failure of a play. Other than that, he's been as solid as can be.

My Bears Final Roster Predictions: The Defense

So now with the offense picked, it's time to pick the defense for the Bears this coming season. The defense looks different from the start with Brian Urlacher retired, but as a whole it's very much the same with almost everyone else (Idonije being another exception) returning. So, instead of blabbing, I'll get right into it.

My Bears Final Roster Predictions: The Offense

The Bears have to cut down the final roster to 75 men tomorrow. Several days after that it's time for them to get that roster down to 53 men. There's going to be some tough choices for the Bears coaching staff.

I don't have a whole lot to go on here. I have 3 preseason games that I've watched, and for most of the players who will make the team I have past performances in previous seasons. As far as training camp goes, I'm working on hearsay while the coaches and beat writers actually saw everything happen. I would have loved to go down to Bourbonnais and catch the camp, but I have a demanding job that keeps me more than busy. I have to prioritize, and work had to take priority.

Chicago Bears Preseason Game 3 Thoughts

The preseason is a time of the season where fans and the media often look way too far into everything. However, if it was completely meaningless then there really wouldn't be any reason to play it. Game 3 in itself is the most important game of the preseason. It has the starters out on the field for at least a half (outside of individual cases, like Julius Peppers who was coming off of an injury). This gives the starters on both teams, on both sides of the ball, a chance to get into a groove and gives the players, fans, and other teams a chance of what things will look like once the regular season gets underway.

Getting to Know Khaseem Greene, Jordan Mills, Cornelius Washington, and Marquess Wilson

Outside of all of the excitement generated by Jon Bostic, Khaseem Greene has quietly been putting together a nice preseason as well. The linebacker out of Rutgers was drafted by the Bears in the 4th round of this past year's draft after a very impressive college career.

There really wasn't much drama by the time he was picked. Sure, Bears fans were paying attention to see who the Bears picked, but once a draft gets into the fourth round there is rarely too much fanfare for any pick, maybe one or two each year that is considered news in any way. Still, Bears fans knew that another linebacker wouldn't be a bad idea, and given his successful college career, the pick was fairly well received.

Getting to Know Jon Bostic

Already this is a name that is all over Chicago sports, and he's not a first round pick, he's not a foreign superstar, and he's never played in a professional regular season game. Jon Bostic has been the one of the rookie toasts of the town so far for the Bears, along with first round pick Kyle Long. The most recent talk has been of his recently handed down fine, which, if you ask me was a complete joke. The receiver was not defenseless in any way, and anyone who things that fine was warranted really needs to learn what the rule states, including the person who handed down that fine. Another embarrassing fine handed down by the NFL if you ask me.

Getting to Know Kyle Long

Seeing as how the Bears are the team that has already started their preseason, they're probably the better team to really introduce the rookies of. I'm starting at the top with first round, and #20 overall pick, Kyle Long.

There's a lot that is already known about Long. From his pedigree to his struggles to what he has done so far in the preseason. Still, we're going to go over all of it, just in case there's something that was missed in there.

Getting to Know Tony Snell

In the 2013 NBA Draft, the Bulls made sure to not be the only team in Chicago raising eyebrows with their first round pick. The Bears had raised eyebrows just a couple of months earlier when they picked Jake Long with their first pick, #20 overall. The Bulls were at a VERY similar position as the Bears were. In fact, they also had the #20 overall pick. Both teams also had a big guard on their list of team needs. The Bears got their big guard, and the Bulls got theirs as well in the form of the 6'7" Tony Snell.

Where Do Chicago's Baseball Teams Go?

Last season saw an embarrassingly bad season for the Cubs and an embarrassingly bad finish for the White Sox. The Cubs had the excuse of being in the opening stages of a rebuild. The White Sox had an aging team that they were trying to get just a little bit more out of. Sure, the White Sox also had guys like Chris Sale and Dayan Viciedo, both of which were and still very likely are building blocks for the future. However, the bottom line was that for the 93rd time in the last 94 seasons, despite having two baseball teams, Chicago was without a championship.

Gauging Excitement For Bears Rookies And Other Young Players

It's been only two preseason games, but the entire city of Chicago seems to be giddy with how Kyle Long, Jon Bostic, Khaseem Greene, Jordan Mills, and Isaiah Frey have been playing. Corey Wootton and Shea McClellin are also starting to turn heads, as it's looking more and more like they might be turning a corner as well. Although, in the case of Wootton, anyone who didn't notice what he started doing last season must have not have been watching.

Chicago Bears Preseason Game 1 Rundown

I am bringing this blog back after 4 years of absence! Why? Well, I just feel like it's a good time to do so. Honest and sharp opinions, but with reason and thought. Anyway, what better way to bring it back than with a discussion of the first preseason game from the Chicago Bears?

While preseason games are virtually meaningless as far as final score goes, there's a lot that can be looked at throughout the game that is very meaningful. Keep in mind though that a lot of the guys I'm going to talk about did not play against first string guys. However, they are still guys that are currently on an NFL roster, so it's not like they played against a bunch of guys from the team's local Y or anything like that.