Ok so I’ve been a slacker writing here. I need to do it more as I have all these ideas and never post them. And yes, I have said that before. Perhaps I have blog ADHD or something. Anyway, I’m posting this from my iPhone. Not to brag about that fact but wanted to test it out.

I’m currently in Indiana for Purdue homecoming weekend with college friends. Should see some I haven’t seen in a long time! This place has MANY great memories for me. I always enjoy coming back here to visit.

Purdue may not win the game which would not be fun. However in the end it’s not about the game, it’s about the people I get to see and catch up with.

Go Boilers!

I’ve made it abundantly clear on this blog; I’m a Chicago Cubs fan.  I’ve been one since I was 5 years old watching on WGN. Attended well over 100 Cubs games at Wrigley or in other cities. Ever so often I hear the following:  Why do I bother rooting for the Cubs when they just choke in the playoffs or never make it there?

Besides the normal rival ribbing, I usually assume those asking either are not sports fans or clearly only support teams when they do well.  Real fans of other teams know what it is to stand by them through thick and thin. Good and bad. Loyal to the core. The Cubs are my team.  Am I frustrated when things go bad?  Sure! Do I question moves the manager makes? Absolutely! Do I wish I became a fan of another team that was good when I was young? Not a chance! And come on, who really dislikes Wrigley Field?

As I write this I’m watching the Cubs lose another playoff game.  This year it hurts a bit more as the Cubs were the best team in the National League and many thought all of MLB. Not to mention one of the most likeable groups of players in many years.  It was a great regular season. One I will always remember, especially attending the NL Central Division clinch game about 2 weeks ago. Photos of that day here.

The Cubs are going to L.A. down 0-2 in a 5 game series. Not looking good but not over. And not unprecedented for a team to come back and win.  I still hold out hope.  Because I’m a Cubs fan.

UPDATE: Ugly doesn’t describe it, sad doesn’t describe it, sickening doesn’t describe it. There are no words that describe how bad it was to see the Cubs swept by L.A. The Cubs sent imposters on the field for that series. Not the team I watched all season.

There is more to life than the escape that is sports. For some reason it still just plain sucks when your favorite team loses in the playoffs. Especially when the potential was so high.

Baseball season is now over for me. I cannot watch one more pitch of the playoffs. This is a very tough one to take, however I will watch them again next season with the same hopes and dreams. Because I’m a Cubs fan.

The NFL Football season starts tonight!  In honor of this check out “John Madden” on Letterman.  Frank Caliendo does the best Madden impressions.

Well clearly I’ve been a blogging slacker this past summer. Some was due to other priorities and a busy schedule, but mostly I was just too lazy or didn’t feel like writing.

So lets see whats been going on… Bought a new suv… Yes… For those of you that know me my 1994 Jeep “The Mystery Machine” Cherokee is being retired. It didn’t quit on me but it had over 200,000 miles on it and it was time to move on. I bit the bullet and bought a new 2007 Toyota 4 Runner as seen above. I like it and hopefully it will serve me well like the Jeep did for almost 12 yrs… Good memories with the Jeep…

Spent the summer doing a lot of shooting (the photography kind) and am very behind on post-processing it all. More to come on that end.

The Cubbies had a nice run in the baseball regular season winning the NL Central Division. I ended up going to a few more games in their last regular season homestand which was a good time. I even somehow got tickets to all 3 possible NLCS playoff games at Wrigley (which is kinda like winning a small lottery), only to see them get swept out of the NLDS by Arizona. Thus those games were never played. Figures I guess… It’s too bad really because this was a good year to make a run to the World Series. But considering last season they were the worst team in the NL, I’ll take this one as a good first step.

So with that I hope to be blogging a little more often.

Today Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson on the 60th Anniversary of him breaking the color barrier by playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Many players or in some cases, entire teams wore his retired number ‘42′instead of their normal uniforms to honor him.

It cannot be stated enough what an important day that was 60 years ago when Jackie set foot on Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. Not just for baseball or sports, but for America and the world. I believe Jackie Robinson was one of the most important people of the 20th Century as his bravery, actions and integrity led to the progress this country has made in racial equality. Thank you Jackie for all that you endured and were willing to do for not just baseball but the for world.

Notable Links about Jackie Robinson:

JackieRobinson.com

Jackie Robinson Foundation

Sports Illustrated Article

Wikipedia entry on Jackie Robinson

I was happy to see that today Chicago won the right to be the U.S. bid for the 2016 Olympics! About a year ago, when this process was starting, here in Chicagoland it was not thought to be serious. However as time went by, interest and backing within the area grew. When Chicago became a finalist with L.A. , it became even more interesting as to how realistic the chances were. Clearly they made a great impression on the USOC, as I assumed L.A. would win since they had hosted previous Olympics and had some supporters on the voting board for the bid.

The last cities to host the Summer Olympics in the U.S. were Atlanta: Nice place… but is not a big sports town and is not in the same league as Chicago. L.A.: Smog… horrible transportation system… and again.. not a big sports town. If these places hosted Olympics it in the past, I certainly like Chicago’s chances to outshine them in 2016!

Now comes 2 more years of lobbying the International Olympic Committee before the final choice its made. Anyone who knows Chicago or has lived here are aware that there are no better people to lobby and schmooze people like Daley and his minions. Locals know that the most scrutinized part of this process will be funding and who in Mayor Daley’s machine of cronies will profit from this. I think most people locally will support it as long as they don’t get hit with more taxes to pay for it or scandals that seem to hit everyone Daley knows.

While that seems inevitable, I would personally like to see the Olympics in this area. Chicago is a great sports town and a beautiful city with plans to have many of the Olympic events or near on the lakefront. Even the proposed Olympic village will be on Lake Shore Drive. While this is still yet not a reality, it’s exciting to think how Chicago can hit the world stage to display what a beautiful and fun place Chi-town is especially during the summer.

I really enjoy this time of year in sports, baseball is about to begin with spring training wrapping up in a couple week. Even better, it’s the middle of March Madness where upsets and buzzer beaters abound.

My Purdue Boilermakers were dominant in their 1st round game vs. Arizona. However, they lost to the Florida Gators in a hard fought, 2nd round game where they mostly outplayed the Gators. If not for many non-called fouls (thanks a lot refs) and missed free throws the Boilers should have had the upset win, but it was not to be. Grrrrumble Grrrrumble…

I enjoy listening to some of the announcers and analysts that call tournament games every year. For instance, Gus Johnson (Mr Excitement… in a good way) and Bill Raftery (”Onions!” “Manaman!”(man-to-man)) come to mind. On the other hand, I really dislike listening to Jim Nance and Billy Packer. It still befuddles me every year why those two are the #1 crew to call games and end up calling the Final Four games.

Jim Nance is ok and does a decent job, but he doesn’t do his homework on things like how to pronounce players names and I wish he wasn’t so dry. He’s more concerned with finding spots to use his canned, un-original cliches rather than get the basics correct. He’s great for football and golf, but needs to avoid basketball.

Billy Packer is not my idea of a fun to listen to color analyst yet he has called it seems every single important (non ESPN) college basketball game in my lifetime! I don’t get it. He breaks down what is happening ok, but thats it. He’s boring, not funny and does not sound excited. He is cranky and just plain wrong many times despite the fact the video clearly shows otherwise. This is a great article by Bill Simmons on ESPN.com titled “The curse of Billy Packer” about this very subject and I agree with him wholeheartedly.

Please CBS stop the madness! Not the tournament, just Billy Packer. Do us a favor and force Billy Packer into retirement or something before the Final Four. I really don’t want to hear a grumpy old man analyzing a game! Give me a funny, excited about basketball, that knows his stuff old man like Bill Raftery. “Send it in big fella!”

The Bears Superfan sketch from Saturday Night Live is a favorite of mine as I have discussed in previous posts. It appears they are back minus Chris Farley in a commercial for Reebok. The commercial is funny and classic superfan humor, however I don’t particularly like this one. It would have been better to release the sketch a couple months ago. Now after a loss in the Super Bowl it does not have the same affect. The real problem I have with it is Adam Vinatieri, the kicker for the Colts is in the sketch this time. I really don’t want to be reminded about the Super Bowl loss now and he’s not even funny. The Superfans are still funny and use that classic “Daaaa Bearssss” phrase. However someone… eh-hem ‘fumbled’… the timing on this one.

Click below to watch the video

(more…)

DAAAAAAAAAA BEARRRRSSSSSS ARE NFC CHAMPIONS!!!!!!! LOOK OUT SUPER BOWL XLI HERE COMES THE CHICAGO BEARS!!!!!!! WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!

If you couldn’t tell I’m ecstatic that Bears are headed to the Super Bowl! As a life long Bears fan, it’s been a long 21 years since the days of the ‘85-’86 Bears championship season. Today the Bears won 39-14 as the snow was falling in a game that could have been an even bigger blowout.

The Bears defense showed up big time and dominated all game. And yes the offense was great pounding the ball with Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones on the ground and great play by Rex Grossman and Bernard Berrian in the 2nd half. The Bears played a great game all around, with only one penalty for five yards and ZERO turnovers.

To the plethora of national media, ESPN, and even local media that picked the Saints to win this game saying the Bears didn’t have a chance, it seems you all missed the mark, BIG TIME! So much the hype of the Saints being a “team of destiny” or a “feel good” story and their so-called “unstoppable” offense. One request to all of those so-called “experts”, please pick against the Bears one more time in the Super Bowl. Its great bulletin board material for the team and will again prove how little you all know.

For your listening enjoyment the Chicago Bears Fight Song here.

Lyrics:

“Bear down, Chicago Bears, make every play clear the way to victory;
Bear down, Chicago Bears, put up a fight with a might so fearlessly!
We’ll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T-formation!
Bear down, Chicago Bears, and let them know why you’re wearing the crown!
You’re the pride and joy of Illinois, Chicago Bears, bear down!”

One more game to go… GO BEARS!!!

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

First off I have to congratulate my alma mater Purdue University since they are going to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, FL on December 29. The fact that they are even going to a bowl and a decent one at that is a bonus for this season. I questioned all season whether they could play well enough to even be bowl-eligible. The schedule helped with no OSU or Michigan and they needed all the help they could get. The question will be which Purdue team shows up, the dominant offense and attacking defense or the turnover prone offense and horribly coached defense.

As a Big Ten fan, I usually dislike Michigan and Ohio State during the season. Once the season ends I will root for Big Ten teams in the post season. Today I believe Michigan got completely shafted being left out of the BCS Championship game. Of course I say that as a Big Ten fan, however I think it can be proven that they deserve to be playing OSU again. The best point-for-point proof is in this article on ESPN.com. Better than I could say it.

Once again this bolsters the argument that there should be a playoff system. I completely agree with that, however the reason the college presidents are against it (they decide these things) is simply money. There are multi-millions of dollars that the individual schools/conferences rake in for going to a BCS bowl game. Until they ensure the money remains in a playoff system, it will never be agreed to. They need to learn a few lessons from NCAA basketball March Madness.

In addition, because of the rule that no conference can have three teams in BCS bowls, Wisconsin gets left out of the BCS after a great season deserving of a BCS bowl. So who gets to go instead? Notre Dame. I can’t think of a worse 10-2 team in recent history with no wins over any top 25 teams and the two top 25 ranked they lost to (Michigan and USC) were complete blowouts. Of course no one across this country outside of Notre Dame fans think they deserve a BCS bowl. Again its all about money and TV ratings. Since the Notre Dame fans travel well and have a national following (deserved or not) they were selected by the Sugar Bowl. Simply disgusting.

It is a good day for the city of New Orleans. The Louisiana Superdome re-opens tonight for Monday Night Football featuring the Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints, just a year after the devastation from Hurricane Katrina. A remarkable accomplishment in such a short period of time. As I am watching the pre-game festivities, I realized the last time I saw the Superdome on TV was during the days following the hurricane when thousands of people were stranded there. Quite a dichotomy indeed.

Please read this great article from ESPN on the story of the Superdome during Katrina and the story of a family that sought shelter there. It must not be forgotten that it will take years for the city to be rebuilt and most of the devastated areas along the Gulf coast still are just that, devastated.

I’ll never forget last year watching the Saints play soon after Katrina. I’ll never forget it because I watched it with a large number of Katrina evacuees in a Texas shelter. Even though I was just a volunteer from Chicago, I became a Saints fan that day. The game was won by the Saints on a last second field goal and gave the people in that shelter a 3 hour distraction from the reality of losing homes and not knowing the fate of missing family members. They we able to cheer for their team, smile and celebrate for a very brief moment. Tonight they can cheer smile and celebrate that their Saints are home again.

Update: The Saints won 23-3 in a dominating performance. The atmosphere was like a Super Bowl. Congrats New Orleans!

You don’t think I’d go more than three weeks in the NFL season and not mention the Chicago Bears do you?!

The Bears won 19-16 today on their last drive at the end of the game versus the Minnesota Vikings. Albeit an ugly game for the most part, it was a fourth quarter come from behind win, their first under head coach Lovie Smith.

The Bears are now 3-0, and even more importantly 3-0 in their division. This gives them a huge advantage for the remainder of this long season. They only have 6 games versus the division and do not play the division again until December. To be that dominant so early in the season puts them in the driver’s seat for the division championship if they remain healthy. This is also the first time they have gone 3-0 since 1991. I like what I see so far.

Even though they gave up 16 points, the defense did not give up a touchdown and grabbed 2 key turnovers, the most important being late in fourth quarter. The offense did not run the ball nearly as much as I expected. They left a couple TD’s on the field, but when it mattered they got a field goal and a TD in the 4th to win. And I forgot to mention how bad the referee’s were against both teams. Horrible!

Elite teams find a way to win despite bad ref’s and an ugly played game. They have proven themselves as elite in the NFL so far this season. Da Bearssss!