2013 Illinois Football Preview: Nowhere to Go But Up?

I'd just as soon as forget last year. The winless Big Ten season, the coaching debacles, the weird obsession with lasagna, and the mindless sideline dipping. The awful product on the field, where it seemed like crossing the 50 yard line was worth a gold star. Sure, you could chalk it up to a vastly undermanned roster that was decimated towards the end of Ron Zook's tenure, but the inability of the coaching staff to work together and put a cohesive effort on the field, and the apparent incompetence of Tim Beckman in nearly every game, means that questions remain heading into a brand new season as to whether this program will improve. Given that it's pretty much bottomed out at this point, the hope is that the answer is yes.

Keeping Matt Garza

Heading into the 2013 MLB Draft, many felt the Cubs would utilize the second pick in the draft to grab an elite pitcher. The Cubs, an organization who has spent much of the Epstein era stockpiling elite young position talent, were a perfect match for top pitching prospects Mark Appel or Jonathan Gray, whomever fell to them at number 2. Yet, when the Cubs took Kris Bryant, the ultra-talented slugging third baseman from the University of San Diego, the reaction was a pleasant surprise, even for an organization with a lot of positional talent. Why? Because, as the adage has always been and is now, special power hitting right handers don't grow on trees, and they're almost always expensive to acquire.

Hawks Bring the Cup Back Home in Epic Finish

Knowing these Blackhawks, we should have figured that the season would end with drama. But I don't know if anyone could have predicted what we all witnessed last night in Boston. Raise your hand if you thought the Hawks, down a goal with just over a minute left, were headed to a Game 7 tomorrow in Chicago. It's ok, I'm sure the majority of us were. That is, of course, until a furious, nearly simultaneous 2 goal onslaught gave the Hawks the lead within 17 seconds of each other. Less than a minute later, the Hawks were the Stanley Cup Champions and a celebration for the ages began in Chicago.

Dramatic Blackhawks Advance to Original Six Clash with Bruins

Call them the cardiac kids, a team with a flair for the dramatic and a penchant for scoring clutch goals. The Blackhawks, with a tense, epic double-overtime victory over the Los Angeles Kings, advance to face the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final in a game surpassed in electrifying moments perhaps only by their own Game 7 victory over Detroit in the previous series. Unlike the Detroit series, however, here the Hawks clinched the series in Game 5. And yet, with the desire to advance to their second Stanley Cup Final in the last four seasons combined with their ability to close out the defending champs, the victory in this game added yet another spectacular moment to an already memorable season.

Blackhawks Advance After a Game 7 For the Ages

There are certain times in sports when you realize why you care so much. Why you're such a big fan. Why it matters so much to you. There are certain times that transcend reality, that transcend sports, where you feel almost bonded with a team, or maybe a player, or maybe an overall sport. It doesn't happen often, but those fleeting moments are the reason why you care for each and every shift, each and every period, each and every game, each and every series, and each and every season. Wednesday night was one of those instances.

The way the Hawks played, the way the game went, the way that the series had gone - it was simply unbelievable. I haven't experienced much like it in my sports life. I felt personally wronged when the Niklas Hjarmalsson goal was taken out, like someone had just hurt a family member or friend or cheated them in some way. I don't know if I've ever lived shift to shift, minute to minute, or shot to shot in any other sport in quite the same way. Of course, there's Michael's Bulls teams, the Super Bowl Bears, the 2010 Hawks Cup team, the 2005 Illini basketball team and a few others scattered in my years watching Chicago sports. But this Hawks team has bonded and intertwined its identity with this city so well that I don't know if I've ever seen anything quite like it in my lifetime. The crowd last night had their blood running and a frenzy about them that created an atmosphere that was awe-inspiring even on TV. It's something that I can't really even properly explain in words, but I do know it's something I'll never forget.

Blackhawks Advance to Face Off with Detroit

What a way to mark the end of the Western Conference rivalry between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. Much has been made about the moronic decision by the NHL to take the Red Wings out of the Western Conference beginning next year; one of the best rivalries in the sport will be relegated to a few games here and there every season, greatly diminishing the intra-division matchups we've come to expect from the two marquee, Original Six clubs. So this playoff matchup, one that would already be rife with excitement, is magnified by the fact that if the Red Wings and Hawks ever meet in the playoffs again after this year, it will only be in the Stanley Cup Finals. What a series this could be.

Bulls Show Heart in Advancing Over Brooklyn

Chicago Bulls fans have been saying it for three years now. This team is special. We've seen the way that this team competes; the heart, hustle, and muscle that serve as the core of the team's identity no matter who is playing. We've seen this team endure adversity to the tune of injuries and/or illness to nearly every key player on the team. Derrick Rose (the former MVP, if you can remember) has missed all of this season and chunks of last year. Joakim Noah has labored through a viscious plantar fasciitis injury for the past few years and has spent time sitting out as well. Players like Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson, and Rip Hamilton have all missed serious stretches of time. And yet, here we are, advancing to the second round of the playoffs in what many thought was a "lost" season coming after two straight years atop the NBA standings.

Chicago Bears 2013 Draft Review: Boom or Bust

After a long, built up, free agency filled with highs (the signings of Martellus Bennett and Jermon Bushrod), lows (cutting ties with Brian Urlacher in a cold, disrespectful way) and everything in between, the Bears finally had the opportunity to address any remaining needs through the draft. This was Phil Emery's second opportunity to distance himself from the woeful draft day selections of his predecessor, Jerry Angelo, and prove that his reputation as a top scout could show up on draft day. After mixed reviews and on-field results from his 2012 draft, he had a lot to establish. Now obviously, deciding whether a draft is successful or not could take years to really evaluate, but from where we stand right now the Bears and Emery finished with an average draft, due in large part to a bad first round pick.

Full Strength Blackhawks Surge Towards Playoffs

Last night was the first game in over a month that the Blackhawks played a game at full strength. Last night was also the first game they've played after they became the first NHL team this year to clinch a playoff spot. So what better timing then for the best team in the NHL to start positioning itself for a deep run into the postseason? Getting Marian Hossa back, who actually returned before last night's game, as well as Patrick Sharp, gives the Hawks their full depth chart. Yes, the same depth chart that went over half the season before losing in regulation. A roster with a healthy Sharp and Hossa together hasn't lost in regulation all season. Barring any drastic injuries, this bodes well for the team moving forward.

I guess it'd be a misnomer to say that the Hawks are full strength as Dave Bolland has been out. But as the second line center is not expected to be out long, the Hawks look primed to get the team ready for a deep run into the playoffs. Since Hossa and Sharp went down, the Hawks have struggled (or maybe their version of struggling). Their remarkable depth took a hit as two of their best two way forwards were missing from the lineup. You can see the impact in a weak effort on the power play as of late and the team's struggles in the third period as well. Players like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were logging minutes usually reserved for defensemen like Duncan Keith. Now, though, the team can flatten out, sort out where to fit everyone on each line, and finish the season strong.

Chicago Cubs 2013 Preview: One Step Closer to Relevancy

In case you hadn't noticed amidst the Bulls/Derrick Rose storyline, the Bears moving on from Brian Urlacher, the Blackhawks getting past the halfway point in the NHL season without a regulation loss, and a thrilling NCAA Tournament, the Chicago Cubs begin the 2013 MLB season tomorrow. This is Year 2 in the Theo Epstein era, one where the Cubs supposedly take that leap forward closer to relevancy. After all, we were told from the beginning that 2014 is the year, the season that the Cubs can actually plan for and head into the season planning to compete. If that storyline holds, that would make 2013 really the final full-on rebuilding season before we can be a real MLB contender. I don't know how much of that is actually true, but the Cubs do have an opportunity to climb out of the MLB cellar this season and start moving, ever so slightly, towards being a consistently good franchise.