Old Style Sports

After the Cubs’ completed their second sweep of the Pirates this season last night, your two baseball teams are at the top of their divisions. The White Sox have won six of their last nine, and with the Yankees and Mets coming to town, both of these teams are fortunate to have their mojo right now. So how are they doing it? At opposite ends of the mound.

The Cubs currently rank 3rd in the majors, hitting with a .282 batting average. and 2nd in RBI with 101. Derek Lee is back to ‘05 form with 7 home runs and 17 RBI already here in the early-going, and there are eight guys with batting averages over .300. And just in case you haven’t been following, that’s with Soriano on the disabled list, too. Granted it’s early, but October could be interesting if this lineup keeps producing like it has.

The White Sox, however, are getting it done on the other side of the ball, currently ranked 5th in the majors with a 3.45 ERA. Despite only having two guys (Pierzynski and Dye) batting over .300, the White Sox have managed to win by silencing the bats of their opponents.

And it isn’t because of perennial all-star Mark Buehrle, either (1-2, 5.96). Outside of Buehrle, the White Sox pitchers are 8-3. So once Buehrle shakes off the rust, and the lineup starts producing, it appears that Chicago’s South Side Bombers might be playoff bound.

Alright, I can admit it. Despite hating all of the crap that comes along with the Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry, I do own a Yankees suck shirt. After games let out, all of the vendors along Brookline Ave. into Kenmore sell t-shirts that say everything from “Jeter drinks wine coolers” to “A-Rod wears lipstick”. I’ve seen some of the same thing around here with the intracity rivalry between the Cubs and White Sox (White Sox fans wearing “Wrigley Field: World’s largest gay bar” shirts).

But this is pretty damn awful. And not funny in the least.

The immersion of Japanese baseball players into Major League Baseball has been one of the best things that could have happened for baseball. International TV contracts, marketing and advertising, and games being played in Japan have been very lucrative initiatives made by MLB to expand what was once a largely American game.

Ignorance breeds hate, people. What we really need is to get back to our appreciation for touchin’ ‘em all, 6-4-3 double plays and rally caps.

Baseball used to be about sitting in your shirtsleeves on a warm summer day with a cold beer and a bag of peanuts. We need to get back to it.

Here we are, six and a half long months later…

What the hell happened to the Bulls?

In October, all of ESPN’s analysts picked the Bulls to finish no lower than 4th in the East, with some dolts picking them to win the Eastern Conference.

Ah yes, but those were different times. Kobe wasn’t happy in LA. He and Phil were bickering through the media. Trade rumors. Unhappiness. Maybe he’d be a good fit in Chicago? Now look where we are.

Kobe, still in a Lakers uniform if you haven’t noticed, has led his team (drastically improved by a midseason trade to get Pau Gasol) to the top spot in the West.

Granted the trade rumors were precisely that - pure speculation - but if John Paxson put together a package of veterans with expiring contracts and kids with potential (like some other team), maybe they would at least be in the playoffs.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20, and unloading the cumbersome contracts of Ben Wallace and Joe Smith was pretty big for the Bulls, but keeping this raw, undeveloped talent that just sat here under Head Coach Jim Boylan was just as much a waste had they made a crappy deal.

And sure, you can cite any number of excuses for why the Bulls didn’t do so well… Hell, I’ll do it for you:

• Youth - Despite adding seasoned veterans (and regular underachievers, mind you) Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes during the season, this team can still be called the Baby Bulls with Luol Deng, Kirk Heinrich, Ben Gordon, and Andres Nocioni only in their third year of NBA experience. And I didn’t even mention Tyrus Thomas (1) or Joakim Noah (Rookie).
• Youth again - the immaturity of this team throughout the season proved to be a major deterrant. Tyrus Thomas skipping practice, Joakim Noah fighting with Ben Wallace, and regular temper tantrums from additional players were precise reasons these guys finished out of the money in the East.
• The front office - John Paxson hasn’t been able to light a fire under this team’s collective ass since taking the position five years ago. This offseason, and next year’s performance should be a gauge for whether or not he keeps his job
• Lack of leadership - Who is the go-to guy on this team? To me, the Bulls have a lot of role players. Making the trade for a marquee name would have seemed ideal. Maybe I’ll suit up for them in November.

Alright, so I could probably go on forever about this, but it seems that the only way to end this post would be to look to the future. With a thin market for coaches this offseason, it appears that Rick Carlisle is at the top of a lot of teams’ wish lists. Specifically the Bucks & Bulls will be fighting for his services. So look for him to come to Chicago for a long term deal despite his record with the Pacers.

So as another banner thanking the fans goes up on another sports team’s Web site before the playoffs begin, Bulls fans should consider themselves fortunate.

They could be playing the Celtics the first round! 

Well, I guess when you make over $15.5 million per season, sitting one game isn’t that big of a deal.

Less than a week after his head coach was ejected, Jim Thome decided to blow up at an ump over balls and strikes, too. Looks like he gave his coach a piece of his mind, too.

Granted, they’re not charging the mound (yet), and the fans aren’t throwing trash on the field, but it’s about time you kids grew up. Screaming at umpires and getting tossed makes for good fodder for ESPN, though, that’s for sure. But if you really want to make the highlight reel Jim, try not hitting .156.

Then again, temper tantrums do rule.

Despite their phenomenal 7-9 record and third place finish last year, the NFL is giving da Bears some national ‘pub.

Preliminary highlights for the 2009 season include the obligatory Packers vs. Bears Monday night game on ESPN at Soldier Field on December 22nd, a Sunday night NBC game vs. the Colts to open the season on September 7th in Indianapolis (a repeat of Super Bowl XLI), and another Sunday night game November 30th in a battle of Adrian Petersons.

I however can’t wait for the November 16th game in Lambeau. Last year, I went to my first Packers game at Lambeau Field vs. the Bears on October 7th. After leading in the early going, Favre’s team fell apart in the second half, ultimately losing 27-20. Oh yeah, they beat them the second time they played them, too.

Despite their success against the Packers last season, they went just 5-9 against the rest of the NFL. Considering the Bears only play to beat the Packers, maybe the two most important dates for them are November 16th and December 22nd then. I’m sure you can’t wait to see the rest of the games though.

What do you guys think: