Football

Sons Of Wilber Marshall – After The 1st Preseason Game

By Sam Fels 1439 0

We gathered our Bears crew in the aftermath of the preseason opener to take a temperature. We won’t tell you about the thermometer application. And away we go?

Did we learn anything important from the Bears first preseason game?

Tony Martin: What popped for y’all? Nick Kwiatkoski still can’t cover the pass. I’m hoping the Bears go a different direction when his rookie deal expires.

-I sleep better at night knowing Ted Larsen is available in case of an injury on the offensive line. He was wrecking dudes out there last night.
-Kickers kicked some kicks! I’m so sick of all of this. If I have to see another message board post about getting that kicker from Baltimore I’m gonna finally admit I’m going bald and pay for Restore hair treatment (can you tell I was on I-90 today?).
-Ian Bunting looked okay at times, but did he play basketball in college? That makes all the difference.
Brian Schmitz: In an effort to suck myself off, I was happy to see my earlier prediction about John Franklin III come to fruition as he was all over the place last night. Franklin was 3rd on the team on tackles and contributed on both kick returns and kickoff coverage. He will be given a real chance to make this team and thus far, he’s looked good. 

I saw what I needed to see from David Montgomery. Seven touches for 60 yards and a TD. I’m ok with not seeing the rook again until week 1, where he should be the starting RB. 
This time of the year is backup quarterback heaven. This is where guys make teams, showcase for other squads, and most importantly, make career money as a trusted backup. Chase Daniel is everything you want in a reserve QB whom you hope will never play. Guys knows the offense and most importantly, knows his own limitations. I don’t ever want to see him on the field this year, but he’s a solid insurance policy. 
Finally, what we learned from game 1 is that the Bears still don’t know who their kicker will be. Average showings from each on Thursday were expected and unappreciated. I’m convinced the Bears week 1 kicker is not on this roster. 
Tony: JF3 looked good, but I still think he needs to be a 4 phase special teamer to make this roster. As long as you can still contribute to the open threads, I say good luck, but don’t throw out your back trying to taste your successes.
Wes French: Brian, please don’t make any permanent body modifications to go about fellating yourself for JF3’s “breakout” in preseason game one. He was impressive against some paltry competition, but I think we’ll need to see more and, as Tony alluded, especially on Special Teams if he’s going to make the cut. I’ll now flip my thinking completely and overreact to Montgomery’s performance by agreeing we should pack him in bubble wrap and make sure he gets to September untouched.

I’d go as far as to say I was bummed to learn that Baltimore dealt kicker Vedvik to division rivals Minnesota over the weekend. Fry and Piniero are leaving a lot to be desired for what has been the biggest need for Chicago. having already dealt some (potential) draft capital for not-so-steady Eddy, I’d think Pace waits out other teams and picks through those cut as preseason comes to a close later this month. 
Then again, I’ve been out of the loop for a few days, moving my life a mile away and getting sick in the process. Did I miss any glaring transactions or anything else from around the Bears/the League? I know Miller rolled an ankle but sounds like he’s a go for week one…
Tony: I’m hoping for Vedvik to have a great career in Minnesota. May he hit 100% of his kicks against Green Bay and exactly 0 against the Bears. I’m not invested in the Lions enough to even pretend to want to put an arbitrary number on this hypothetical. Seriously, the Lions are the NFL version of the cousin whose name you never bothered to learn because you only see them at holidays and you try to avoid them.

Wes, I think you’re spot on about Montgomery because the more I think about it, the more I think he should be saved for the season. However, I say that because I am super interested in how the competition for the 3rd/4th running back spot goes. I’ve been thinking a lot about it and I think the Bears are going to approach this depth chart a little bit differently, with players like Patterson being on the depth chart as either a running back or wide receiver. So, let’s say the Bears choose to keep a combined 10 of the bunch for the 53. We’ve got:
AR12
Tarik
David Montgomery
Anthony Miller
Taylor Gabriel
Patterson
Mike Davis
Riley Ridley
Javon Wims
And then one of:
Kerrith Whyte Jr/Marvin Hall/Taquan Mizzell Sr (or two if they choose to not keep a FB).
I wanna see the competition for that last couple spots heat up, and as much as I like seeing Montgomery play, I’m here for those reps!
Wes French: I would also like to see more of Whyte/Hall/Ridley/Wims in the next few weeks. I think you’re right that the personnel they have makes it a bit fluid on RB/WR roster selections, but the back end of that list is going to need to show out on special teams as well. I know I keep bringing STs up, but the offense and defense are pretty well set in terms of starters and even most backups. Anyone that has ideas on being the next man up for one of those positions is going to have to contribute via the kicking/return/punt teams in addition to showing they can step in at WR/RB/DB/LB to make this team. That makes me think a guys like Mizzell and Wims have an inside track over Whyte and Hall. The Bears did not sign Davis to play in the kicking game, and Patterson actually hurts those bubble guys with his ability to return kicks in addition to his versatility on offense. 

We haven’t talked much about the defensive side of the ball, but I think fans are sleeping a bit on the lack of depth behind the pass rushers up front. If Kyle Fitts is the best we’ve got to put in rotation after Mack/Floyd….yikes. 
Brian: You’re spot on about the defense; but I guess no news is good news. I’m extremely confident the defense will be who we think they are. 

We need to pump the brakes on Cordarrell Patterson. The guy can’t catch, which is fine, because Devin Hester couldn’t catch either, but in regards to the return game, Patterson is no Hester. I’m also suspect about his character. There has to be a reason he continues to sign one-year deals. 
Tony: I think there’s quality depth on defense since Aaron Lynch will most likely also take rotational reps, and they have solid backup ILBs even if I’m not crazy about them. The DL has a dank rotation in place, especially with Jonathan Bullard still on his rookie contract, but the secondary worries me. The depth chart after Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamura is as bare as my fridge in college. Brian, maybe some autofellatio might lock up your boy JF3 for a roster spot. Keep us posted.
Brian: Just had to google autofellatio. 1. Gross. 2. IT is going to think I am real sicko. O well.
Wes: You brought this on yourself. I think this is a good place to wrap this one up. Until next time, take care sports fans. 
Football

Gruden’s Revenge: Why the Bears Could be on Hard Knocks 2021, and Why it Won’t Matter

By Tony Martin 2229 0

Hard Knocks season is upon us, and for the first time ever I am just not feeling it. For as long as I can remember, the first week of August finds me pumped as fuck that I share a Comcast account with my mother (yes I am 33 years old, thank you) and that she springs for HBO. Game of Thrones is cool and all, but I’ve had much more fun seeing Gerald McCoy talk about it, or hearing Chad Ochocinco telling the world to “kiss the baby”.

As of right now, league rules dictate that a team is eligible for Hard Knocks given that they haven’t been on the show in 10 years, haven’t been to the playoffs in two years, and don’t have a new coach that season. For this intellectual exercise, let’s make an assumption that the Bears don’t make the playoffs and are therefore eligible for Hard Knocks 2021.

At this point, I’m not even certain that Hard Knocks will exist because of how poorly this year’s season is going to go. Derek Carr is angling so hard for a reality tv show that it makes me actually cringe. Antonio Brown’s saga is most likely to be the focus of episode 2, but I’m not optimistic. I’ve seen a number of think-pieces over the last couple days all centering around the idea that the AB situation is going to inform the audience exactly how much autonomy HBO has in what is included and what isn’t. Charles Robinson from Yahoo Sports brings up some interesting points, mainly that episode 1 really glossed over a lot of the specific details about AB’s feet, and his helmet, and his threats to retire. Will HBO push back and air the inside details of this buck wild situation, or are they gonna toe the company line and only allude to what we’re all reading on Twitter constantly, maybe acknowledging it with a subtle look at the camera, like Antonio did in episode one when his children were asking where Ben Roethlisberger was?

You know what would be a bummer? Either of those options, for different reasons. For one, what makes Hard Knocks so compelling is often the stories regarding roster bubble players that really put a touch of humanity into the cold business that is NFL training camps/the NFL itself. Football is so barbaric, and we determine a player’s value by how fast they run or how strong they are, and it’s then so powerful to see something like a 4th string tight end’s battle with cancer, or an undrafted free agent defensive lineman’s ability to do a great impression of some veteran on the team. Spending an hour of your eight only on one player would lose what makes HK great.

Conversely, we know the teams hate Hard Knocks. The league allows it for the same reason that it allows all the other things everyone on the inside hates; television shows that give people access to the players makes the league more accessible. In that sense, the NFL needs HBO, but if HBO doesn’t have the freedom to tell the entire story, it cheapens the entire endeavor. It isn’t exclusive anymore. We aren’t insiders. We are all still seeing the NFL-approved narrative. Look, I don’t mind following a pre-determined narrative (I am literally watching SummerSlam right now), but if there’s a league that you know buries more skeletons than HH Holmes, it’s the one that plays on Sunday. Is it a coincidence that they show noted bigot and bully Richie Incognito walking into the first meeting of the year, moments before Gruden talks about how no hazing will be allowed?

Either way, this show is going to be ruined by the Raiders. Gruden is so corny, y’all. SO CORNY. I’ve never seen someone work so hard to pretend like the camera being on them doesn’t change who they are. I’ve worked in education for seven years now, and his “talking to” of Johnathan Abram for hitting too hard before the padded practices started was the cringiest thing I’ve ever fucking seen. It reminded me of myself, as a substitute teacher in Chicago. I worked in a middle school where the students got the first year teacher to quit after her second day. They brought me in to kill time while looking for a new Science teacher, and Gruden was pretty much 26 year old me, trying to get students to follow rules I didn’t create, didn’t want to enforce, and knew they wouldn’t follow. Abram clowned Gruden to his face, and Gruden just took it like someone who just wanted to not cause any conflict before getting back into his Grandpa’s 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee to drive back to Lake in the Hills and pass out at 8pm, because starting a fight wasn’t gonna change anything anyways and it’s above his pay grade.

If the Bears make it to Hard Knocks in 2021, best believe the show will have nowhere near as much clout or cultural capital as it does now, and I will blame the shitshow that is happening this season for that. The NFL will continue to tell us that we have insider access to the hidden machinations that run this league, and after this year, I’m afraid nobody will be able to believe it anymore.

Baseball

Series Preview – Sox Vs Astros: Hooo Boy

By Andy Jonathan 1656 0

  VS       

RECORDS: Sox 52-64  Astros 77-41

GAMETIMES: Mon/Tues 7:10, Wednesday 1:10

TV: Mon/Tues NBCSN, Wednesday WGN

Houston, We Are A Problem: The Crawfish Boxes

 

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1:  Dylan Cease vs. Zack Greinke

Game 2:  Chevy Nova vs. Gerrit Cole

Game 3:  Ross Detwiler vs. Wade Miley

 

PROBABLE SOX LINEUP

Jon Jay – RF

Tim Anderson – SS

Jose Abreu – 1B

James McCann – C

Eloy Jimenez – LF

Wellington Castillo – DH

Yolmer Sanchez – 2B

Ryan Goins – 3B

Adam Engel – CF

 

PROBABLE ASTROS LINEUP

George Springer – CF

Jose Altuve – 2B

Michael Brantley – LF

Alex Bregman – 3B

Yordan Alvarez – DH

Carlos Correa – SS

Yuli Gurriel – 1B

Ronny Chirinos – C

Josh Reddick – RF

 

This one could be ugly. The Astros come to town having just dropped 33 runs on the hapless Orioles this past weekend. Granted, 23 of those runs came in the Saturday matinee where they pounded out 25 hits against the O’s but still. That’s like 43,000% more runs than the Sox scored against the A’s this past weekend (Math is not my strong suit). Yet despite those gaudy offensive numbers, the Orioles still managed to escape with a win on Sunday 8-7 after closer (and noted shitbag) Roberto Osuna threw up all over himself in the 9th inning. You hate to see it.

The Astros are currently the best hitting team in the majors, topping a majority of the offensive categories created by man. Just behind them are (unsurprisingly) the Dodgers and then (BARF) the Twins. Just looking at the lineup the Astros are throwing out against the Sox this week should be enough to give Ross Detwiler night terrors. Honestly, the worst person in that lineup is hitting 9th, and he would be the 3rd best hitter were he on the Sox roster right now. They don’t strike out very much, they have the best walk rate in the majors, and they hit the living shit out of the ball. If they had been healthy through June instead of missing monsters like George Springer, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve their numbers would be even more bonkers. Alas, for the rest of the league they ARE healthy now and have been pummeling opposing pitchers into the fetal position.

Making things even worse is they managed to get better at the trade deadline, adding Zack Grienke to an already pretty impressive starting rotation. Grienke brings his 12th best pitching stats to a rotation that already included the 5th best (Gerrit Cole) and the 8th (Verlander). Greinke doesn’t have the pure K stuff he had in his days with the Royals and Dodgers, but has learned to rely on his fastball less and refined his change, which he’s almost doubled in usage since he moved to the bandbox that was Chase Field in AZ. The Sox get both him AND Cole, then get the respite of Wade Miley, except Miley has reinvented himself this year using Astros Pitching Voodoo Magic. He’s posted career best numbers in K’s and cut his walk rate considerably, making him if not as difficult as the other two, still overkill for what the Sox have been bringing to the plate.

Speaking of which, after scoring a whopping 3 runs against the A’s this past weekend the Sox have seemingly shaken the roster up by doing…absolutely nothing. As of writing this it looks like the same lineup Renteria trotted out yesterday. While the Sox 1-5 hitters on paper look pretty solid, their production (Outside of Tim Anderson) has been sorely lacking the last 10 games. If they’re going to have a prayer of winning anything against the ‘Stros, Jose Abreu and James McCann need to stop looking like they’re double parked in Wrigleyville and work the counts a little more in their favor. Moncada is still a few days away from returning, so we get more of Ryan Goins and his Interpretive Dance Defense at the hot corner. Sox pitching has it’s work cut out for it, and I’m interested to see how Dylan Cease handles this unholy terror of a lineup. His control needs to be precise, and the walks need to be nil, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ups his game. The bullpen has been pitching well, which is good because they’re gonna be needed on Wednesday with Detwiler scheduled to start.

Let’s Go Sox

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baseball

Houston Astros Spotlight: Weapon Of Choice

By Andy Jonathan 1261 0

The Houston Astros and the LA Dodgers are the league model from building their teams from within, there’s just no way around it. Even when they have players going down with week to week or month to month injuries there’s a seemingly endless pile of high end prospects clamoring over each other to get playing time at the big league level. The most recent of these for the Astros is Yordan Alvarez, who has been nothing short of astounding for them since they called him up in mid-May of this season. Through 170 at bats so far this season, he’s slashing a gaudy .355/.431/1.164(!!!) with 17 dingers and 41 RBI.

Alvarez was traded to the Astros at the 2016 deadline from (SURPRISE!) the Dodgers for Josh Fields. The Dodgers had signed Alvarez to a $2 million signing bonus when he defected from Cuba, but had yet to play a single game for LA at any level. At the time, the Dodgers were looking to shore up their bullpen for an extended postseason run, and Fields fit the bill. Alvarez was an unknown quantity at the time, and the need was immediate. Now, Fields is a journeyman AAA pitcher, and Alvarez seems destined for Rookie of the Year honors.

So far, Alvarez has scored rookie of the month honors in June and July with these nutty numbers. The question everyone who didn’t pick him up off the waiver wire in their fantasy leagues wants to know is: are they sustainable? Looking at the advanced stats as they sit now Alvarez has has an ISO of .378, BABIP of .407, wRC+ of 204, and a wOBA of .469. Just at a very quick glance, every single one of those seem completely unsustainable were it not for the small sample size. His wRC alone would be one of the best in the history of the stat. So we can assume that some regression is due for young Mr. Alvarez, the question being just how much?

Taking a peek at some of the other stats available to us that might give a hint at how much regression is due shows that Alvarez has an excellent eye for the strike zone. His current 11% walk rate is above average, and his K rate is what you would expect from a rookie (24.4%) seeing MLB pitching for the first time. Looking at his whiff rate, it’s about what you would expect from a rookie as well, vulnerable to low and away and the high and outside pitches:

Nothing too crazy here. What about his slugging percentage vs the whiffs?

Oh my. Well what about just his batting average?

Yeesh. So apparently Yordan has the ability to cover the entire plate with pretty impressive power. He has to have a weakness somewhere, every Death Star has an exhaust port. Well his 33% fly ball to HR ratio isn’t gonna last. His .400 BABIP is pretty unsustainable, though even if he regresses .050 that still would probably project out to a 40 HR/100 RBI season in that juggernaut of a lineup. The kid has a good feel for the zone, and can get to pitches out of the zone with power and frequency. All this says to the Sox pitching for this series is they need to tread very lightly when Alvarez is up. Nova and Cease in particular need to work the top of their zone with the hard stuff, away if able. If they aren’t going to be precise with that stuff and leave some over the plate, Alvarez is going to hurt them. Though to be fair, that goes for pretty much the entire Astros lineup.

 

 

Baseball

Jon Lester Is Fine, You’re Fine, I’m Fine, Everything’s Fine. Just Maybe Not Dandy, Too

By Sam Fels 1131 0

(30 for 30 voice)

What if I told you that Jon Lester is actually better than last year? You probably wouldn’t believe it, right? That tends to happen when you have as ugly a start as Lester did on Tuesday against Oakland. Or when you’re as happy to beat yourself up as Lester is, because he never sugarcoats anything for you. If he thinks he sucks, he’ll tell you. Maybe in comparison to the rest of the starters of late, especially Darvish and Hendricks, he can look worse than he might actually be. But it’s true, and it’s probably even better depending on where you slot Lester realistically on the staff. That’s the thing about the Cubs staff, they don’t really have “an ace.” They don’t have a #5 either. It’s kind of shapeless. Which can be good. Sometimes bad.

I will always use any excuse to get this into a post.

Still, every peripheral on Lester is actually better than last year, and not by tiny margins either. He’s striking out more hitters, he’s walking less, he’s getting more ground-balls. In fact, his K and BB numbers look pretty much exactly like his first two years here, when he put up a 2.92 FIP in ’15 and a 2.44 ERA in ’16. That’s a good starting point.

But he’s not putting up that end-product, and it’s easy to point out why. Lester is giving up basically twice as many homers as he did then. In 2015 he gave up 16 all season. The next year it was 21. Hell, last year it was 24. This year he’s already given up 21. But Lester’s HR/FB rate (15.7%) isn’t even the highest of his career. That came in 2017, just a tenth of a point higher. So is that because he’s old and slowing down? Or because of bad luck and a baseball hopped up on goofballs? The strikeouts and walks suggest it’s more the latter than the former.

The bad luck theme continues for Lester. His BABIP is .340, a full 50 POINTS higher than last season, and 41 points higher than his career-mark. Yes, Lester is giving up way more hard-contact than ever before, at 39% which is eight percentage points higher than last year and a full 12 over his career-mark. You know who else is giving up more hard-contact? FUCKING EVERYONE ELSE. If you go by the StatCast method, his 88.3 average exit velocity is decidedly middle of the pack. He shouldn’t really be dealing with this much damage.

Lester has also been unlucky in his left-on-base percentage, which speaks to sequencing of hits. After all, you can have five hits in one inning and give up three, or give up five in three innings and surrender none. He’s benefitted from some big-time luck in the past on that, with percentages over 80% two of his seasons in Chicago (average is about 75%). This season it’s just 70%, which is on the low-side and around his ’17 mark where he also couldn’t get much to break his way.

That doesn’t mean Lester hasn’t changed his approach, and we went over some of this last season. Lester has gone to a cutter more and more this season, as his four-seam fastball has lost a full three MPH from his career norm and barely breaks 90 MPH. He only uses the four-seam 30% of the time, the lowest mark of his career by a distance. And his cutter usage is up to 34%, the highest mark also by some distance in his career.

It used to be that Lester would only use his cutter to get in on the fists of righties, like so:

This season, he’s trying to find both sides of the plate with it:

And it might just be that Lester has to do that, because the cutter doesn’t have enough juice to consistently get inside on righties, who have the ability to turn on it.

Even off the plate inside, if not low, is getting pumping bomber’d. Whereas he’s been much more controlled outside, as long as it’s not thigh-to-waist. Which basically means Lester is trying to morph into Tom Glavine. It’s a transition, to be sure. In addition. Lester has always lived at the bottom of the zone, if not lower. But as we know these days, hitters are focusing on lifting that pitch, and pitchers are trying to be up in the zone more. Lester is as well, but he did spend over 10 years doing something else. So to expect him to instantly be able to pick his spots high in the zone would be a touch unreasonable.

That doesn’t mean I’d expect Lester to mow everyone down for the last six weeks of the season, and as you saw yesterday finding the outside corner with his cutter for him is still tricky. But it really isn’t as bad as Lester himself would like you to think it’s been. If he gets any sort of market correction in the season’s last month and a half, he’ll look something like you remember.

 

 

Football

Kicker? I Hardly Know Her

By Brian Schmitz 1806 0

Last Thursday, the Bears lost a football game that didn’t matter. However, for Eddy Pineiro and Elliott Fry it meant everything. Just about every NFL kicker and punter knows that for them, preseason games are just as important as the real games. No other position has as much riding on their future employment as specialists do in preseason games. This was not a preseason game for Pineiro and Fry, this was game 1.

After one game, the Bears kicking situation became only marginally clearer. Here is what we learned:

Because he has a stronger leg, and probably because he was the frontrunner to win the position going into the game, Eddy Pineiro was given the opportunity to kickoff the preseason opener. Pineiro blasted his first offering into the endzone for a touchback and phase 2 of the longest and most talked about kicker competition in NFL history was underway.

Kicker Scoreboard: Pineiro 1 Fry 0

After a few stalled drives and Pat O’Donnell bombs, David Montgomery continued to impress with a 7-yard touchdown run. Enter Elliott Fry for the point after; Fry was pure as the Bears tied the game at 7-7.

Kicker Scoreboard: Pineiro 1 Fry 1

Fry handled the ensuing kickoff and didn’t have the leg strength to cancel out a return. The ball was fielded at the 1-yard line and brought out 22 yards to the 23-yard line. This was a good coverage kick, however, the best way to limit the possibility of a big return is to ensure there is no return at all.

Kicker Scoreboard: Pineiro 1 Fry 0

On the next Bears drive, Pineiro’s night took a turn for the worse as he was called on to attempt a 48-yard field goal late in the second quarter. Pineiro never sniffed the middle of the uprights and was wide left on the attempt. No one would say a 48-yarder is a gimmie, but it certainly won’t get any easier to convert when its December, the turf is green spray-painted frozen dirt, and the wind is blowing 20mph off the lake. A low pressure, preseason, 80-degree Chicago night with no wind to speak of is easily the best conditions to kick in the kicker graveyard known as Soldier Field.

Kicker Scoreboard: Pineiro -2 Fry 0

An impressive 43 second drill from Chase Daniel brought the Bears to the Carolina 25-yard line, which meant Elliott Fry would come on to attempt…wait for it…A 43 YARD FIELD GOAL WITH 3 SECONDS LEFT (in the half). Fry calmly banged home his first FG attempt as a Chicago Bear – a smooth looking ball that never left center cut. The result yielding the loudest fan reaction of the night. Something you may have missed is that prior to the kick, Riverboat Ron Rivera called a time-out. When asked about this decision, Rivera said he was trying to help the Bears and their coaching staff out. This was a very cool moment and shows a lot about the character of one Rico Rivera.

Kicker Scoreboard: Pineiro -2 Fry 3

With just over seven minutes left, Eddy Pineiro had a shot at a little redemption. Pineiro easily punched through a 23-yard field goal to savage what would have been a largely disappointing night for the kicker.

Kicker Scoreboard: Pineiro 1 Fry 4

The final kick of the night was an Eddy Pineiro kickoff which failed to reach the endzone. The greater problem with this result and that Pineiro is in this competition due to his supposed kickoff power. This was not evident on this kick vs. the Panthers.

Final Kicker Scoreboard: Pineiro 0 Fry 4

I feel Fry’s game one performance was good enough to move him ahead in the kicking competition. After going center cut on his first extra point attempt, the former ‘Cock (never not funny) made his only FG attempt. Fry’s kickoffs left something to be desired but placekicking consistency will always trump kickoff strength in a league where a premium is placed on points. This a guy who made 161 of 162 extra points during his college career; there is no concern over his short-range accuracy.

The other participant in the Bears Kickerpolloza did not have nearly as good of a night. While Eddy Pineiro has a stronger leg, consistency issues continue to plague him. This was a first impression of sorts for Eddy, and unfortunately, he had the look and the performance of guy who is struggling with confidence issues.

While extra points and field goals get a majority of the attention in this kicking battle, do not overlook the importance of kickoffs and how they will affect the Bears decision on who stays and who goes. Neither kicker pulled away from the competition last night and the neck and neck race continues. If everything continues as it has, the job will go to the better kickoff man. The Bears will not carry a kickoff specialist on the 53 man roster and Pat O’Donnell cannot fill that role. So, moving forward, look beyond extra point and field goal accuracy and focus on touchbacks and kickoff placement.

So, after almost 900 words about kicking, I leave you with this…right now, I don’t see either guy being the Bears kicker in the week 1 opener vs. Green Bay.

Baseball

Series Recap: Sox Lose 2 of 3 To A’s – Offensively Offensive

By Andy Jonathan 1137 0

BOX SCORES

Game 1: A’s 7 – Sox 0

Game 2: A’s 2 – Sox 3

Game 3: A’s 2 – Sox 0

 

There’s not much you can say when a team gets shut out in 2 of the 3 games over the weekend. The Sox just aren’t scoring runs right now, as any team that starts a combination of Matt Skole, Yolmer Sanchez, Adam Engel and Ryan Goins isn’t going to threaten much at the dish. It doesn’t help that Jose Abreu and James McCann continue their southward slide towards offensive oblivion. Timmy and Eloy can only do so much, and even with Moncada’s imminent return this lineup isn’t super scary at the moment. What can you do but go to the bullets?

 

NUMBERS DON’T LIE

-Let’s start with a few positives: Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito look like they’re gonna be OK. We can all exhale because the #3 and #5 starters of the Sox Rotation Of The Future seem to have their shit back in order. Lopez looked very good on Saturday, and that’s even with him admitting he didn’t have his changeup working like it normally does. He only struck out 3 batters, but he kept the sneakily powerful A’s lineup grounded, inducing 11 ground balls during his start. This isn’t normal for him, but I think it speaks to his ability to adjust on the fly when he realizes certain pitches aren’t working.

-Giolito on the other hand mowed down A’s like it was going out of style. He struck out 13 in 6 innings, and really only made one mistake to Fatty Olson when he left a 1-0 fastball belt high to him which ended up in the Goose Island of Sadness. That oopsie aside, Giolito had his slider and fastball cooking in the first few innings. After that the A’s made adjustments and sat on his heat and he went to the change to get the punchouts. All in all I’m very happy with what I saw out of those two this weekend.

-Ross Detweiler is not the answer to any questions the front office should be asking.

-3 runs in a 3 game series speaks for itself.  The A’s pitching staff is very underrated, but it’s not like Cy Young pitched all 3 games either. The Sox only managed 4 hits against Mike Fiers, who makes Tim Wakefield look like Nolan Ryan. Seems like they need to hit their way outta this one, just sad news for my retinas while they do it.

-Alex Colome escapes with his ass intact after some…creative D by Ryan Goins. Error aside, Colome seems to be skating by hitters with more than the usual amount of luck. The end of his run may be near, and it’s gonna be ugly when it implodes. Hahn May regret not selling high.

-Life doesn’t get any easier next series, as the unholy terror of the Astros visit the south side. It’s a different look for their offense, as the team the Sox beat in May has added Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez to their now fully armed and operational battle station. This could be ugly…

 

 

 

Baseball

Series Recap – Cubs Split With Reds: Fine, Whatever, Good, Let’s Get Outta Here

By Sam Fels 1390 0

Game 1 Box Score: Cubs 12, Reds 5

Game 2 Box Score: Reds 5, Cubs 2

Game 3 Box Score: Reds 10, Cubs 1

Game 4 Boxscore: Cubs 6, Reds 3

Considering all that’s happened against the Reds this year, how annoying they’ve been, how every hitter turns into Barry McGwire Mays against the Cubs, I’m taking this split of four games and sprinting for the airport. Series wins against the Phillies and Pirates would mean a 6-4 roadtrip and yes I’ll have some of that. Sure, it’s still a below-.500 team and you’d like to think the Cubs will find the form to beat teams like that more routinely. But hey, when you get a boil off your ass you don’t really worry about how elegantly you did it.

The thing is it was so close to being better. There was a lot of people trying to remove their own tongues through their neck on Friday night, but if Javy Baez’s hard-hit grounder is two feet to either side of where it was it scores two and it’s 5-4 with no outs and two on. Shit happens sometimes. Sometimes Hendricks or any starter doesn’t have it on that day. You live with it, it’s just that there have been so many other boneheaded losses it gets harder to do.

Most of all, after I complained and moaned after St. Louis that the Cubs didn’t fight or scratch or claw their way back into ABs and games on the road, today they did. Hell, you could argue they did on Thursday too when Hamels gave up a big lead and they just poured it on some more. But today especially, against Luis Castillo-whom they weren’t really close to in the game’s first five innings–they took advantage of some lackadaisical location and selection and found a way back. Helps the Reds pen hasn’t been any good since the break, but you take it.

Oh, and they made Thom Brennaman cry. Good day all around.

Let’s…

-I thought Jon Lester had fucked it today, but that wasn’t totally fair. The 3-0 pitch to Eugenio Suarez wasn’t as bad as a I thought:

That’s more good hitting than bad pitching. He even tried to stay away from Apollo/Aries/Yahweh Aquino, and he still went outside the zone and got it. He kept it close enough, which after that outing on Tuesday is good enough for now.

The real upset was that the pen was flawless, with only one hit and one walk in four innings or work. They may have lucked into Rowan Wick, but he was the main star, going two innings and going through the meat of the Reds lineup to give Strop the easier part. He even figured out to give Aquino nothing below his nose or above his ankles.

-I kind of had it wrong all weekend on Aquino, too. He had a decent 7.9% BB-rate in the minors this year, so he’s not the hack-a-thon I thought/hoped he was. Still, when he’s raining fire down upon you, the Cubs could have figured out to not be over the plate as much if only to avoid damage. Then again, when you’re already down eight…

-Very weird start for Darvish, who gave up four runners all night and all of them scored. He didn’t get away with one mistake, which almost seems unfair. Have that start again and he might go eight shutout next time.

-I want to believe that this IL stint is the rest Cishek needs that Maddon would never give him, instead of the abusive use shredding the hip he’s already had surgery on before. That’s what I want to believe.

-I was just thinking to myself that with the ball being a Titleist, 22 homers for Bryant seemed a touch on the low-side. I’ll take the 23rd and shut up now. The Cubs are seriously just one Bryant binge away from hiding from the Brewers and Cardinals.

-And good on Joe for letting Mills take the last four innings in a blowout to not have to use anyone who will matter. That left Phelps, Wick, and Strop fresh for today. I still want to believe Maples will matter one day, but I’m probably the only one now.

-Y’know, if Ian Happ keeps hitting, it doesn’t really matter if Ben Zobrist makes it back or not.

-My one quarrel with Friday is that with two outs and Amir Garrett on the mound, one of the tougher lefties in the division, Schwarber shouldn’t be given that AB. I know that Bote or Almora is hardly a step up, but presumably Bote is still here because he might actually hit a lefty sometime. Fairly sure Schwarber won’t, especially in a clutch situation. Oh well.

Onwards…

Everything Else

Friday Foofaraw: Premier League Preview Part II

By Sam Fels 1347 0

Let’s keep it rolling…

Manchester City: (Adam Hess is a Sky Blue, so we went to him for this…before we fire him.)

CAMPEONES! CAMPEONES! OLE OLE OLE! With back to back Premier League Championships and the best two-year run in the history of the Prem, along with the completion of the straight Domestic Sweep in 2018 it’s hard to say City have much more to accomplish in England. City did need to go on a historic 14-game win streak to close out Liverpool in the Prem last year, but when you got it you got it, and Pep’s fucking got it. It will be interesting to see how City approach the League this year given that they have had that incredible success these past two years.
Where my focus lies for City and Pep is Europe, where they need to finally have a good run in the Champions League and prove that they are for real on the European stage. They’ve almost reached a point where you can set your watch to them bowing out in the quarterfinals. And what’s even more frustrating is that they haven’t actually been beaten in their elimination round in two the last three years, going out on away goals in 2017, getting smoked in 2018 (they went out 5-2 on aggregate to a club with actual European pedigree, mind-ED) and then lost on away goals again in 2019. Pep has never had huge success in Europe, but he does have a UCL title under his belt, so he can do it. It’s time for him to do it for the Blues.
Manchester United: BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! If there’s one thing everyone who contributed to this can agree on is that we can have a hearty laugh at ManUre. They’re hierarchy is a mess being flooded with nincompoops, they got bullied into hiring a former player because the current players were so overjoyed not to have to deal with Jose Mourinho’s Eeyore act anymore even though it’s clear he’s way in over his head, and their playing staff simply isn’t good enough. They’ve punted Romelu Lukaku, whom they somehow ruined, so they can turn over the central striking duties to Marcus Rashford, even though he hasn’t proven he can handle that yet. Paul Pogba will be in the biggest sulk you’ve ever seen, which is saying something considering he’s French. The defense might be ok with Lindelof and Maguire, but only just. The midfield blows, the attack is short, and having lived through this nightmare with Liverpool some years back I can’t wait to enjoy it for another season. 5th seems prime for them. One day, a great manager is going to take all their money and straighten out the entire club by sheer force of will. But until that happens, we have to enjoy this slapstick theater while it lasts.
Newcastle: Going down, and sadly it’s what their owner, though not their fans, deserve. This club, given its size and support, should be challenging for Champions League places, and has in the past. But they have one of the biggest dickhead owners in sports in Mike Ashley, who has taken the most passionate fanbase possibly anywhere and turned them off this club. He chased away a genuine class manager in Rafael Benitez–the only reason they got promoted and stayed up the past two season–because he wouldn’t back him with transfers. He replaced him with English football’s version of Randy Carlyle in Steve Bruce, because he’s from there and won’t raise a fuss. They’ll play an awful brand of football, they’ll never score, and down they’ll go. And this time, they may not come back. It’s truly a crime, but maybe regular seasons in the lower divisions will finally chase Ashley off and this club can get the owner it deserves.
Norwich City: They blew away the Championship in the back half of last year, and seem content to stick with the squad that did that. They played some sumptuous football last season, scoring 93 goals in 46 league games. But they weren’t great defensively, they haven’t added to that defense, and now they’re facing Premier League attacks. There is some logic in not getting out over your skis financially upon promotion and then fucking yourself royally should you go back down. This seems to be a long-term project for Norwich, and they’ll play some stuff at times. Maybe they can hang on for 17th, and Newcastle and Palace might keep them propped up amongst the old guard threatening to go down. Still, it’ll be an adventure.
Sheffield United: As far as I’m concerned this team is always managed by Neil Warnock, even if it isn’t. It might as well be. They’ve gone the opposite route from Norwich upon ascension to the EPL, spending 40M on Championship talent to boost their Premier League hopes. They’re also the opposite of Norwich in that this is pretty grind-y, sandpaper-y style here, and you can expect a lot of balls lumped into the box and a lot of hard fouls. They like a kicking in Yorkshire, after all. I would tip them to return from whence they came though, along with Newcastle and Palace.
Southampton: If Bournemouth doesn’t become your second team, this one might. Southampton have specialized in developing talent, playing an entertaining style, and staying afloat by selling that talent to bigger clubs (usually Liverpool). They fucked up by hiring Mark Hughes as manager for a while, but have put that right by replacing him with Ralph Hasenhuttl, or Baby Klopp, basically. Goals might be a problem as they’ll depend on Danny Ings before his glass body breaks again, and unproven-at-this-level Che Adams. Still, Hasenhuttl had this bunch playing over their head when he got settled, and I’d expect that again…to the point where he might be offered greener pastures next summer.
Spurs: (Old friend of the program Greg Boysen chipped in for this one. I can’t fire him)

I will be the first to admit that I am still a novice when it comes to soccer as I only started to follow the Premiere League when NBC picked up the broadcast rights here in the States. I chose the Spurs as my team because of a good friend who grew up in England cheering for them with her father. It did not take very long before I realized they were the perfect team a life-long Chicago sports fans should be cheering for. They have just enough talent to get your hopes up only to kick you right in the reproductive organs by the end of the season. 

Last year was no exception. For a good portion of the season, they looked like they were going to keep up with Liverpool and Manchester City make it a three-team race for the title. Then the calendar turned over to 2019 and the team’s lack of depth caused them to slide down the standings and barely hang on to fourth place. Sound familiar?

The cherry on top of last season’s shit sundae was pulling a miracle out of their collective ass to get the Champions League final only to lose it. It wasn’t just that the lost the game to Liverpool (up yours, Fels!), but they lost to them in one of the worst games in European football history!

Will this season be any different? Probably not. They brought in guys like Tanguy Ndombele, Jack Clarke, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon but their success will still depend on Harry Kane. Yes, Son Heung-min and Moussa Sissoko had good years, but the Liverpool game showed just how important Kane’s health is to the club’s success. 

The new additions should add to their overall depth, but they still don’t have a traditional center forward to support Kane and there are major question marks at right-back. The right flank is going to challenge my new found sobriety this year. 

So, I am sure will be feeling great about the table at Christmas only to curse my Spurs fandom before I head out to a Super Bowl party in February. 

Watford: Watford are one of the weirder clubs around. Their ownership seemingly likes to change managers every season, though they’ve stuck with Javi Gracia again this time around, mainly because other teams wanted him. They generally buy a raft of players, and none of them can dislodge Troy Deeney from forward. They’ve been quiet this time around, though they’ve brought in Danny Welbeck, who has still convinced a large number of pundits over there he can still be good because he banged in a couple goals for England once. How he made that England team is anyone’s guess. He’ll get hurt, he’ll have one good game when he’s not hurt, and that will be that. Other than that, a steadying ship means they’re probably not going too much farther than last year’s 11th place, which for this club is pretty good. Any higher and Gracia is getting poached by someone. They do attack, they can be easy on the eye, and you’ll forget they existed as soon as they’re done playing your team.

West Ham: I’m not sure I want to live in a world where West Ham are acting sensibly. Well, somewhat sensibly. This is still a side that shipped 55 goals last season and still mostly spent their kitty on attack. But that attack, with Felipe Anderson, Lanzini, and now Sebastien Haller looks mighty tasty. They can get bullied by lower, less skilled sides and they’re not good enough to play with the big boys consistently, though they can definitely jump up and bite one or two of them on a given day. Declan Rice is the truth anchoring the midfield, but Mark Noble still gets a place here and he died three years ago. Yet another team below the top four that can be entertaining as hell, in both good and bad ways.

Wolves: They may have a sordid arrangement with super agent Jorge Mendes, but that’s the way the world works and it gets manager Nuno Santo some prime players you wouldn’t think would land in the Midlands. Ruben Neves has stuck around for a second season, which no one saw coming. Raul Jimenez also signed up full-time, which will mean goals which is where teams like this generally struggle. Wolves won’t. Jesus Vallejo on a season-long loan in intriguing, as he could end up boosting the defense something fierce. If you’re anchoring the Spanish Under-21s, there’s something to you. Joao Moutinho is also still here for creativity. Possible best of the rest? Possibly more if Chelsea, Arsenal, and United can’t get their shit straight? Feels like them and Everton might be dreaming big this season.