Piniella Staying Put

Lou Piniella is not on the list of candidates for new manager of the New York Yankees. "There's nothing to concern anybody with," Piniella said Thursday from his home in Tampa, Fla. "There's nothing to it. The Cubs are my last job, and I'll finish there."

Borrrring Bears Win A Thriller

With the Bears season seemingly on the line on Sunday against the 2-3 Eagles, the Bears play didn’t reflect the tone of the game. The game isn’t worth the time writing about until the Bears were down 16-12 with a 1:52 left to play. The Chicago Bears took over on the 3 yard line with a 1:52 left and no timeouts. Griese would direct an 11 play 97 yard drive for the win. Griese had done all this by calling all his own plays. His in helmet communication with offensive coordinator had gone out before the Bears started that drive. Griese had completed five passes to five different receivers during this drive that culminated with a winning touchdown grab by Muhsin Muhammad. Griese had thrown for over 300 yards for the second week in a row and it seems that the quarterback switch has reenergized the Chicago Bears for a possible mid-season push.

Front Runners or Rockies Fans?

Nothing against the Rockies they are my second favorite baseball team, and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them. Right now winning 20 out of 21 in this part of the season is legendary, but were did these fans come from? I have lived here for three years and have not really met any fans, most of my friend or more interested in the Nuggets and the Broncos. I have been to 6 games since moving here from the Chicago Burbs, probably more then all these people who are wearing the freshest Rockies hats just bought yesterday. So I would like to know. Are you fans frontrunners or real FANS? I would like some comments and want to be proved wrong. GO ROCKIES!!!!!!!!!!

Best Return Man's Effort Wasted

Although the Bears lose again and just as heartbreaking of a loss there could have been this season. Hester’s brilliance as one of the best return men has be cemented that in a flash this player could single handed change an outcome of a game and bring momentum back to the Chicago Bears. Hester had an 89 yard punt return to give the Bears and early7-0 lead and later had a terrific 81 yard catch and run reception with a 1:30 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game. With this returned his 8th touchdown tying a Gayle Sayers’ record, this does not include his two other scores; 108 yard touchdown return of a missed field goal last season and his 92 yard kickoff return in the Super Bowl. Hands down best returner EVER!!!! There were other good performances Griese threw for over 300 yards only the 11th time in Chicago Bears history that a Bear quarterback had thrown for over 300 yards at home. That just shows that since the Sid Luckman era there hasn’t been a good quarterback for my Bears. Benson seemed to turn a corner in this game, finally figuring out home to catch a ball out of the backfield. Although he dropped three other passes he had one of his best receiving games of his career. All in all the Bears played a solid game, except for the big play. All game Peterson had good runs but ways always close to breaking the big one. It was more like break big three Peterson had rushed for 224 yards the most allowed by the Chicago Bears in the 87 year history of the franchise. The door seems to be closing on the Bears this season with their loss to the Minnesota Vikings and a Green Bay Packer win on Sunday. What are they to do when it seems ounce again the stars aligned against a Chicago sports team.

Let the Kids Play

The Griese era started yesterday with a clash against the Detroit Lions. A LOSS to the Detroit Lions, I cannot remember the last time the Bears lost to the Detroit Lions. The Chicago Bears lost 37-27. The only reason why Griese was named as the new starting quarterback was to stop turnovers in crucial situations, something Grossman had always struggled with. Bringing Griese in, was a way to stop the offenses bleeding and allow the vaunted Bears defense and electrifying special teams to win the game. This was the game plan at least for a while, but the plan was quickly turned on its head. The veteran quarterback threw 3 interceptions, two of them in the redzone and one returned 64 yards for a touchdown by Lions cornerback Keith Smith. Asked if the offense played better with Griese replacing Rex Grossman, coordinator Ron Turner said: “It didn’t seem to. We haven’t played well yet offensively, so regardless of who’s in there or what’s going on, we just have to put it together and play better, and quit turning the ball over. Well I say let the third stringer ply. Two years ago Kyle Orton won 8 games in a row and led the Bears to the playoffs. Brian Griese is not the future of this franchise, its going to be Grossman or Orton not Griese. It is time to look towards a future Bears team and the remaining season. Let one of the Kids play, get rid of Griese and put in Orton to see what he can do. He couldn’t be any worse then Griese’s 3 interceptions against an average team or Grossman’s predictable breakdowns. If the Bears want to make a drastic shift in this season current downward spiral it will take a tough decision on whether to allow the old ways to continue or bring in some new blood and give this team a shot in the arm it so desperately needs. So I say bench the veteran Griese and put in the kid Kyle Orton.

Cubs Clinch NL Central Division Title

One of the most exciting Divisional races in recent memory was finally won Friday when the Chicago Cubs beating the Cincinnati Reds 6-0 coupled with a Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 loss to the San Diego Padres. What a great way to end to the regular season for both the Cubs and Brewers. "You've got professionals out there who play, No. 1, and you've got some nice talent here," Piniella said. "We got into a situation where the team in front of us gave us a chance to get back in the race and we hung in there and said, 'All right, now we can win this thing.' We've been getting after it for a long, long time. It's good to be where we're at now." You got to hand it to the Brewers they hung in there from the word go. The Brewers led the National League Central or shared first place for 133 games this season. They also opened up a lead as big as 8 ½ games in the month of June. But, after all that the Brewers still failed to qualify for the post season for the 25 year in a row, while the Cubs win their second Division Title since 2003 the 2nd time in five years the first time since 1930. That all started to change as the Cubs roared towards the All-Star break getting within .500 with their season record and closing the gap to within 6 ½ games. In the second half of the season it was all Cubs finally playing with a purpose under “Sweet” Lou Piniella, the type of ball he demands of his players. Now with the Brewers finally in their rear-view mirror and the young Arizona Diamondbacks standing in their way it is time for the Cubs to finally get to the Series and end the old Chicago saying “There’s always next YEAR.”