Monday, November 25, 2013

Bulls Lose Rose to Another Season Ending Knee Injury

11 games. That’s all we got to see before another earth-shattering, devastating, franchise-changing injury to Derrick Rose stopped this season before it even got started. In what initially appeared to be a minor tweak in yet another non-contact play, Derrick Rose’s career – and the hopes of a franchise completely bought in on him – may never be the same. All of the hard work he put in after missing 18 months with a torn ACL in his other knee, all of the angst and criticism he heard from fans and the media – none of that matters now as he has the same long path ahead. The future of Derrick Rose, the near future of the Bulls franchise, and even the future of some of the players on the team are all now huge question marks. It really couldn’t get any worse. 


Saturday, November 16, 2013

Time for Beckman to Go

The fact that I'm writing this as halftime comes in Illinois' game against Ohio State tells you everything you need to know about the current status of this program. It's reached new depths of ineptitude. The funny thing is, though, that this isn't the wakeup call for Illinois fans, alumni, and administration that Tim Beckman isn't the right guy to lead this program out of the abyss. Strangely enough, anyone who watched this team last year saw the same thing. The missed tackles, the poor planning, the poor construction of a staff, the blaming on the previous coaching staff, and the inability to do even the slightest things right are obvious to even the most casual of fans.



Monday, November 11, 2013

Trestman Sticks with Ailing Cutler, and Bears Stuck with Loss

Marc Trestman's honeymoon with the Chicago media and Bears fans lasted 8 games. 8 games, up and down the Bears roller coaster this season, where Trestman emerged relatively unscathed and still the darling genius behind the Bears offensive genesis. That is, until yesterday's game against Detroit, where his mind boggling decision making is the direct reason the Bears lost a winnable game that would have given them control of the division and thus their own destiny towards the playoffs. I was fine with the Trestman's gamble on fourth down in the first half, instead of kicking a field goal, but his management of the quarterback situation in the second half and his abysmal play call for the attempted two point conversion at the end of the game were horrible.



Thursday, November 7, 2013

Cubs All in on Young Talent with Renteria Hire


It seems that the growing trend in Chicago sports coaching searches these days is to hire the slightly under the radar, outside the box type with no previous head coaching experience. The Bears got theirs in Marc Trestman, who was only a head coach in the CFL and is off to a good start this season. The Bulls got theirs a few years ago with Tom Thibodeau, who has had resounding success thus far in his tenure. Illinois basketball got theirs last year in John Groce, who has done more with the program in his 18 months on the job than anyone thought possible. Now, the Cubs hope they are getting their own great hire today in announcing that San Diego Padres bench coach Rick Renteria will be their new manager, replacing Dale Sveum. Although the hire goes against what most thought the Cubs were looking for in terms of major league managerial experience, the hire could turn out to be just as important and valuable as those listed above.