It was a slow night in Chicago sports with all teams off, giving sports fans in the city a chance to catch our collective breath. But there's plenty coming up for the rest of this week. Here's what's on tap for our (pro) sports team through the rest of the week.
There are no box scores to link to today as none of Chicago's teams were in action last night. However, there's plenty of sports news to go around.
It seems having one of the biggest rock bands on the planet and thousands of its fan is pretty hard on a stadium's turf. The Bears are busy replacing the sod at Soldier Field ahead of this weekend's home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Resodding the field after the preseason is actually routine, but the team decided to wait until after the U2 concerts this past weekend before going ahead with the sod replacement; the sod being used is a bit deeper so it'll hold better. Meanwhile, Desmond Clark lashed out at the field conditions before U2 ever took the field, concluding a rant about field conditions with, "we have one of the worst fields in the NFL and there are no excuses why the Chicago Bears, of all teams, should have to play on such a bad surface." [Tribune]
Now that star linebacker Brian Urlacher is out for the season, the Bears are moving quick to fill that hole. While Hunter Hillenmeyer will be the team's middle linebacker for now, yesterday the Bears signed linebacker Tim Shaw, who played in a few games for Jacksonville last year and for Carolina before that. As for the negotiations with veteran Derrick Brooks, those have been put on hold in favor of the younger Shaw. The status of another injured Bears linebacker, Pisa Tinoisamoa, is still uncertain.
It seems Brian Urlacher's injury was much more serious than originally thought and the Bears' defense has been dealt a blow. Urlacher text messaged the Trib earlier today that his "season is over.'' While the team has made no official announcement, Coach Lovie Smith will most likely address the issue later today at his afternoon press conference.
Does a bear scat in the woods? Not if he's made of cardboard.
Stephen Colbert's worst nightmare: bears up among us and they're playing our winter sports. [via]
If you see a lot of No. 6 Bears jerseys around town these days, there's a good reason: the Bears QB has the top-selling NFL jersey right now. Crain's cites Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily as saying Cutler is the tops in players - with fellow Bears Brian Urlacher and Devin Hester at numbers 19 and 20, respectively - and the Bears are the second most popular team behind the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. We'll see if those numbers still hold up come late October.
There was a lot going on this weekend so we can understand if you didn't have a chance to peruse the site. And we're sure you're already cracking at work, so here are some helpful links from our weekend coverage that might help you catch up on what you missed.
Even though football means the waning days of summer are upon us, we can't help but get excited to see our beloved Bears take the field once again. Especially when there is a major new addition to check out. On Saturday night, they suited up for the first time in '09 to knock pads with the Buffalo Bills and, more importantly, Jay Cutler made his Bears debut. The final score was 27-20, but, like all preseason games, it's pretty irrelevant as teams try to knock the rust off the veterans, players with the slightest of dings sit out, and new players try to make the regular season roster.
Preseason football is kind of like sex with a robot: sure, it looks like the real thing and maybe it feels like the real thing...but it just isn't the real thing. But August 30 can't get here soon enough. Even a non-Broncos and non-Bears fan like myself (Geaux Saints!) can't wait for the most highly anticipated preseason game in Denver in a long time as the Invesco Field fans will get a chance to boo to their hearts delight at departed Broncos QB Jay Cutler. When you've got such vitriol like the youngster in the video below, it's hard to not get excited about the boo birds being out in force for Mr. Cutler's Mile High Return. And Mr. Cutler seems to be stoking the fire with comments like, "It's a lot [different]. Denver's like a 6 and Chicago's like a 9. It's quite a bit different. Just the fans and how passionate they are, that's probably the biggest difference." SNAP!
Bears fans planning on spending their Sundays tailgating at a pair of parking lots should prepare to pay a little bit more than they did last year. The two lots - one at the McCormick Center and one at 31st & S. Moe Dr. - will see nearly a 50 percent increase from their $17 2008 costs to $25 in 2009. And why, exactly? According to Mary Kay Marquisos, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, it's to cover "the cost of security, portable toilet facility rental, shuttle buses, cleaning and parking taxes." Also, due to ownership issues, there will be no parking at Michael Reese Hospital.
Wanna see something that would scare the pants off Stephen Colbert? Just hit play.
Since its announcement in February, Chicago sports fans have been awaiting today's launch of ESPNChicago -- the sports network's first city-specific website. Why start with Chicago? While it made sense for HuffingtonPost to choose the Second City as its first local site, given the city's steep political history and well-known shenanigans, Chicago is perhaps not quite so obvious a choice for ESPN. Sure, we may think we're the best sports city in the land -- what other city's fans will sit through a blizzard on baseball's Opening Day or fill an arena to watch a 13-69 basketball team? But we can hear the objections from Boston and New York all the way here in the Middle West.
Bears fans, you have a new quarterback. This afternoon the Denver Broncos confirmed that they've traded embattled and bitter quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears, according to ESPN.
Watching Philly thump Dallas could have been a sweet sight for Bears fans late Sunday afternoon, but instead Chicago's 31-24 loss to Houston made it a bitter pill to swallow.
The Blackhawks' December to Remember continues as they notched their ninth straight victory last night by beating the Minnesota Wild 4-1. Dustin Byfuglien had a pair of first period goals and Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg added to the tally. Huet looked sharp in goal for the 'Hawks, stopping 13 of 14 shots. Jonathan Toews explained the 'Hawks state of mind thusly: "We're kind of feeling like the Boston Celtics...There's just a sense of calmness. I think any other team would be excited to be in this situation, and sometimes when you have that momentum you get a little overexcited. We just need to keep our sticks on the ice and keep it simple. We don't overskate or overdo anything out there." The Blackhawks travel to Detroit for a game tomorrow night and then welcome the Red Wings to Wrigley on Thursday for the NHL's much-hyped Winter Classic.
We know the Bears pulled off a pretty fantastic victory last night, but one fan who was in attendance at Soldier Field learned how dangerous Chicago's cold winter can be the hard way. Chicago Police officer Femi Odugbesan found Jozef Kowalkowski in a delirious state wandering around in front of the Shedd Aquarium after Kowalkowski called police just after 1 a.m., saying "I am very cold." Officer Odugbesan is credited with saving Kowalkowski's life.
“He kept calling back and I found him right in front of the Shedd Aquarium. He was walking towards me," Odugbesan said, adding that Kowalkowski was wearing all black clothing and a coat with a hood, but had no gloves and no hat.Continue reading "Bears Fan Delirious For The Wrong Reason"
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
AP Photo/Paul Beaty
Anxious to get home after the long road trip, the Bulls fell behind by 15 points early in the game before storming back with a huge third period to pull away and top Philadelphia 103-92. Ben Gordon led Chicago with 21 points while Drew Gooden added 20 points and 12 rebounds and rookie Derick Rose scored 18 and dished 10 assists. After surviving his first Circus Trip, Rose said, "I'm feeling good and taking it game by game. We're moving the ball and finding the open person. We're playing team basketball and that's what it's all about.'' The Bulls return home for a game tomorrow night against the 76ers.
The Circus Trip gets longer for the Bulls, who blew a late lead as the Nuggets claimed a 114-101 win. Down by nine after the first period, the Bulls fought back to take a fourth quarter lead. With around five minutes left and up by three, the Bulls were stunned by a 13-0 Denver run that clinched the Nugget victory. Ben Gordon had 28 points for the Bulls and Drew Gooden added 21 more in the losing effort. After the game, Gordon lamented the Bulls play, saying, "We didn't make enough sharp plays to win the game. When it came to crunch time, we just didn't come with a big enough number of plays.'' The team travels to Utah tonight.
In an offensive explosion of a game, the San Jose Sharks scored two unanswered third period goal to edge the Blackhawks 6-5 on Sunday night. The two teams exchanged goals in the first period to a 2-2 tie and the Sharks opened the second with two straight for a 4-2 lead. The Blackhawks struck back for three consecutive goals to take a 5-4 lead, but the Sharks got a pair of third period goals and San Jose goalie Brian Boucher stopped all eight Blackhawks shots in the third to hold on for the victory. Cristobal Huet started in goal stopped 25 of 31 shots in the loss. Kris Versteeg netted two goals for the 'Hawks while Campbell, Barker, and Kane contributed the other three. Said Campbell of a game when five goals isn't enough for a win, “It’s pretty frustrating. We’ve given away a couple of points in our last few games and we’re not happy about it. That was why tonight’s game was so important.”
In case you haven't booked your Halloween night or you pre-Election weekend with plans, consider taking in some local professional sports action. First up are the Blackhawks, who take the ice tonight at the United Center against the Dallas Stars. Both teams have struggled to open the year and the winner will climb above .500 for the season. But if hockey isn't your thing, come out to the UC Saturday night to see the Bulls take to the hardwood against Spanish national team star (and brother of Pau) Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies. The Bulls are in Boston tonight for a big game against the Celtics, but they'll be back to feel the home crowd love tomorrow night. And if you still haven't fed your appetite for pro sports, the Bears return from their bye week to take on their hapless division rivals, the Detroit Lions. The Bears thumped the Lions 34-7 in week 5 and Kyle Orton has emerged as one of this year's surprise offensive stars. Believe it or not, there are still some (mostly expensive) tickets left for this game, but Stubhub is always a good bet, too.
Bears Outlast Vikings
October has not been kind to Chicago sports fans. We got both baseball teams into the playoffs for the first time since 1906, and then watched helplessly as they combined for just one win before exiting in the opening round. But while the end of baseball in Chicago signals the beginning of our full-time devotion to the Bears, they've been even more frustrating to watch. Are curses contagious?
Mayor Daley today informed aldermen of a plan to increase the city's amusement tax in another effort to generate revenue to help fill that wide budget hole. Under the new plan, the amusement tax on tickets would increase at mid-sized venues from 4 to 5 percent and from 8 to 9 percent at larger sporting venues. And if you're paying $12 and up to park downtown, the tax on that will increase from $2.25 to $3. So as if tickets weren't expensive enough, that's more money to see Broadway, Bruce, and the Bears.
Tomorrow night, the Eagles and Bears meet at Soldier Field in what is sure to be a hard-hitting affair (7:15 p.m. kickoff on NBC 5). And if you're as big a football fan as several of us (even those of us who didn't grow up here), it's hard to forget that legendary playoff match-up between the Eagles and Bears now and forever known as "The Fog Bowl." ESPN certainly remembers and tomorrow morning on Sunday NFL Countdown, they'll feature an entire segment on the game. But, thanks to the power of the internet, we can share it with you now so you don't have to worry about missing it while sleeping off that hangover from watching tonight's big Illinois game against Penn State (7 p.m. on ABC 7). [via the incomparable Awful Announcing]
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