Chicago Sports Rundown

Let’s get down to brass tacks Chicago. Vinny del is on his way out of the City and the Bulls' front office is being gutless. Apparently, they’ve decided to let him go, but they haven’t officially told him he’s lost his job because they want to find a long term solution before doing so. It’s a very unfair situation…unfair to Vinny, unfair to the team, and unfair to the fans. Every one knows Vinny’s job security is in question and yet there hasn’t been a word uttered. Now, I’m all for running him out of the City, but at least tell the man he’s gone or that he’s staying until the end of the year. Give him some of his dignity back and for goodness sake, stand up for yourself Vinny! Maybe he will and maybe he won’t, he probably won’t, nevertheless my hopes are pinned on the prospect of Avery coming to town and getting these Bulls on a hot streak and making a very possible run for the playoffs. However, the window is rapidly closing. The Blackhawks have been having a great season thus far. They have had a nice last week and a half beating a depleted Red Wing rivalry team twice as well as winning a great come-from-behind game in Nashville. They’ve gotten Hossa on the ice for the first time all season about a month ago and he’s been playing pretty much as expected. The fans, including myself of course, have been most skeptical of the goaltenders, which have been holding their own with much credit do to the hard work of the defensemen on all lines. Huet has been getting hot at the right times and Niemi has been nothing short of a pleasant surprise. The Hawks have locked up Keith, Toews, Kane, and Hossa for at least the next five years making a great core of talented players to build around to keep hockey exciting until then and stay competitive for the Stanley Cup. Da Bears. Da Bears Da Bears Da Bears. What can I say? I’ll start with my strongest feeling that I’ve been developing for over six weeks now. There are a lot of people calling for Lovie’s head, but I think if he goes then there needs to be a clean sweep starting at the top with Ted Philips and down to Jerry Angelo. Philips made the initial bad decision by hiring a company to tell him who to hire as General Manager. He should have done his job right and done his own research and trusted his own gut and hired an actual football man instead of a glorified accountant. As for Angelo, he’s made some decent moves like finally bringing a franchise quarterback to Chicago even though it was a bit costly and hasn’t worked out as planned so far. On the other hand, he’s made some awful moves like giving up a much needed second round pick for a defensive end that’s played so bad he’s riding the pine. The point being that Lovie isn’t completely at fault, though he doesn’t get a free pass either. For the most part Da Bears have seemed well prepared with a few exceptions like the game at Cincy, but he also has to discipline his team as he did in ’06. Da Bears were plagued with penalties and constantly shooting themselves in the foot this season. That all directly falls back onto the head coach and rolls down the hill from there. They’ve also suffered crucial injuries on both sides of the ball, especially on defense when their one, two, and three linebackers went down and missed most of the season collectively. The play calling by Ron Turner for the most part has been horrid. Forte to the one hole, Forte to the three hole, pass in the flat to the right, pass in the flat to the left. Week fifteen Da Bears were down by a million and not once took a shot downfield. Simply stupifying! However, I do understand that there isn’t much one can do with the rancid run blocking and pass protection being produced or not produced by the offensive line. Forte usually gained some decent yardage once he ran off tackle and every thing was put together, meaning he ran like he meant it and the line executed their blocks. For all you Cutler haters/Orton lovers, get real. I’m still ecstatic that we made that trade even with the results that came about. Da Bears may not have won a game had Orton been behind center with this line. Ney, they would not have won a single game and Kyle Orton wouldn’t have survived the entire season with his inability to move out of the pocket. Chew on that Chicago and I’ll be back with more on the White Sox and Cubs.