July 1st - busy day in Chicago Sports

It was a really busy day in Chicago sports yesterday...Let's start with the Cubs as this team drives me as crazy as any sports team I have followed in recent memory. The good...took 2-of-3 in a road series for the first time since taking 2-of-3 from Dusty's Reds in early June. Let's not get too excited...it was the Pirates after all. Sam Fuld took Soriano's spot at the top of the order and in LF. He did a nice job getting his first MLB hit in his first AB, later scored on D-Lee's HR for his first run scored and earned a spot on last night's ESPN web gems with a sliding catch and perfect perfect throw to nail Jack Wilson at the plate later in the game. Now...does Dusty, I mean Lou have the guts to keep Sam in there for tonight's game at home against the rival Brewers? Doubtful, but we'll see. Actually, Lou FINALLY showed that fire we have all been looking for when he got ejected for the first time in nearly a year when he argued about a bang-bang play at 1st base. THAT'S what Lou MUST do! Was it a bad call? Doesn't matter! Both his player (pitcher Randy Wells) and his first base coach were not happy with the call so he MUST back up his guys. It was a nice hat spike too Lou! Let's see if that sparks this mostly lifeless team or not.

The White Sox finished off a sweep of the Indians. Don't get too excited Sox fans...the Cubs swept the Indians too so it isn't that hard to do. Let's see if the Sox can use that momentum better than the Cubs as they went 1-6 in the week following the sweep of the Indians. Of course, the Sox have been playing much better as of late winning consecutive series over the Cubs, Dodgers, and Reds. They also split the rain-shortened initial series at Wrigley after taking 2-of-3 from the Brewers. The Sox went 11-6 overall during interleague play as the AL once again dominated the NL going a combined 137-114.

As most expected, the Bulls lost Ben Gordon to the Pistons. The Bulls lost their leading scorer for the last 4 seasons to the rival Detroit Pistons as Gordon agreed to a 5-year/$55 million contract which was pretty similar to the deals he has turned down from the Bulls the last two seasons. Like most people (I think), I am torn here. While you certainly don't like losing your #1 scorer for NOTHING (that's the part that bothers me most), how truly valuable is Ben Gordon? While he's definitely a very good scorer and those guys are hard to find, he drives me crazy most of the time. He over dribbles MOST of the time; he takes bad shots a LOT of the time; and he doesn't play much defense. BUT...he DEMANDS defenders as they must respect his shot particularly at the end of the game...just as the Celtics. He was also a go-to guy in the locker room and if you've read my blog before, you know how I feel about losing those types of guys - i.e. Kerry Wood, Mark DeRosa, Aaron Rowand, etc. Overall, I'll miss him especially when he's at the UC playing our Bulls. In theory, this makes us bigger which should work out better than becoming more lefty (I hope) like the Cubs did with a projected starting lineup consisting of Rose, Salmons (still a good scorer, but better on D), Luol (boy, I hope he figures it out next year), Tyrus (boy, I hope he figures out how to give 100% for the WHOLE game), and Joakim. Kirk becomes even more valuable at this point and should really work on his 3-point shot all summer as he'll back up both guards. The Bulls are taking a big gamble that they can get one or even two of the big FAs next off-season as they will have about $25 million in expiring contracts. As a season ticket holder, I'm not a huge fan of that strategy though but we'll see.

The Hawks made several franchise changing moves yesterday too. They decided to cut ties with Khabibulin and Marty Havlat and instead picked up ex-Red Wing and 4-time All-Star Marian Hossa on a 12-year career finishing contract. They also signed Tomas Kopecky away from the Wings too. Both guys know how to win and are true veterans that should mix nicely with the young nucleus of Kane, Towes, and Versteeg among all the rest of the young players. Not resigning Khabibulin means the Hawks are entrusting Christobal Huet with the primary net duties which is why they signed him last year anyway. The question is...do you trust Huet to guard the net for this team that arguably could be considered the team to beat in the west with these other signings. I didn't like reading some of Marty's parting shots at the organization though. Seemed pretty classless for a guy that made an awful lot of money for a 3-year contract where he basically only played 2 full season battling injuries the previous two years. He played very well and a lot of minutes/games for the Hawks this year but it was a contract year too. I understand the Hawks were only offering a 1-year deal at the end and he did what he should have done in signing a 6-year deal with Minnesota. It's business Marty! Enjoy your new digs up in Minnesota...there's no reason to start throwing dirt on your way out of town.

So what did we learn yesterday? I learned the Hawks are here to stay and aren't content with just getting to the conference finals...they want the Cup and they are better positioned now to do just that. Go Hawks! I also learned the Bulls are planning more for 2010-11 than they are 2009-10. They'll still compete in a seemingly much-improved Eastern Conference but I'm not positive they'll be in the playoffs at the end this year. I also learned there are worse teams out there than the Cubs and Sox. I hope I learned that Grampa Lou was just napping over the last couple months and now he's awake and ready to go. Lucky the Cubs still have half a season left.