Needs More Ditka

The Chicago Bears and Jerry Angelo better hope that they were thinking clearly Thursday, because in one day, the franchise has been changed irrevocably.

The Bears on Thursday bought high, not waiting for market price to fall, sending Kyle Orton and two first round draft picks to Denver for maligned Broncos’ quarterback Jay Cutler. Also today, the Bears agreed to a three year contract future Football Hall of Famer tackle Orlando Pace, agreeing on a contract for three years worth $15 million dollars.

Cutler, the former Broncos’ quarterback of the future, will be asked to stop the seemingly endless carousel of Bears quarterbacks that has been turning for decades. The 11th pick in the 2006 draft, Cutler was a Pro Bowl player last season, and after leaving the Broncos in a spat, debatably much of his own fault, he has been handed the keys to a proud franchise, with the Bears having to ignore the immaturity and bratiness the 25 year old has displayed in the soap opera like saga he created with his previous employer. Make no other point, Cutler, started the drama in Denver, and it was he who continued the saga for weeks unable to recover from his feelings being hurt.

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Josh Fields has all the potential in the world. He beat out another player with all the potential in the world, thus putting more pressure on himself than he can possibly imagine.

Fields has quelled the critics, mainly Ozzie, when it comes to his defense. He has swung a mean stick in spring training and Joe Crede is a Twin. What the hell is going on here?

So when The Cheat over at Southside Sox handed out the idea of Josh Fields possibly being the leadoff hitter earlier this month, the bizarro world the White Sox are inhabiting seemed to be in full, concontrolable spiral.

But Fields would in fact, be the best option for the White Sox to bat first.

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For those who are into the beautiful game, the Chicago Fire start their season on Saturday, taking on their rival Dallas FC in a nightcap in Frisco, Texas, at the historic and venerable Pizza Hut Park.

And people say that MLS is a joke.

Well, the joke is on them. With a committed fan base, a great stadium in Bridgeview, and a squad that contends year in and year out, the Fire have become a staple of success, overlooked only because of oversaturation in the marketplace.

This year, the Fire will be looking to win their second MLS cup and contend for the Supporter’s shield (best regular season record) and the US Open Cup (a knockout tournament of the top three North American leagues.) To do that, they will ride the play of two aging superstars, Brian McBride, who came back to his hometown, Chicago, in a midseason deal last year, and Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Blanco is the most polarizing player in the game, but at times the best. The Fire were not sure if Blanco would return to the MLS for his third year, so every game with Blanco might be the last for the Fire. The Fire are sure title contenders with the spectacular midfielder, without him, there are questions. Read more »

The Blackhawks’ lead is dwindling. What was once a solid ten point cushion is now a paltry five. And while the Blackhawks are nearly certain to go to the playoffs (only a Mets’ esque .200 winning percentage from here on out could leave the Hawks at home during the playoffs) the Hawks are showing kinks in the amour. This is a team separated from the nine game domination streak they ran in December. The question truly is, how separated are they?

The question of definition for the Blackhawks this season was a question of being a solid hockey team or an elite squad. Right now, it is flat out wrong to say that the Hawks are of the upper echelon. And while back to back losses are nothing of importance in the grad scheme, the nitpickers in this world (me) will be looking for specific flaws when the Hawks take the ice against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.

First, will Martin Havlat play? The almighty HavBolLadd line has played their worst two games of the season this weekend. Havlat only played seven minutes in the Sunday tilt, out with the vague lower body injury. When Gary Bettman made the injury poilicy, he must have had an upper body injury, very upper body. But, the engine that makes the Blackhawks go, HavBolLadd, and specifically the team’s best player, Havlat, are not leading the way for the Hawks right now. Perhaps that’s the entire problem. But perhaps being a combined minus ten in two games is a stronger cause for concern. Whatever it is, if Havlat is out, the Hawks will need Kris Versteeg to step up, along with Patrick Kane. Together, they can pick up the slack.

But perhaps the blue line is the problem. Matt Walker and Brian Campbell have been playing extremely craptastic, even by their lowly defensive standards. Neither are taking the body, and Walker appears to have added an extra dumbell to his ankles. What’s worse, Walker is coming up on the rush, no longer content to shoot worthless slapshots from along the boards at the blueline. Campbell is working his powerplay magic, but is in the funk that plagued the Hawks before the All Star break and at the beginning of the season. The Hawks don’t win if Campbell is not maintaining a similitude of defensive prowess. Meanwhile, Cam Barker has become the Blackhawks number one defenseman overnight, with Seabrook and Keith being an interchangeable 1a and a1. If Campbell can get back to the point where he isn’t an out of place forward, and Walker can again play like the sixth, stay at home defenseman that he is, the Hawks should be a-okay.

Carolina should be the perfect test, a playoff team that the Blackhawks, if they play their game, can defeat. It’s a strong enough opponent to be a confidence boost, weak enough to be pushed around. It’s one of the definining games each season brings, for the Blackhawks, Wednesday is another of those opportunities.

The Chicago Bears missed out on the playoffs last year. This is a fact. A sad one for Bears fans, but a fact nonetheless.

Lovie Smith is on the hot seat. Jerry Angelo can’t get a seat at any restaurant. Needless to say, the Bears need to have a winning season.

That won’t be easy though. The Bears lose several key components, components that might not have been obvious to the casual viewer, but key to the knowledgeable Bears fan. How they replace these players will define how their season goes.

Let’s take a look at what the Bears need to address this off season

Wide Receivers
The Bears have always had trouble at wide receiver, and this year they are trying to pass off Devin Hester, who is not a wide receiver, as their number one option out wide. The Bears should abandon that tall tale quickly, as there is no way that Devin Hester is the number one wide receiver on any SEC or Big 12 football team, much less an NFL team.

In a wide receiver heavy draft, the Bears would be foolish not to pick a wideout in the first round. Their seventeenth pick could bear (no pun intended) plenty of fruit.

Michael Crabtree will be long gone, as he is by far the best wide receiver in this draft. But factor in the depth of this draft at the position and the bust potential of any one player and it would be foolish for the Bears to trade up to get Crabtree.

Jeremy Maclin on the other hand, might, that’s just might, fall to the Bears at number 18. If Maclin runs a weak 40 yard dash time, there will be many question marks surrounding the Missouri speedster. The Jets could snag him up right before the Bears at pick 17, but if Maclin falls to 18, the Bears must take him- no excuses.

Maclin might go in the top ten though, so the Bears should not count on him falling. The Bears will have at least two of five possible first round wide receivers on the board when they draft. Including Maclin and Crabtree, the other three are Percy Harvin, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Hakeem Nicks.

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The Chicago Bears missed out on the playoffs last year. This is a fact. A sad one for Bears fans, but a fact nonetheless.

Lovie Smith is on the hot seat. Jerry Angelo can’t get a seat at any restaurant. Needless to say, the Bears need to have a winning season.

That won’t be easy though. The Bears lose several key components, components that might not have been obvious to the casual viewer, but key to the knowledgeable Bears fan. How they replace these players will define how their season goes.

Let’s take a look at what the Bears need to address this off season

Quarterback

Kyle Orton is the starter. That saga is over with the departure of Sexy Rexy. And while Grossman might be someone else’s problem now, his departure does bring up a problem for the Bears: backup quarterback.

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Born and raised on the west side, I attended my first White Sox game as an infant and have spent my summers there ever since. My love of the Blackhawks was a perfect doppelganger to my hatred of Dollar Bill Wirtz, and my relationship with the game of hockey grows stronger every game. I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fan in Chicago Bears country, but I harbor no animosity, as evidenced (I hope) by my Rashaan Salaam #31 jersey. I have been shown the light when it comes to college basketball and football, so forgive me if I bash the Bulls’ style of play or the imperialism of the NFL. Needless to say, it hasn’t been the same since His Airness left, but Tyrus Thomas, Luol Deng and Derrick Rose give me some hope the Bulls can be a sixth seed once again. I was an unabashed Cubs basher, but then I met St. Louis Cardinals nation- I’d take the Cubs any day. Look out for references to 30 Rock, Flight of the Conchords, Mizzou sports and Warren Zevon songs and a never ending string of mustaches, anti-ketchup rants, tennis shoes and usage of ‘pop.’ Because you might leave Chicago, but Chicago never leaves you.

Hello and welcome,

My name is Dieter Kurtenbach and I am the proprietor of this here weblog. We’re going to be covering the wide and exciting world of Chicago sports here, so strap it up and hunker down.

I’ve written up a mission statement for Needs More Ditka. I hope you take a look and comment on what Chicago sports fan rules you would like to see added to the list.

My goal here is to bring a new perspective to the Bulls, Sox, Cubs, Bears and Blackhawks, and I hope you bring your perspective as well. So, as we set sail, I hope you hop on board with our raggety crew, because sports mean nothing if there is no passion behind it, and no one is more passionate than a true Chicago sports fan.

Go BullSoxHawksBearCubs,

Dieter Kurtenbach