The Chicago Sports Conundrum

It is an interesting time in Chicago Sports right now. 

The Blackhawks have one of the best players in hockey in center Jonathan Toews (pronounced tay-ves and not toes) playing absolutely out of his mind. He has 12 goals and 11 assists in the last 13 games. The Bears were off to a great start but are now spiraling down without quarterback Jay Cutler. There are stories of over-the-hill quarterbacks Brett Favre and Donovan McNabb both being interested in lending a hand. Then there are the stories of the Cubs pursuing Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder. As well as the story that Ron Santo finally, finally made the Hall of Fame.

But the story that has really grabbed my attention is that the Bulls might be able to acquire Dwight Howard via trade.*

In terms of full disclosure, I must admit that just Sunday I was telling people that I was indifferent about the return of the NBA. I have become a Derrick Rose fan but I have not really followed the Bulls as much as I had during the "Golden Years." But the thought of Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard on the same team is really exciting. It might be enough to overcome the Big Three in Miami.

But what really grabbed my attention about Howard to the Bulls story is what I heard on sports talk radio. Now for those unfamiliar with sports radio in Chicago is that it is often filled with meatball callers. And they come out of the woodwork whenever trade talk comes up. Far too often the calls go something like this:

Caller: "Uh yeah, I think 'dat the Bullss should trade Moe, Larry and Curly to da Magic for Dwight Howard."

Host: "Those are the three worst players in Bulls history. Why would the Magic want to trade a superstar for them?"

Caller: "Uh well, 'cuz dose tree are underrated. Dey work hard and bring lots of intangabuls and chemistry."

Or like this:

Caller: "I just have to say that I don't think that the Bulls should include Joakim Noah in the trade because he pretty good young player and works hard."

Host: "Yes but you are going to have to trade some very good players in order to get a superstar like Howard."

Caller: "But having a guy that is a hard worker like Noah is important."

It was a call similar to the second example that got me thinking. Joakim Noah has been a good player for the Bulls. He does work hard and can be a real irritant for the other team. But he is no Dwight Howard. There seems to be this mentality that Chicagoans value hard workers over talented players. It comes from the mentality of "playing Bear football." And that means that we play rough defense, run the ball and are pretty much a terrible football team. 

Don't get me wrong. Hard workers should be lauded. We should all be hard workers but there comes a point when we need to value true talent over gritty, try hard player. Jeremy Roenick was a good hockey player that was known for his grit. Wayne Gretzky was a very talented player who was not known for his grit. Following the Blackhawks I really loved Jeremy Roenick but I would have traded him any day of the week for Gretzky.

So if I were the Bulls GM right now I would offer Joakim Noah and what ever other players not named Derrick Rose the Magic wanted to get Dwight Howard.

*Yes I know that I didn't include any news about the White Sox. No matter what they do it doesn't really capture my attention.

Is being a Cub fan a lifelong affliction?

1983 and 1984 were great years to be growing up a baseball fan in Chicago. I was a young pup and just starting to seriously follow baseball. The White Sox had won the AL West in '83 and the Cubs won the NL East in '84. Imagine my great discovery...we had winning baseball every year! Well over the next four years the White Sox won more games than they lost one time and the Cubs managed to do it zero times. I also came to find out that you cannot be both a Cubs fan and a White Sox fan.

So I did the smart thing (it's a family matter) and picked the Cubs.

Three years ago I had the chance to visit old Yankee Stadium in it's last year. The atmosphere, the history and the winning hooked me. I bought a Yankees hat and was on my way to becoming a Yankees fan. I really don't like switching my baseball allegiance from the Cubs but did I mention the winning?

Following the Yankees while living in Chicago can be somewhat difficult even in the day and age of this internet thing. In August of this year I started subscribing to MLB.TV which allows me to watch all of the Yankee games. So far in August I have watched more baseball games than I had in the previous 4 or 5 years combined.

Yet I find myself falling into my Cub fan habits. For those unfamiliar with Cub history there is: The Billy Goat Curse, The Fall of '69, The June Swoons, The heartbreak of 1984, the 2003 collapse that was wrongly blamed on an unfortunate fan, not winning a World Series since 1908 and the overall loosing. They have the same number of World Series wins as the Blue Jays, Mets and Marlins. The thing is that all of those teams have been in existence at least 86 year less than the Cubs. There have been a couple of games over the past two weeks where the Yankees were down by a couple of runs early and I chalked the game up as a loss. The Cubs rarely ever come back and they don't give you the impression that they will come back.

I decided not to watch the Yankees game yesterday because after three innings they were down 7-1. What a surprise to wake up the next morning and see that they ended up winning 22-9. As a matter of fact they set a Major League record of hitting three grand slams in one game.

It is all a lesson in shedding that feeling of inevitable doom that has been continually reinforced as a lifelong Cubs fan.