SB Nation Chicago: All Posts by Ricky O'Donnellhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48877/chicago-fave.png2014-05-12T12:51:36-05:00https://chicago.sbnation.com/authors/ricky-odonnell/rss2014-05-12T12:51:36-05:002014-05-12T12:51:36-05:00Game 5 outtakes, starring #McPuckets
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<figcaption>Jonathan Daniel</figcaption>
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<p class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph2"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2014/5/12/5709446/bryan-bickell-chicago-blackhawks-nhl-playoffs-2014">I already went long on Bryan Bickell's contributions</a> in Game 5 on Wednesday and throughout the postseason, but don't let that overshadow the fact that the Blackhawks big name stars have also been very good. Jonathan Toews, in particular, was everywhere in Game 5. <a target="_blank" href="http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/blackhawks/post/_/id/4682652/jonathan-toews-comes-through-again-for-hawks">From Scott Powers at ESPN Chicago</a>:</p>
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<p class="pgh-paragraph">Toews was ineffective in Game 4 of the second-round series against the <a href="http://espn.go.com/nhl/team/_/name/min/minnesota-wild">Minnesota Wild</a> on Friday. He had a season-worst 27.6 Corsi percentage; the Blackhawks had eight shots for and 21 shots against with him on the ice in 5-on-5 situations, according to extraskater.com. He was also held without a point and had a minus-1 rating.</p>
<p class="pgh-paragraph">Just a game later, the Wild couldn’t contain Toews.</p>
<p class="pgh-paragraph">He had a 76 Corsi percentage, his sixth highest of the season, and the Blackhawks had 19 shots for and six against with him on the ice.</p>
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<p class="pgh-paragraph">Bickell may be tied for the league-lead in the playoffs with six goals, but the rest of the statistical leaders for the 'Hawks show that everyone else is still very much pulling their weight. Marian Hossa leads the team and is sixth overall with 11 points. Toews and Patrick Kane each have five goals. Brent Seabrook -- when he isn't being suspended for vicious cheapshots -- has been a pretty great two-way threat as well, tying for seventh overall in the postseason with 10 points.</p>
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<li>I'll admit, I was never feeling particularly comfortable in Game 5. Minnesota came out skating hard and fast and controlling the puck. The Blackhawks mostly looked like idiots -- weak passes, players colliding, no hard pushes to the net. When Erik Haula scored to give the Wild a 1-0 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the period, it felt completely inevitable. Fortunately, the 'Hawks got their shit together in the second. <br><br>Bickell scored the only goal, but the 'Hawks seemed to control the action throughout the second. They fired 15 shots at the net and finally started generating chances offensively. I'm still shocked whenever this team scores a power play goal even with this much offensive talent because they struggled so much last year in that department. Shout-out to Jonas Brodin for a) <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbwI2-nJ0Tw&feature=kp">carrying the wheel </a>and b) taking that two-minute hooking penalty that led to Bickell's goal. <br>
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<li>LOOK WHO I FOUND AT THE UNITED CENTER:<br><br><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Yo, it's Doug McDermott at the Blackhawks game. <a href="http://t.co/JF5qU54T4Z">pic.twitter.com/JF5qU54T4Z</a></p>
— Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBN_Ricky/statuses/465672270187229184">May 12, 2014</a>
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Troy Machir immediately tweeted <a href="https://twitter.com/TroyMachir/status/465672345172979713">#McPuckets</a>, which killed me. A few of my Bulls Twitter bros basically <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s">reenacted the scene with Darth Vader at the end of Episode III</a>. I was really excited about that picture and thought that would be all that came of it, but I ended up next to him in the bathroom line before the third period and starting talking to him.<br><br>First of all, super nice guy. I thought it was weird no one else seemed to noticed him, if only because he's 6'8 and has been all over TV and magazines the last three months, but I guess nobody in Chicago really gives a shit about college sports, particularly Creighton basketball. FINE. I asked him if the Bulls brought him here, and of course they didn't: he was in town for the NBA Draft Combine, which starts on Thursday. I'll be there! <br><br>I asked him if he was going to be a three or a four in the NBA, and he said he was going to mostly be a three. I told him, the thing is, it's going to be super tough to guard threes in the NBA because there's so many great ones. That was probably an impolite thing to say, sure, but he did respond with "I know", which is pretty great. </li>
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https://chicago.sbnation.com/2014/5/12/5710302/nhl-playoffs-2014-blackhawks-vs-wild-game-5-outtakesRicky O'Donnell2013-01-10T11:30:40-06:002013-01-10T11:30:40-06:00Now batting, Frank Thomas
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<figcaption>Jonathan Daniel</figcaption>
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<p>Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens might have been barred from the Hall of Fame, but it's likely that Frank Thomas won't be. It's a weird thing to reconcile with.</p> <p>You get the sense that the Baseball Writers Association of the America can feel the outrage, even if most aren't technologically savvy enough to fire up their 56K modems and look up the statistics of the men they imparted an essentially fucked up brand of retributive justice on, let alone to find the reaction of the much more in-touch people who realize their crimes. The men who get to decide what counts and what doesn't in baseball's proud and important history love the responsibility. Doing what they did on Wednesday -- pitching a Hall of Fame shutout despite perhaps 10 worthy candidates and at least four total no-brainers -- pleases them to no end. It makes them feel like they matter, like their gate-keeper status is deserved and their judgment and wisdom should be forever lauded. Baseball's Hall of Fame should be the most revered of its kind, because, <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/scrubbing-of-character-clause-among-first-reforms-hall-of-fame-needs-to-remain-relevant-as-ped-era-inductees-come-knocking-202718797.html">as Jeff Passan wrote at Yahoo!</a>, "[baseball's] history is more important than its present". This isn't true for football, isn't true for basketball. But baseball, and the MLB as an institution, boasts something no pro sports league can touch: an embedded-from-birth sense in every one of its fans of what the numbers mean.</p>
<p>It's the main reason why the infiltration of advanced statistics was often accompanied with words like "war" and "battle" for so long. From the time you attend your first baseball game, you know what a .300 batting average <i>means</i>. You know what it means to hit 40 home runs, to steal 50 bases, to finish with 100 RBIs. Even as these statistical plateaus have largely become as outdated as the men who keep baseball's history, it remains the reason why this Hall of Fame matters more than the others. There's 100+ years of context here, so there might as well be a place to keep all of it.</p>
<p><span>Barry Bonds</span> and <span>Roger Clemens</span> are Hall of Famers. Mark McGwire is a Hall of Famer. <span>Mike Piazza</span>, <span>Rafael Palmeiro</span>, <span>Craig Biggio</span>: Hall of Famers. As a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.southsidesox.com/">White Sox</a> fan who grew up with a strong distaste for North Side baseball, I can confidently say <span>Sammy Sosa</span> is a Hall of Famer. It's not debatable. That all of these men were unjustly barred is one thing, that the men who made the call take such pride in their powers and their stupidity is another.</p>
<p>But as the unsurprising news trickled out Wednesday that there would be no induction class in 2013, it got me thinking about what happens next year. We are about to live in a world where Bonds and Clemens aren't in the Hall of Fame, but <span>Frank Thomas</span> is. That's really something.</p>
<p>Frank Thomas never needed steroids -- everyone else needed steroids to look like Frank Thomas. The best hitter in White Sox history is also one of the best in the sport's history and he'll get his day in a sun a year from now when his name appears on the Hall ballot. Even as more accomplished and more ballyhooed hitters from his era are kept out, Thomas should have no problem reaching the 75 percent minimum. At least you wouldn't think. I suppose no one ever has any clue what the Hall's too righteous voters are ever thinking at any particular time.</p>
<p>Even in the context of the steroid era, Thomas' numbers are eye-popping. In 1994, during a strike-shortened 113-game season, Thomas finished with an OPS+ of <i>212</i>. 100 is average. Just look at some of the best years of The Big Hurt's career:</p>
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<li>Age 26, 1994: .353/.487/.729; 212 OPS+ <br>
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<li>Age 29, 1997: .347/.456/.611; 181 OPS+</li>
<li>Age 23, 1991: .318/.453/.553; 180 OPS+</li>
<li>Age 27, 1995: .308/.454/.606; 179 OPS+</li>
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<p>We could keep going on, but you get the point. Thomas finished with a OPS+ between 212 and 174 eight times. He topped the league-average 100 OPS+ <i>17 times</i>. He won two MVPs and was screwed out of a third during <span>Jason Giambi's</span> roided-out 2000 season. He hit 521 home runs, finished with a career on-base percentage of .419. And next season, likely with <span>Tom Glavine</span> and <span>Greg Maddux</span> at his side, Thomas will be in. It's just sort of weird, that's all, that he'll be in before people who were probably better than him.</p>
<p>Frank Thomas is a strange guy, and it's the reason he sometimes doesn't feel as beloved as he should be. At every point of his brilliant career, it felt like he was overshadowed. He was overshadowed nationally by <span>Ken Griffey Jr.</span> He was overshadowed locally by Michael Jordan, later overshadowed in his own sport by Sosa. He might even have been overshadowed on his own team by Albert Belle and Bo Jackson. He wasn't really a part of the 2005 team South Siders will forever hold dear; even a huge fan like myself has trouble recalling a signature moment from his career. There's no World Series grand slam, no perfect game, no YouTube worthy defensive web gem. All Frank Thomas did was murder baseballs, and he did it for a really long time. He'll be honored for it next season.</p>
<p>But why will he be honored? Because he passes baseball's misplaced "character" test? As the only active player to participate in the Mitchell Report, Thomas will likely be granted a reprieve by Hall voters. Bonds, Sosa, McGwire and the rest won't be so lucky. It doesn't matter that Kirby Puckett is in even though he beat his wife. It doesn't matter that Ty Cobb once ran into the stands to beat a crippled man who was heckling him. It doesn't matter that all of the cheaters who came before the steroids era -- the ones who got hopped up on speed, the ones who threw spitters -- can still live forever as members of the Hall. Thomas will be in soon enough and that is a reason to celebrate. It just feels kind of dirty that it will again be surrounded by the "yeah, but...." context Hall voters put in place.</p>
<p><b><i>Ricky O'Donnell is the managing editor of <a target="_blank" href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/">SB Nation Chicago</a>. Follow him on <a href="http://twitter.com/sbn_ricky" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com. </i></b></p>
https://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-white-sox/2013/1/10/3859018/baseball-hall-of-fame-2014-frank-thomas-bonds-clemens-sosaRicky O'Donnell2012-12-28T15:43:39-06:002012-12-28T15:43:39-06:00Worst of Chicago sports in 2012
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<figcaption>Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>The year in Chicago sports was pretty rough.</p> <p>This is what we do for fun. Disregard the sentiment for being so vapid, for the well-yeah-duh of it all, but it's a refrain I found myself thinking about too often while watching Chicago sports in 2012. This was the year you might have rethought the ways to best spend your leisure time. This was not a fun or easy year to be a Chicago sports fan. You already know that.</p>
<p>Really, so few of them are. It's kind of the way these things work. There are four professional sports leagues with ~30 teams, teams hosted by big cities and small ones, and only one of them can win a title in the end. It's something everyone knows going in; yet is something that's so easy to lose sight of when everything starts to fall apart. It's true: if you're living and dying by championships, you'll mostly just die. That goes for everyone -- even the Yankees, the goddamn Yankees, have failed to win the World Series 80 times. If it was easy, it wouldn't mean so much when you finally break through. But spectator sports can still cause real physical and emotional pain, and 2012 gave Chicago sports fans an unhealthy heaping of all they could handle. This was the most gut-wrentching, heart-breaking calendar year in local sports I can possibly remember. Let's look back at all the suck with these 10 things.</p>
<h3>10. NHL Lockout</h3>
<p>Labor disputes in professional sports are becoming par for the course, an inconvenient happening that seem destined to kill our vibe a couple times each decade no matter the league you're most invested in. That this NHL lockout followed similar ones in the NFL and NBA made it all seem more like a formality: players and owners would quarrel until it eventually became big market owners vs. small market owners, just like all the rest, and then a compromise would be reached once the less rich players decided they could no longer afford to continue missing paychecks. But while the NFL was able to get its shit together before missing nary a day of training camp and the NBA simply whittled down its already too long schedule by a cool 20 games, it's looking more and more like the NHL lockout won't reach a resolve anytime soon.</p>
<p>Games are already canceled through Jan. 15 and time is most definitely running out. Time's running out on a year of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane's professional prime, running out on the Blackhawks' chance to keep pushing all of this positive momentum and these newfound bandwagon fans forward.</p>
<h3>9. Downfall of Brian Urlacher</h3>
<p>Brian Urlacher still looks the same, at least in photographs. I think that's what gets me. There was a time when Urlacher was the baddest player in the baddest league on the planet -- the biggest, faster, most evolved defender in professional football. That's how Urlacher entered the NFL and that's what he largely remained until 2012. This was the year Brian Urlacher stopped being invincible.</p>
<p>The downfall of Urlacher begins on the first day of the year -- January 1, Week 17 of last season in Minnesota against the Vikings. Urlacher suffered a knee injury in that meaningless game, and he really hasn't been healthy since. Between <a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/2012/8/22/3260344/brian-urlacher-chicago-bears-injury-knee-treatment-germany-kobe-bryant">pillages to Germany</a>, lying to the media and missed practices, there has been some football and it was played moderately well. Urlacher held his own appearing in every game until that devastating Week 13 loss to Seahawks. The Bears didn't just yield 177 yards to rookie quarterback Russell Wilson on the final two drives of the game to put a stake in the heart of their playoff chances, they also lost No. 54, maybe forever.</p>
<p>The lesson: Father Time remains undefeated and always will be.</p>
<h3>8. Joe Ricketts' Anti-Obama SuperPAC</h3>
<p>You would think 101 losses would be sufficient. It should have been enough embarassment. But if there's one lesson the Chicago Cubs have instilled more often than any American professional sports franchise since just about the beginning of time, it's that rock bottom is never quite as stable as one might suspect. The Cubs have made an annual tradition out of pushing the depths of their lows, and 2012 saw a fun, off-the-field wildcard thrown into the mix: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/us/politics/gop-super-pac-weighs-hard-line-attack-on-obama.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">a May report</a> that the team's patriarch, J. Joe Ricketts, was set to bankroll a $10 million anti-Barack Obama smear campaign. Too bad he couldn't put the money towards fixing a lifeless lineup.</p>
<p>The New York Times broke the story of the operation, that the campaign would focus on the long-ago-buried comments of the president's former spiritual adviser Rev. Jeremiah Wright and that Ricketts was one pushing for it. After substantial backlash that may have killed the Cubs' hopes of working with the city to get publicly funded renovations to Wrigley Field, Ricketts denounced the plan of action. Too bad. Obama would earn re-election in the fall and Cubs would have their 102nd loss.</p>
<h3>7. Hossa hit</h3>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fY9CmK86fhs" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>The image of Marian Hossa lying lifeless on the United Center ice might be the most enduring Chicago sports moment of 2012 if only because there was a brief period of total uncertainty. Was Marian Hossa dead? OK, he's probably not dead. But would he never walk again? Would he ever play hockey again? Would he still continue to be a functional adult human?</p>
<p>I'm telling you, when Raffi Torress delivered the hit that would earn him a 25-game suspension, all of this was on the table. That Hossa appears on his way to be making a full recovery might among the year's best news. Because, you know, for a second there, we really weren't too sure.</p>
<h3>6. Cutler concussions</h3>
<p>2012 is the year football started to become hard to watch. Junior Seau killed himself in May probably in part because of head trauma sustained from years of playing the most physically brutal sport around, and the ensuing season only helped reinforce how dangerous and ugly the game can be. You only get one brain, and if you play football, that brain is very much in jeopardy. Never was this more apparent locally than when Bears quarterback Jay Cutler took one big hit after another and eventually walked away with at least the sixth concussion of his life.</p>
<p><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1927847/suhkilled.gif" target="_blank"><img alt="Suhkilled_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1927847/suhkilled_medium.gif"></a></p>
<p><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1927855/cutlerhit.gif" target="_blank"><img alt="Cutlerhit_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1927855/cutlerhit_medium.gif"></a> <br id="1356721877337"></p>
<p>The second hit here is the one that gave Cutler a concussion; the first is just one of many examples of the licks Cutler sustained this season. Cutler has been sacked 36 times, fifth most in the NFL and a number that doesn't even attempt to include all of the other shots he took. Cutler is tough as hell and certainly leads a good life as a mega-millionaire pro quarterback, it's hard not to wonder what he'll be like when his playing days are over. It's possible he'll be luckier than some of the others -- Tom Waddle still speaks just fine, you know -- it's just a little sad, that's all.</p>
<h3>5. Cubs :-(</h3>
<p>Things have to get worse before they can get better, or at least that's what Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer told Cubs fans during their first year installed as the team's highly compensated brain trust. Things did get worse: after losing 91 games in 2011, the Cubs upped their own ineptitude by another 10 games in 2012. There were other losses, too, missing out on Yoenis Cespedes and Anibal Sanchez in free agency and Randall Delgado when Ryan Dempster decided to block a trade to the Braves. That the majority of the season was spent monitoring the progress of slugger Anthony Rizzo in the minors is maybe the saddest sign of all: aside from Darwin Barney's defensive wizardry, Cubs fans couldn't find a single place to take solace at the major league level.</p>
<p>There's reason for optimism, of course. Epstein has proven himself to be very good in the past and Cubs did win the race for Cuban slugger Jorge Soler. Rizzo looked terrific once he got to the big leagues and people are saying very nice things about first round pick Albert Almaro and top prospect Javier Baez, as well. Maybe 'next year' finally comes for Cubs fans in 2015 or 2016 or 2017. Until then, 2012 will be remembered like everything else Cubs: for nonstop losses.</p>
<h3>4. White Sox collapse</h3>
<p>From May 29 to September 25, the White Sox sat atop the AL Central for all but seven days. You know how the story ends.</p>
<p>Things were <i>really </i>looking good, we can't forget about that. Paul Konerko flirted with a .400 average into June, Chris Sale established himself as a Cy Young candidate, Adam Dunn, Jake Peavy and Alex Rios each enjoyed massive turnaround years that no one saw coming. A midseason trade to acquire Kevin Youkilis gave the fanbase a much needed reason to get a little excited. But in the end, a September swoon and season-long struggles against a 90-loss Kansas City Royals team cost the White Sox a playoff spot and a division crown. As with anything good that abruptly comes to an end, it's almost impossible to focus on anything other than the end result and the misery it caused.</p>
<h3>3. Bulls are cheap</h3>
<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blogabull.com/">Chicago Bulls</a> make <a href="http://www.forbes.com/nba-valuations/">lots of money</a>. They are also one of six teams in NBA history to <a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bulls/2012/7/26/3188798/the-chicago-bulls-have-never-payed-the-nbas-luxury-task-the-bench-mob">never pay the luxury tax</a>. In 2012, the thriftiness of Bulls' front office took center stage during an offseason that saw the team dismantle its talented bench for less expensive and less accomplished replacements.</p>
<p><span>Omer Asik</span> is the loss that really stings, though the poison pill contract engineered by by <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thedreamshake.com/">Houston Rockets</a>' GM Daryl Morey was unquestionably a tough one to swallow for a player only on the court 15 minutes per game. <span>Kyle Korver</span> would be dealt for a trade exception the franchise likely has no plans of ever using, <span>Ronnie Brewer</span> and <span>C.J. Watson</span> were also discarded even though the Bulls held affordable one-year team options on each. That the one player the franchise actually spent on turned out to be noted brick layer <span>Kirk Hinrich</span> only makes matters worse. The Bulls are still a very good team, but they should be a lot better. It's hard to win with bad ownership.</p>
<h3>2. Bears fall from grace</h3>
<p><i>Bears 28, Patriots 17.</i> That's the first thing you saw driving down to Bears training camp in lovely Bourbonais, Illinois this year, the predicted Super Bowl score of a local elementary school. Sorry kids: on the precipice of a must-win regular season finale in Detroit that will still require help just for the Bears to make the playoffs, it doesn't look like it's happening this year. Our local juggernaut faded fast and well hard as soon as the competition got tough, injuries started to pile up and the defense couldn't keep up its one-or-two-touchdowns-per-game pace.</p>
<p>Unlike the late season nose dive of 2011, there was nothing easy to blame. The Bears simply couldn't keep up with the NFL's best teams after fattening their record on weaker competition early in the season. Losing to Seattle, San Francisco, Houston and Green Bay shouldn't be so shameful, but there was a time when everyone assumed the Bears were part of that elite tier. There was a time when they were 7-1 and those preseason Super Bowl dreams didn't seem so far-fetched. Much like everything else that happened in Chicago sports in 2012, the drop-off came without warning, only making the fall even more heartfelt.</p>
<h3>1. D. Rose injury</h3>
<p>I don't have much to add since the column I wrote still very bummed and very hungover the day after Rose tore his ACL. This is still the worst thing to happen in local sports in my lifetime. Come back soon, Derrick. Healthy, too.</p>
<h3><a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bulls/2012/4/30/2987733/derrick-rose-knee-chicago-bulls-injury">Chicago Bulls Notebook: Derrick Rose's Torn ACL Kills Hopes And Dreams</a></h3>
<p><b><i>Ricky O'Donnell is the editor of </i></b><a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/" target="_blank">SB Nation Chicago</a><b><i>. Follow him on </i><a href="http://www.twitter.com/tup_ricky" target="_blank">Twitter</a><i> or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com.</i></b></p>
https://chicago.sbnation.com/2012/12/28/3811344/derrick-rose-injury-chicago-bulls-bears-cubs-white-soxRicky O'Donnell2012-12-20T11:16:17-06:002012-12-20T11:16:17-06:00Jabari and the mad world of Chicago recruiting
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<p>Jabari Parker is the latest in a long line of prep stars to come out of Chicago. That Parker has seemingly managed to navigate the treacherous waters of the grimy local recruiting scene might be his biggest accomplishment.</p> <p>Jabari Parker will take to a table or a podium or whatever he feels comfortable with Thursday at Simeon Career Academy and announce where he'll play college basketball. It's very likely that Parker will only attend the school of his choosing for one season before NBA money becomes too enticing, but that fact hardly tempers the excitement of the announcement: Parker's college choice has been hotly debated for two years now, and the school that gets him will have a very real shot at making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament in the 2013-2014 season. Every college coach in America would love to have Parker for a single season and only one will get him. He has narrowed his list down to five: Duke, Michigan State, Florida, Stanford and BYU.</p>
<p>Chicago has bred its fair share of star basketball players through the years, from Isiah Thomas to Tim Hardaway to Ronnie Fields and Juwan Howard, but only someone with a strong bias towards the past would argue that this <i>isn't </i>the golden age of Chicago basketball. It most certainly is.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/27160/derrick-rose">Derrick Rose</a> started it all when the Simeon guard shot to the top of a loaded national recruiting class in 2007 that also featured <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29009/kevin-love">Kevin Love</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/26572/eric-gordon">Eric Gordon</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29053/o-j-mayo">O.J. Mayo</a> and Michael Beasley. Rose would play one season at Memphis before becoming the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, a selection that went to his hometown Chicago Bulls by the grace of God, power of David Stern or just immense luck. Anthony Davis would follow the same path five years later, but with a more unbelievable story: as a high school sophomore, Davis was an unspectacular 6'2 guard at little known Perspectives who couldn't draw any college attention. Over the course of one summer, he shot up to the 6'11 monster he is today while retaining his quickness and athleticism. He immediately gravitated to the same coach Rose did, John Calipari, and spent his one season at Kentucky, winning a national championship and every award possible before going No. 1 in the NBA draft.</p>
<p>There was a swirl of attention surrounding Rose's college decision, but it seems to pale in comparison to the hype Parker has been dealing with. That Parker hasn't tipped his hand at all has only added to the intrigue. But if history tells us anything, no matter where Parker decides to play college ball, suspicion will follow.</p>
<p>Chicago high school basketball is regarded as one of the dirtiest recruiting scenes in the country, whether the reputation is fair or not. To recruit in Chicago, it is said, is to deal with an assortment of hangers-on: parents, AAU coaches, family friends, even street agents, all looking for some under-the-table cash. That many of Chicago's finest ballers come out of very poor South Side neighborhoods only adds to everything: why should these programs and their coaches rake in millions every year when the only thing the player gets is a free education?</p>
<p>Where there's smoke, there's very often fire, and Chicago's recruiting scene is covered in smoke. Rose saw his sterling reputation take a sizable hit thanks to the greedy rule that mandates high school players must attend college for at least one season. Without the rule, Rose goes to the NBA after he graduates from Simeon and no one gets hurt. Because of the rule....</p>
<p>Rose had some trouble reaching the minimum SAT score to qualify to play college athletics. He failed three times before suspiciously flying to Detroit to take the test again, where he passed. Detroit, of course, is the home of Worldwide Wes, a notorious handler with a strong connection to Coach Cal. Why did Rose fly to Detroit? Did he take the test, or did someone take it for him? None of this should have ever mattered, Rose should have been able to play in the NBA after high school like LeBron, Kobe and all the rest. But those NCAA restrictions eventually caught up with Rose and Memphis and the team's 2008 Final Four run was wiped off the books. Fortunately, the NCAA can't take away memories.</p>
<p>Davis' recruiting wasn't without its own controversy. The<i> Chicago Sun-Times </i>reported Davis or his handlers had asked $200,000 in exchange for a commitment. All parties involved would later back off the story, but you know the drill: smoke = fire. In a <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/19865011/critical-coaches-which-players-recruitment-is-perceived-dirtiest-of-past-decade">recent poll at CBS</a>, Davis was voted to have the second "dirtiest" recruitment of the last 10 years. Rose finished sixth.</p>
<p>There's a reason Calipari and Kentucky aren't in Parker's top five: Jabari is by all accounts a very good kid who does not want to be connected with the wrongdoings of the star athletes that came before him. Parker's father Sonny also played in the NBA, so perhaps the family doesn't need the money as much as some do. Would it be a surprise if Parker invariably finds himself under the same suspicion Rose and Davis did? Probably not. This is the way the game works. The NCAA, the joke of an institution that it is, perpetuates it every turn. That a few good kids are dragged through the mud with it is only inevitable.</p>
<p>Parker will make one college coach and one student body ecstatic on Thursday. Here's hoping the shine doesn't fade away too quickly.</p>
<p><b><i>Ricky O'Donnell is the editor of </i></b><a target="_blank" href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/">SB Nation Chicago</a><b><i>. Follow him on </i></b><a href="http://twitter.com/sbn_ricky" target="_blank">Twitter</a><b><i> or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com. </i></b></p>
https://chicago.sbnation.com/2012/12/20/3783188/jabari-parker-recruiting-duke-michigan-state-florida-chicago-dirtyRicky O'Donnell2012-12-19T11:42:21-06:002012-12-19T11:42:21-06:00In praise of Joakim Noah
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<p>Joakim Noah has established himself as the Chicago Bulls' best player this season, and is helping the team keep up their winning ways even without Derrick Rose in the lineup.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.blogabull.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chicago Bulls</a> are waging a war on style points this season, and they won't be finished until they've drained every ounce of fun one can draw from basketball as a spectator sport. You can't argue with the results, though. The Bulls have just successfully navigated the most daunting part of their schedule to date, a six games in 11 days stretch that saw Chicago score victories over the East-leading <a href="https://www.postingandtoasting.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Knicks</a>, the new-look <a href="https://www.netsdaily.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Nets</a> and their eternal rivals from Boston. The win against the <a href="https://www.celticsblog.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Celtics</a> on Tuesday gave the Bulls seven wins in their last 10 games and solidified their hold on the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. It also might have been the best the team has looked all season. Coming off a true downer of a performance in Memphis the night before in which Chicago needed a pair of <span>Luol Deng</span> free throws in garbage time just to crack 70 points, the Bulls got back to doing what they do best against the C's at the United Center: playing stifling defense, killing the glass, and earning enough easy looks on the offensive end thanks to superior ball movement.</p>
<p>Nearly all of the focal points played tremendously against Boston, from <span>Nate Robinson</span> hitting all five of the Bulls' three-pointers to <span>Carlos Boozer</span> quietly putting up 21 and 12 despite somehow finishing as the only member of the team in the negative (minus-10) in terms of plus-minus. Luol Deng was great too, so was <span>Taj Gibson</span>. But <span>Joakim Noah</span> stood a cut above everyone else.</p>
<p>Noah <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/joakim-noah-responding-recent-events-not-pantomiming-gunplay-145011884--nba.html#more-32949">drew national headlines</a> for the decision to holster his signature 'finger gunz' celebration the night before in the wake of the tragic events in Connecticut on Friday, but it was the effort against Boston that reminds Noah is much more than a player distinct only by the peripheral stuff -- the hair, the taunting, the nearly unprecedented energy levels so many opposing fanbases find callous. It's no secret that Noah is always hyped to face Boston and <span>Kevin Garnett</span>. He set the tone early on Tuesday and never stopped on the way to the second triple-double of his career, finishing with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.</p>
<p>It's impossible to expect Noah to hit such statistical plateaus each game, but the performance vs. the Celtics was hardly out of line with his recent efforts. Noah has established himself as a wildly skilled big man in his sixth season and is putting up what might be his most impressive campaign to date as the Bulls continue to live life without <span>Derrick Rose</span>. It's alright: with Noah now clearly cemented as the Bulls' best and most important player, it feels safe to say Chicago still has a star in tow.</p>
<p>Noah's pursuit of a spot on the All-Star team will no doubt receive much attention locally over the next two months, to the point where it will surely become grating. Fans like seeing their favorite players get recognized for their on-court work and Noah is definitely playing well enough to put his name in the discussion. Really, I don't care if he makes it or not. The fact that Noah continues to improve as a player and has been able to carry the team so many nights without Rose is good enough for me. Besides, what Noah is doing this season isn't far off from what he's been doing for the better part of four seasons now -- the main difference is just that he's been on the court so much longer.</p>
<h3>Minutes</h3>
<p>The Bulls had a very capable backup center the last two seasons, a fact <span>Omer Asik</span> has only hammered home this season with his impressive play in Houston. With Asik behind him, the Bulls could be more conservative with Noah's minutes and not fear too much drop-off on the court: Noah averaged 32 minutes per game two seasons ago and 30 minutes a night in last season's truncated schedule. Now that Asik is gone, though, Noah rarely gets off the court. It's troubling.</p>
<p>Luol Deng leads in the NBA in minutes per game; Noah is second. He's averaging over 40 minutes per night, which is downright unprecedented for a big man. Here's the list of centers who have averaged more than 40 minutes over the last 30 seasons:</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1897111/Noah-minutes.PNG"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1897111/Noah-minutes_large.PNG" class="photo" alt="Noah-minutes_large"></a></p>
<p>Yep, five guys over the last 30 years and three of them are Hall of Famers. For a player with an injury history like Noah's, it's a scary proposition, one that seems to be tempting fate. Wins now are important, but at what cost? If Noah isn't around for the playoffs, none of it will matter. We live in a second-guess society, so it's important to note how many people are first guessing all this: <a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bulls/2012/11/28/3700626/chicago-bulls-tom-thibodeau-minutes-derrick-rose-noah-deng">I did it</a> a few weeks ago, <a href="http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/45191/joakim-noah-luol-deng-and-the-chicago-bulls-minutes-problem">Grantland has piled on</a>, too.</p>
<p>Noah re-entering the game vs. Boston on Tuesday with five minutes remaining and Chicago holding an 18-point lead was nauseating. <span>Doc Rivers</span> had already pulled his starters, yet <span>Tom Thibodeau</span> saw fit to put his best player back on the court. The triple-double had already been secured. There was no reason for him to play 37 minutes.</p>
<p>Chill out, Thibs. Please.</p>
<h3>Per 40 minute production</h3>
<p>It's easy to see Noah currently averaging per-game career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, but the added production is mostly a byproduct of extended minutes. When scaled back to per 40 minutes, Noah's numbers look right in line with what he's done previously -- if not less impressive.</p>
<p><a href="http://The%20majority%20of%20Noah's%20shot%20attempts%20are%20still%20coming%20at%20the%20rim.%20He's%20average%205.7%20shot%20attempts%20per%20game%20from%20close%20range%20this%20season%20and%20is%20converting%20them%2062%20percent%20of%20the%20time,%20both%20career%20highs.%20">Via Hoopdata</a>, the 13.6 points per 40 he's averaging is his lowest since 2008-2009, though just barely. His rebound rate is 15.1, which is a far cry from the last three seasons when he posted 20.4 in 2009-2010 and topped 18 the next two seasons. His PER is mostly consistent but slightly lower than where it's been the last two seasons.</p>
<h3>Passing</h3>
<p>Noah may be the best passing center in the game. He made some brilliant feeds in his triple-double on Tuesday. I found this one the most impressive:</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1897289/Noah-pass-1.PNG"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1897289/Noah-pass-1_large.PNG" class="photo" alt="Noah-pass-1_large"></a> <br id="1355936857973"></p>
<p>Noah gets the ball on the right side just inside the free throw line and starts making his way to the center of the court. Boston collapses with three men as Luol Deng gets ready to make a baseline cut from the corner. Noah is well-aware of where Deng is, and finds a way to deliver an impossible pass to Deng for an easy bucket.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1897305/noah-pass-2.PNG"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1897305/noah-pass-2_large.PNG" class="photo" alt="Noah-pass-2_large"></a> <br id="1355936991830"></p>
<p>The Bulls have made a habit out of putting Noah in the high post as a facilitator this season, a luxury few other teams can boast. Effective plays like this one earlier from earlier this season against the <a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Timberwolves</a> have become commonplace thanks to Noah's passing acumen.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/k2PTF4odQhM" width="560" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe></p>
<h3>Shooting</h3>
<p>The 'finger gunz' celebration might be temporarily placed on ice, but Noah is still jacking up more outside shots than he ever has. <a href="http://www.hoopdata.com/player.aspx?name=Joakim+Noah">Via Hoopdata</a>, Noah is taking 2.5 shots per game from 16-23 feet, which is up from 1.1 and 1.2 the last two seasons. Noah has added confidence in his jumper, but the results are still mixed. He's currently shooting 37 percent on shot from that area after shooting 43 percent last season.</p>
<p>The majority of Noah's shot attempts are still coming at the rim. He's averaging 5.7 shot attempts per game from close range this season and is converting them 62 percent of the time, both career highs.</p>
<h3>Defense</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8757066/tim-duncan-tiago-splitter-greg-monroe-andre-drummond-more-nba-frontcourt-odd-couples">Zach Lowe had the jaw-dropping numbers</a> on Tuesday: <i>"Chicago is holding teams to 84.2 points per 100 possessions with the Gibson-Noah front line, a number 12 points stingier than Memphis's league-leading figure."</i></p>
<p>Noah has always been the backbone of Thibodeau's defense, the active, mobile interior defender required to run such a scheme. Noah is the reason the Bulls defend the pick-and-roll so well, he's the reason virtually every opponent struggles to score against Chicago inside and he's the reason the Bulls' defensive efficiently is again top-three in the NBA.</p>
<p>An All-Star? Maybe, maybe not. Whether Noah gets the recognition he deserves isn't really all that important. He's a star in Thibodeau's system, the Bulls' best player and a very big reason why Chicago continues to beat good teams without Derrick Rose. That's enough for me.</p>
<p><b><i>Ricky O'Donnell is the editor of </i></b><a target="_blank" href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/">SB Nation Chicago</a><b><i>. Follow him on </i></b><a href="http://twitter.com/sbn_ricky" target="_blank">Twitter</a><b><i> or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com. </i></b></p>
https://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bulls/2012/12/19/3783352/chicago-bulls-joakim-noah-all-starRicky O'Donnell2012-12-18T11:40:38-06:002012-12-18T11:40:38-06:00Brian Urlacher vs. Bears fans: Everyone is wrong
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<p>Brian Urlacher was critical of Bears fans booing the team during a home loss to the Packers on Sunday. SB Nation Chicago's Ricky O'Donnell looks at why this is a lose-lose proposition for all involved.</p> <p>Doug Buffone and Ed O'Bradovich have been the voices of behind every <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.windycitygridiron.com/">Chicago Bears</a> postmortem examination on the radio as long as I can remember, maybe for as long as I've been alive, possibly for much longer than that. If you are a Bears fan born and raised and brainwashed in Chicago, the voices of Buffone and O'Bradovich sound inherently familiar. Their voices sound like football.</p>
<p>Doug and OB, as they are known, host 670 The Score's Bears post-game show and have for some time. Each played for the Bears many moons ago and have become embedded in the fabric of what the Bears mean to Chicago. Buffone, 68, played 15 seasons as a linebacker in Chicago. When he retired in 1980, he did it as the Bears' all-time leader in games played. O'Bradovich is 72 and has spent an entire lifetime immersed in local football: he starred at Proviso East, then Illinois, then for the Bears. He had an interception in the 1963 NFL Championship and played himself in "Brian's Song". These are two men uniquely suited to perform an important and occasionally terrifying job: to talk Chicago off the ledge after every disheartening Bears loss.</p>
<p>Doug and OB have the respect of even this city's biggest meatballs, the men who call into The Score every week with loads of passion about the Bears and something less than a fundamental understanding of how football, or life, usually works. How they've survived so long doing the same thing every year is beyond me; it's often hard enough to listen to a single Score caller, yet alone <i>speak </i>to some of these people through multiple decades.</p>
<p>When <span>Brian Urlacher</span> put on his best white Nike hoodie and made controversial remarks about Bears fans in his weekly appearance on FOX's televised post-game show, it was Doug and OB who immediately came to mind. Urlacher, injured and clearly frustrated as the Bears have lost five of their last six games, vented to the show's host Lou Canellis about how the Bears are treated at Soldier Field.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Our crowd was pretty good today for the most part, they were loud for a minute there, the boos were really loud, which is always nice,'' Urlacher said sarcastically. "The only team in our division that gets booed at home is us. It's unbelievable to me.''</p>
<p>"Two of the people I don't care about: fans or media,'' Urlacher told WFLD-Ch. 32 while defending coach Lovie Smith after Sunday's loss. "They can say what they want to about our head coach, about our players. …It does bother me. They don't know what they're talking about, obviously.''</p>
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<p>Cue the firestorm: <a href="http://deadspin.com/5969178/brian-urlacher-is-getting-really-tired-of-chicago-fans-booing-the-bears">Deadspin covered it</a>, <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-spt-1218-haugh-column--20121218,0,4612786.column">David Haugh wrote a column at the Tribune</a> deriding Urlacher's comments and local sports radio blew up. Urlacher's criticism is now officially 'a thing', something worthy of addressing if only due to the carnage left in its wake. Let's just get one thing straight: everyone is wrong.</p>
<h3>Why Urlacher is wrong</h3>
<p>This is the classic battle not worth fighting for. Urlacher's comments aren't difficult to defend (we'll get there), but they never needed to be said in the first place. What is Urlacher accomplishing, even hoping to accomplish? That the same less-than-reasonable people booing the Bears for heading into halftime down seven points will hear his words and change their behavior moving forward? Please.</p>
<p>Urlacher has been the face of this franchise ever since he was drafted in 2000. Bears fans love him and Urlacher has rewarded the city with a Hall of Fame career. Don't blow this out of proportion: no one will boycott his Canton induction speech or take off their barbeque-strained No. 54 jersey because of these comments. This will blow over, probably before the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.revengeofthebirds.com/">Cardinals</a> game. But the point remains: there was no reason for Urlacher to criticize his own fans, even if he might have a point.</p>
<h3>Why the fans are wrong</h3>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, the one time the boos really poured down was at the end of the half. <span>Jay Cutler</span> had just thrown an interception which led to a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/">Packers</a> touchdown, putting Green Bay in position to head into halftime up 14-7. The Bears got the ball back at the 20-yard line with :28 seconds left. Cutler threw a short pass to Forte and then the Bears let the clock run out. BOOOOOOOOOO.</p>
<p>Well, why the hell was Soldier Field booing? Did Bears fans really think this punchless offense was going to travel 50 or 60 yards in :28 seconds? Did they not just witness what happened the possession before, when Cutler's interception blew the chance of a tie game going into halftime? Throwing the ball in that situation is something only a 14-year old playing <i>Madden </i>would do. The Bears unquestionably did the right thing by running out the clock; there is no other argument.</p>
<p>Listen: Chicago has booed plenty of athletes. Dewayne Wise was booed incessantly at U.S. Cellular Field in 2009, as if it was his fault someone decided to make him a leadoff hitter in the major leagues. Cubs fans have booed plenty of their own players, from Carlos Marmol to Milton Bradley to Alfonso Soriano. It's kind of a pathetic thing to do. For one, you're saying the word "boo". If you think about it for even two seconds, it probably isn't worth it. If an athlete isn't giving it 100 percent, sure, maybe it's OK. But the vast majority of the time this behavior comes from the same drunken meathead fans who listen to Doug and OB on the radio and call in to say insane things.</p>
<p>Not all fans are created equal. Chicago has many good fans and many bad fans, and you only need to listen to The Score or ESPN 1000 during mornings or rush hour to have this fact hammered home. After the Bears lost to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fieldgulls.com/">Seahawks</a> in Week 13, someone called into The Score and said the Bears should trade for <span>Tim Tebow</span>. On Sunday, someone called Doug and OB to say Jay Cutler is nothing but a backup quarterback. And Urlacher is the one we're wagging our finger at?</p>
<p>Well, yes, he should be above it all and is compensated handsomely to act like a professional. But listen to the men Buffone and O'Bradovich have to deal with every week and tell me who the real enemy is. <a href="http://chicagosidesports.com/quick-hits/why-going-to-bears-games-makes-me-root-against-the-bears/">Read Bill Savage on his experience at the Bears-Packers game</a> and ask yourself the same question. Urlacher is frustrated over a horde of drunk idiots booing his team for no reason other than to stoke their own self-importance? Yeah, I'd be upset, too.</p>
<p><b><i>Ricky O'Donnell is the editor of </i></b><a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/" target="_blank">SB Nation Chicago</a><b><i>. Follow him on </i></b><a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/sbn_ricky">Twitter</a><b><i> or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com. </i></b></p>
https://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/12/18/3779422/chicago-bears-brian-urlacher-fans-booingRicky O'Donnell2012-12-17T10:58:28-06:002012-12-17T10:58:28-06:00Packers 21, Bears 13: A Critical Reassessment
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<p>The Chicago Bears were again defeated by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. SB Nation Chicago's Ricky O'Donnell tries to put this one-sided rivalry in perspective.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.windycitygridiron.com/">Bears</a> don't always just roll over against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/">Packers</a>, it only feels that way. <span>Jay Cutler</span> was sacked seven times and intercepted four times in the <a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/9/14/3331990/chicago-bears-green-bay-packers-highlights-jay-cutler-tirade">Week 2 loss at Lambeau Field</a> that ultimately served to foreshadow how this regular season would play out, but it was a long fake field goal for a touchdown by Green Bay that really did the Bears in. Even in the NFC Championship two seasons back, the one that still leaves real emotional scars, the Bears nearly completed a second half comeback with the now immortal <span>Caleb Hanie</span> at quarterback. After again fighting and again falling to the Packers in a hyper-critical Week 15 matchup at Soldier Field on Sunday, Green Bay has now won six straight against the Bears and eight of the last nine. It's true, the results might hint that this is a rivalry in name only. I'm not so sure.</p>
<p>Rivalries are inherently about the fans and stakes that are often more personal than tangible. Yes, the stakes were too real this time around; a home loss to Green Bay now means Chicago no longer controls its own playoff destiny after a 7-1 start. But even beyond that, only a game vs. the Packers leads to this much nervous pacing, this many pleas for help directed at the TV, this many near remote slams . Packers Week has its own distinguishable level when it comes to sports-induced anxiety attacks. The world is far from caving in when the Bears are getting worked by the Packers, but forgive Chicago for making such outlandish claims in the moment. Even when the Bears compete, as they valiantly did again on Sunday, this is still very hard to watch.</p>
<p>We can make excuses. Only <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.musiccitymiracles.com/">Titans</a> receiver <span>Kenny Britt</span> has drawn three offensive pass interference calls in 2012, Bears rookie <span>Alshon Jeffery</span> drew three questionable ones on Sunday that proved too much to overcome. You can wonder if the Green Bay passing game would have found so much success if <span>Tim Jennings</span> was healthy. You can wonder how things would have played out if <span>Devin Hester</span> and Cutler were ever on the same page.</p>
<p>But that's the thing: Green Bay doesn't make it excuses, and it's the difference between the Bears and the Packers. Rodgers has been sacked more than any quarterback in the NFL -- the Packers' offensive line is every bit as horrible as Chicago's. Green Bay has sustained even more injuries than the Bears, missing <span>Charles Woodson</span> and <span>Jordy Nelson</span> on Sunday and going without stars <span>Greg Jennings</span> and <span>Clay Matthews</span> for long periods this season. Rodgers has turned mid-round draft picks like <span>Randall Cobb</span> and <span>James Jones</span> into stars. Rodgers eats third-and-longs for breakfast, the Bears go 0-for-9. In Chicago, it's the same refrain: if the Bears had better receivers, if the Bears had a better offensive line, if the Bears had better play calling, if the Bears could only stay healthy....</p>
<p>There's merit to some of it, but there's also something to be said for the Packers' ability to overcome. Much of it comes straight from Rodgers, who's simply on another level. This town has lionized Cutler after a century's worth of poor quarterback play, but truth be told Cutler simply isn't <i>that </i>good. He's good, sure, but he's not Rodgers and never will be. The Bears got an up-close view of what a true franchise quarterback looks like on Sunday, and he ran circles around a proud defense and had his way with whatever coverage the Bears threw at him. Rodgers had two or three 'holy shit' moments, eluding a fierce Chicago pass rush with that vaunted mobility of his and making picture-perfect throws into tight spaces to get Green Bay the yards they needed. I love Cutler, but let's never get carried away with the praise. There is a tier above him and the Packers employ one of the guys who exists in it.</p>
<p>Following the loss, Brandon Marshall took the podium for an emotional rant that might ultimately be the most indelible image of the season. Just like everyone else in Chicago, Marshall believed the Bears were a Super Bowl contender after a 7-1 start. Now that the Bears have lost five of their last six, Marshall <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=321216003">didn't sound much different </a>from the people who call into sports radio following a bad loss:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Everybody involved in this offense should be held accountable, even if that means jobs," said <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/9705/brandon-marshall">Brandon Marshall</a>, who struggled to compose himself as he spoke before cutting short his post-game interview. "It's been this way all year. There's no excuse. We still have two games left. There's still hope, but at the same time, we need to be held accountable."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Marshall -- who gave the Bears their lone offensive highlight when he stiff-armed a Packers defender to the ground to hand Chicago an early 7-0 lead -- deserves all the praise in the world for his performance and composure this season. <a href="http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/8753174/brandon-marshall-reaction-chicago-bears-loss-understandable">As ESPN's Jon Greenberg noted</a>, he's just the latest in a long line of purported saviors who has failed to turn around Chicago's consistently dreadful offense. Some things just aren't fixable.</p>
<p>The Bears have two games left and still have a real shot at the postseason, though they'll now need some help. A win over Arizona should be manageable enough, and a trip to lovely Detroit to close out the regular season is also winnable. Will it matter? Of course not. These are dead Bears walking, even if they do somehow find a way to sneak into the playoffs. Their problems are too real and there's no combative plan in place to overcome them. Instead, maybe it's time to root for losses. Lovie Smith has had a great stay as the head coach of the Bears, but it might be time for a schematic shift and a different voice in the locker room. His Bears are consistently what they were on Sunday: competitive, but ultimately flawed. In a Super Bowl starved city, that isn't quite good enough.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b><i>Ricky O'Donnell is the editor of </i></b><a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/" target="_blank">SB Nation Chicago</a><b><i>. Follow him on </i></b><a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/sbn_ricky">Twitter</a><b><i> or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com. </i></b></p>
https://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/12/17/3776342/chicago-bears-green-bay-packers-final-score-rivalryRicky O'Donnell2012-12-14T11:51:13-06:002012-12-14T11:51:13-06:00Smack talk takes Bears-Packers to next level
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<p>The Bears and Packers are engaging in an unprecedented amount of smack talk leading up to their showdown at Soldier Field on Sunday. Even if the Bears' confidence might be misplaced, SB Nation Chicago's Ricky O'Donnell can't get enough of it.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.windycitygridiron.com/">Bears</a> started all of this. Don't forget that.</p>
<p>Venture back to the days following the Week 1 blowout of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.stampedeblue.com/">Colts</a> at Soldier Field, a victory that looks more impressive in hindsight given that Indianapolis is only team with a winning record the Bears have defeated all season. It wasn't the high point of fan confidence -- that would come after the Week 9 thumping of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.musiccitymiracles.com/">Titans</a> in Nashville -- but it was close.</p>
<p>The Bears had preseason Super Bowl aspirations, even if most of the noise was coming from people in their own city. Seeing off an offseason's worth of hope translate on the field so congruently in the first game only served to keep the local hype machine firing on all cylinders. <span>Jay Cutler</span> passed for over 300 yards, Brandon Marshall kick-started his monster campaign with nine catches for 119 yards and <span>Alshon Jeffery</span> caught a 42-yard bomb to officially put the game out of reach. The Bears would win 41-21 in what amounted to the perfect debut, the type of performance that gets a fanbase dreaming big. That logic apparently went for the players, too.</p>
<p>Cutler took the podium a couple days later and gushed about his new-look receivers. When asked how Green Bay, or any team, could matchup with Marshall and Jeffery on the outside, <a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000061229/article/jay-cutler-tells-green-bay-packers-dbs-good-luck">Cutler had two words</a>: "Good luck."</p>
<p><a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/9/14/3331990/chicago-bears-green-bay-packers-highlights-jay-cutler-tirade">You know what happens next</a>. Cutler threw four interceptions at Lambeau and the Bears were embarrassed 23-10 in the first of many poorly played Thursday night games. The Packers didn't mince their words after the game. Why would they? Said <span>Charles Woodson</span>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Heard some talk out of the Bears: Packers secondary not working coverage, bigger receivers ... we heard about it," Woodson told ESPN's Rachel Nichols on the field after the game. "We understand that Jay is excited about his new weapons, but it's the same-old Jay. We don't need luck. Jay will throw us the ball."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And it was officially on.</p>
<p>The Bears-Packers rivalry has really been 'on' since the day Lovie Smith was hired, when he thought enough of Green Bay to make 'beating the Packers' one of his three points of emphasis upon accepting the job. It worked out for him well enough in the beginning. The Bears went into Lambeau in 2004 and made Lovie a winner the first time he played the Packers. Chicago would win three of their first four games against the Packers under Lovie and six of their first eight. Since 2007, though, the Bears have only beaten the Packers twice.</p>
<p>Cutler is 1-7 against Green Bay since arriving in Chicago in 2009, a record that includes a home loss in the NFC Championship that saw his reputation take a massive beating after he was forced to exit the game with a knee injury. Factor in Cutler's Bears debut -- throwing four picks at Lambeau in 2009 -- and what happened in Week 2 of this season and it's easy to see why virtually everyone is picking the Packers to win at Soldier Field on Sunday, even with the Bears in full-on desperation mode. Despite all of that, or maybe because of it, the Bears entered Packers Week again eager to get the smack talking going with Green Bay. It's all premeditated.</p>
<p>There was something beautiful about Brandon Marshall's Wednesday presser, if only because his intentions were obviously to troll everyone in sight. Consider: he took to the podium carrying a decrepit little Christmas tree and promptly compared the Bears' season to it. He was wearing a <span>Devin Hester</span> t-shirt -- the same guy who dropped a huge touchdown pass last week vs. the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.dailynorseman.com/">Vikings</a>, the same guy who hasn't returned a kick for a score all season. And then he started firing on Green Bay. <a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/12/12/3760848/jermichael-finley-brian-urlacher-packers-bears">A couple choice cuts</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Rather than credit Green Bay personnel for limiting him to two catches for 24 yards during a Week 2 Bears loss at Lambeau Field, Marshall called Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers "their player MVP," adding he doesn't respect the players "talking about how awesome a job they (do) shutting down players" when the group often double-teamed the receiver in the first meeting.</p>
<p>"I had this game marked since we played them last. I heard exactly what the corner <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/5432/tramon-williams">Tramon (Williams</a>) was saying after the game," Marshall said. "(<a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/1442/charles-woodson">Charles) Woodson</a>, those guys do a lot of talking. Coach Capers did an amazing job of game planning us and game planning me. I didn't beat double coverage and triple coverage or whatever they were throwing at us. I take it as a slap in my face when guys talk about my lack of ability to do something against them when they have help all over the place."</p>
<p>"I'm not going to use the word hate," Marshall added, "but I really dislike the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/">Green Bay Packers</a> and their players."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Packers weren't about to take this sitting down. It was embattled tight end <span>Jermichael Finley</span>, strangely enough, who took the bait, focusing not on Marshall <a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/12/12/3760848/jermichael-finley-brian-urlacher-packers-bears">but on fallen Bears icon Brian Urlacher</a>. This was unexpected.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Urlacher is at the end of his career right now; he's playing a little slow out there," Finley told Fox Sports Wisconsin on Wednesday. "I don't think they're losing too much if he's out. Putting another guy in might help them a little."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That Finely later clarified his remarks were only meant as a way of praising Urlacher's replacement <span>Nick Roach</span> didn't fool anyone. And the Bears fired back. First it was <span>Lance Briggs</span>, who reached deep into the Big Book of Personal Insults to call Finley an 'idiot'. Urlacher only <a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2012/12/brian_urlacher_fires_back_at_j.html">added more fuel to the fire</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Just like a couple of years ago, I think, he tore his ACL and the Packers were actually better without him. You know, they won the Super Bowl," Urlacher told SiriusXM NFL Radio today. " I hope we can duplicate that as well because it won't hurt my feelings if we go on and win the Super Bowl without me like they did without him.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So this is where we stand, a rivalry renewed with nearly unprecedented amounts of smack talk, all of it started by the team who's gotten worked for the better part of four seasons. It might be stupid for Marshall and the Bears to run their mouths, but it's impossible not to love it. Rivalries are inherently about fans -- the players mostly all grew up in Texas or Florida or California, they have nothing personal riding on this. They don't remember <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTLlaMY_9PM">Charles Martin's vicious cheap shot against Jim McMahon</a> in 1986; they don't remember <span>Bryan Robinson</span> blocking a field goal to give the Bears an impossible victory in 1999 in the days following the death of Walter Payton. That Smith and Marshall and everyone else realizes what beating the Packers means to Chicago is important. Stirring the pot is just plain fun.</p>
<p>Will it help the Bears get a victory on Sunday? Who knows. Chicago has lost four of its last five games and has taken a major hit in the playoff race. If they don't beat Green Bay and also win the last two games on their schedule, the Bears are in very real danger of missing the playoffs after a 7-1 start. That Cutler will be playing on a sprained MCL only makes matters seem more impossible. Both teams know the stakes, both teams want nothing more than to show up the other.</p>
<p>I know one thing: at least for the first few minutes, Sunday's game is going to be a lot of fun. For Chicago's sake, let's hope the entertainment lasts a lot longer than that.</p>
<p><b><i>Ricky O'Donnell is the editor of </i></b><a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/" target="_blank">SB Nation Chicago</a><b><i>. Follow him on </i></b><a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/sbn_ricky">Twitter</a><b><i> or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com. </i></b></p>
https://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/12/14/3766708/chicago-bears-packers-rivalry-smack-talk-marshall-urlacherRicky O'Donnell2012-12-13T11:39:53-06:002012-12-13T11:39:53-06:00Nikola Mirotic's legend grows
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<figcaption>Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Nikola Mirotic is tearing up the Euroleague, and Bulls fans are starting to get excited.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.blogabull.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chicago Bulls</a> are playing some legitimately inspiring basketball at the moment, grinding out wins in six of their last eight games over some very impressive opponents despite a largely flawed roster devoid of any sort of offensive firepower. The Bulls' short-term future is obvious enough: they're in a holding pattern until <span>Derrick Rose</span> can return from a torn ACL, at which point they'll likely raise some hell in the playoffs before ultimately bowing out to a deeper team or one with more star power. While Chicago has put itself in an admirable position so far this season without Rose in the mix, it's still fair to question the franchise's long-term ability to build a viable championship contender. The Bulls had done just that the previous two seasons before the injury to Rose robbed the team of a chance to compete in the 2012 playoffs and the franchise's fiscally conservative ownership chose to replace a formidable bench with cheaper and less competent replacements.</p>
<p>What the Bulls have done this season has been commendable and there's no reason to believe they'll be anything less than a very tough out in an underwhelming Eastern Conference if and when Rose returns. But ask yourself this: are the Chicago Bulls winning a title as presently constructed? You're lying to yourself if you answer in the affirmative.</p>
<p>Rose needs help. It might be a simple enough observation on the surface -- the NBA is being run by teams with co-headlining superstars and Chicago's reliance on one player as a shot creator/maker reasonably amounts to a doomed proposition moving forward. But given the team's current salary restrictions and consistent refusal to use market size and record profits to its advantage, adding another star to the roster won't be easy.</p>
<p>A considerable amount of noise came out of Minnesota this week when <span>Kevin Love</span> blasted <a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Timberwolves</a>' management in an <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/12/11/3756044/kevin-love-david-kahn-minnesota-timberwolves">unprovoked screed to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports</a>. Bulls fans took to the Internet and immediately started clamoring for the All-Star power forward, though acquiring him would be a long-shot if the team doesn't break from its undaring ethos. Perhaps the best hope for getting Rose help comes from a player already under the team's control.</p>
<p>We're all familiar with Nikola Mirotic, yes?</p>
<p>Here's a quick and dirty refresher: the Bulls traded the No. 28 and No. 30 picks in 2011 NBA Draft to jump up to pick No. 23 and grab Mirotic. The Spanish forward's big body and sweet outside stroke made him a first round draft pick, but it's what he's done since that's made some wonder if he could be a future NBA All-Star.</p>
<p>Young players are an abnormality in the Euroleague, but Mirotic has proven himself to a force whenever he's on the court. He's the first ever two-time winner of the "Rising Star" award, given to the best player age 22 and under. While he was impressive in 2010-2011, his numbers shot through the roof across the board last season. He's off to a great start this year, a campaign highlighted by a 17-point, eight-rebound effort on 7-of-7 shooting against Russian team BC Khimki Moscow Region. He followed that up by dropping 18 and six (on 5-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-4 from three-point range) the next game against Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul.</p>
<p>Mirotic has the people who watch Euroleague hoops incredibly excited about his NBA prospects. <a href="http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/12/10/gibson-bulls-should-make-mirotic-untouchable-euroleague-heats-up/2/">Nick Gibson took to Sheridan Hoops</a> this week to again sing his praises in a piece framed around a (very flimsy) proposed deal to bring <span>Pau Gasol</span> to Chicago. It was a weird framework to bring to the story because the Bulls are not trading for Gasol this season, you can bet on that, but Gibson's point remains: Mirotic is too valuable a commodity to deal even if that trade was on the table. OK, then.</p>
<p>More enlightening was an<a href="http://www.in-the-game.org/?p=21126"> October piece Gibson linked to by Simon Jatsch at In the Game</a>. Jatsch did an analytical examination of Mirotic's evolution and came away giving him rave reviews: the numbers show Mirotic has made major strides as a rebounder, and he's also showing a propensity to get to the foul line more often. These are monumental improvements as far as his NBA future is concerned. Bulls fans are rightfully starting to get excited.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1873461/2012_10_23_Mirotic_Skillchart.jpg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1873461/2012_10_23_Mirotic_Skillchart_medium.jpg" class="photo" alt="2012_10_23_mirotic_skillchart_medium"></a> <br id="1355419766535"></p>
<p><i>Chart of Mirotic's offensive efficiency this season </i><a href="http://www.in-the-game.org/?p=21126">via In the Game</a><i>.</i></p>
<p>Well, don't get too excited. Mirotic isn't dumb, and won't come over to the NBA until it makes sense for him financially. The Bulls and their fans would love to add the 21-year old to the mix in 2013-2014, but it seems more likely he won't arrive until 2014-2015. Mirotic has a contract that includes a <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-18/sports/ct-spt-0419-bits-bulls-bobcats-chicago--20120419_1_nikola-mirotic-great-offensive-package-ivica-dukan">buyout of roughly $2 million euros</a> and he also doesn't want to be subject to the NBA's rookie scale. Since teams can only contribute a certain percentage of the buyout, Mirotic wants a higher salary to help pay-off whatever financial obligation is left. Gibson said Mirotic is "worth every penny" of Chicago's mid-level exception and that's likely what it will come down to.</p>
<p>The question now becomes: how willing should be the Bulls be to bank on Mirotic's potential? It's a dicey proposition to hope the 21-year old turns into a legit No. 2 option on a championship contender right away, and the Bulls are already in position to compete assuming Rose returns to full-strength. Which is to say: Mirotic should be viewed as an asset, not a lottery ticket.</p>
<p>Gasol and <span>Dirk Nowitzki</span> are the obvious examples of Euro players turning into superstars, but each has been in the NBA for over a decade at this point. The guys that have came after them haven't been as impressive. <span>Andrea Bargnani</span> has been highly underwhelming as the former No. 1 overall pick of the <a href="https://www.raptorshq.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Raptors</a>. <span>Danilo Gallinari</span> is good, not great, and isn't anywhere near the shooter he was purported to be. Jonas Valančiūnas is a true center that has shown promise this year in his first season with Toronto, and there are a handful of other players around the league who have turned into dependable rotation players. But there's no stars.</p>
<p>Mirotic looks very impressive, but it's in the best interest of Euroleague hype machine to build stars out of their own players. They want Mirotic to be the next Dirk, to be the next Pau, and perhaps he is. The Bulls shouldn't be banking on it too heavily, though. Given his size and scouting report, the player Mirotic reminds of the most could be <span>Toni Kukoc</span>. Chicago waited a long time for Kukoc's arrival and he eventually turned into a key cog on in the franchise's second three-peat. Could MJ have won all of those titles with Kukoc as the team's second best player, though?</p>
<p>Rose is no Jordan and the Bulls would be thrilled if Mirotic turns out as good as Kukoc, let alone Dirk. The Bulls have an intriguing prospect on hand and deserve to be lauded for aggressively targeting him in the draft. Now the real question becomes this: how will Chicago shape the roster moving forward with Mirotic making serious strides?</p>
<p><b><i>Ricky O'Donnell is the editor of </i></b><a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/" target="_blank">SB Nation Chicago</a><b><i>. Follow him on </i></b><a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/sbn_ricky">Twitter</a><b><i> or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com. </i></b></p>
https://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bulls/2012/12/13/3762740/nikola-mirotic-chicago-bulls-statsRicky O'Donnell2012-12-12T11:07:09-06:002012-12-12T11:07:09-06:00Injuries kill another Super Bowl dream
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<p>The Chicago Bears looked like a viable contender for much of this season, but injuries have all but decimated that chance. Come get sad with SB Nation Chicago's Ricky O'Donnell.</p> <p>Kickers and punters have long been the black sheep of the NFL, the twerpy little brothers who look like accountants or bloggers or engineers -- anything but football players, really. They are mocked incessantly by teammates and former players, the everliving punchline of pro football's Tough Guy Club, a stable in which they'll find inclusion. It's an unfortunate truth that all too often these specialists still play a huge role in deciding their team's destiny: whether it be in the battle for field position or, of course, knocking those always crucial three points through the uprights at an opportune time. It creates what just might be the funniest dichotomy in pro sports: kickers are treated like a lower life form until it comes time to decide a game, when all of the blocking, hitting and receiving their more muscle-bound teammates did to put them in that position has its fate determined by a fragile, tender little foot.</p>
<p>We don't throw parades for kickers, we don't host eulogies for them either. Still, when news hit on Tuesday that the Bears had placed <span>Robbie Gould</span> on IR, effectively ending his season, the groan let out by Chicago was audible. It sounded like a city becoming resigned to its fate; it sounded like a dream being deferred for another season.</p>
<p>That Gould won't kick again for the Bears very likely will not decide the team's ultimate future. The Bears are still equally hard-pressed to beat the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/">Packers</a> on Sunday with or without their kicker; they'll still need to pray for a Washington loss somewhere in the final three games to reach the playoffs. Gould's injury was more than tangible, though. It felt like piling on, another punch to the stomach, another obstacle to overcome. A very unpleasant fact is forming in front of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.windycitygridiron.com/">Chicago Bears</a>: it's just not going to happen this year.</p>
<p>It's a heart-breaking sentence to type. The Bears started the season with Super Bowl hype, with the local Bourbonnais middle school <a href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/8/6/3222272/chicago-bears-jay-cutler-brian-urlacher-brandon-marshall-training-camp-injuries">predicting a championship victory</a> over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.patspulpit.com/">Patriots</a> the moment the Bears arrived in training camp. This looked to be the best team the Bears had put together in a long time, but one that would still need a substantial amount of good luck to capitalize on its full potential. That luck has run out.</p>
<p>Can't we just jump back to the days following Nov. 4? That's when the Bears thumped the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.musiccitymiracles.com/">Titans</a> in Tennessee -- breaking 50 points for the first time since 1980 and filling the city with more than a little hope that this team could go all the way. Bears fans drank Nashville dry and clearly outnumbered Titans fans at LP Field. It was the ultimate party in every way. Things had never been so good.</p>
<p>Since then, it's been all downhill. <span>Jay Cutler</span> sustained the sixth concussion of his career against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.battleredblog.com/">Texans</a> the following week, <span>Aldon Smith</span> had himself a season's worth of sacks (5.5) against Chicago's cement-bound offensive tackles the week after that. Only a home victory over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.dailynorseman.com/">Vikings</a> offered Chicago a little oasis, but even that came with a heavy price: the Bears' best offensive lineman, <span>Lance Louis</span>, would be lost for the season, and <span>Charles Tillman</span>, <span>Matt Forte</span> and <span>Devin Hester</span> each exited as walking wounded.</p>
<p>An overtime loss to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fieldgulls.com/">Seahawks</a> placed doubt in Chicago's collective mind; it also saw the Bears lose <span>Brian Urlacher</span> for the rest of the regular season and maybe <span>Tim Jennings</span>, too. Last week vs. the Vikings was the knife twist: losing to <span>Christian Ponder</span>, who passed for all of 91 yards, taking a critical blow to their playoff chances. That Gould was hurt in warmups and won't kick again only makes sense. It isn't a real disaster until someone pours salt on the wound.</p>
<p>Here's the thing: Chicago wants a Super Bowl more than it wants anything, and the chance was there for the taking. It would have been a storybook ending to win it with Urlacher and Tillman and <span>Lance Briggs</span> -- the trio that has been doin' work for Lovie Smith's Cover-2 for a decade. The storybook so rarely becomes a reality, though. The Cubs didn't win the World Series on the 100th anniversary of their last; Derrick Rose couldn't will the Bulls past the two free agents that spurned his hometown franchise in the 2011 playoffs. The things that are too good to be true usually are just that. This is the story of the 2012 Bears.</p>
<p>This fall from grace is disheartening but not totally unexpected. The roster was always top heavy, always had a glaring hole at offensive line. That Urlacher even held up as long as he did after well-documented knee problems in training camp only adds to his legend. Really, to pull this off from the beginning would have required so much good fortune.</p>
<p>It's a collapse that isn't all that dissimilar to what's happening with the Lakers right now. The names are the same, still huge. The faces are the same too, if slightly aged. But it's that <i>pop</i>, that that urgency, that little bit of extra <i>oomph </i>that the Bears don't have right now. Well, that and a properly functioning offense. When the Bears beat the Titans in Week 9, Urlacher's pick-six was the team's seventh defensive touchdown in their first eight games. They haven't scored since. This was always unsustainable.</p>
<p>Maybe it's better this way. There's plenty of time to debate Lovie's future, though I have always felt like he's gotten a raw deal. Still, perhaps the time has come for a new voice in the locker room, a new scheme, a new calling-card. It isn't over yet for the Bears, but it feels like it is. The pain has never been more palpable.</p>
<p><b><i>Ricky O'Donnell is the editor of </i></b><a target="_blank" href="http://chicago.sbnation.com/">SB Nation Chicago</a><b><i>. Follow him on </i></b><a href="http://twitter.com/sbn_ricky" target="_blank">Twitter</a><b><i> or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com. </i></b></p>
https://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/12/12/3757782/chicago-bears-injuries-packers-super-bowlRicky O'Donnell