Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica
Sports Quote of the Day:
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." ~ Helen Keller
By Steven Schweickert
The Bears take on the Packers on Monday night in a key divisional matchup suffering from a couple of key injuries. We look at six keys for the Bears to pull out a win against the Pack.
1) We Mean Defense on Paper, Not Paper Defense!
Remember when the Bears were going to have a great (or at least still respectable) defense on paper? Well, it's pretty much turned into paper over the last few games. Small sample size, possibly - however, even though the Bears have shown an ability to put points on the board, it's still hard to win games the more points you have to score. Overall, the defense just has to play better. Period.
2) Khaseem Briggs
Khaseem Greene, the rookie fourth-rounder, gets to make his first career start after playing mostly on special teams over the first seven games. He takes over for the injured Lance Briggs and lines up next to Jon Bostic, slotting in for the likewise-(albeit-done-for-year)-injured DJ Williams. Briggs was missing a fair amount of tackles himself this year, but his injury still matters plenty as the young linebackers will have to step up to stop a Packers running game that's actually done some things this year instead of being an afterthought.
3) Up Front
But again, the Bears' defense starts with the pass rush, and this year, it's the lack thereof that's caused the most problems. Defensive line play has done next to nothing this season, and the unit's been beset by injuries. Not that I'm telling you anything you don't already know, but my point remains the same - the Bears' defense won't get anywhere without the defensive line getting off blocks and making plays.
4) Keep Matt Forte Involved
The Packers' run defense has been more solid this season, but Matt Forte can still do things in the passing game; and with a pass rush like the Packers, getting the ball out to Forte on a screen or swing pass can open up the passing game. And with how the Bears' receivers can block after the catch, Forte could come in big with a backup quarterback at the helm.
5) Stick To Your Guns
With Jay Cutler out, Josh McCown still has Brandon Marshall, Martellus Bennett, Alshon Jeffery, and the aforementioned Forte to distribute the ball to. They can still make some plays; get the ball to them and let them work.
6) Sustained Drives
Sometimes the best defense against a great offense is to try to not let that offense see the field through dominating time of possession. Especially when that defense hasn't done much and the offense is driving the team. Josh McCown's not Jay Cutler, but if he can keep the ball in the Bears' hands, make reads and key conversions, the Bears can at least keep the ball out of the hands of the Packers' offense.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Flames 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT). (However, again, we got a point!!!)
By Jerry Bonkowski, The Sports Xchange
Kris Russell's slapshot from just inside the blue line 92 seconds into overtime was
the deciding factor as the Calgary Flames defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 Sunday night at the United Center.
Russell's second goal of the season was a rarity: It wasn't tipped by a teammate or opposing player. It was simply a hard and fast shot that Chicago goalie Corey Crawford could not stop.
The win brought the Flames back up to .500 (6-6-2), while Chicago (9-2-4) saw its three-game winning streak snapped.
Of note, it was Calgary's first win at Chicago in the last 11 games on the Blackhawks' home ice, and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Blackhawks overall.
After a scoreless first period, Calgary had a chance to take the lead just under four minutes into the second period. Chicago's Marian Hossa was whistled for tripping on Calgary's TJ Gagliardi's breakaway in front of Crawford, resulting in a penalty shot.
Gagliardi appeared to rush his shot, as the puck harmlessly sailed wide to the right of
Crawford.
Energized by the play, Chicago came back at 6:25 on Patrick Kane's team-leading eighth goal of the season to break the shutout.
Unfortunately for Blackhawks fans, Calgary answered less than a minute later when center Mike Cammalieri tipped in Dennis Wideman's slapshot from the blue line to tie things up at 1-1.
Calgary went ahead 2-1 early in the third period on Curtis Glencross' fifth goal of the season.
Helped by a 5-on-3 advantage with two Flames in the penalty box, Chicago tied the game at 15:41 of the final period on Hossa's slapshot off a pass from Kane. It was Hossa's sixth goal of the season.
Of particular note in Sunday's game, it was a bit unusual to see Crawford in goal on the back end of back-to-back games, having also played Saturday night at Winnipeg.
Crawford's start had fans and media wondering if Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has lost faith in backup goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.
Sunday marked the first time this season that Crawford played in back-to-back games in as many nights, which is notable considering Sunday was the second of a five-game stretch in nine days.
Normally, the backup goalie typically plays in either the first or second game of back-to-backers.
The last thing Quenneville wants to do is wear Crawford out. But Khabibulin's last game was horrendous: He gave up four goals in less than a period and a half, prompting Quenneville to summon Crawford into the game on what was supposed to be an off-night.
NOTES: Attendance was 21,229. ... Sunday's game marked Chicago's third of 18 straight against Western Conference rivals. ... Chicago C Andrew Shaw played in his 100th career NHL game. ... Chicago came into the game having scored a power-play goal in each of its past six games. ... G Karri Ramo, recalled from Abbottsford on Saturday, was in uniform for Calgary. ... Calgary already has lost 34 man-games in just 13 games this season. They lost 133 man-games in last season's lockout-shortened campaign. Chicago has lost just eight man-games thus far. ... Calgary rookie Sean Monahan came into the game tied with San Jose's Tomas Hertl for the lead in rookie scoring with 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in the first 13 games. ... The Flames and the Blackhawks have never gone to a shootout in games played in Chicago. ... Calgary came into the game with a 4-2-2 record in eight one-goal games thus far.
By Pat Iversen
The NHL commissioner said the league was not happy with the incident on Friday.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told the Columbus Dispatch on Saturday that an incident during the line brawl between the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers on Friday has caused the league to consider making changes to the NHL rulebook.
The incident in question occurred when Flyers goalie Ray Emery charged down the ice and attacked Capitals goalie Braden Holtby. Emery clearly caught Holtby off guard, and the fight quickly turned into something resembling an assault. Emery admitted after the game that he attacked the Caps netminder even though Holtby said didn't want to fight.
Emery was not punished by the league, essentially because the NHL rulebook doesn't account for that specific situation. Bettman, who was in Columbus to announce the 2015 NHL All-Star Game, acknowledged that the NHL was not happy with the incident and indicated the league is considering changing the rulebook at the next general managers meeting.
"We constantly monitor and look at the game," Bettman said. "There was no rule that was violated to elevate things to the level of a suspension. It's something we'll continue to discuss.
"I don't think anybody liked it, liked what it looked like. Fortunately it's not something that happens very often. But I'm sure it's something we'll focus on, particularly with the general managers."Bettman also addressed the rise in player suspensions this season across the league. In one month, the NHL Department of Player Safety has suspended four players for a total of 22 games for illegal hits. Bettman called the rise in suspensions and rule changes an attempt at "effectuating a change" in how the game is played across the NHL.
Just another Chicago Bulls Session... Bulls' slow start to season no reason to jump the gun.
By Aggrey Sam
Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau has a point.
Even dating back to the team’s undefeated preseason, he consistently harped upon the fact that his entire roster hadn’t had practiced, let alone played together as a full unit. Now, after the Bulls’ disappointing 1-2 start to the regular season, the chickens are coming home to roost, so to speak, as the squad indeed doesn’t look totally cohesive on the court, most recently evidenced in Saturday night’s 107-104 loss to the 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center, in which their vaunted defense was nonexistent and a 20-point lead was surrendered down the stretch.
“Just in every aspect,” Thibodeau said, when asked to identify the source of the Bulls’ problems. “We’re giving up a lot of points. We’re turning the ball over. I liked the initial thrust of the offense. But we have to do it for 48 minutes. You can’t let your guard down. In this league, no lead is safe. I know you get tired of hearing that but in one minute, a team can make up 10 points very quickly. Jog back, one guy breaks down, you can’t play like that. You can’t be successful in this league like that.
"You have to play the game with an edge. The way you get an edge is you get into the gym, you work, you study, you prepare.”
Let’s be frank: Derrick Rose has admittedly had an awful start to the regular season, All-Star teammate Joakim Noah hasn’t had any type of consistency and aside from Taj Gibson, there hasn’t been much to write home about from the Bulls’ second unit, which was expected to at least be solid. But Thibodeau attributes the foundation of those issues to training camp, much of which Noah missed while nursing a strained groin suffered in the first week of practice, leading to him playing in only one preseason game, and Kirk Hinrich missed much of the tail end in the wake of suffering a concussion and shoulder injury.
“You can’t miss an entire training camp. You can’t miss 10 days of training camp. You can’t do that. You can’t. The games are coming. They’re coming fast. We have to change quickly and get it right,” said Thibodeau, who didn’t identify the two players by name. “We need to practice together. That’s the issue right now.”
When asked if he believed Thibodeau’s assertion was correct, however, Rose disagreed.
“You could say that, but I don’t think so, man,” Rose said. “If it was up to me, I’d blame tonight on me. Turnovers, missed shots, miscommunication on defense. I just can’t wait to get in my groove. But I can’t hang my head. I know I work too hard for that, so it’s going to come.
“Of course you’re disappointed because you’re [not] winning games, but at the same time, we can only control what we can control, and that’s working hard every day and just trying to become a better team,” he went on to explain. “It’s early in the season. It’s only three games. But like I said, we’re totally disappointed in us losing the two games. But the only thing we can do from it is learn from it and keep working hard."
Depending on how the Bulls are currently faring, it’s easy to come up with simple reasoning like Thibodeau pushes them too hard, Rose’s struggles have a deeper meaning beneath the surface or the team isn’t worthy of their high expectations. It’s just as easy to make rationalizations such as citing how early it is in the regular-season schedule, the former league MVP needs to shake off the rust before returning to his previous form and it’s good to get the kinks out early so that the Bulls peak at the right time this season.
In reality, this sample size of three games means a lot and a little simultaneously, with the Bulls’ response to the present adversity holding more significance than anything else. With so much experience playing together, the team is extremely likely eventually to jell sooner than later and banking against Rose getting back to an elite level, based on having no adverse effects — athletically and in terms of altering his aggressive style of play — puts the Bulls in position to achieve at the level many observers, this writer included, predicted.
But along with their collective health, it’s the squad’s mental approach that will define their season and whether it’s execution on the floor or more repetitions in practice, only when the Bulls are completely clicking on all cylinders will they be able to reach their full potential, let alone get out of their current malaise.
Noah, whose sidelined presence during the preseason seemed to most irk Thibodeau, said it even more concisely: “When the [expletive] hits the fan, I think we’ll be ready.”
The 8 Most Ridiculous Superstitions in Baseball.
By Aabha Ra Thee
The Boston Red Sox, having ended an 86-year-old MLB championship drought in 2004, are now making a habit of winning. This past week, the Sox won their third World Series title over the last 10 years — and their eighth overall — beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6. They had also won titles in 2004 and 2007, the first of those instances finally ending the Curse of the Bambino for the team from Fenway Park.
Superstitions, myths, and crazy quirks are a hallmark of sport — not the least in baseball where there are innumerable stories of some unexplained, oft-repeated ritual or curses that apparently plague teams and players. We take a look at 8 of the most famous superstitions in the sport:
1. Curse of the Bambino
When Babe Ruth, or The Bambino, was traded to bitter rivals New York Yankees in January 1920, Sox fans started believing that their team, which had won five World Series titles until then, would never win again. The curse built infamy of its own when it looked like it was actually coming true, with Boston staying short year after year starting 1918. It also coincided with the surprising rise of the Yankees, leading to much trash talk by fans from New York for their Boston counterparts. The curse finally lifted in 2004 after 86 long years. Fittingly, the Yankees had a role to play: The Sox came back from a 0-3 deficit to beat their rivals in the American League Championship Series. They then beat the St. Louis Cardinals in a clean sweep in the World Series.
2. The Curse of Billy Goat
Boston should consider themselves lucky because this particular curse — similar in nature to the Bambino — has still not lifted off Chicago Cubs shoulders. The Curse of Billy Goat apparently hit the Cubs in 1945 when Billy Sianis, the owner of Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern, was asked to leave Wrigley Field during a World Series game against the Detroit Tigers. It seems that the pet goat Sianis had brought along for the fun had an odor that bothered his fellow fans. Sianis left, but not before muttering the famous words, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.” Fans are still trying hard to get rid of the curse that has kept the Cubs title-less. In 2011, a pledge called Reverse The Curse was started to offer goats to families in developing countries, while in 2012, a group of five Cubs fans walked from the team’s spring practice facility in Mesa, Arizona to Wrigley Field along with a goat named Wrigley.
3. The Curse of Colonel Sanders
This one comes all the way from Japan, where a curse was apparently placed on the Hanshin Tigers by the founder and mascot of KFC. Colonel Harland Sanders was supposed to have been angered by some Tigers fans reportedly throwing one of his store-front statues into a river while celebrating the team’s 1985 Japan Championship Series victory. Following the curse, the team actually went on a barren streak. The lost statue was finally recovered in the river in March 2009, but the team’s losing record is still intact.
4. Ronald Reagan and the Case of Silent Pitchers
Ronald Reagan, who was a radio announcer in Iowa right out of college, firmly believed in a now classic baseball superstition of teammates not speaking to a pitcher working on a no-hitter. So much so that even he’d never mention no-hitters on radio. Most current broadcasters still follow Reagan’s practice. In fact, Reagan even applied the same philosophy during his election campaigns. “I kind of feel the same way about campaigning,” Reagan reportedly replied when asked about his potential election fate in 1984.
5. Jason Giambi’s Golden Thong
Weird superstitions don’t just hit teams, it seems. Former Colorado Rockies player Jason Giambi was known to go into inexplicable slumps, and the first baseman once decided that his problem could be fixed by a piece of women’s clothing. Giambi reportedly wore a golden thong to the game every time he felt like he was under the supposed curse. According to Men’s Fitness, the fix even worked more often than not. And apparently it worked so well that even his teammates asked to borrow the thong for their own periods of bad form. “I was blown away,” Yankees broadcaster and former big league pitcher David Cone said to ESPN about Giambi’s slightly strange practice. “You’ve got to be pretty confident in yourself to let that one out.”
6. Justin Verlander’s Taco Bell Addiction
Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander apparently needs to eat a Taco Bell meal before every single game. He revealed this strange affliction on Conan O’Brien’s show in 2012. ”The same thing every time,” Verlander told O’Brien when asked what he typically orders from the haven of the hungover. “Three crunchy taco supremes, no tomato, a cheesy gordita crunch and a Mexican pizza, no tomato. Every time.” You better believe him: Verlander even tweets pictures of his calorie-laden pre-game meal, according to Yahoo Sports.
7. Justin Morneau
Verlander is not alone in his need to repeat meal items. First baseman Justin Morneau would stop by the same Jimmy John’s Gourmet Subs everyday when he played for the Minnesota Twins between 2003 and 2013, ordering the Turkey Tom sandwich, no sprouts, for $4.65. That was followed by his special drink, created by teammate Nick Punto — one-half Mountain Dew, one-half red or orange from the clubhouse slurpee machine. But don’t think he stopped there. ”He is our biggest superstition guy,” Punto told ESPN in 2007. Following the meal ritual, Morneau then stepped onto the field at 6:47 with Jason Bartlett and did four wind sprints. ESPN lists more rituals: “Then he plays catch with Bartlett, or Punto in a pinch … Morneau wore No. 33 in 2006, having requested it about 14 seconds after the Twins traded J.C. Romero to the Angels at the end of 2005, because that was the number worn by Patrick Roy. On hockey nights in his childhood, spent in a Vancouver suburb, Morneau refused to exit the car before a game until precisely 6:33, to honor Roy, and because Morneau, also a goalie, knew it was just the right time.”
8. Kiki Cuyler
The Kiki Cuyler case may be one of those things that started the baseball superstition tradition. According to The Seattle Times, when then Pittsburgh Pirates manager Donnie Bush wanted outfielder Cuyler to move from third base to second in the batting order in 1927, the player plain refused. Cuyler firmly believed that hitting third was lucky for him. According to the report, Bush, who hadn’t been happy with Cuyler’s prior season-long performance either, suspended him just before the World Series for this particular rebellion. A struggling Pirates team was beaten easily by the Yankees.
Big game, big win for Dustin Johnson in Shanghai.
By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer)
It only took four holes over two days for Dustin Johnson to lose a six-shot lead in the HSBC Champions. All that mattered was the high-powered kick down the stretch Sunday at Sheshan International that brought him the biggest win of his career.
In what felt like the end of a long year and beginning of a new season, Johnson broke loose from a three-way challenge on the back nine by playing a five-hole stretch in 5-under par. He closed with a 6-under 66 for a three-shot win over Ian Poulter to capture his first World Golf Championship title.
''It's the biggest win I've had in my career so far,'' he said. ''Those guys put a lot of pressure on me. I'm really proud of the way I handled myself.''
This one required a little bit of everything.
One shot behind with six holes to play, he smashed his drive over the corner of a dogleg on the 13th hole that left him a short wedge into 5 feet for birdie to catch Poulter. Right when it looked as though he would fall behind again, Johnson holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the next hole.
It was a pitch-in for eagle that effectively won the tournament.
With a one-shot lead playing the par-4 16th, Johnson hit a 3-iron about 25 yards short of the green with a front pin. The pitch was perfect, rolling into the cup like it was a putt. Johnson raised his left hand and pumped his right fist. And when he waved to acknowledge the Chinese fans, they instinctively waved back, as if Johnson were the star attraction in a parade.
That he was, and there were plenty of stars.
For most of the back nine, the top seven players on the leaderboards consisted of Johnson and half of Europe's winning Ryder Cup team from Medinah.
Poulter and Graeme McDowell, who each had a share of the lead at some point, looked capable of winning until Johnson's late heroics. Right behind them were Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, all firing away with birdies on a soft course but unable to catch up.
Poulter and McDowell each closed with a 66, the same score as Johnson.
McDowell went 64-66 on the weekend without making a bogey and still lost by four. It was the start of that amazing stretch by Johnson that he recalled most clearly.
''He trenches one 350 down the middle and has the hands to that 70-yard shot to the front pin and make the putt,'' McDowell said. ''He's just a quality, talented, very athletic, classy player. Yeah, he makes mistakes. But when you've got a game as good as him, you can get away with a few mistakes. He's just got a great wedge game to go with just an outrageously good driving game.''
Johnson set the tournament record at 24-under 264.
He was six shots clear Saturday afternoon when he hit his tee shot in the water for a double bogey on the par-5 18th hole. Poulter had made birdie on the 18th, so the lead was cut to three shots going into the final round. Poulter started birdie-birdie.
McDowell did one better, opening with three straight birdies. Johnson three-putted the first hole for bogey, and then failed to make birdie on the par-5 second hole even though he had a 6-iron for his second shot.
Just like that, there was a three-way tie for the lead.
''The first five holes were not fun,'' Johnson said. ''I wasn't having too much fun at the start, especially when Graeme and Ian were birdieing every hole, it seemed like. But I knew I just needed to keep playing my game.''
Poulter, still tied for the lead, reached the green in two with a fairway metal. Johnson missed the fairway and had to lay up, while McDowell was stuck in the thick collar on the top side of a bunker, and he did well to hit a chunk-and-run onto the green about 40 feet away. Poulter lagged to tap-in range for birdie. McDowell's long birdie putt banged into the back of the cup and disappeared. Johnson calmly made his 20-foot birdie.
''That was a big putt there,'' Johnson said.
Poulter fell out of the lead with a bogey from the bunker on the 15th, and he never caught up. He at least stayed within two shots with a birdie on the 16th, but it was demoralizing to see Johnson follow his eagle with a 5-iron into 8 feet for birdie on the 17th that wrapped it up.
"A little disappointed not to put my hands back on the trophy," said Poulter, who won the HSBC Champions last year at Mission Hills. "But 15 birdies and an eagle at the weekend is some pretty good golf. Dustin finished the job. It was good golf and it was good fun to play in that group."
Garcia closed with a 63 to finish fourth, followed by Rose (68). McIlroy and Graham Dalaet each shot 69 to tie for sixth.
It was the second straight PGA Tour season that Johnson won the first tournament he played - even though it was in the same year. His last win was the Tournament of Championship at Kapalua in January. This is the first time the tour has gone to a wraparound season, which began a month ago.
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