Good Morning Chicagoans!
If you missed Friday’s newsletter recapping the Bulls new GM hire and the Blackhawks firing of President John McDonough, make sure to give that a read here.
We’ve got a lot to get to — The Last Dance, Bears roster moves, Marc Eversley’s presser, and the chance that the Cubs and the Sox may be playing in the same division this year.
Next week on Still Gotta Come Through Chicago — an interview with a man who claims to have beaten Michael Jordan in ping pong.
Let’s Go.
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Trivia
Two Bulls players account for the 10 best steals totals for a season in franchise history. Who are they?
(Answer at the end of the newsletter)
The Last Dance
I thought it when I read my first Jordan biography and I think it now — I wouldn’t want Michael Jordan’s life. Would I want to Be Like Mike? We all would, but what comes with that isn’t as worthy of a cute song.
The scenes of him facing the media, who are shining obnoxiously bright lights in his face, crowding him to get the best soundbite.
The scenes of him exiting anywhere and immediately being mobbed by hundreds of people.
I used to get annoyed with my mom if she said my name at a slightly high level when I was in high school (love you mom). The thought of constantly having people scream in my face — and worse yet — expect something from me, sounds like a life I would not want to lead. And then some.
It’s why MJ had spoken of retiring early even before the ‘90s. Once he was a global icon unlike the sport had ever seen, he started to realize the downfalls. “The Jordan Rules”, which covers the ‘90-’91 Bulls season, chronicles these thoughts of his. He had wondered sometimes how he could step away from the NBA without being sued by the Bulls.
The “Love of the Game” clause in his contract, the one that allowed him to play basketball whenever, wherever, showed that it wasn’t necessarily the game that bogged him down. It was the rest of it — the bullshit, as Dennis Rodman put it in an earlier episode. That’s what you get paid for.
Not to mention the ludicrous idea that a man gambling in his personal life was of anyone’s concern besides him and his family’s.
Imagine having a bad betting day and then you’re on the front page of all of the New York tabloids to boot. Yeah, that ain’t for me.
“Did I advise all of the newsletter readers to take the Bulls over for the season win total? Yes I did. But guess what? A pandemic happened. And none of them lost money. It was a miscalculation and in the end, no one was hurt. I don’t have a gambling problem. It’s just a hobby! There are bigger things to worry about — people are dying, Ahmad.”
Quick break here to give a shout out to the coolest media member of all time, Ahmad Rashad. His dedication to the journalism game was a little wishy washy. After all, he did drive with Jordan to Bulls home games and then report on them.
What many people don’t know about this legend, though, is that he played in the NFL. In fact, he’s recognized as one of the 50 greatest Vikings ever and also made the Pro Bowl 4 times.
Oh, and he’s 70 years old.
One of the coolest dudes of all time.
But back to Jordan and his hobby, which is an awesome one, by the way. I miss betting — and the Betting Pick of the Week on here — almost as much as anything pre-coronavirus.
The obsession with Jordan’s betting tendencies are befuddling. He was putting up 40 a night. He doesn’t owe the public shit. If he wants to go to Atlantic City and blow off some steam, who the hell cares?
Talk about being anxiety-ridden. No wonder he locked himself in his hotel room and smoked cigars by himself most nights. The guy tries to escape and throw a few dollars on a couple of card games and the public acts like he was a goddamn terrorist in his free time.
The dude needs to dominate the playoffs and spend the rest of his time in Bible study? Man, y’all need to get a life.
I think The Last Dance did a pretty fantastic job of giving a glimpse at the psychological exhaustion that must’ve caused Jordan. It makes sense, to me, why he’d want to ride the bus with some minor leaguers in the middle of Alabama during the prime of his career.
One of the coolest aspects of Jordan’s personal life, one I find more interesting than the gambling, is who he acclimated to off the court. For the most part, his inner circle was mostly made up of Average Joes. Outside of Ahmad Rashad, and the obvious big name acquaintances, Jordan hung with security guards, drivers, and other everyday people experiencing a normal life alongside his extraordinary one.
John Wozniak (SGCTC certified), pictured above and one of the stars of the last episode, was one of those men. A decorated narcotics police officer in Chicago, Wozniak became a part of Jordan’s inner circle when he accidentally broke the windshield of his car while working security at the old Chicago Stadium.
Wozniak was honest and upfront about the mistake, and told Jordan he would pay for it. Jordan appreciated the candor so much that he requested Wozniak’s presence moving forward and the two became lifelong friends. He paid Wozniak up until his death, which was earlier this year.
Similarly, George Koehler met Jordan after the Bulls had failed to arrange a ride for him when he arrived in Chicago as a rookie in 1984. Koehler got him to Chicago Stadium and the two have been best friends ever since.
I appreciated seeing — for the first time, cinematically, at least — this side of Jordan. A superstar searching for normalcy in an otherwise chaotic life.
Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Ron Harper discussing postgame beers hitting different was a great touch. There are a lot of great beers — a beach beer, a post-work-Friday beer, the first-day-of-warm-weather in Chicago beer. (Feel free to add any I missed in the comments.) I imagine a beer after 48 hard played minutes right before getting cameras shoved in your face is up there.
As for the “Republicans buy sneakers, too” line. Even Sam Smith — who wrote that story, and is in the documentary, but for some reason wasn’t included during that segment — said that it was a throwaway line on the bus.
Again, imagine being Jordan. Imagine saying four words off the cuff, then being slammed for them for the next thirty years. No thanks.
I’m glad they gave MJ the opportunity to explain his side. He made his campaign contribution and stayed out of it.
I always found the expectation that a guy unable to get a coffee without being harassed be required to throw gas on political fires. No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, Jordan’s silence on this issue, like most else we’ve discussed, makes more sense if you attempt to put on his shoes.
(Pun intended. By the way, I’d like to retract a statement I made on the @stillgottaChi twitter feed last week. I do, in fact, think Air Jordans are cool shoes. Some of them, at least.)
Jordan even admitted he didn’t want to speak about it, more than anything else, because he didn’t know much about politics. What a concept! Seems like not spewing opinions on things you’re not educated about should be praised more often.
Now, maybe you believe that it is Jordan’s obligation to educate himself. That’s fair. And I appreciated that Jordan acknowledged that his former stay-out-of-it view may have been selfish.
Other admissions that I enjoyed:
I appreciated Jordan paying respect to Isiah Thomas as a player. A lot of those Pistons were in their feelings after last week’s episode, including Isiah, who said Jordan was the 4th best player he played against in a little baby’s fit of rage. He even had Larry Bird ahead of Jordan, who he himself had said would be just another good player if he had been black. He told on himself, and then the next episode MJ called him the second greatest point guard of all time. Perhaps he’ll amend that list now, which was clearly a petty joke for one anyway.
The Kobe Bryant segment was tough. After his death, I detailed my unexpected struggles with coming to grips with it on this very newsletter. It hit me hard, much harder than I could’ve imagined. I was glad they included that footage and also loved hearing Kobe say that without Jordan, there’s no chance he would have five championships himself.
What was your favorite part of episodes 5 and 6? Leave a comment here:
Baseball on the western hemisphere
When ESPN announced they had a deal with the Korean Baseball League to broadcast games on the network, I admittedly got excited. Then I realized that the chances of me sitting down and regularly watching Korean baseball were slim to none.
At least Sox fans were able to reminisce a bit on Monday, when former infielder Tyler Saladino came to bat for the Samsung Lions and Odrisamer Despaigne later took the mound for the KT Wiz.
As for when we will get the MLB back, the answer is that no one really knows.
A rumor that it would start back up in June was quickly refuted by MLB insiders yesterday. Sigh. But when — and if — it does come back this year, there’s a good chance the Sox and the Cubs will be playing each other a great deal.
The plan was reported in a recent USA Today piece, which outlined a scenario in which all teams would play 100 regular season games in newly aligned divisions, the goal being to keep teams from traveling as much as possible.
Here’s what the new and temporary “Central Division” would look like:
I personally think this would be a fantastic idea. The season is already going to be a strange one, so why not embrace that strangeness fully, especially if it’s practical? A shortened season means more high stakes games. White Sox and Cubs matchups are naturally more high-stakes, even if they don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
But in this scenario they would. And each one, with a shortened schedule, would matter a whole lot more.
Going from no baseball to the Sox and Cubs battling it out in the same division would be, as the kids say, 0 to 100. What a blast that would be.
I can imagine that even though these games would be fan-less, we’d find unique ways to turn every Cubs-Sox game into an event here in Chicago. The idea of having something to look forward to after work on a Wednesday is enough to send chills down my spine.
The comment section would undoubtedly be rowdy under this scenario, so I’m hoping for it.
Who would benefit more from the altered format — the Cubs or the Sox? Leave a comment:
ESPN has announced that it is moving up the release of three “30 for 30” documentaries to May and June. One of them chronicles the 1998 home run chase between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. “Long Gone Summer” is set to be released on June 14.
That home run chase is one of the first memories — maybe the first memory — I have as a sports fan. It’s likely that I remember hearing about it after the fact more than I actually remember the season, but it’s exactly the kind of topic that ESPN usually nails with these docs.
The other two documentaries, by the way, focus on Bruce Lee and Lance Armstrong. All three will take place on Sundays after The Last Dance concludes. Another great programming move from ESPN.
No fifth year of fun for Mitch
The Bears declined Mitch Trubisky’s fifth year option this past week, bowing out of paying him nearly $25 million next year. Why anyone was surprised, or thought this was worth more than four paragraphs in a news story, I’m not sure.
Basically what this does for the Bears is keep them from being liable if Mitch were to get injured. If they hadn’t declined the option preemptively, they could’ve been on the hook for that money in the case of a serious injury.
If something miraculous happens and 1. Mitch plays a significant amount this year and 2. He is all of a sudden a really good option at quarterback that the Bears want to keep, they can franchise him for around the same money. Of course, that would mean they couldn’t use that tag elsewhere, so Allen Robinson would need to be extended before then.
Nevertheless, I don’t think that is a problem the Bears are going to have, for a variety of reasons.
Apparently, after Andy Dalton signed with the Cowboys for $7 million as a back-up, there are fans that are upset with the fact that the Bears are paying Nick Foles an average of $8 million per year and that they gave up a 4th round draft pick for him.
Cam Newton has also not yet signed with a team.
What this thought process doesn’t take into consideration is the idea of uncertainty during tHesE unPreCedEnteD tiMes. The Bears clearly weren’t going to get Dalton as early as they got Foles without a deal (even though he was eventually released), and they clearly liked the idea of Foles’ familiarity with Nagy.
You can’t blame the Bears for this. It’s going to be a weird summer, and although I have no doubt the the NFL will find a way to play the season, the offseason will not go on as usual. Having Foles under a re-structured deal, already locked in to be the Bears QB, with a head coach he’s worked for in early Spring was no doubt a better option than waiting around to see how the field played out.
The Bears didn’t get played. They liked Foles the best and they went and got him.
Now, one could point to the fact that we just signed Ted Ginn Jr. and Jimmy Graham and ask why we didn’t sign Cam Newton if we were going to act like this was 2015.
But I will take a moment to defend the Ted Ginn Jr. signing. At 35, he’s still quick and gives the Bears another option in the wide receiver room heading into this season. Along with what they did in the draft, this ensures that the team won’t be lacking viable options there as training camp approaches.
In what I believe to be the more surprising move of the week, the Bears signed safety Tashaun Gipson Sr. to a one-year deal. Gipson Jr., and not Deon Bush, now seems to be the favorite to play alongside Eddie Jackson.
The 29-year-old has complied 104 starts over eight seasons with the Browns, Jaguars, and Texans. He has 23 career interceptions and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2014. In 14 games at strong safety last year, he amassed 3 interceptions and 51 total tackles for the Texans.
Alas, the Bears have ostensibly addressed most of their offseason needs. We won’t know if those holes have been truly filled, of course, until the season begins.
What do you think of the Bears offseason thus far?
Bulls GM speaks
The Bulls new GM, Mark Eversley, was introduced in a virtual press conference this past week, and said the goal would be to win.
That was enough to make Bulls fans, including myself, lose their fucking minds.
Eversley will realize quickly that being Gar Forman’s replacement is like taking over a taxi driver position for a perpetually drunk man.
I appreciated this comment as well.
If you’re a longtime reader, one of the frustrations I’ve displayed here time and time again is that GarPax not only ruined the franchise’s chance at winning for the time they were in charge, but they also decimated what was once the coolest brand in all of sports.
If Eversley delivers on the first goal, to win, the second goal will come seamlessly. He’s already on the right track.
The Big Art (Arturas Karnisovas, the new VP of basketball operations) and Eversley have said multiple times that coaching decisions won’t be made until face-to-face meetings can resume.
So although there have been concerning reports that Jim Boylen will be given a chance to keep his job, I think most of that is smoke and mirrors until the NBA figures out how it will proceed this year.
Again, I don’t see two smart guys that just got handed the keys to a marquee franchise immediately hitching their wagon to Boylen.
As for who will replace him if and when he does get fired, we’ll delve more into that next week.
Trivia answer:
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen account for the entire top 10 seasons for steals in franchise history.
1. Michael Jordan 1987-88 259
2. Michael Jordan 1986-87 236
3. Michael Jordan 1988-89 234
4. Scottie Pippen 1994-95 232
5. Michael Jordan 1989-90 227
6. Michael Jordan 1990-91 223
7. Michael Jordan 1992-93 221
8. Scottie Pippen 1989-90 211
9. Scottie Pippen 1993-94 211
10. Michael Jordan 1984-85 196
Thanks for reading, as always. As always, next week will be the best newsletter yet. Still. Gotta. Come. Through. Chicago.
I think the cubs benefit slight more in this division, only because of the Tiger & Royals. Not by much. The Cubs add the twins and Braves to strengthen their schedule. The sox add the entire NL Central, which is no free series wins with the exception of the Pirates. The Braves coming into the picture definitely sucks for both teams but I think Braves lineup is so young and cool it would be sweet to somewhat follow their club throughout the season. In conclusion, the division is stacked. Kinda funny this is the strongest division top to bottom by far IMO, and if you were to gamble on which division to most likely win the world series you're still taking the other two.
Side note: me using the world "club" to describe a team so sick of me. Baseball guy mike
Completely forgot there was a newsletter today...Lets Go!
I love this MLB format given the circumstances. Trevor Plouffe said on a podcast (not Starting 9, I hate that piece of trash Carrabis) that he had multiple sources tell him that the news is true. Some would even tell him to take down his post despite it being true because this news isn't supposed to be out yet. I think the big Journalists are upset that Plouffe broke this news and they couldn't. I saw Keith Law crying about it on twitter, to which I wanted to reply "go back to playing your guitar on periscope to 30 viewers you loser" but I kept my cool.
Cubs would obviously benefit from this as they will get to play the shitty AL Central, but I think it would be cool for the Sox to really prove themselves in a tough division, especially with the Braves replacing the Pirates.
Lastly, FUCK Odris(?) Despaigne, that Sox rolled that POS out while Cease was dominating the minor leagues. Rumor is he'd smoke a cigarette in warm-ups and then throw like 3 pitches and say he was ready to go which is hilarious though.