By Dwight Esau
For the Sun Day
Hey, all you senior sports fans out there, here begins a bi-monthly column on your favorite subject.
This space will contain opinion, commentary, facts, history, and humor on all things sporting — from the pros to little league, indoors and outdoors, major sports to minor ones, and even some you’ve never heard about. And we won’t ignore Sun City sports activities, either.
I’m a transplanted Chicago-area resident. I grew up in Minnesota and was nourished on sports and the sports page by my dad since I was able to read. I’ve covered local and high school sports for newspapers and websites in the Chicago area for more than 30 years, and have suffered as a Cubs fan since 1965.
Chicago is rich in its pro sports culture — Here we go.
— Bears: Are they really a “soft” team? No, they’re typical of many teams in an NFL that doesn’t have a dominant team and is playing at a generally mediocre level. Will they make the playoffs? Yes. Will they go far in the post-season? Probably not. Is Mike Martz really an offensive genius? With the right players, yes. I think he asks players to adjust too much to his philosophy when he should do more to adjust to his players abilities. I think 2011 will be more of an impact year for this franchise. We’ll know about these Bears when they get through with the Eagles and Patriots.
— Blackhawks: The Hawks are now finding out great truth Number 1 about all sports: it’s easier to get to the top than to stay there. This is especially true because of great truth Number 2: pro hockey economics means two-peats, not to mention dynasties, are very difficult to achieve. Toews and Kane are the club’s future. The Hawks are a perennial contender, which doesn’t make them perennial champions. The Hawks are not the same team that won the Cup last year. And they won’t be the same team 2-3 years from now. Buying a championship and then dealing with salary caps is a process that leads to one Cup at a time.
— Bulls: Aren’t they interesting? Rose wheels and deals, Gibson says he’s hurt, then comes out and plays big. Noah runs around the paint and makes some big plays, but doesn’t produce the numbers that a dominant big man should. Thibodeau is supposed to be a defensive wizard, but I don’t see it consistently in his team this season…yet. Bulls will make a wee bit of noise in the playoffs.
Trivia question of the month — Who holds the major league baseball record for the number of career no-hitters? How many? Turn the game back on now, fans.
