SGCTC Newsletter
SGCTC Newsletter
Still Gotta Come Through Chicago Is All the Way Back, Let's Go!
I promised back-to-back newsletters and god dammit I meant it.
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Today’s newsletter:
-Cubs and Kris Bryant lovers/haters
-Sox back on track plus Timmy Anderson and Dallas Keuchel
-Hawks are on tonight baby!
-Bulls are still a disgrace
-Chicago sports media shake-ups
-The Big Ten season is cancelled
Read it all, and then pass it on! As always, I appreciate the support.
Cubs
Kris Bryant is the most polarizing sports figure in Chicago. Half of the city hates him despite him being a MVP, Rookie of the Year and probably one of the best statistical hitters the Cubs have ever had over a five-year stretch. His personality, which is more reserved, undoubtedly has something to do with that. So does the way he winces and pulls his hands in on any pitch on the inside half of the plate that he doesn’t swing at — OK, that is definitely just a personal pet peeve.
The other half of the city — actually, these ones may be more in the minority — are ardent supporters of his. They are the more logical ones. Bryant is by all accounts a good guy and the only free agent type BS that’s come out of his camp has come from Scott Boras, who instantly makes all of his clients less likable. Bryant’s an incredible baseball player, at least most of the time. Even his fielding, which was supposed to be his Kryptonite coming into the league, (remember when he wasn’t going to be good enough to be an everyday third baseman?) has been an asset.
But I have noticed something about the latter group. At least a portion of them swears to God he is hurt every time he is slumping. It happened again last night.
“Something isn’t right with Bryant. Must be his hamstring again.”
“Must be his wrist.”
Or, he’s just not playing well right now, guys. It’s the counter to the first group, who says he sucks every time he strikes out, but it’s as ridiculous. The guy can have bad stretches just like the rest of the league and we can admit he’s having bad stretches. This group is the fan version of the guy who airmails first base after a ground ball and shakes their arm out like they need Tommy John.
It was a bad throw man, it’s okay.
Kris Bryant has been bad, guys, it’s okay. You can admit it without being a hypochondriac on his behalf.
Promptly after the injury concerns, Bryant did this:
Frankly, it was reminiscent of this one, albeit with a much different environment.
God damn that makes me miss the crowds. So did this, which is one of the best regular season moments of the last five years:
A do-or-die, bases loaded, down three, two outs grand slam. I miss Wrigley Field, man.
The Cubs are 12-3 and still have the best winning percentage in baseball. FanGraphs now puts them at a 97% of making the playoffs. It’s a blast watching Cubs baseball again, and what a joy it’s been to have that back in our lives.
Sox
And the Sox, minus a couple in-the-park home runs, are chugging along again. I don’t know how the Detroit Tigers had a respectable record heading into this series, because they’re god awful, but they’re perfect for a team in need of a resurgence.
FanGraphs now has them at a near-75% chance of making the playoffs, and according to my calculations, that means the Cubs and Sox are going to be in the playoffs at the same time for the first time since Derrick Rose was a rookie. Consider that.
Tim Anderson’s 4-hit, near-cycle day today has him well above an OPS of 1 and with a batting average near .400. It’s a small sample size, but anyone that thought Anderson was going to be much worse off this year has been wrong thus far.
Dallas Keuchel has anointed himself a leader, it seems. Given his track record, I guess it makes sense. He’s a Cy Young winner, a 32-year-old, has been in the playoffs, and has a near 3-ERA and a near 1-WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched).
I wonder who exactly he had in mind when voicing his displeasure. But the Sox had eight hits that night in a loss, and Danny Mendick (who, to his credit, has been serviceable) had three of them. Maybe that alone pissed him off.
Still, he’s been on the team for like a month. And sometimes people just don’t get hits in baseball. I appreciate the candor and his fiery nature — something the Sox have probably lacked — but I just wonder if this criticism runs a bit hollow in the clubhouse.
The Sox have an interesting stretch coming up. They have four against the Cardinals. God only knows how many of those games will be played. Then they have the Tigers again for four. They could, and should, be a few games above .500 — at least — before…
The first crosstown classic of the year kicking off on August 21. Boy am I excited for that. We’re going to need all hands on deck from the SGCTC crew on that week.
Blackhawks
The Blackhawks finally play during the day today, so get all of your work done if you’re on the 9-5 grind. Have a drink poured for a little Thursday buzz and the puck’s dropping at 4:30. Even if it ends up in a loss, you’ll at least be in bed by 9:30 — the usual start time of late. Thank god.
Let’s get one and keep the magic going, huh boys? Chicago’s summer could use another boost.
Bears
Does anyone else not feel like the Bears are in training camp right now? When I heard the first episode of Hard Knocks was coming out this week I was legit stunned. Like, I knew teams were practicing but I couldn’t believe we were already at that point in the summer. What a terrible goddamn year.
This bears repeating: If the Bears start Mitch Trubisky for a significant portion of the season, and he isn’t fantastic, and they’re paying Nick Foles what they’re paying him to be a glorified back-up, all of the front office should be fired on the spot.
I’m so tired of hearing about a QB controversy and seeing Trubisky broadcasted on all social media channels. He had his chance and he’s been bad. I wish him luck, but the playoffs are expanded and we have a top defense in their prime. You don’t pay a guy like Khalil Mack what we’re paying him just to toy around with an inaccurate QB who “just adjusted his mechanics for the first time” because you don’t want to hurt his feelings.
Move on.
Ruining of the Bulls
(the title of my short-lived college blog)
While we’re on topics that we’ve beaten like a dead horse, I cannot believe how naive I was to think with the same idiots running the show, we’d see anything different with the Bulls.
Arturas Karnisovas was hired in early April. Marc Eversley was hired shortly after. I nearly cried at the thought of a regime change, like the Berlin wall had fallen in Chicago, and yet not shit has happened since and all that’s changed is the face in front of all the complacency.
Look, the NBA season has not ended, sure, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make a decision on Jim Boylen, nor does it take any extra time. The fact that Boylen ever got the Bulls job is a joke. The fact that he still has it is a bigger joke.
And the biggest joke is on me for making a hype video for a new era when the kings of the circus just hired a new manager to run the clown show.
Like, five Bulls players have come out publicly this offseason and said Boylen isn’t a good coach.
Only the Bulls would think that those players would be pumped to see Boylen get another go at it, or at least only the Bulls would just not care.
Only the Bulls would expect to get free agents in the future when these free agents will know that management doesn’t give a rat’s ass what the players think about the coaches.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. More on this next week, and every week, until something changes.
*scrolling through Twitter*
Headline: Zach LaVine is up for an extension at the end of this season
Jesus christ.
New ESPN 1000 Lineup and Other Sports Media
Sports radio is one of my favorite things on this planet. Granted, it can be awfully dumb at times, but Chicago actually has some good offerings. I used to be able to listen more when my schedule wasn’t as packed, but the new ESPN 1000 line-up gives Chicago sports fans the chance to wake up to something other than Trey Wingo making horrible jokes.
If you’re a 670 The Score guy, they’ve always had the morning lineup based out of Chicago, formerly with Mully & Hanley and now with Mully & Haugh. ESPN 1000, on the other hand, led into the 9 a.m slot with the national show, whether that was Mike & Mike or Golic & Wingo more recently.
I’ve always been a fan of both of the Golics, both Mike and Jr., and their lukewarm takes were a fine way to start the day. I can tell you this, I will not be listening to Keyshawn Johnson and Jay Williams (the dumbest man in sports media) duke it out at 5 a.m. Frankly, I’ll be sleeping.
But I will listen to a Chicago sports radio show at 7 a.m. with David Kaplan — another polarizing Chicago sports figure — and now with Jonathan Hood. Kap is near and dear to my heart because of his former radio show with David Haugh on WGN radio, which my roommates and I listened to everyday in college. I also just think he’s unintentionally funny and overall a Dad-like sports media type. I can see why he rubs some people the wrong way, though, and that’s why Jonathan Hood is the perfect pairing.
Kap’s show used to start at 9 a.m., which took the drive-time listeners out of it and also never found its groove due to a rotating cast of co-hosts. Hood is relatively unknown to most of you, I assume, but will be the perfect match to Kap. He’s less hot-take prone, and has done solo radio for a long time, which means he’s done the hard stuff already.
Every time I’ve thrown on the radio and Hood has been hosting a show I’ve enjoyed it. A new Chicago-based show in the morning to get you ready for work is always a good thing. Plus, despite ESPN 1000’s management plugging Mike Greenberg’s show in the middle of the day, everyone else kept their jobs.
Waddle & Silvy, which is the best show in Chicago for my money, has the same 2-6 p.m. time slot. Carmen & Jurko got bumped up two hours.
All in all, good news for the sports media landscape, something that’s hard to come by these days as layoffs and furloughs have hit NBC Sports Chicago and the newspapers over the last year.
NBC laid off Leila Rahimi, who you know from the Sox and Bulls-related programming on the network. That’s a shame for anyone who watches that channel as obsessively as I do. She was great at her job and will be missed. Until then, it looks like she’s doing some spots on the radio for 670 The Score.
The Big Ten Is Done For
Alright, I’ve put it off enough. Time to vent.
I cannot believe that the Big Ten will not be playing football this fall for the first time since 1895. I’ve gone through all of the stages of denial and grief. Actually, I’m probably still going through those.
What a shame. Blame it on whoever, but all I know is that I don’t want football in the spring, and I don’t believe the league for a second when they say that they’re going to play then.
There’s going to be melting snow on the curbs in Chicago and you want me to get fired up for Illinois-Purdue? Hell no.
Same match-up in the fall, though, with the wind bristling, the leaves falling, and a hot coffee in my hand, and you can bet your ass I’m jacked up and on Illinois +7.
People make fun of those early Big Ten games, but I cannot express how in love with them I am to you.
When you grow up, the magic to certain things fade: Santa isn’t real, you’ve got work in the morning, and drinking water doesn’t actually help your hangovers. But college football, man, and particularly Midwest, Big Ten football — that never lost its luster for me.
No shit talking before Big Ten match ups. No College GameDay leading into a full slate of games. No MAC football, for crying out loud. No PAC-12 After Dark to try to make up the rest of the day’s betting losses.
Now that’s just sad.
What are you going to miss most? Let’s heal together…
Thanks for reading, as always. The newsletters are getting pumped out again so make sure you don’t miss ‘em. Help me spread the word and make sure your friends check their spam folders.
Just a couple weeks until the NBA playoffs and NHL playoffs are on and the Cubs and the Sox are playing in meaningful baseball games against each other. Let’s go.
And no matter what’s going on in the city — tornadoes, riots… just remember, to any non-Chicagoan talking shit.
You Still Gotta Come Through Chicago. Forever.
Let’s Go Hawks and have a great weekend.
So much to talk about. If you can't tell, Andrew is passively jabbing me with the Chris Bryant talk. I like Bryant, but the talk of him being one of the top players in baseball is ludicrous. He is a good player. He is versatile, a great baserunner and a solid glove. I want him in Chicago but there is no way we should pay him anywhere near the big contracts being thrown around. His value is hugely overstated. He is incredibly streaky. Really good when he is on and really bad when he is off but the good streak does usually end with a nagging injury.
The Golic's are awesome morning listening. They have lost this listener.
Ohhh what I would give for the days when I would head down to Joe's game at Miami. Afterwards we would get a pizza and watch the slate of games easing into a significant previously ICED massive cooler of frosty cold beer. Especially watching early season Big 10/SEC matchups and cheering for the Big 10 like they were Miami. I am running out of shit to watch.