Friday, April 3, 2026
✶ Untold Chicago Stories ✶ Amazon Music
Home Blog Page 3107

Cubs Raise World Series Banner At Wrigley Field

By
Aldo Soto
-

The moment all Chicago Cubs fans have been waiting for their entire lives happened on Monday night at Wrigley Field, as the 2016 World Series banner went up.

Then, Anthony Rizzo led the Cubs back on the field, hoisting the World Series trophy inside Wrigley Field for the first time in franchise history.

Soak in Cubs fans, this is why we watch.

The Chicago Bears 2017 Preseason Schedule Is Set

By
Erik Lambert
-
chicago bears 2017 preseason schedule
CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 13: Fans tailgate prior to the game between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on September 13, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Kena Krutsinger/Getty Images)

After a mad rush by makers to get it out ahead of the upcoming draft, the official Chicago Bears 2017 preseason schedule is live and complete. Naturally most people won’t be overly moved by this news. After all, preseason games don’t count. While that may be true, it also represents the first actual football games that Bears fans will get to see since January. So it’s still kind of a big deal.

It also can sometimes be a barometer of things to come. Last year the Bears went 1-3 in the preseason. The offense managed to score just 50 total points in four games. Sure enough they went just 3-13 in the regular season and ended up with the 28th ranked scoring offense in the league. No doubt they’ll be hoping to put their best foot forward this coming August.

Chicago Bears 2017 preseason schedule

  • Week 1:  vs. Denver Broncos
  • Week 2:  at Arizona Cardinals
  • Week 3:  at Tennessee Titans
  • Week 4:  vs. Cleveland Browns

It’s actually good that the Bears get a chance to play the Broncos again in the preseason this year. The last two times they did went very poorly. In 2012 they were hammered 31-3 and this past year they were shut out 22-0. This opener should be a good gauge to see if their roster has made any headway. Same goes for Arizona, another team that has been in the upper echelon over the past few years.

The most important matchup of the month comes in week three, a rematch against the Titans. That will be the game where the Bears play their starters into the third quarter. No doubt they’d like a small measure of revenge for the 28-27 heartbreaker they lost at Soldier Field last season. Then of course they conclude against the Browns in week four as they have every year for over a decade.

Bob Probert’s Ashes Spread In Unholiest Of Places

By
Marc-Louis Paprzyca
-

Former NHL enforcer Bob Probert spent much of his career in the penalty box. That’s why it should come of as no surprise to where his ashes were recently spread.

Probert is the Detroit Red Wings all-time leader in penalty minutes (2,090) and also holds the single season record (398). He is also fifth all-time in penalty minutes with 3,300.

With the last Red Wings game played at the famed Joe Louis Arena on Sunday night, his family felt it was as time spread his ashes. Inside the penalty box of Joe Louis Arena.

Probert’s family donated his brain for research after his death in July of 2010 before cremating his body. Over a year later he was going to have CTE.

He was a tough guy but was well loved by family, friends and fans alike. There’s no doubt that Probie’s soul lays in heaven but his ashes will remain in “The Sin Bin” of The Joe for eternity.

NHL Is On Notice: The Blackhawks Are Officially Stanley Cup Favorites

By
Erik Lambert
-
blackhawks 2017 stanley cup favorites

Chicago Blackhawks 2017 Stanley Cup favorites? That is definitely not something the rest of the NHL wants to hear going into the playoffs. They’ve already seen enough of this team over the past seven years, watching it win three Stanley Cup championships. Yet here they are a again. The Hawks are tied for the second-most wins in the entire league and will hold home ice advantage through the Western Conference playoffs.

Given that and their long experience of winning in recent years, it’s understandable why people might be confident in their chances. According to the latest Las Vegas odds, the Blackhawks are now the favorites to hoist Lord Stanley for an unprecedented fourth time. The excitement over that prospect is beyond belief.

Why the Blackhawks 2017 Stanley Cup favorites is no joke

As always it was their star-studded trio of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith leading the way. Kane scored 34 goals and dished out 55 assists by himself. Toew and Keith were again two of the best defenders at their respective positions. The ageless wonder Marion Hossa provided a vintage year with 26 goals of his own.

The real excitement though is over the youth movement across much of the roster. Artemi Panarin, the “Bread Man” himself is blossoming into a superstar in his own right. He trailed just behind Kane with 31 goals and 43 assists of his own. Ryan Hartman (22) and Nick Schmaltz (21) became much bigger factors as the season progressed as well.

The Hawks have that much-desired mix of championship veteran experience and emerging youthful talent. Throw in home ice and it’s hard not to feel at least a little confident that they can make another run at the Cup. Plenty of hard work still lay ahead. No doubt the bumps and bruises that come with it. Still, it’s going to be another great ride for sure.

First up will be their longtime nemesis Nashville Predators in the quarterfinals.

Jose Quintana Returns To From, But White Sox Drop Two Of Three To Twins

By
Matt Spiewak
-
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins are off to a great start this year, but their dream of going 162-0 was ended by a loss to the White Sox on Saturday. The first of many series between the White Sox and the Twins ended in a 2-1 series win for Minnesota. Facing a solid pitching staff, Chicago realized how hard it was to put the ball in play, except for the second game.

Friday, April 7th    1-3 L

Things looked hopeful for the White Sox as Jose Abreu singed in the first to drive in Tim Anderson for the first run of the game; unfortunately, this would be their only run of the game. From then on it was the Twins, scoring on an error by Avisail Garcia, a double by Miguel Sano, and ground rule double by the catcher Chris Gimenez.

It was Cody Asche’s second time starting as DH for the White Sox, and he yet again failed to get a hit. Besides Asche, the top four players in the lineup for the White Sox: Saladino, Anderson, Cabrera and Abreu, all tallied up at least one hit.

After the first inning, it was all Twins until the bottom of the 9th. The Twins closer Kintzler started having some trouble with two outs, as he had back-to-back walks with Garcia and Geovany Soto. It seemed that he could not find the strike zone. Realizing this, Ricky Renteria decided to pinch-hit Jacob May for Leury Garcia, who had a double earlier in the game. One would think that since Kintzler walked two batters in a row, it would not be a wise decision to swing at the first pitch. Apparently, Renteria must have forgotten that May was a rookie and didn’t know any better, because he swung at the first pitch which ended up because a routine ground ball to second base to secure the win for the Twins.

It was the White Sox debut for former Texas Ranger Derrick Holland, who put on a great performance. Don’t get fooled by the loss given to the him, he gave up only two earned runs in six innings, along with five strikeouts against Minnesota. However, his talents could not out pitch veteran Phil Hughes, who got his first win of the year.

Star of the Game: Phil Hughes (1-0, 5 inning, 3 K’s, 1.50 ERA)

Saturday, April 8th    6-2 W

Nobody really expected the Twins to start off the season 4-0. After sweeping Kansas City, they were looking for another win, but the White Sox would have nothing of it.

Avisail Garcia continued to show why he should stay on the team throughout the rebuild and in the future with an RBI triple to score Todd Frazier, who ended up getting his first hit of 2017 in the game. Garcia later came home to score after a squeeze bunt failed and Garcia was caught between home and third base, but ended up scoring after Sano threw the ball out of the catcher’s reach, making it 3-0 White Sox.

The runs kept on coming as Garcia and Geovany Soto hit back-to-back home runs in the 6th inning. This is especially surprising for Soto, who had only four total home runs last year, and already has three this season.

Dan Jennings closed out the game with a solid 1-2-3 inning in the 9th to get the White Sox back to .500.

Miguel Gonzalez started right where he left off last season. Through six solid innings of work, he gave up two earned runs while striking out six to give him a 3.00 ERA to start of the year. He is a key player for the White Sox to have at the 4th spot in the rotation, and he is arguably one of the best No. 4 starters in the American League. The White Sox bullpen continued their scoreless work with Zack Putnam and Jennings combinging to go three innings and giving up no runs.

Star of the Game: Avisail Garcia (3-4, 3 RBI’s, 1 HR, .500 BA)

Sunday April 9th    1-4 L

Coming into the game, the White Sox sat 4th in the American League Central with a 2-2 record. Trying to redeem himself from his horrible season debut, White Sox ace Jose Quintana looked to get back on track. A lot of people might have forgotten that this was Quintana pitching for the White Sox, so he could basically throw a perfect game and somehow end up loosing because of no run support.

Quintana looked sharp on the mound, even with the two runs that he gave up. The Twins did, however, manage to get another home run out of the ace, as Poland hit his first of the year in the 7th inning, making it a 2-0 Minnesota lead. Nate Jones came in relief for Quintana in the 8th and ended the bullpen’s scoreless streak by giving up a hitters pitch to Sano, who clubbed a two-run shot making it 4-0. To prove that Quintana got no support for the day, the White Sox only managed to scrape together two hits against Ervin Santana, who improved to 2-0 on the year. In the bottom of the 8th, the White Sox got the bases loaded with one out, but only managed to score one run after Garcia was hit by a pitch.

Cody Ache finally got his first hit of the year and is still trying to earn the DH spot from Matt Davidson who has a triple and a home run.

Quintana looked like his old self in his 6.1 innings of work. Giving up two runs and striking out seven Twins, his trade value continues to go up, which Rick Hahn will certainly use to his advantage. The only real reason that Quintana is not viewed as one of the best in the majors is because of the lack of run support that he gets. So far, the White Sox can only manage to score an average of two runs per game whenever Quintana is pitching.

Star of the Game: Ervin Santana (2-0, 2 H, 0.69 ERA)

Next series: White Sox (2-3) vs Cleveland Indians (3-3) April 11-13

Bryan Bickell Receives Classy Sendoff For Last NHL Weekend

By
Marc-Louis Paprzyca
-

 

Ultimate good guy Bryan Bickell hinted retirement due to MS on Friday and made it official on Saturday morning. This didn’t leave much time for the Carolina Hurricanes to plan for a party. That seems to be just fine because what they did was extremely better.

On Saturday morning, Bryan and wife Amanda were guests of honor at the 2017 Walk MS held outside the Hurricane’s arena. As Bickell was addressing the crowd, he received a surprise. The whole Carolina Hurricanes team showed up wearing “Bickell Brave” t-shirts.

They didn’t stop there. In an act of solidarity, the team all donned helmets bearing Bickell’s number 29 for pre-game warmups. No doubt they would have given him the jersey treatment had he made the announcement earlier.

As touched as he probably was by the gestures, there was still one more moment for Bickell to have.

In his final NHL game on Sunday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, regulation ended in a 3-3 tie. Hurricanes coach Bill Peters chose Bickell to shoot first in the shootout.

Bicks had a good shot through his career but he is far from a shootout specialist. He actually only had one attempt in his career and missed.

In dramatic fashion, he sniped the snap shot for a goal! The Hurricanes ended up winning and Bickell’s last shot as an NHL player was a goal.

I’m sure he would have preferred to have a longer career but this is a fantastic way to go out. He will always be remembered for his hard work on the ice, with charity and fighting MS to return to hockey.

You can get involved with the Bryan and Amanda Bickell Foundation here. Or, you can donate to his Walk MS team here. All are great choices and we can’t wait to see Bicks back in Chicago for “One More Shift.”

Sunday’s Game Suggests Jason Heyward Is Back On Track

By
Gus
-

I almost feel bad for writing this because I don’t want to get ahead of myself but it appears that Jason Heyward is “fixed.” I put fixed in quotation marks because I don’t think there was a major problem with him last year but due to his horrendous offensive numbers in 2016, Heyward took it upon himself to “fix” his own problem — his swing.

I’ve written extensively on the revamping of Heyward’s swing this winter and into Spring Training but I have to be honest, none of that really mattered until I saw his swing versus big league pitching. If the first six games are any indication of what Jason Heyward Cubs fans are going to see this year, it appears to be a night and day difference from the Heyward we saw last year.

Heyward signed an eight-year, $184 million dollar deal in the winter of 2015 which appeared to be a great signing due to his steady offensive numbers. If you take away an injury plagued 2011 season, the lowest Heyward had slashed in his career was .254 (2013)/.335 (2012)/.384 (2014). To put Heyward’s 2016 into perspective, even his aforementioned career lows were still at least 20 points higher than his slash line of .230/.306/.325 last year.

Disappointing to say the least.

However, Heyward has started 2017 the way most Cubs fans had envisioned him playing in 2016. As of today, he’s slashing .333/.391/.429 through the first six games of the season which is a goddamn revelation for Cubs fans to see.

Yes, I understand that the sample size is VERY small but after going through all of 2016 watching Heyward struggle, I’ll take what I can get.

Yesterday’s game gave us further proof that Heyward is close to being back to his old self.

He’s absolutely crushing the ball.

Per Jesse Rogers, Heyward accomplished something he had done only 17 times all last season — hit five balls with an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher.

Last year Heyward hit countless slow rollers to second base so the fact that he’s even hitting the ball hard has to be seen as progress. Realistically, he should have been 5-5 yesterday but was robbed of a hit on two separate occasions.

Once again, I understand we’re REALLY early into the season but you have to give credit where credit is due.

Now let’s hope he can keep it up.

WATCH: Gatorade’s New ‘W’ Commercial Will Get You Fired Up For The Cubs Home Opener

By
Gus
-

This morning, the people at Gatorade released a magnificent commercial involving the Chicago Cubs. The commercial is named ‘W’ and stars the Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber. The 1:00 video captures different areas of Chicago and surrounding suburbs showing their support for the team by, you guessed it — flying the W.

Schwarber’s appearances essentially show him working his ass off in the weight room to get himself in playing shape and if the first six games of the season are any indication of his conditioning, it’s safe to say the weights paid off.

Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=Bp8LML649Ig&app=desktop

Bryan Bickell Scored His Last NHL Goal In Ultimate Tearjerker Fashion

By
Erik Lambert
-
bryan bickell

Much of Chicago Blackhawks nation was heartbroken upon hearing the news that Bryan Bickell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It explained a great many things, including his strange decline from near-super stardom following his epic run through the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. No human should have to deal with such a terrifying disease.

Even so he made his return to the Carolina Hurricanes, allowed to finish out what would be his last season of professional hockey before having to retire. Turns out he may have the gods in his corner for this fight as they helped him go out in style. The Hurricanes had battled the Philadelphia Flyers through three periods and overtime to a shootout situation.

After the Flyers missed their opening attempt, it fell on Bickell to try giving his team the lead. What happened next was jam packed with all the feels.

Bryan Bickell and the good ending

It was exactly the sort of ending Hollywood movies are made of. That goal gave the Hurricanes their 36th victory of the season. The explosion of emotions from his teammates on the bench told the whole story. No doubt many of his former mates in Chicago felt the same way when they saw it.

Bickell will remain one of the all-time fan favorites in Blackhawks history. A hard-hitting wild man with a deadly stick for scoring clutch goals. He had double digit goals three times in a five-year span when he played for Chicago. His one-timer to tie up Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals will forever be immortalized in hockey history. Part of the greatest 17-second span Hawks fans will ever know.

Hopefully he doesn’t have to stray too far from the game after he’s done playing. Such men are good for the league and he can almost certainly find work.

The Bears Are Eyeing The Next Jordan Reed In Draft

By
Erik Lambert
-
chicago bears evan engram

It’s hard to imagine anybody would be surprised about a Chicago Bears Evan Engram encounter. Tight end remains one of their biggest roster needs despite the recent addition of Dion Sims in free agency. No current options on their depth chart can be considered serious weapons in the short or long-term. Zach Miller is 33 and coming off another injury. Sims has spent most of his career as a blocker. The rest are unproven youngsters.

Engram would represent a significant step up in the talent department. A potential instant threat in the passing game for new quarterback Mike Glennon to exploit. With so many unknowns at wide receiver, it makes perfect sense they’d want to add more credibility. Or hope at the very least. Hence why they’ve decided to meet with the Ole Miss standout privately.

Chicago Bears Evan Engram buzz must increase

The constant buzz around Engram for the past few months is how striking a resemblance he holds to current Pro Bowl tight end Jordan Reed of the Washington Redskins. Both are slightly undersized but also supremely athletic with speed and the ability to beat almost any coverage in the passing game. They are matchup nightmares who can dominate the middle of the field. Here is what one national scout had to say according to NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein.

“Outside of O.J. Howard, I think (Evan) Engram is the best tight end in this draft for what he is going to offer. He’s just like Jordan Reed. He’s going to get open against everyone they put on him and that guy competes, too.”

It’s quite a compliment indeed. Reed has produced over 1,600 yards and 17 touchdowns over the past two seasons in Washington. It’s a classic case of linebackers being too slow to keep up with him and safeties not being athletic or big enough to body up on him. Never mind his excellent hands and underrated blocking ability. Engram is very similar in all of those ways. Yet that might not be the scariest part.

He might be even faster.

Reality vs. Fiction

Engram sent a loud and clear message to teams everywhere with his blistering 4.42 time in the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine. Please remember this is a guy who is 6’3″, 234 lbs. That is bananas fast for somebody of his size. GM Ryan Pace is all about speed based on his draft picks over the past two years. Engram fits that bill about as perfectly as anybody at any position in this draft.

So where and when will the Bears start looking at him? There is no question that Engram will be in play for the #36 pick early in the second round. It’s possible he might sneak into the top 32 but typically players like him are classic early Day 2 selections. Really good talents who might be missing just one key attribute. For him it’s size and the strength that goes along with it.

Not that he’ll need much of either. He’ll be too busy blowing by defenders to notice much.

1...3,1063,1073,108...3,195Page 3,107 of 3,195

Subscribe to our Newsletter

✶ An Unfiltered Voice For Chicago Sports Fans ✶

Chicago Sports News

About Us

© Sports Mockery, Inc. 2026