Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
All-Star weekend brought some rumors. Are they worth listening to?
We’ve got a lot to cover, so today’s newsletter is just Part 1 of Still Gotta Come Through Chicago this week. The rest of the news will be covered later on.
Last week’s edition of Still Gotta Come Through Chicago was one of the most widely-read newsletters since I started it almost a year ago. Generally, that’s just awesome because I put a lot of work into this and love to see that more and more people are enjoying it. Specifically, it’s a testament to how dedicated of readers we have, considering the fact that February — by some measurements — is one of the least exciting sports months of the year.
Tell your friends to subscribe and let’s keep this thing going:
You also should subscribe to Jack Silverstein’s new newsletter. He is one of the best sports writers in Chicago and is taking us on a journey with him as he writes a new book on the ‘90s Bulls dubbed “6 Rings: The Bulls, The City, and the Dynasty that Changed the Game.” He’s got a bunch of great stuff planned in the next year and is one of the best people to follow if you want to learn more about the greatest basketball player of all time and one of the greatest sports dynasties of all time. Follow the link above to subscribe and support a friend of mine. You won’t regret it.
Onward.
A new Chicago sports newsletter (not Jack’s, obviously) was launched last week by a guy who has an established following. He got a lot of publicity on the Twitter machine and had endorsements from some big wigs in sports media. Hey, good luck to him. He’s still gotta come through Still Gotta Come Through Chicago though.
You know what my reaction was when I saw the announcement?
Let’s go. We don’t need the endorsements from the heavy hitters. God dammit, this is a grass roots campaign. When this newsletter kicked off last April, I was happy if seven people read it. Now, thanks to you guys, we’ve got over 200 subscribers.
If we sit here and worry about what people think of us then we don’t have a chance. Don’t care who started a new newsletter today, don’t care who starts a newsletter tomorrow. Still Gotta Come Through Chicago. We will remain the best place for Chicago sports fans to gather each week. No doubt about that.
Go ahead and get some more SGCTChicagoans to join the campaign if you believe in this thing and send your receipts to me on Twitter if you’ve got it at @stillgottaChi. I’ve got a lot planned for this year and want as many people as possible to be a part of it.
Trivia:
100 runs batted in for a single season has historically been a significant marker for power hitters in baseball. 120 RBIs, however, is a better indicator for a historically great season in terms of the category.
Since 2000, five players have reached 120 RBIs in a season for the Cubs or the White Sox. Who are those five players? The answer is listed at the end of the newsletter.
As the All-Star star game was being played in Chicago for the first time in 32 years, #FIREGARPAX trended on Twitter. As celebrities sat court-side, making hat-tips to our city through their outfits — with the same Bulls gear that many Chicago basketball fans shoved into the back of their closets years ago — fans of a once-great franchise were more concerned about who may be out of the United Center soon than they were about who was in it now.
The Sun-Times reported that there will be a shake-up in the Bulls front office after the season, and that All-Star weekend was a chance for Michael Reinsdorf to putz around and ask people with a clue as to how this all works who could possibly help save the franchise crumbling on his watch.
This news is a lot like Zach LaVine. They’re exciting solely because there hasn’t been anything else to be excited about as a Bulls fan in years. Will either contribute to an imminent Bulls turnaround? No.
I hate to play the role of Debbie Downer, I do. But there’s a reason why the saying is FIRE GAR PAX and not RE-ASSIGN GAR AND PAX, LET THEM CONTINUE TO MAKE BASKETBALL DECISIONS IN THE BACKGROUND AND BRING SOMEONE ELSE IN TO MAKE A FEW DECISIONS AND PUT ON A GOOD FACE TO THE MEDIA.
I don’t want Gar Forman — a man who once drew up plays on a sheet of paper like a third-grader and showed them to Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler as if his rudimentary understanding of basketball could help the team whatsoever — still making decisions for a dreadful scouting department. I don’t want John Paxson — a man who has only succeeded when a generational talent fell in his lap and has blamed everyone but himself for the fact that he has made just one Eastern Conference final in the near-two decades he’s been in charge — to still have a role in the front office, whether he takes a step back or not.
When Theo Epstein was brought in to save the Cubs, the previous regime wasn’t over his shoulder providing input. Do you think he would’ve agreed to come to Chicago in the first place if that was the case?
Luring a competent general manager wouldn’t be hard if the Bulls fired the worst two executives in the NBA that still have jobs. They’d see the best basketball city in the world and one of the biggest cities in the country. They’d see a fanbase that desperately held onto its fandom for as long as it could, looking for anything — just something! — that would allow them to come back to the team with a clean slate, knowing they wouldn’t be tossed to the side again by a regime that cares little about them and less about winning.
But as long as Gar and Pax still have roles, nothing will change. Why would someone like Masai Ujiri — the current president of the Toronto Raptors — come to Chicago and have to clear decisions with two guys who have proved nothing during their time as executives?
I won’t do it to myself. I won’t get my hopes up that some trivial changes will change a massive, systematic problem. You shouldn’t either.
Fire Gar Forman and John Paxson, and don’t give them a pat on the back on the way out.
The skyline was beautifully painted on the United Center floor this weekend and great basketball players competed on both teams for the first time in a long time.
This was one of the coolest tributes to the city of Chicago I have ever seen. It hit all the right buttons. Well worth five minutes of your time and a great reminder why I scream Still Gotta Come Through Chicago every week.
Common made the player introductions. I know some people grew sick of him throughout the weekend, but he is a SGCTC guy. For some reason he hasn’t subscribed to the newsletter yet, but I know our day will come.
I met him once in a gym in Miami and he talked to my Dad — who had no idea who he was beforehand — for like 20 minutes about Chicago basketball. I must defend him because I’ve told everybody I’ve ever met that story at least two times and plan on telling it twice to everyone I meet in the future.
Plus, I thought those intros were pretty dope, all things considered.
Stay tuned for more this week…
This week in Chicago:
Bulls: Thursday at home vs. the Hornets at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday at home vs. the Suns at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday at home vs. the Wizards at 6:00 p.m.
Blackhawks: Wednesday at home vs. the Rangers at 7:00 p.m.; Friday at home vs. the Predators at 7:00 pm.; Sunday at the Stars at 2:00 p.m.
Cubs: Spring Training vs. the Athletics on Saturday at 2:05 and the Dodgers on Sunday at 2:05
Sox: Spring Training vs. the Angels on Saturday at 2:05 and the Reds on Sunday at 2:05
Trivia answer:
Aramis Ramirez missed the cut by one RBI. In 2006, he had 119. Paul Konerko had 117 in 2004.
The 120-men since 2000:
Sammy Sosa: 160 in 2001; 138 in 2000
Joe Abreu: 123 in 2019
Frank Thomas: 143 in 2000
Jermaine Dye: 120 in 2006
Magglio Ordonez: 135 in 2002; 126 in 2000
Betting Pick:
Record: 20-12
The betting pick will return next week when NBA lines return. I will be betting, however, on the Blackhawks at -125 to win on Wednesday.
Don’t forget to leave a comment and tell a friend to subscribe before you go. To comment, click on button with the arrow/square below next to the heart.
Thank you, as always, for reading. And, as always, the next newsletter will be the best one yet. Still Gotta Come Through Chicago!