Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
Kane Traded and Bears' Necessities
Good morning Chicagoans!
Patrick Kane was traded away on Tuesday. Nearly 1,200 games, 450 goals and 780 assists later, he’s off to New York.
That feels like the logical place to start today’s newsletter. A tad more relevant to the this little bloggy thing’s subject matter than a Rocky fan club manifesto.
This one hurts every Chicago sports fan, whether you were the one arguing over the offsides call in the Stanley Cup Finals or the one just trying to figure out what that meant. (I largely fell in the latter camp).
The severity of hurt obviously all depends on how big of a hockey fan you are — or were.
But the whole point of Kane and his teammates’ run here in Chicago was that they turned hockey from a niche-following sport into one that was celebrated by just about every sports fan in it.
And, as always with these such things, it’s not Kane leaving that hurts, that makes you step back and sigh.
His time here was also part of our time here in the city. Him leaving requires us to consider our own lives, and the time that has gone by in them, too. It’s the end of an era for the Blackhawks. The end of an era for Chicago. The end of an era for Kane. But also, it’s the end of a time period in your life.
When he scored the goal to give the Hawks their first championship in nearly 50 years in Philadelphia, I have a vivid memory of rushing in from a ding-dong ditch to watch the replay on a 12-inch TV screen in a friend’s kitchen.
On the day he was traded, I officially turned in my taxes for CY2022, and days later I am dreading the social drinking obligations I have to attend this weekend.
Ghost in the graveyard and ding dong ditching—tax returns and alcoholic events you don’t want to attend
is almost a better way to describe how long an era was than
2007-2023
Or than five presidential terms, or any other way you can put it.
When you consider the fact that I got caught drinking when I was 14 by the police, and at that time, ghost in the graveyard had lost its luster, it even further brings into focus how long it has been since that goal that changed everything.
Outside of the die-hards — of which this obituary of sorts is likely not for — each Blackhawks playoff run kind of upped the ante. As the Cups compiled, our knowledge of the sport, and expectations for the team, got wider and taller.
Now, we’re all a bit more jaded, knowing what Kane, Toews and Co. did during our lifetimes.
At the same time, those cups are so long ago now that it’s hard to feel like that feeling, and that sort of team, will ever be back.
It’s all worsened by him ending up in New York, of course. And it’s worsened by the fact that some of his best years as a hockey player — even his prime, one could argue — were wasted on uncompetitive teams that were hindered by a slew of organizational failures.
Not being able to keep him — whether because of a lack of a contract offer or the ability to prove the organization could build around him once again — is another organizational failure in itself.
When you see the return in these trades, it really puts into perspective what sports fandom is. A 2nd and 4th rounder for Kane? Forget the circumstances, that can’t be enough, can it?
But the reality is, nothing would be enough. You can’t quantify his, or Toews, or Keith’s, or anyone’s time here with draft picks in return. The Blackhawks couldn’t Tuesday and Blackhawks fans won’t be able to in the future, even if those picks yield something special. It can’t be as special as those dynastic years in Chicago.
Time does go on. While we all know that, it’s better to not have that unavoidable fact thrown in your face.
The journey was great while it lasted, and it sucks that it’s over. But man, at least it took a while to finish.
The bitterness around trading star players away from Chicago is warranted. After all, in nearly every case, it was bad team management that forced the issue.
That is the case with Derrick Rose, who the Bulls traded away for a bag of basketballs. That is especially the case with Jimmy Butler.
That is the case with Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez.
That is the case with Khalil Mack.
That is the case with Chris Sale.
There are caveats to each of those, of course. In some of the cases, the trades needed to be made when they were made. But that doesn’t excuse getting to the point where you needed to trade those players.
All were for seemingly meager returns, too. And as far as the larger returns, none of them — at least yet — have brought anything else good to fruition.
Ryan Poles gave a press conference the other day at the combine. He said what he did the last time he spoke to the media: that Justin Fields will likely not be traded and that the Bears will likely trade away the first pick.
Those “likelys” are my words, to be fair, not his. What he said, essentially, was that, but he left enough ambiguity in the air for the idiots that take those likelys and run with them.
Just when I think that the national media — and people — cannot get any dumber, I endure yet another news cycle about the Bears draft.
Warren Sapp said the Bears are going to trade Fields. This other guy did, too. Poles didn’t commit to him in his recent presser.
When the Bears got the first pick in the draft, I knew they’d have built-in leverage. I didn’t know they’d have the leverage of a million morons running around thinking a smokescreen is a real thing. If you think the Bears are trading Justin Fields, you may as well believe it was Santa Claus, and not your Dad, absolutely hammering those cookies by the fireplace.
But, hey, if it works on even one GM then it was all worth it. The endless news cycles, though, are exhausting.
Poles did say something of note, though, which was that the Bears could potentially trade the pick before the new league year, which officially begins when free agency opens on March 15th.
That could be beneficial to us, as we don’t have to hear the nonsense anymore. But it also could benefit the Bears, as they could have a better idea of the capital, players, and money they have when heading into free agency. That is an advantage over waiting until draft night. It could also make teams put their packages on the table much harder and much sooner than they would have otherwise.
It also gives the Bears the opportunity to trade back once again on draft night if that’s the way they decide to go.
I’m on the record saying that I believe the no. 1 priority when you’re lucky enough to pick this high is to get a blue-chip talent — especially if you already have your quarterback.
The Bears have a ton of needs, but they also have lots of ways to deal with that reality. The hit rate on non-QB top-5 picks is too high to pass up on. They need a difference maker more than they just need bodies to fill up holes.
Trading back is the right move. Trading back is generally the right move, in general, because you get more chances at players turning out. But, when you’re as high as the Bears are, the calculus is different. The top-end, non-QB talents at the top of the draft are about as sure as it gets.
There has been a lot going on with at least one of those top talents, though. You probably saw that this week, a warrant was issued for Georgia Defensive Lineman Jalen Carter’s arrest in Athens. He was there when his teammate, Devin Willock, died alongside a Georgia staffer while racing cars. Carter was also allegedly racing cars. Perhaps more damning is that there are signs suggesting the players were all drinking prior to racing.
We’ll have to let the rest of that play out, but we do know Carter denies wrongdoing and that he went back to Athens, and then back to Indianapolis for the combine.
This is obviously a red flag over the head of what some consider to be the best player in this year’s draft. He was also considered — along with Alabama Edge Will Anderson Jr. — to be one of the two players the Bears would likely take if they traded back but remained in the top 4.
Personally, I wouldn’t want to draft him at this point. Or, better said, I would want to err on the side of Anderson Jr. But, because it’s the NFL, I’m sure teams are licking their lips at the idea that some GMs may be thinking the way that I am.
Prospects have done far worse and still been drafted, that’s for certain. And to be fair, we don’t know everything about the Carter situation yet.
In my mind, prior to this, the Bears needed to land one of Anderson Jr. or Carter — the top, non-QB talents. I was partial to Carter, and I’m not saying this disqualifies him, but I’m now partial to Anderson Jr. From a football standpoint, you can’t really go wrong with either of them. As for off the field, one player clearly has the perceived edge right now.
The Bulls are back in town! After acquiring Pat Beverley and acting as if he is Kevin Durant, Bulls fans have enjoyed a 3-1 start to the post-All Star break.
I am a major Pat Bev fan, but for a guy that can hardly dribble, isn’t that athletic, and averages like 5 points per game, he does kind of trick y’all, man. Again, still love the guy — the coronation and the reality just don’t match up and that, in turn, gives the Bulls front office more credit than they deserve.
The Bulls have the third-best defensive rating since the new year.
Before the second half of Tuesday’s game at Toronto, here is what they gave up during each half since the All-Star break:
29, 58 (Nets second half during blow out), 45, 37, 44. But then they gave up 60 in the second half to Toronto on the way to a loss. They also surrendered 19 — 19! — offensive rebounds. That was the difference in a very important game, if you consider any of these games important.
Then, the following day, the Bulls jumped out to a 20+ lead against the Pistons and — stop me if you’ve heard this before — they blew it. Thanks to Jaden Ivey calling a timeout for the Pistons they didn’t have with seconds left, the Bulls pulled it out!
And, with that, the Bulls are 3-1 since the break. Take it or leave it. They are 1.5 games out of the play-in and 2.5 games out of one of the top-8 seeds (two chances to make the playoffs).
The season has beaten me to shit, man. It’s hard to get up for these games, it’s hard even to enjoy a LaVine 40-point night these days. But, hey, I do have that playoffs +450 ticket.
So, in that case, LETS GO BULLS!
Notes from Cubs Spring Training
— Hayden Wesneski picked up where he left off last year, his two innings were stellar the other day, and he struck out four during them
— The Nick Madrigal At Third experiment seems to be real, after all. I don’t think he has the athleticism or arm strength to make that work long term, but I will say, I still do love him as a utility guy. Anyone top-3 in league in swing-and-miss rate can play for my ball club. He’s been fine at third, he’s made a couple nice plays. He also had an RBI, extra-base hit Thursday. We’ll see where he ends up fitting in this year, but my guess is Jed wants him involved.
— Watching Kevin Alcantara play baseball is a treat, the kind of experience that gets you excited for the Cubs’ future.
— Brennen Davis had a nice double the other day. I’m hoping he returns to form here in the spring after last year’s injury.
— David Bote, the Arizona King, remains! He leads the Cubs in hits and average. Can you believe that? Or rather, can you believe he still plays for the Cubs?
Check out last week’s breakdown of all the Cubs and Sox prospects to watch this Spring.
Thanks for reading today’s newsletter. Have a great weekend.
Love the westbrook reference when saying pat bev "tricks yall"
I was someone who grew up not caring about hockey. My dad (shoutout Drew Mac if he reads this week) is from Detroit and a Red Wings fan, so I enjoyed watching the early 2000s Red Wings teams when I was young- Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Nick Lidstrom and Dominik (the dominator) Hasek. After about 2003 I didn't give a shit anymore. But man, that Blackhawks team swept up the hole city. I remember riding my bike to the center of town after they won their first one with people waving flags and cars honking in the street. I acted, and felt, as if I was a lifelong fan.
Yes, I'm aware of what a bandwagon fan is. But that was so damn fun. I remember looking online to buy an Adam Burish jersey. I just looked it up and he had 11 goals in his 4 year tenure with the Hawks.
The Bulls man... All I'm saying is.. don't let them get the 10 seed! right now that would have us playing either Miami (2-0 against) or the Nets (3-1 against) and then onto the Celtics (2-2 against) or Bucks (2-1 against).
Given the Carter drama, how would you feel about the Bears standing pat and taking Will Anderson at 1? If they didn't feel like the price was right on trading back, and didn't think they could get their guy it seems like a reasonable outcome.