Happy Friday Chicago!
I had take a trip to St. Louis for work this week and I have some urgent news to share with Chicago sports fans, especially those who identify as Cubs fans.
We can’t make fun of that place anymore, man. Go after the Cardinals and their lame ass fans and players, but please do not make fun of St. Louis the city. Because while I was there, I realized…
It’s not even morally acceptable to be making fun of that city. After I spent a couple of days there, I felt about my past jokes about that place like I feel about when I told a friend of mine — who was a bit overweight at the time — to go on Weight Watchers during a heated basketball game.
All is fair in love, war, and pick-up basketball with your friends, but apparently not that. He seemed hurt, despite the fact that he said something about my “big ass head” first that I can no longer remember because YOU CAN’T HURT ME.
It was probably Mega Mind. But maybe not, that was more of a college insult. Nothing like just sipping a beer at a pregame with a bunch of guys and girls while your friends literally roll on the floor laughing because they rebutted something you said to them by just calling you the name of a random animated character.
So it probably wasn’t that insult that evoked the Weight Watchers comment. It could have been Arnold, from Hey Arnold!, yet another animated character that I was completely unaware of until people starting using him to make fun of the size of my head.
It could have been something as simple as “big-headed fuck.” Either way, I apparently went over the line because people can make fun of me for things I cannot control but I can’t make fun of them for things they can theoretically control.
Since, I have never told someone that they should go on Weight Watchers, whether someone made fun of me for the various things that they do or not. And especially after I considered picking up a pamphlet myself during the COVID-19 winter of 2021.
That’s where I’m at with St. Louis. Just as it would feel like piling on to point out that a developing country was downtrodden and gross, it feels mean to call St. Louis “boring” — as Kris Bryant did — or a shit hole, or the worst place on earth, or anything else disparaging.
If someone tells you they love that place, they are either 1. lying 2. are from there and have nostalgic feelings for it 3. or like places where you don’t see another person that looks like they contribute to society for miles as they walk through it.
So please, do not make fun of St. Louis anymore, Cubs fans. It’s just not fair. Punching down wouldn’t describe it well enough. It’s like being a grown man and punching a baby that just was delivered. It’s just not fair.
The only reason that people like the ballpark there is because they’re so struck with depression until they get into a building that looks like it’s taken care of. Then they have a beer in their hand to at least temporarily wash away the feelings of what they experienced on the way there.
For all of Chicago’s warts, every time I go to another city these days I come back frolicking down the streets, so happy to be here. Someone could get carjacked in front of me, J.B. Pritzker could punch me in the face and call me a “Darren Bailey looking MF”, Lori Lightfoot could spit on me and a winter storm could temporarily freeze my warm body to the ground with Lighfoot’s spit frozen to my face and I’d eventually get up with a smile and think about the streets I had just witnessed in St. Louis.
I am thinking about changing the title of this newsletter to: “Holy Shit, X City Fucking Sucks.”
For now, all I know is that I am out on Las Vegas and St. Louis, but in completely different ways. I have no qualms about making fun of Las Vegas, but again, making fun of St. Louis more feels like when my cousins used to make fun of my dementia-stricken grandmother for not remembering their names at family parties. Enough, my brothers and sisters. Let Grandma, and let St. Louis, be.
The most redeeming part of my trip to St. Louis was the time I spent in my hotel room, with my door double bolted, watching the Bears and the Bulls.
Offering yet another example of myself being a truly sad loser, I stayed up too late on Monday night, unable to fall asleep as I was too excited after the 2-2 Bulls and 3-4 Bears pulled off wins against their Boston counterparts.
Instead of counting sheep, I thought about the best Chicago sports nights/days since the Cubs World Series in 2016, and whether Monday would make that Top 5. It was not a great distraction, and was also a disturbingly tough task. And it wasn’t because there were a lot of options. On the contrary, the issue was the opposite.
Here’s a few options I did eventually come up with:
— The 2018 Bears offered up a lot of the best days and nights over the past six years since the Cubs won that World Series.
When the Bears eliminated the Packers at Soldier Field, that one tasted nice. When the Bears beat the Rams on Sunday Night Football, that was thrilling. Hell, even when the Bears lost in the opener to the Packers, the first half alone has to be in consideration for this exercise (which is, of course, sad). The 48-10 thrashing of the Tampa Bay Bucs to go 3-1, when Mitch Trubisky looked like Pat Mahomes, also made up a Sunday that’s in the running.
— April 13, 2020. Just a month after COVID-19 shut down all of our lives, one of my personal top-3 days in Chicago sports came about. And it was when the Bulls announced they would be firing Gar Forman and “reassigning” John Paxson. After decades of underperformance that had gotten so bad that it made me apathetic and reconsider being a Bulls fan, the Bulls ownership made the move that their fans had been waiting on for years. Every now and then, when I gripe at a roster move the Bulls make, or think about the crushing playoff losses to the Bucks last year, I remind myself of where we were just two and a half years ago. On that note, this is personal preference, but Game 2 of last year’s playoffs is undoubtedly up there for yours truly. I am a dork.
— I’ll just throw these in for the Sox fans. The Field of Dreams game, when Tim Anderson walked off the Yankees, had to have been up there. The Astros/Sox game in which the latter actually won at home was also one of the more electric atmospheres I’ve experienced in person. It was also the first Sox home playoff game in over a decade, so it more than qualifies for this exercise, in my opinion.
— The Cubs on their own are almost eliminated, just because the start of this made-up exercise — their World Series win — was obviously the high point of a mountain that we all had to eventually climb down, step by step, over the following years. But hold onto this thought for the time being.
— The Blackhawks brought some of the best days of this century, but since 2016, they’ve only reached the playoffs once, and that was because of a COVID-expanded playoff. The most noteworthy day for them since was a sexual assault scandal finally coming to the surface.
— Here’s what I think is the only day that has the synergy that Monday night did. On Sunday, September 13th, Alec Mills threw a no-hitter against the Brewers and the Bears completed a 17-point comeback to beat the Lions on the road. But it wasn’t just that, it was the whole weekend.
Here’s what I wrote at the time:
This may be the best Chicago sports weekend to ever precede a Still Gotta Come Through Chicago newsletter.
Jason Heyward hits a three-run homer off of Josh Hader in the ninth inning to beat the Brewers on Saturday. That’s when I should’ve know there would be something special in the air west of Lake Michigan this Sunday.
After that, the Bears pull off a 17-point comeback to win on the road — in which Mitch Trubisky threw a few … unbelievable dimes? Alec Mills, a 28-year old who has never spent a full years in the majors, throws a no-hitter. The White Sox complete a sweep of the Tigers and take over the best record in the entire American League. And most importantly, the Les Miles-led Kansas Jayhawks lose to Coastal Carolina but cover the second half spread!! Come on! Anyone else betting on a game with a 9:20 p.m. start, no fans in the stands, and zero knowledge of any of the players on each team?
It was fun to dig that one up. Not much has changed, in that, us Chicago sports fans are forced to get really excited about what would be relatively mundane days for those living in Tampa, Boston, or Philadelphia.
Either way, it’s worthwhile to take note of each.
I suffered from sensory overload on Monday. I was simultaneously watching the Bulls shit-pump the reigning Eastern Conference champions after going down 20 in the first quarter and the Bears kick the shit out of the New England Patriots! for the first time since 2000.
The obvious caveat is that we’re five and seven games into the Bears’ and Bulls’ seasons. Do I look like I give a fuck?
Beating Boston is always sweet. Beating them twice in one night, as combined 15.5-point underdogs, by a combined 37 points, was almost as sweet as the cookie pie I shoved down my throat to celebrate afterward.
I’m sure I am missing a few Chicago sports nights/days. I’d love for you to comment and tell me what comes to your mind while reading.
But for me, since 2016, it’s Monday night, September 13, 2020 (Bears comeback and Alec Mills no-hitter), and April 13, 2020 (GarPax fired).
Roquan Smith had 12 more tackles on Monday, and he leads the league in tackling by five, which is a large margin at this point in the season. Jaquon Brisker had seven tackles, an insanely athletic pick, and an overall great game.
Before our very eyes, Kyler Gordon has gone from he-should-not-be-on-the-field level to making game-sealing interceptions and nice plays elsewhere. Dante Pettis actually caught a punt and returned it for a decent gain.
The Bears won their first game against New England since 2000. They scored more points in the first half than the Patriots’ two previous opponents had scored in total. They won their first primetime game as an underdog since 2020. They had lost nine of those in a row, according to The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain.
Bill Belichick told us in eight minutes time that the Bears were dangerous and we proved him correct. It was the biggest win for Matt Eberflus to date, and it validated — to some extent — Ryan Poles bet on him and Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy.
None of those previous four paragraphs matter, though. Well, of course they matter. But truly, nothing matters as much as Justin Fields’ performance Monday in terms of the future of this franchise.
The Bears have had great defenses. They’ve had good coaches. They’ve never had a quarterback. So a night like Monday means a lot.
Fields stat line only looks pedestrian to anyone who didn’t watch the game. He went 13/21 for 179 yards passing. He also rushed for 82 yards on 14 carries. He had 1 touchdown throwing, one rushing, and one interception.
For someone that has been a defender of Fields, this doesn’t feel like a victory. It feels like what a bad performance should feel like, too, which is part of the overall puzzle on figuring out if this guy is going to be our guy for the foreseeable future.
Monday obviously showcased part of what Fields can be. More importantly, I think, is that is showcased what any talented quarterback (of which Fields is one) can do when put in the right position. When you have a my-way-or-the-highway coach like Matt Nagy, it’s hard to parse out who is at fault and who isn’t.
Luke Getsy has figured out how to make the best of their situation right now, seven weeks in. And it makes sense it took seven weeks. The Bears offensive line is not good, and it’s going to get worse with Lucas Patrick on the IR and Larry Borom now likely out with a concussion. And, again, it cannot be said enough that the Bears have less talent at the wide receiver position than any other team in the league.
Getsy responded by doing what he didn’t do against Washington. He utilized Fields’ tools appropriately. The Patriots had absolutely no answer for Fields’ designed runs. And Getsy didn’t have to abandon the Bears (actually good) run game to implement those. The play calling was conservative when it should have been, and was aggressive when it needed to be, too.
The only downsides to Fields’ game Monday were the fumbles he recovered, the one bad sack he took (which he acknowledged), and a deep ball where he — and who can blame him — just got way too excited it and launched it over the receiver’s head in the end zone.
Just as this isn’t the end to the Fields’ debate, it also isn’t the end to the discussions over whether the Bears are headed in the right direction. But it’s a hell of a start. They will likely lose more games than they win the rest of the way. Fields will have more bad games. But this game will give us hope, hope that through those losses, we can take solace in the fact that we just may have our head coach, our offensive coordinator, and our quarterback for the future.
The happiness hasn’t faded yet, and probably won’t until Fields gets sacked eight times on Sunday by the Cowboys. But it did take a hit on Wednesday when the Bears traded away Robert Quinn for a fourth-rounder to the Eagles.
Quinn will come off the Bears books as a result for next year, though they’ll eat basically the rest of his salary for this year. The good news is that doesn’t really matter.
The trade makes sense.
The better news is that the Bears will have basically a full draft next year for the first time in a long time. Paired with a couple more performances from Fields like that, and $120 million-ish in cap space heading into next year (they’ll still have a lot of roster spots to fill, so that number looks a little larger than it is in practice), and there will be a lot to look forward to.
It’s nice to be able to say that around here every once in a while.
As for Quinn, he may be a great trivia question going forward. He’s one of the best active pass rushers in the game. He has over 100 career sacks, and holds the Bears single-season sack record. And still, his time here did feel wasted. Nonetheless, the guy came to play every week, and had such an impact on the team in the meantime that Roquan Smith cried at his presser when learning of the trade.
That’s a guy I’ll always root for.
The Bears open up as 9.5-point underdogs at the Cowboys on Sunday. It’s not a good matchup — the best pass rush in the league versus one of the worst pass-blocking offensive lines. We’ll see what happens. I’ll enjoy these warm thoughts until then.
The Bulls are 3-2. They have a loss to the Wizards by two, a game in which they came all the way back and should have been rewarded three shots to win the game at the buzzer (the NBA’s opinion, not mine). They have another blowout loss to the Cavs, but I walked away from that game thinking one thing: Zach LaVine sure didn’t look hurt.
That thought came to further fruition on Wednesday night when LaVine had a team-high 28 points on 6-13 shooting and 6-8 from three-point land. He had the best +/- out of all starters at +12, mostly because his minutes are staggered with DeRozan’s, and thus, he’s out there more often with the explosive Bulls second unit.
For the Bulls wins, they have the Pacers one. It may be an unpopular opinion, but that was what I considered to be the Bulls most encouraging win of their young season. Here’s why: As everyone tries to figure out if this Bulls team is any good (I can assure you they are), beating a bad team start to finish is the best indicator we have that they are.
Their other two wins have come against last year’s two best Eastern Conference teams, Boston and Miami.
— Patrick Williams had his best game of the season Wednesday, which of course isn’t saying much. He made a few nice defensive plays and was aggressive off the bat. He finished with 10 points, scoring on four of his five field goals. I brought up last week that Williams’ struggles seem to come when he’s trying to fit in with far superior players. He said as much to Joe Cowley of the Sun-Times this past week, that he’s trying to work on finding his role and finding confidence in his role. I may be on a Williams island at this point. The beach is eroding and I’m holding onto the tree. But I’m not calling the National Guard just yet. I think Billy Donovan should move him to the second unit for now. There’s plenty of time to move him back into the starting lineup when he does become more comfortable. He’ll hit his 100th game played this weekend.
— Arturas Karnisovas still doesn’t get credit for the role players he signed and drafted. Why? I don’t know. But Ayo Dosunmu has become a legitimate starting point guard in less than two years. He shoots the ball about 50% quicker than he did last year. He defends well. He makes the shots he should. And he’s even becoming a playmaker. If he keeps it up, getting Lonzo Ball back will become more of a rich-get-richer situation than a I-live-in-St. Louis-help-me situation. Alex Caruso remains one of the most disruptive defenders in the entire league. As does Javonte Green, on top of his high-flying exploits.
— DeMar DeRozan has obviously been incredible this year. But the best place we can get him to is where he was at Wednesday: making shots when the Bulls offense was stalling and we needed him most. He’s obviously going to get his, but relying him in those situations specifically — as opposed to all situations — is part of the key to the Bulls’ success.
— The newcomers: Andre Drummond and Goran Dragic were just about the only two players Karnisovas could have signed last offseason without going into the luxury cap. (See below). He hit both of those signings out of the park. Dragic looks every bit like the player he was two years ago, and has dazzled with his passing and weaving through the lane. Drummond is, as he put it, the best rebounder of this century. He’s not just not Tristan Thompson, he’s a guy averaging nearly 10 rebounds on just 15 minutes per game. That is an absolutely insane number.
(Look familiar, Sox fans?)
The Bulls have another Friday-Saturday back-to-back this weekend. Winning one of those would be great, to be honest, as LaVine may sit out on the front end against San Antonio before the Saturday game against Philadelphia.
You can still get the Bulls OVER/UNDER win total on DraftKings at 41.5 wins. That’s going over.
LETS GO BULLS!
Thank you for reading, as always. And thank you for letting others know about the newsletter. I deeply appreciate it. Have a great weekend!
Source: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Outsiders would call it sad that I consider Monday one of the best nights in recent memory. I would call them spoiled. I honestly think the overhaul of the GarPax regime was the happiest I've been as a sports fan in a long time. Getting Kahlil Mack and starting the season so hot was another joyful time as a Chicago fan.
My uncles were talking about the Bears Patriots matchup. Saying that regardless of outcome, the Bears got the win where it matters. They were of course referring to Super Bowl XX, which was 36 years ago, when the Patriots snuck into the Super Bowl and were double digit underdogs, again 36 years ago. They've won a few meaningful games since then. But the Bears beat them when it mattered!
Pretty sad the things we hang our hats on. That being said, while I have obviously low expectations for the Bears moving forward, they should be at least fun to watch in some games. Night and day between their last 2 games.
As far as the Bulls go, Billy has done an excellent job staggering lineups, as you eluded to. Between
Zach, Demar, Ayo, Vuc, Javonte, Drummond, Caruso, DJ, Pwill, Dragic, and Coby- theres a lot you can throw out there in terms of mixing and matching. It looks like Dragic and Drummond have a nice connection going early on.
With that many ball handlers you would think things could get a little shaky whenever Lonzo comes back, but his versatility as a spot up shooter and great defender makes me confident he'll play well alongside anyone. The Celtics game, similar to last years Celtics game, gave me excitement in knowing that even when our offense is in a slump, our defense can takeover and lead to better offense.
(I'm not fully ready to talk about Pwill. Last 2 games it seems like Billy whispered to him that he needs to be aggressive first possession, missed his first bucket in both and then didnt drive to the hole again in the game. He also kind of lines up his 3 point shot like my mom does, who played basketball until 5th grade)
LETS GO BULLS
We have good coaches. Coaching is everything and Matt Nagy was a colossal disaster. We are literally going to a gun fight with knives and always competing and frequently winning. $100 M in Dead Cap Space?!?!
Bulls - I was most excited to see Lavine moving freely and apparently jumping without pain. Drummond is an absolute steal. Jury is still out for me on Williams. Please just show me one dot of aggression. I absolutely love Caruso but he is so aggressive he sometimes looks reckless, and I am afraid he is going to get hurt.