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Best Fan Reaction Of The 2018 MLB Season So Far

By
Aldo Soto
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Seriously, everything about this video is great. During Friday’s game between the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins, a fan made a sweet catch on a line drive that led to the best reaction of the 2018 MLB season so far.

From the catch, to giving the little kid the ball, Len Kasper cracking jokes, to the final reaction. This clip is gold.

Awesome.

Matt Nagy Can Now Use Former Rival To Solve a Lingering Bears Problem

By
Erik Lambert
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matt nagy

One of the oldest and probably most overlooked rivalries in the NFL is that of the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. Back in the heyday of the old AFL, these were the two powerhouses of the league. It bred a level of hatred that still filters down into the generations of today. Matt Nagy lived that rivalry for the past five seasons as Chiefs quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator.

It reached a fever pitch in 2016 when the two teams wrestled for control of the AFC West division with both making the playoffs. Nagy and the Chiefs ended up getting the better of their rivals with a further trip into the postseason. Now he’s left for Chicago. One can imagine he’s not thinking about the Raiders much these days.

Then again that’s not to say he wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to take advantage of one of their mistakes. That chance just came up with a recent cut the Raiders made.

Matt Nagy can thank Raiders by signing punter Marquette King

Punting in the NFL isn’t the most glamorous job. It might be the most underappreciated position in football, to be honest. At the same time, teams that have good ones tend to have a certain degree of success in critical parts of the game. This is especially true on defense. Chicago has suffered from mostly mediocre punting for years including the era of Pat O’Donnell, whom they just signed. Oakland just made it to where it doesn’t have to be that way anymore by cutting Marquette King.

King has consistently been one of the best punters in the league since 2015. During that time he has placed in the top 10 in net punt average each year including a career-best third in 2017. He’s had just one punt blocked during that span as well with opponents averaging just 6.4 yards per return. O’Donnell has never placed in the top 15. Nevermind the top 10.

King is only 29-years old. In punter years that’s still exceedingly young. His biggest crime to this point is being a bit too fun-loving at times that has drawn a flag from the refs. He’s never been a locker room problem. He’s merely a different kind of cat. The Bears seem to embrace those types these days. Ask Tarik Cohen and Taylor Gabriel.

Signing him would be a substantial upgrade to the Bears special teams. Nagy should push for it if he’s as smart as people say.

WATCH: Cubs Great Andre “The Hawk” Dawson Explains The Meaning Behind His Nickname

By
Gus
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There have been some pretty bad ass nicknames in Cubs history: Greg “Mad Dog” Maddux, Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams, and Leon “Bull” Durham are just a few that always stand out to me. Recently, one of my top-five favorite Cubs of all-time, Andre Dawson, sat down to explain his own kick ass nickname — the Hawk.

Dawson played six seasons for the Cubs from 1987-1992 and was voted an All-Star five times, won the 1987 MVP, collected two gold gloves, and one silver slugger award. He famously presented the Cubs with a blank contract after the 1986 season as a desperate attempt to get out of the shit hole otherwise known as Montreal. Dawson and his agent told the Cubs to fill in the salary for what they thought he was worth as long as it was fair and compliant with the salary structure of the time (it turned out to be $500,000).

The 1989 team was the first team that really solidified my love for the Cubs and to this day, is one of my favorite all-time teams. I remember the 1989 NLCS like it was yesterday because it was the Dawson-led Cubs that got my seven-year-old hopes up for the first time in my time being a Cubs fan before they came crashing down as the team fell to Will f*cking Clark and the San Francisco Giants.

Nonetheless, it was Andre Dawson (and Ryne Sandberg) that took my love for the Cubs to a different level.

I loved Dawson so much, I had this poster hanging in my room as a youngster.

I’ll be honest with you — in all my years of loving the Cubs and raving about how good Andre Dawson was, I never had any idea why the hell he was called the Hawk. Maybe he was a ball hawk? Maybe he liked to swoop down and kill rabbits with his feet, I dunno.

Dawson recently shared the story about his iconic nickname and just know that it has nothing to do with him wanting to kill rabbits.

And if you’re really wanting to know where my top five favorite Cubs of all time can be found, look no further.

  1. Kris Bryant
  2. Ryne Sandberg
  3. Andre Dawson
  4. Mark Grace
  5. Anthony Rizzo

5a. Shawon Dunston

Dongs And Bullpen Lift Cubs To Opening Day Victory

By
Patrick Mooney
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The Cubs opened up their 2018 season with an eventful 8-4 win yesterday and man, it feels so good to have the season underway. The Marlins are the worst team in the majors on paper, there’s no way an 8-4 win over them would make me feel *this* good if it happened on a random day in June. Random wins in March/April feel so much better, which is why I’m typing this on cloud nine.

On to the details.

Ian Happ wasted literally no time impressing from the leadoff spot.

The Cubs tacked on two more runs in the inning without getting another hit, as Jose Urena completely lost command.

Urena regained his command in the second, or so it seemed before Anthony Rizzo unleashed on a fastball left over the plate.

That homer was a special one on an emotional day for the Cubs captain. Good for him.

After a dismal inning out in Left Field that reinforced everything we already knew about his defense, Kyle Schwarber made up for it by doing what he does best.

There will be far more games where Schwarber does things like that at the plate without the defensive miscues than there will be games with horrible errors and no offensive production. That’s why he’s the Cubs left fielder. End of story.

Homers are fun, arguably the most fun part of the sport. However, it was the bullpen that did the real heavy lifting in yesterday’s win.

The Cubs had bullpen issues last October, and even though the pens’ regular season numbers were good overall, the front office spoke this offseason about how they didn’t like the process the bullpen took to get the results they did. Not enough strikes, too many walks.

The bullpen doesn’t look that much different on paper, as six of the eight relievers from last season’s team return and the team’s biggest addition, Brandon Morrow, replaces their biggest loss in Wade Davis.

That means that newly acquired Steve Cishek and trade deadline bust Justin Wilson are exceptionally important to the depth and success of this team’s bullpen. Opening day served as an example of just how good this bullpen could be in 2018 if those two live up to their career numbers.

They combined for eight outs, with three K’s and just two baserunners allowed. The Cubs bullpen pitched nearly six scoreless without using their two best pitchers in Morrow or Carl Edwards Jr., largely thanks to Cishek and Wilson.

There has been plenty of talk about the team’s new rotation and powerful lineup, but the bullpen matters too and the Cubs might have a really damn good one.

 

Joe Maddon Might Be Starting The Platoon Fans Want Earlier Than Expected

By
Aldo Soto
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You know what, I shouldn’t be surprised because it is Joe Maddon and we are used to seeing lots of daily lineup changes, but I was still a little taken aback when the Chicago Cubs tweeted out Friday’s lineup.

It has to do with the fact Maddon said he’d give Ian Happ a shot at being the every-day leadoff man as long as he was handling the spot well. On the very first pitch Thursday, Happ started Opening Day with a homer against the Miami Marlins, but he won’t be in the lineup Friday night against left-handed starter Caleb Smith.

But again, it was never a guarantee that Happ, who is a switch-hitter, would be in the leadoff spot every game. Add in Albert Almora Jr.’s numbers against lefties and the absence of Happ isn’t really a big deal.

The other change from Game 1 to 2, is Ben Zobrist in right field replacing Jason Heyward. I know, it’s the second game of the season, but could this be the start of the platoon most Cubs fans have been asking for?

Sitting Heyward against lefties isn’t anything new for Maddon, but that’s been done late in the season during the past two years. It’s game 2 of 162 and Heyward is already sitting here in 2018.

Heyward did go 1-for-3, with a walk in the opener and made a great play on defense as well.

Still has value no matter what happens at the plate.

The other interesting dynamic with the possible platoon is that Kyle Schwarber remains in left field against a lefty pitcher. But you know, when you do this you gotta keep that bat in the lineup.

So, we’ll see what happens going forward, but once again it’s a reminder that changes will happen daily and that’s worked out pretty well for the Cubs in the past three years.

One last note, Kyle Hendricks is making his 100th career start tonight and you know how Jake Arrieta had his dominant run with the Cubs? The professor might just pass him.

Hendricks is currently second behind some guy named Clayton Kershaw in career ERA with at least 75 starts.

Is that good? I think that’s pretty good.

Chicago Bears 7-Round Mock Draft 1.0

By
Kyle Yates
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james daniels

It’s that time of year! The time where the weather is finally above freezing, people are finally putting away their winter coats and pulling out the shorts and short-sleeved shirts (even though it’s 40 degrees) and NFL Draft season is upon us.

Hand-in-hand with NFL Draft season are mock drafts. Mock drafts serve the purpose of educating fans on players that their teams could be looking at come late April. Most mock drafts will never get the players right, or know exactly what NFL Teams are thinking, but they allow the fan the chance to learn about players that they may have never heard of before.

Below is a 7-round Mock Draft for the Chicago Bears using Fanspeak.com’s platform. The Bears have 7 picks in this year’s draft and this mock will not project trades.

Round 1: Tremaine Edmunds (Virginia Tech, ILB)

Sitting at #8, the mock draft fell exactly how Bears fans don’t want it to. Quenton Nelson went to the Colts at #6 and Bradley Chubb went off the board at #5. However, Tremaine Edmunds is hardly a consolation prize.

He’s an inside linebacker that also has the tools to rush the passer. He’s 6’5”, 253 lbs. and is only 19 years old right now. He’s the type of player that Vic Fangio would love to utilize in his defense as he can move all around the field and is a solid tackler.

Plus, at only 19, he’s still growing into his body. The sky is the limit with Edmunds in a Chicago Bears uniform.

Round 2: James Daniels (Iowa, C)

The Bears have said that they draft on Best Player Available and will not reach for a need. It just so happened that the first two selections for the Bears fill their two biggest needs; Linebacker and Offensive Line.

James Daniels is as good of a center prospect as they come. NFL Draft Experts love him and the Bears are surprised to still see him here on the board. He’s 6’3”, 295 lbs. and is extremely fluid in his movements. He brings upside as both a pass blocker and run blocker as well, as he’s only 20 years old.

He’ll start from Day One and push Whitehair back over to Left Guard. The Bears Offensive Line just became a huge strength of the team again with this selection.

Round 4: Jeff Holland (Auburn, OLB)

As it stands, the Bears still need pass-rushers on the roster and they find a potential difference-maker here in the 4th Round. Jeff Holland is a relentless pass-rusher who wins on determination and aggression 95% of the time.

He’s smart and knows how to play his position well. Give him to a coach like Fangio and rotate him in with Edmunds and Lynch opposite Floyd and the Bears could cause some havoc in 2018. He needs to get into the weight room in the offseason and show that he wants to be great, but the traits are there. For a 4th round pick, you’re looking for upside and Holland could bring it.

Round 4: Keke Coutee (Texas Tech, WR)

With the Bears attacking the WR need in Free Agency, they are able to take a flier on a player here in the 4th round. Keke Coutee screams the kind of player that would excel in Matt Nagy’s offense. Incredible speed that can take the top off the defense, quick twitch and can easily separate. All principles that Nagy’s offense requires for a wideout.

He’s small, only 5’11” and 180 lbs., so that’s why he drops here to the 4th Round. But he put up huge numbers in Texas Tech’s “air it out” offense, finishing with 1,429 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in 2017.

He’s electric and would fit right in with this offensive scheme. There might not be a better spot for him in the entire league than in Chicago wearing blue and orange.

Round 5: Royce Freeman (Oregon, RB)

This one just makes too much sense. Royce Freeman, a Running Back prospect from Oregon, gets drafted by the team that just hired his former college coach as their OC.

Mark Helfrich should be banging on the tables for Royce Freeman to come in and back up Jordan Howard. Tarik Cohen is never going to be the player that will carry the ball 20 times if Jordan Howard were to ever go down with an injury, but Freeman could be.

In a round where the Bears have had success finding a running back before, they could get equally as lucky again. The Bears offense wouldn’t skip a beat if Howard were to go down and Freeman can rotate in even when Howard’s healthy and keep the offense rolling.

Round 6: Tony Brown (Alabama, CB) 

In the 6th round, you’re starting to look for players that will start on Special Teams with the possibility to grow into more. Tony Brown is about as stellar of a Special Teams player that you’re going to find here in the 6th round.

Solid against the run, but never going to be a player that has 4+ interceptions a year, Brown will come in and lead a Special Teams unit all day long. He has experience as a gunner on the punt team and is often one of the first players to make the tackle on kick returns. (A.K.A The Young Sherrick McManis)

Oh yeah, and he ran a 4.35 40 yard dash at the combine. And he loves to hit. With his scrappy attitude and passion for the game, he’s someone who will immediately bring some juice to the city of Chicago.

Round 7: Michael Joseph (Dubuque, CB)

Does anything scream more of a Ryan Pace pick than taking a player out of DIII Dubuque-Iowa? Michael Joseph is incredibly raw, but flashed upside playing against his level of competition. He still needs to learn the game and coming from DIII to the NFL is going to take some time to transition. But as a 7th round pick, the Bears can afford to wait on Joseph to develop. In the meantime, he can contribute on Special Teams and Ed Donatell can coach him up.

Bears GM Ryan Pace Urged To Discuss Huge Trade With Former Team

By
Erik Lambert
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chicago bears

It’s not a surprise at this point, but nobody knows for sure what Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace has planned for the draft. Few men are better at hiding their true intentions than him. His previous work this time of year proves that much. Pace will not betray any inside information to anybody. He even kept his own former head coach John Fox in the dark about the Mitch Trubisky pick last year because he feared Fox’s chummy nature might lead to him blabbing to someone.

Those are the lengths Pace will go to. One must admire his dedication. Still, this hasn’t stopped people from trying to predict what he might have planned. After a strong push on the offensive side of the ball in free agency this year, experts see Pace looking to add a top talent for his defense, perhaps one of the gifted linebackers that should be available. That is of course unless Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson should fall. Then it’s a no-brainer, right?

All that being said, Chad Reuters of NFL.com seems to think it might be a more prudent course of action were Pace to consider not staying at the #8 spot and instead aim to do something he never has in his time as Bears GM.

Bears GM Ryan Pace should call old friends about a trade down

Reuters released an article recently discussing possible trades in the first round that teams should discuss. At the very top of his list is a deal he wants to see between Pace and his former mentor, New Orleans Saints GM Mickey Loomis. He seems to think the two teams can help each other solve notable problems with their current situations.

“1) New Orleans Saints (No. 27 overall) to Chicago Bears (No. 8) for QB Baker Mayfield

…Sean Payton’s squad is not likely to pick early in the first round over the next couple of years, so if they want a top prospect to groom under Brees, they’ll have to go get one. Mayfield would be such a perfect fit for the Saints, and Brees would be an excellent mentor on and off the field for the feisty young passer. If Josh Rosen or Josh Allen were available instead of Mayfield, the trade would still make sense. The Bears, on the other hand, would pick up one or two selections from the Saints this year in addition to a high pick or two in the 2019 draft — regaining some of the draft capital they lost in the trade to move up for Mitchell Trubisky last year.”

It’s a compelling idea but one with a lot of problems.

Namely, the Saints aren’t in the best position to make this sort of move. For one they have no second round pick in this 2018 draft, having already dealt it to the San Francisco 49ers. This means they would have to supplement the deal with high future picks and at least their third rounder this year. That or they try to entice the Bears by throwing a player into the mix.

Not impossible, but not ideal either. To say nothing of the fact that Pace has never moved down in the first round before and has even hinted that’s not something he’s wild about. If this is something the Saints want to happen, they may have to get creative.

Beer League Goalie Earns First Star In Blackhawks Win

By
Marc-Louis Paprzyca
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Scott Foster had a dream come true on Thursday night when he was called up to the NHL from the beer league. The call to the Blackhawks is a huge step up from 11pm games on a Tuesday night in front of maybe one guy’s new girlfriend.

The 36 year old is an accountant by trade and the last time he played a truly meaningful game was at Western Michigan University over a decade ago. He is part of a group of goalies that rotate as potential emergency goalies for the Blackhawks.

He was on his way to the United Center when he got the call that Anton Forsberg got hurt. Foster would be dressing and sitting on the Blackhawks bench tonight wearing number 90.

in situations like these the emergency goalie like Foster normally don’t get into the game. That all changed when Blackhawks goaltender Collin Delia cramped up with 14:01 remaining in the third period.

With no warmups he was thrusted into play against an  explosive Jets offense who were playing from behind. The dream could have turned into a nightmare very quickly but Foster turned away all 7 shots he faced.

He is now the NHL’s all-time leader in save percentage.

“It happened pretty quickly” he said. That’s for sure. When he woke up that morning he had no idea he would get the call, dress for the game and then play.

The best is that this all unfolded in front of 21,000 fans and their cheers would grow louder with each save. They even began to chant FOS-TER FOS-TER!

Foster would end the game being mobbed by the whole team, earning first star of the game and getting the belt from the boys in the dressing room.

When asked about what his family thought, he said his two children were probably sleeping and “My wife, she’s also home. I don’t know if she knows about this or not.”

That’s ok. She’ll hear about this for the rest of her life but at least all the boys at Johnny’s IceHouse were watching.

Follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for more Blackhawks news musings.

The Bulls Got A Little Testy Down In Miami

By
Patrick Mooney
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robin lopez nba education began phoenix

The NBA was the last thing on everybody’s mind yesterday, as hopefully everybody reading this got to take in a wonderful opening day of baseball. But there are still games left to be played for the Bulls this season, even if the team’s promising backcourt duo won’t be suiting up for them.

Lauri Markkanen rode the pine tonight as well, officially listed as inactive due to “rest”, but the tanking Bulls were still able to provide some entertaining moments in the team’s 11 point loss to the Heat.

First, we got the mild-mannered Fred Hoiberg yelling “F*ck you” at the refs after a first-half technical, which is quite funny to me.

Watching Fred drop the F-bomb on national television is reminiscent of watching your ten year old curse at you for the first time. You know they’re angry, and they know that what they’re about to say is inappropriate but they say it anyway. The immediate guilt that washes over them afterwards is palpable, and that was the case with Fred here.

Hoiberg’s outburst, if you could even call it that, was a distant second to the tantrum Robin Lopez through after getting ejected for his second technical.

An animated Robin Lopez an entertaining Robin Lopez.

The Bulls seventh straight loss drops them to 24-51, tied with Brooklyn and Sacramento for the 6th worst record in the league, and just one game better in the loss column than Dallas and Orlando.

The Bulls play the Magic tomorrow where they’ll be looking to take advantage of a big tank loss opportunity.

Chicago Bears Are Meeting With This Absolute Freak of Nature

By
Erik Lambert
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chicago bears jonah trinnaman

The Chicago Bears Jonah Trinnaman connection is certainly not something that’s going to catch mainstream attention. This isn’t a surprise. The BYU wide receiver isn’t high on a lot of draft boards going into this April. If anything that likely suits the Bears just fine. GM Ryan Pace just loves finding hidden gems in the later rounds. Look to Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, and Eddie Jackson as perfect examples.

There’s a strong chance they might be hoping Trinnaman is next. BYU isn’t considered a hotbed for wide receiver talent. Then again neither was West Alabama. For those who don’t know, that’s where the Kansas City Chiefs unearthed Tyreek Hill a few years ago. Safe to say Bears head coach Matt Nagy understands that weapons can be found in small places.

It’s not hard to think that Nagy might see Trinnaman as another possible Hill discovery. At least that’s what it seems like as the Bears are reportedly set to meet with the young receiver for dinner ahead of the draft in a few weeks.

Chicago Bears Jonah Trinnaman fascination is not an accident

One thing that has become apparent about the Bears’ paradigm shift on offense is they’re starting to place a higher degree of priority on speed. Their signing of Markus Wheaton last year was an attempt to step in that direction, though it failed. Taylor Gabriel was the latest this past month. Trinnaman would be another addition with that undertone in mind. Though he didn’t get a lot of action in the run-heavy BYU offense, he popped the occasional long play and also was an effective return man.

One thing though about Trinnaman that the Bears are certain to love is his willingness and ability as a blocker. Given they have Howard and Cohen in the backfield, employing receivers who can get down the field and throw that extra block is incredibly valuable. Having spent so much time in the BYU system, it would make sense that Trinnaman is particularly adept at this.

Above all, Trinnaman is an athlete. A freak athlete at that. At 6’0″, 190 lbs he’s reportedly expected to run in the 4.2 range and jump a possible 45 inches in the vertical at his pro day. That might sound like embellishment until seeing videos like this.

Understand that a standard basketball hoop is 10 feet tall, or 42 inches in combine terms. So for him to do is a standing dunk like that at his height is utterly ridiculous. It’s little wonder the Bears are so interested in meeting with him.

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