superdad

Here is what is on my mind lately in Sports.

Joe Mauer was announced as 2009 American League MVP no arguments there except maybe the Twins organization.  It is sad, unless you are a White Sox fan, that a great player and catcher Joe Mauer who will be a free agent next year and probably will not be a Twin by 2012.  The Yankees and Red Sox are licking their chops as both of their big name catchers are on the decline and even though the Red Sox picked up the option on Victor Martinez for 2010 you gotta believe Mauer will be another player that demands top dollar that only the Sox and the Yanks can really afford.

Did you say NOMAR!?!?  Oh wait, Omar Vizquel was picked up by the Chicago White Sox and let’s just hope this is not the only free agent signing this year.  The Sox are looking younger these days with a lot of older payroll dropped from the accounting books of Kenny Williams. Except Alex Rios who still is making too much money for what he produced last year in a  White Sox uniform.  Jake Peavy will need more help than that, I mean he already came from a San Diego team that lacked offense and now he is on a similar team but with worse weather.

Speaking of weather not since the big talk of El Nino has the Chicago Cubs been trying to forecast a Milton Bradley trade.  Everyday it seems as though the Cubs are shopping one of their big headaches from last season.  However the last time I checked every GM in baseball did see the same craziness that Bradley showed all of last year and the last thing most teams need is more drama in their locker room.  Honestly there may be one place that could use Milton Bradley. Oops forgot Montreal doesn’t have a team anymore.

Another team that may have to move to Montreal before we all go batty is the Chicago Bears.  Sure the Bears played better last week but still the team made the same mistakes they have been making all year.  Jay Cutler is who we though we got, a wild armed quarterback that just makes you hold your breath every time he throws and Bears fans thought this was all but gone when Rex Grossman was sent packing last year.  With no first or second round draft choices next year the Bears could be in trouble for awhile unless Jerry Angelo wants to open the checkbook and actually get some better wide receivers despite him still saying “we will work with what we got.” What you got is Devon Hester not a premier wide receiver and a bunch of un experienced receivers that are better at cashing their checks rather than running solid routes for their quarterback to not look as bad.

Call them bad, as in good or whatever you want, the Chicago Blackhawks are back on top of the NHL standings and it just feels good.  Plus with big rumors that this supporting cast of youth will be staying together can only bring us fans a big smile. Now they haven’t won anything yet although the future looks much more promising than year’s past.  The Hawk players are starting to become mini celebrities in this town and it is nice to see that winter is not all about football or basketball but the winter’s purest sport Hockey.  Last thought on the Hawks I think a Duncan Keith jersey may be a wise choice for an early Christmas gift  as the Hawks are close to signing him to a very long contract.

As for the other team that calls the United Center home the Chicago Bulls, who probably wish that the Circus would leave a week early, are trying to keep their head above water on the West Coast swing that has brought the young Bulls back to ground level after an impressive start.  Bulls fans still should not worry too much on this as the Bulls will be alright, as they will be playing a lot of home games in December to make up for the long early road trip.  It is not the Western Conference I am worried about it is catching up to those early rising Milwaukee Bucks with new rookie guard Brandon Jennings that have caught many teams attention.

I will close with this as thank you Mr Rose this was nice! 

Got plans tonight?  Well better have a television involved or you going to miss some quality action in not only Chicago Sports but also good old fashion television.

Starting at 7 central you can start your evening off with your “Community” friends on NBC.  If Chevy Chase does not make you laugh then you need to get your funny bones checked because this role as the old guy on a community campus is the best one he has had since Clark Griswold.

After chillin with the “Community” then you can park it with “Parks and Recreation” as Amy Poehler still is one of the funniest ladies of television.  However my favorite character is Andy by actor Chris Pratt.  You know that guy that was in “Everwood” Wait I might be showing my affectionate side a little too much this is a article about sports as well!  I just grunted…

Then of course you better check “the Office” out as if you are not watching this show and still stuck on “Mc Dreamy” on ABC with Grey’s Anatomy then you too need your brain examined. Right this blog is supposed to be about sports but just wanted to give you a taste of what I like so you know a little more about my tastes as Ijust like a good laugh after a long day of work, school or maybe just getting those little ones to and from school.

Then the real action as of course the two hottest teams in Chicago are on the West Coast tonight.  See now you know why I started off with television why waist good TV when the Bulls and Hawks don’t start till 8:30c.

Sorry “30 Rock” can’t stick around as the first place Chicago Blackhawks are invading Calgary, where you know there is always that extra incentive for playing against ex Hawk player and now new coach Brent Sutter.  The Flames are good and the Hawks are just nasty as in a good way, so should be a great game.

Then maybe after the first intermission check out the Bulls on TNT as the young but showing growth Chicago Bulls get Kobe and the defending champion L.A. Lakers.  Derrick Rose loves L.A. and you know he will want to put on a show for a city that loves when the stars shine their brightest.  Plus you got to see if Joaqin Noah keeps grabbing those rebounds as the leagues top guy on the glass after the first ten games of the season.  Sure it may only be November but the Bulls are 6 and 4 and that is their best start in ten years!

That is what superdad is watching tonight. What you watching?

Five picks in last night’s game for Jay Cutler and the Bears in a less than stellar Thursday night football.  Now a few of these interceptions were a combination of bad route development but a couple were just bad decisions by Cutler. Yes we all know you got a cannon arm but sometimes you got to watch the itchy trigger finger.  I’m sure the Bears coaches are okay with this but 5 and two other games were he had 4 interceptions,  not acceptable and Jay need’s to play better especially with a offense and a overall team that does not win if it is on the other side of the turnover battle.

Besides turnovers another thing that seems to be worrying me about this team is that the offensive line cannot create a running lane or just give Matt Forte something to run through.  Yes he needs to break a few tackles himself but their has been no push by the line all year long and that can only spell more games where Jay Cutler has to put the team on his back which is still too much for this type of quarterback to handle.  He needs more help and Cutler should not be the total blame.  I put other blame on the coaching staff as well who seem to have forgot that the Bears are good when they can run the ball.

Even in the 4th quarter their was no attempt by the Chicago Bears to run the ball when the game was far from being a shootout.  The game was very low scoring and when that happens it is not wise to become one dimensional especially against a well disciplined and well coached 49ner defense.  I do give high accolades to Mike Singletary who beat his old team but if you switched the jerseys around and put the Bears jerseys on the 49ners players or vice versa you would see the similarities that the 49ners look and play like the old bears.  They play sound defense and limit their mistakes making them competitive against any opponent they face.

Here this is how Bears football is supposed to be played!

Thanks You Tube for making me feel better again!

Well at least there is a short week for the Chicago Bears.  After a 41 to 21 thrashing in which the Arizona Cardinals, Kurt Warner gave me flashbacks of the Bears defense in the Super Bowl XLI against Peyton Manning, how in the world do you bounce back?  At the very least,  you get to play a equally bad team in the San Francisco 49ners on Thursday night. Almost sounds like a Halloween candy bar lost in the back of the fridge after you thought it was all gone.  In a way I am pulling for Mike Singletary in this game as one of Chicago’s once beloved Bears teammates that scared you into submission by his own eyes on defense is facing his old team as head coach of the 49ners.  Sure people might get on me for pulling for the Niners but please I am tired of what I am seeing out their for the Bears.  Lovie Smith and Jerry Angleo made this team and they need to start seeing that maybe we are not as good as what you two thought.  “The Bears are who we thought they are” is the tone I get from this team.  It has not one great defensive star and injuries happen but teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers lose Troy Polamalu and even other defensive stars and they still find ways to win.  That excuse should not be the one us Bears fans should accept is all I’m saying.

The Chicago Bulls are 4 and 2 and it just sounds nice to say that the Bulls are in first place.  Derrick Rose showed the other night despite playing in King James Court in Cleveland that the Bulls are a team to deal with in the Eastern Conference.  Yes the Cavs might not be as good as people anticipated with the arrival of Shaq but still give some props to the Bulls that beat a Cavalier team in their home stadium, where last year they only lost twice all year long.  The Bulls are good and that is with a Derrick Rose that is at 90 percnet with a bum ankle and others like Luol Deng picking up the scoring.  Keep you eye on the Bulls as well in the media sport headlines in the near future as I read this week from Sam Smith’s column on Bulls.com that who knows maybe Lebron James could wind up in Chicago.  If the Bulls keep winning, you just never know, good things happen when you their is a winning sense in the atmosphere. It just seems the Bulls in year two of the Vinny Del Negro era are starting to figure it out and we in Chicago see only more positives coming in the near future.

Okay now that I have digested the whole Walter Payton discussion in the media whether or not he deserves a statue outside “Soldier Field” I have come to a grand conclusion.  Even though we gave a half time tribute to a man called “Sweetness” during the halftime show against Cleveland  on Sunday this tastes bitter.  Why is it that there are not more Bears statues?  I mean Buffalo has a statue of Thurman Thomas outside their stadium not to take anything away from Thurman but this Walter Payton one of biggest icon’s in Chicago sports along with Michael Jordan, George Halas and of course the coach that coached Payton, Da’ Coach Mike Ditka.  I overheard him say on radio this week “he is very pro for a statue at whatever cost.”  I am not going to disagree with a coach that even he says to this day is “the best football player he has ever witnessed to play or coach.”

Here is a couple tributes to Walter and you tell me if he deserves a statue.

My second thought today is all you hear about is that the Chicago Bears offensive line is sub par and they can not run on anyone.  Since we are talking about Walter Payton.  Did he ever really have a line to block for him? Not really.  Did Barry Sanders have a line in Detroit?  Look I was a big fan of Matt Forte last year but this year he is putting soft in sophomore slump.  Forte got some nice breaks against a Cleveland team that is really not that good and far away from the next opponent that Arizona Cardinals.  The Cardinals can play defense when they show up for the challenge and seeing they got throttled by a good running team in Carolina last week you know they are taking extra classes on stopping the run this week.  All I am saying is a average running-back makes and average offensive line even worse. The time is now for Mr Forte to have his biggest game of the year this week.  Sure he has had glimpses this year but he has yet to take a game over and if you want to make a bigger impact on the playoff push in the NFC it need’s to begin against Arizona.