Still Gotta Come Through Chicago

NFL Trade Deadline Nightmares, Midseason Tournament Dreams!

Happy Friday Chicago!

We’re gearing up for a beautiful fall Saturday over here on SGCTC street, which will be highlighted by a visit to Wrigley Field for the Iowa-Northwestern game.

Playing sports meant for one venue in another venue, frankly, will just never get old for me. I think playing a Big Ten football game at Wrigley Field is the coolest shit ever. I fall for the gimmick every time. I really shouldn’t even say “fall,” because I can’t get enough of it. It always delivers.

I love college basketball games in the United Center and Madison Square Garden. I thought Michigan State and North Carolina playing on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier was mesmerizing, even if a bit moronic. Even Carlos Zambrano throwing a no-hitter against the Houston Astros in Milwaukee’s stadium — due to a hurricane in Houston — was an all-timer.

Every time there’s an outdoor NHL game I’m 200% more likely to tune in. If it’s snowing, even better.

I can’t wait to watch two real Big Ten teams go at it this Saturday at Wrigley, and can’t wait to ignore the 17th, 18th, and 19th time I hear an unfunny joke about the Iowa offense. We get, the offense sucks. It’s just sad that you all think college football is about scoring, and not about molding young men. And that’s what Iowa football does.

You know what’s better than “completions”? Sportsmanship. Participation in class. Graduation. Holding doors open for elderly women.

Now, I think watching Iowa’s offense is as agonizing to watch as the next guy. But I find traditional Big Ten football to be far more enjoyable to watch than 53-51 shootouts in some place where the sun is out. Yuck.

Overweight people in the stands. Beer drinking. Winning in the trenches. Playing for field position. Extra layers, which you can always take off. That’s what we like to see, and that’s what I expect to see on Saturday at Wrigley.

Don’t let the nerds that are encroaching on the college football space turn you away from that.

I welcomed the nerds when they first expressed interest in being accepted into the college football arena. I like multiplication tables and Harry Potter, too. But they’re gaining too much confidence.

Case and point, the Michigan fiasco. The nerds are so far removed from the game of football that they think sign stealing — from another team’s sideline — is the end of the world. It’s the decoding of signs that’s winning football games, not the 350-pound linemen overpowering the defensive linemen in front of them.

Nonsense. In youth football, the hicks from Plainfield used to send people to our practices midweek. That’s when your boy — about 20 pounds of baby weight still hanging onto him — used to hop underneath the center for a few plays to throw them off our scent. Come Sunday, I’d be back in the trenches, throwing my hands underneath the inside of the opponent’s pads, and driving them into the ground.

Now, the same people that are calling Bob Knight a scumbag approximately 35 seconds after his body went cold are saying Michigan needs to be eliminated from the playoff preemptively.

Jim Harbaugh joining Michigan always put me in a tough position. I love Jim Harbaugh more than just about anyone else in the Sports Universe. A man who doesn’t eat chicken because “it’s a scared bird” and a man who sought after his now-wife not because of her looks, nor personality, but because he said “she looked like a winner.”

Him joining my least favorite college football team growing up put me in a tough spot. I’ll stick with trying to avoid R-Kelly music — though some of his catalogue is wonderful — but I cannot keep my love away from Harbaugh just because he’s at Michigan.

Michigan is close to the top of the list when it comes to student bodies most likely to tell you that you’re going to be working for them one day. But the football team — Jimmy’s guys — also rank pretty high. So I’m rolling with Connor Stalions, Harbaugh, the “sign stealers,” and Michigan the rest of the way.

I won’t let the handwringing, detached nerds take them down.

I think there’s also an overlap of the people appalled at Michigan football and the people that are shocked that Saints wide receiver Chris Olave said he played for the Saints when a cop pulled him over for speeding the other week.

If I played for the Bears and got caught speeding, you can bet your fucking ass I’m telling the cop I play for the Bears. Not doing so is contributing to your own downfall, almost as much as going 70 MPH in a 35 is.

But I digress. Michigan football is good because of the Big Uglys in the trenches. Because that’s what football is all about. Bears fans find that out the hard way.

As my high school football coach used to say, “Nothing Gives Me A Chubby Like Vertical Movement From My Offensive Line!” (He also said he’d like to drop an atomic bomb on LaGrange Township).

The only instance in which I am for Jim Harbaugh being punished is if it leads him to the Bears next year.

At the same time, I’m also scared that stacking two of my intense football loves on top of each other may be too much too handle. It’s sort of like when you try to chase a nicotine buzz after drinking 14 beers and you puke your brains out and end the night early. Just too much dopamine for one man or woman to handle.

Harbaugh wearing the Cursive “B” hat on the sideline, with his hands on his knees, would be an erotic experience from my couch.

For now, this weekend, I’m rooting for Big Ten football. I’m rooting for healthy anti-nerd sentiment. I’m rooting for Jimmy Harbaugh to survive the witch hunt. These are my convictions, aided by the beliefs I hold to be true.

The most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen.

Let’s go.

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It’s not great when your general manager makes a move that you could see yourself making.

If I was in charge of the Bears and I saw Justin Herbert hanging out in the pocket for 10 seconds per snap Sunday, I, too, may have said, “Fuck it!” and ordered my underlings to get the Commanders on the phone.

Ryan Poles is supposed to make analytical, unemotional decisions. Let’s just hope the trade for Montez Sweat was one of those.

In a vacuum, it makes total sense. He has more sacks himself than the Bears entire defensive line does this year, and about as many tackles for loss and QB hits. He fills a desperate need.

It is a desperate need, however, that could have been addressed better this past offseason. It also, theoretically, could have been addressed this upcoming offseason without losing an extremely valuable second-round pick, which is what the Bears traded for Sweat.

Poles seems to believe two things: that the Bears, no matter their current situation, needed a pass rusher to become a legitimate NFL team; and also that the Bears will gain an inside track at signing Sweat to a long-term deal because they traded for him.

There’s about a 2% chance the Bears make the playoffs this year, which makes the first point a bit of a head scratcher. On the second point, that may be the case, but if Poles does not get a deal done with Sweat, he needs to be fired immediately.

Second-round picks — especially early ones, which the Bears likely gave away — are about as valuable as first round picks. They allow for teams to acquire great young players on cheap four-year deals, which all teams could use — particularly the Bears. It’s not lost on me that this is the same approach Poles took to address a need for last year’s team, and that ended up in the Chase Claypool disaster.

If Poles gives away two second rounders and nets zero return (if Sweat doesn’t sign), then there is no justification for Poles to keep his job past this year.

It’s also not lost on me that Sweat’s agent likely knows Poles’ fate hangs in the balance based on that contract getting done. That equals a lot more leverage for Sweat’s camp, and will likely lead to a not-so-economical deal for the Bears. They have plenty of money to spend, but spending that shrewdly is still paramount.

Time will tell on whether this is a good trade or not. What worries me is that the best-case scenario is that it’s a good trade. A fine one, given the circumstances. It feels like a win-now move for a team that’s 2-6.

But, worst-case scenario, this is a god awful trade, one that could haunt the Bears for years. That’s even considering the fact that the Bears are in a pretty good spot in terms of draft capital.

Then there’s Jaylon Johnson, who requested to be traded ahead of the deadline this past week.

Here are my feelings on the Johnson situation. He’s a good player. The Bears need those, and at some point, you have to start keeping some of the homegrown talent you have. You want your good players to believe there is a good shot they’ll be rewarded for their efforts in Chicago. So, i’d like to keep him.

I don’t want to keep him if he’s making top-end cornerback money, which would mean a deal nearing or above $20 million per year. Hell, that’s Pat Williams money. Johnson is probably not good enough to justify that contract (and no, it’s not because he doesn’t have many interceptions), but more than anything, he can’t stay on the field.

He’s a regular on the injury report and, if I had to guess, will never play 17 games in a season. I’d still love to have him for 13 games out of the year. But that has to be built into the deal.

I’m very skeptical of the Bears’ process when it comes to Sweat. With Johnson, I don’t know what he’s asking for — though he said he hasn’t asked to “set the market” — but I think the Bears are playing the situation right.

For one, the Bears can franchise tag him after this year if they want to. It’s also my read on the situation that he asked for a number, they countered with a much lower number, he scoffed, and they told him and his agent “go try to find that number guaranteed to you in the trade market.” Ultimately, he wasn’t traded, which could mean that the market for his services was not there — both on his end with money and on the Bears end with compensation.

Poles even said in his presser this week that the Bears would have needed a “late first or early second” to trade Johnson. My hope is that the two get something done in the offseason. It’s not a priority right now, but nor was bolstering the defense at the cost of a second-round pick.

The situation Poles stepped into was a really rosy one for a new GM. The Bears had players to trade away, zero expectations in the first year, and eventually the no. 1 pick to trade away. It would be an embarrassment for him not to turn this thing around given the resources that were available to him.

We’re still in “wait and see” mode on that. But all of Poles’ chips are in.

As for the Bears and their actual play on the field. I have a lesson based on personal experience I want to share with you all. I bet the Bears to win last Sunday, and was not surprised at all when they got blown out. Here’s the lesson (one I won’t learn, but you may): if you’d be surprised at the outcome you’re about to bet on, probably don’t bet on it.

Here’s the thing about Tyson Bagent. He’s in an awful situation. Because I think he’s looked great for an undrafted QB who just played in back-to-back NFL games in his rookie year. But he’s now being viewed on a different scale because there is a sect of Bears fans who can’t help but fall in love with the backup QB.

And that’s what Bagent is, no matter what you think of Fields. A backup QB. He’s better than Fields at getting rid of the ball, sure. He’s not better at much less else. And, also, him being better at one thing should not suggest that he’s the next QB1.

When Brian Griese and Kyle Orton were battling it out for playing time, you could argue about who was better, but no one was deluded into thinking one was the long-term option. Actually, never mind, that’s probably not true.

Nevertheless, I’m still in the camp that Fields could be a long-term option, though patience is waning — from fans, and likely front the front office, who has all their chips in except for one: “their guy” at QB.

The 2-6 Bears got better this week. That’s of minor importance. What is of major importance is that Sweat gets signed to a deal and that the Bears stop losing one coach per month to human resource violations.

At the very least, we’ll have someone worth watching this weekend. It won’t be Khalil Mack at Green Bay in 2018 Week 1, but it will be something. I’ll take something for this Sunday.

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The Bulls have played five games this year. It feels like they’ve played 50.

I’m working on a take that the Bulls may be the best team of all time if the three-point line didn’t exist. They lost a nail-biter Wednesday night to the Mavericks, who outscored the Bulls by 27 from behind the arc. They beat the Pacers on Monday, shooting only 17 threes to the Pacers’ 45.

The 17 threes was the least amount of threes attempted by a team in this young NBA season, despite Billy Donovan calling on the Bulls to shoot more of them this year.

There’s one problem, which is the Bulls not having any really good three-point shooters. They have guys who can shoot threes well, but no three-point shooters. There’s a massive difference.

The other problem is that you have players like Pat Williams — we’ll get to him — and Ayo Dosunmu pump-faking, ineffectively, out of wide-open threes to dribble aimlessly or shoot a low-value mid-range shot. Donovan explicitly called this out, too, in the preseason. It still happens.

In reality, things look about the same as last year, which is to be expected, because thing are about the same as last year.

For Pat Williams, the “X-factor” of this year’s team, we’ll need to replace the X with “non.” After not agreeing to a deal with the Bulls because he was seeking over $20 million per year, he’s been comically bad. The average NBA PER is about 15.0, he has a 3.9 thus far.

He’s averaging 4/3/1 on 26% shooting from the field. He’s shot 12.5% from three. The good news is that he’s 100% from the free-throw line. The bad news is that he’s shot two of those.

I’m not mad at Williams for not being good. I’m mad at him because he’s 6’8, 215, can jump out of the gym and has not gotten any better. After saying he’s proved his worth in the offseason, he hasn’t come out scorched earth as one should. He’s done the opposite. He’s literally losing himself millions of dollars per game, and losing the Bulls, well, games on the way.

He’s a contributor in only one way so far, and that’s to the Bulls god awful shot profile. They’re shooting mid-rangers against teams that are launching threes, dunking the ball and shooting free throws. That’s not a winnable strategy, in the short term or the long term.

Zach LaVine gets the ball stripped two out of every three times he drives to the lane, seemingly. He looks like a bonafide All-Star for one quarter — or one game — and then looks like he wouldn’t be worth a first round pick the next. It’s maddening, and I’m running out of patience. If that’s your best player, you’re in trouble.

And we’re in trouble.

Alex Caruso played maybe the best 20 minutes of basketball I’ve ever seen last Friday in an unbelievable come-from-behind win against the Raptors. That feeling was short lived, however, as the Pistons beat the Bulls the next night handily and the Raptors have gone on to look like one of the five worst teams in the league.

The Bulls looked hopeless against the Thunder. The Raptors game was fun, then we returned to hopeless again in Detroit. Against all shooting odds, they beat the Pacers. Against all shooting odds again, they almost beat the Mavericks. But they didn’t.

And that’s why 5 games and a 2-3 start have felt like 50 games to this Bulls fan.

But tomorrow is another Bulls Friday. And this one’s special. The midseason tournament begins tomorrow. I have no doubt the Bulls will make a run at this thing, get me excited for no reason, and use it as justification for doing nothing at the trade deadline.

So, in that case… LETS GO BULLS! And ban that three-point line!

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