Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
Wins and Losses
Happy Friday Chicago!
Before we get into the nuts-and-bolts of Chicago sports, there’s something I need to warn you about.
For those of you not on Twitter, the self-importance contest going on over there right now is such a beautiful, bewildering sight. People that have barely over 200 followers like me are saying, “If Twitter goes down, you can follow me here, here, and here.”
If this is what social media has created — a bunch of ordinary people truly believing people are desperately scrambling to find where else they can absorb their posts next — maybe Twitter going away is a good thing after all.
“Going to start posting more on Instagram if Twitter goes down.” The real life version of that would be me standing in the middle of the street by myself at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday yelling, “Everyone, follow me this way!” You’d get arrested for that, and maybe we should start arresting people for thinking anyone is that concerned over losing their 256-character posts that they make 16 times per day as the rest of their real, physical life slowly deteriorates.
If Twitter dies because of Elon Musk’s takeover, that would suck. I like Twitter. But 1. I sincerely doubt it will 2. I’d rather never have people read anything I write again than get on Twitter and say, “follow me here so you don’t miss out on ME!” What’s going on in that cesspool is no better than being in the gym and grunting loud enough for the whole gym to hear as you do dumbbell rows.
(But get your friends and family to subscribe to Still Gotta Come Through Chicago)
I’m far more worried about the collapse of another platform, and that is FTX. If you haven’t heard about the collapse of one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the world, I’ll explain it to you. I’ll also explain crypto and my personal digital coin portfolio to you and why crypto is FAR from dead. Just kidding.
But if you haven’t heard of the FTX scandal and this maniac-weirdo Sam Bankman-Fried (he kind of looks like my roommate, to be honest), here is an explainer.
Essentially this idiot screwed people out of billions of dollars, and a guy once worth billions and billions himself is now worth nothing. Because of it, many are proclaiming that the concept of cryptocurrency itself is dead.
While that is probably not true — like Twitter isn’t dead — it’s much more dangerous than you think, and not for the reasons you think. I am petrified of the fallout from this.
I didn’t have money in FTX, that is not the issue.
The issue is that the morning after this all went down, this Onion article was the first message sent in my family group chat, from none other than my father.
I can’t have this happen. I can’t have our Dads and Uncles actually getting the humor of The Onion, thinking they were right about crypto because they couldn’t wrap their heads around it, and thinking all the youngins were wrong. It literally could set back our generation decades.
For the next few weeks, every single disagreement will end in “well, you say that, but what did I tell you about that digital money you and your brother were all in on?”
I can literally see my dad laughing in his room, in his boxers and white tee before bed, writing down a list of things he has been right about over the last twenty years.
— Cryptocurrency
— Russel Westbrook sucks
— You should wake up early
— Carmelo Anthony shoots too much
— You should wake up early
— You shouldn’t turn the lights on in the car while I’m driving (one guy crashed in 1976)
— You shouldn’t swim with your friends if you’ve had a single alcoholic beverage (“people die, I saw it in the Trib”)
— You should wake up early and if you don’t you’re a fucking bum
— When I told your mom that that movie she made us watch was going to suck. What was it called?
The list then ends, not because he hasn’t been right about more (not that he’s right about even half of the above), but because he fell asleep and his head rocked back against his headboard at 8:46 p.m., which knocked him out. All we can hope is that the monstrous snores emanating from his contracting mouth knock the list over and beneath his bed — he DOES NOT have sleep apnea, though (wink, wink).
But seriously, it’s a problem. I haven’t been this worried about the generational divide between my father and I since I had long hair in high school and every single friend of his I’d see would say, “Cut your fucking hair!” like I had tear drops tattoo’d on my face or something (You happy now assholes? I’M BALD).
Crypto “failing” could have so many effects on society if the older generation takes back some of their waning intellectual power.
No more of “that rap music or computer music.”
No more using your PTO to take vacation. We’ll have to go to work every single day, in the office, wearing suits and ties. When we do get a day off, we’ll spend it in Cook County getting work done on our homes.
I can just hear it over and over. “You thought you knew better than your dad and uncles, too, when you thought that invisible money was going to replace cold hard cash!” They’re going to cheers each other at holidays over this and laugh at us. We’ll all be back at the kids table with our shirts tucked in and our hair combed over to the side, looking shameful.
They can have this one, even if it isn’t really a victory at all. But we cannot — cannot — under any circumstance let them take the joy out of watching Justin Fields from us.
We need to take our stand against them on that one thing and hold our ground. We are done with plodding, awful quarterbacks labeled “pro-style passers” because they run 5.4 40-yard dashes and can’t move to the left or the right without tripping. “That’s what wins in the NFL.”
“You guys like that cryptocurrency shit and the running QBs.”
You hear the words “running back” you get ready to fight, my soldiers. You hear “hasn’t won them many games” and you dodge left. You hear “needs to stay in the pocket” and you dodge right.
None of that nonsense will take away our joy and our future Bears QB away from us. Take crypto. I won’t even drink beers by the lake anymore to avoid magically drowning. But Justin Fields is a good quarterback, as I’ve said all year. And he’s going to be a great one.
Now let’s get into that.
Hey man, the Lions loss was really bad. There’s no getting around that.
Right now, there are two diverging camps on the loss, though. There’s the Sun-Times headline, which essentially said “Justin Fields didn’t come through,” despite him being the only reason that the Bears were in the game. Then there’s the other camp, who has drifted so far to the other side it makes me feel uncomfortable, too. The Who Cares If We Win games, It Doesn’t Matter crowd.
While logically the best-case scenario is materializing — Justin Fields playing well, the Bears stacking up on draft capital and cap space, losing closely along the way — I don’t ever think that rooting for your team to lose makes sense.
Maybe in basketball. But losing a 14-point lead to the Lions is losing a 14-point lead to the Lions. Like, under no circumstance am I pumped that the nucleus that will be running the Bears for the next four years was unable to put Dan Campbell and the Lions away in the fourth. If you are, your brain has been poisoned and you’re likely a lonely loser that cares more about draft boards and fantasy football than your team actually every succeeding, whether you realize it or not.
I’m not going to argue against one single Sun-Times column, but if you watched the game, it was very evident that the Bears did not lose that game because of Justin Fields. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that without Justin Fields’ skillset, this offense would have virtually no chance of succeeding. A bad pass-blocking line and no marquee wide receivers, and still, the offense has been great because of the plays our quarterback can make — with his legs and otherwise.
The idea that because Fields is a great runner, he somehow becomes a not-great passer, is nonsense. Did anyone watch this guy in college? He throws a beautiful deep ball. He could sit in the pocket all day long and throw darts, and he eventually will. But for now — like us normal fans, at least during the game — he wants to win. And trying to win as this team is currently structured means him making plays with his legs.
Plus, Fields’ pocket presence is already night-and-day from what it was last season and early on this season. He’s doing what he can to get the ball to the right receiver through his reads, the collapsing pocket be damned.
He’s also not getting the ball in good position. Having a bad defense means not getting the ball at the 50-yard line. It generally means getting the ball within your own 25. That hasn’t mattered, and the Bears are averaging over 30 points over the last three games. Still 20th in scoring, the Bears are the 4th best scoring offense in the league over that time period. In the game prior to that time period, they could have hung 40 on the hottest defense in the league, the New England Patriots.
Over the past four games, the Bears have had the worst-ranked defense in the NFL. The Bears have gone 1-3 in those games, and very easily could have gone 3-1. With a competent defense, that record could be 4-0.
Of course, I’m not mad that they have gone 1-3 in those games. I am on Sundays, but by Tuesday, licking your chops at the thought of Will Anderson on the edge or Jaxon Smith-Njigba split out wide is pretty awesome. There are plenty of holes to fill on the field — literally and figuratively — and the easiest way for the Bears to get immediate help will be with a top-5 pick.
Besides Fields’ progression, though, there are still plenty of things a bad team should be trying to build on throughout a lost season. Like, for instance, Jack Sanborn may not be a starting linebacker on next year’s Bears team, but he sure as hell is a player that can stick around. We know that because of the Roquan Smith trade.
What I am really looking forward to (hopefully) seeing is the same sort of development on offense. Chase Claypool’s time will come in the rest of the games. I don’t think it’s crazy that the Bears weren’t utilizing him a ton the past two games. He’s brand new and learning the offense. Having said that, there’s no excuse to not be using him as an integral piece of the offense from here on out.
The same goes for other fringe guys. I love that this coaching staff is big on accountability — with Roquan, with Jaylon Johnson in the offseason, etc. But can we see what Velus Jones Jr. can do out there? If he’s worthless, let’s find that out and not two years from now. He’s a third-round draft pick on a bad team.
Finally, another silver lining is the emergence of a guy that has been labeled “horrible” by just about everyone in the city of Chicago, including me: Cole Kmet. The Bears coaching staff swears by his blocking, and now, to boot, he’s catching balls. Who had Kmet having the second-most touchdowns for a tight end over halfway through the season?
As mentioned above, the Bears have been in every game of late, and they should have probably won a couple more than they did. And even though they’re playing a bad team in Atlanta this weekend, I’m not sure the wins are going to start stacking now. In other words, I’d stay away from that enticing underdog betting number this weekend.
On top of Khalil Herbert going on the IR with a hip injury, the Bears injury report was a little more loaded today than it has been the past few weeks.
Keep Justin Fields healthy, and keep your family members from bad mouthing him. Those are the two tasks that the real fourth phasers need to take on from here on out.
After starting the season with a better-than-it-looked 5-4 record, the Bulls have fallen hard to a as-bad-as-it-looks 6-9 record. They have lost five of six, and the play hasn’t been all that inspiring, particularly in the last two contests against Denver at home and in New Orleans.
The Bulls biggest issue right now is the three-point line, on both ends. The Bulls, on average, are making about two less three pointers than their opponents per game. Where opponents are shooting over 38% from three against them (5th worst mark), they are shooting under 36%. Over the last three games, that number has fallen to below 30%. Meanwhile, the opponent mark has jumped up to nearly 42%.
You can’t win a lot of games in this league with those discrepancies. There’s no quick fix offensively, partly because the Bulls didn’t get a knockdown shooter in the offseason. On the defensive end, there’s too many wide-open looks, and also too many fouls when they aren’t open looks.
The Bulls are also carelessly turning the ball over almost every game. 15+ turnovers per game — the 10th worst mark in the league — is not sustainable for a team with playoff aspirations.
The recent stretch is reminiscent of who the Bulls were at the end of last season. And I simply cannot return to that frame of mind. It’s not good for my health.
Lonzo Ball is not walking through that door. DeMar DeRozan is still statistically one of the most efficient isolation scorers in the NBA, but his play last year was not sustainable (he’s still playing well offensively). Zach LaVine had three really nice finishes at the rim on Wednesday — a very welcome sign — but is not where he was at the beginning of last year, or the year prior.
In order to compete in the East, LaVine needs to be better. I’m all for letting him find his footing again, but 22/4/4 on 44/38/83 with relatively subpar defense is just not going to cut it.
The Bulls schedule has eased up in terms of days off between games. That’s a good thing. But it hasn’t eased up in terms of opponents. That’s not necessarily an excuse, though.
They have some easier ones sprinkled in over the next six, but also have matchups against three of the top four or five teams in the NBA in the Suns, Celtics and Bucks.
I love Billy Donovan. But it’s his responsibility now to make adjustments — on defensive strategy, on shot selection and on lineups. If something doesn’t change quickly, it won’t matter when Lonzo Ball gets back. The East is too good to lose winnable games. It’s sure as shit too good to lay eggs as the Bulls did the last two.
It all starts tonight against the Magic, though. I’ll be in attendance yelling CRYPTO ISN’T DEAD and ALEX CARUSO FOR MVP with my shirt off. And I’m guaranteeing a win.
LETS GO BULLS!
I gotta say - that Onion comment is GOLD.
Re: Fields - he could be an awesome NFL running back or slot receiver. Just don’t see him being the first OSU quarterback to have big time success in the league. Would be happy to be proven wrong though. Feels like the Bears are running a college offense to get the most out of him.
Great writing - keep it up!
Lets be clear. Russell Westbrook is a bad team basketball player, Carmelo Anthony is a bad Team basketball players and there are a half dozen more that your generation has loved who all fall under the "25 pts/10 rebounds/ 5 assists and, oh yeah, a loss" category. The same applies to some of your running QB's. Mobility is important but the instant desire to run is not. What the Bears coaches have done is utilize his running ability to give the defenses more to worry about. That has opened up other opportunities and taken pressure off of Fields and as he gets less pressure his confidence grows.
2022 - Stafford, 2021 Brady, 2020 Mahomes(mobile not a runner), 2019 Brady, 2018 Foles, 2017 Brady, 2016 Manning, 2015 Brady, ..............YOU HAVE TO HAVE A POCKET PASSER TO WIN IN THE PLAYOFFS!
Add that to your list because you forgot a thousand others I was right about.
Fields prefers to throw from the pocket. Once they fix the line, he can rely on that more easily.