Immediately following the 2016 season, Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward announced that he would be spending his entire off season in Mesa, Arizona for the sole purpose of trying to figure out what the hell went wrong in 2016. He posted career low numbers in almost every offensive category and now that Dexter Fowler has left the team, the Cubs recipe for success in 2017 has to include an improved Jason Heyward.
Heyward has appeared to make a few tweaks to his swing, most notably his hand placement which you can see from his swing on December 22. Two days later, video was posted of Heyward taking live cuts on a diamond and now we get yet another look at the progress Heyward is making from some new video released just yesterday.
There was no better story in 2016 for the Chicago Bears than running back Jordan Howard. He was a virtual unknown a year earlier when he walked into the building at Indiana after transfering from the disbanded University of Alabama-Birmingham football program. Soon he began to dominate much of his competition in college, earning praise from the scouting community.
Even so he fell to the fifth round in the 2016 draft where the Bears scooped him up. Most expected he would end up being a quality backup his first year and perhaps a starter down the road. A few months later he broke the franchise rookie rushing record and was named to his first NFL Pro Bowl.
Howard quickly became the focal point of the Bears offense as injuries began to rock the quarterback, wide receiver and tight end positions. Despite only starting 13 games, he ended up finishing second in the entire NFL with 1, 313 rushing yards. It was sheer bad luck that he played in the same conference as Ezekiel Elliott and David Johnson as well. An injury to Johnson for him to withdraw, paving the way for Howard.
It’s a fitting stamp to an outstanding year for a young man who had everything against him and powered through. It’s a testament to both his talent and his resilience.
The Derrick Rose Roller Coaster never stops. Thankfully for Bulls fans, it relocated from Chicago to New York last spring. In the wake of his recent mysterious disappearance earlier this week, Rose’s name has been plastered on headlines nationwide. We’ve learned that he experienced some kind of emotional breakdown and flew home to Chicago to be with his mother.
He returned to New York on Tuesday and met with the media at the Knicks’ practice facility. Derrick didn’t give any further details about what happened, just that he needed to be with his family. The Knicks fined Rose but did not suspend him, and coach Jeff Hornacek said that he plans to start the former MVP in their game against Philadelphia Wednesday night. Rose denied in his media session that there’s a growing rift with his coach, despite recent reports that he was upset about a recent 4th quarter benching.
After all that, the PR nightmare continues for Rose.
Money
Earlier today, ESPN Knicks reporter Ian Begley published a column that revealed a dirty secret about Rose; one that couldn’t have come at a worse time from a PR perspective.
Here’s an excerpt from that report:
“Before this incident, Rose made it clear he’d welcome a long-term deal with New York. The Knicks were said to be keeping an open mind about a long-term relationship with Rose, but the trust that has eroded between the point guard and the organization will surely factor into any decision the club makes. And then there is the potential price tag. Some close to Rose have told friends he will seek a max contract this summer. For Rose, that pact would be for five years and nearly $150 million.” – Ian Begley
5 years and $150 million? Even with the extreme spike in the salary cap this season, and another expected jump to $102 million next season, everyone knows Rose isn’t worth that kind of money. The Knicks don’t have an abundance of cap space. Signing Derrick to a max deal would eat up almost all of what they project to have available this summer. As Knicks fans look at their team’s money situation and Rose’s mediocre production on the court this season, they must be laughing at such a ridiculous idea. To quote Dr. Evil, “How ’bout no?”
Speaking of Knicks fans, another ESPN analyst weighed in on the Rose situation today, and he made it perfectly clear what will happen next for the former MVP. [USE ARROWS ABOVE TO CONTINUE READING]
The discussion about who the Chicago Bears will select with the #3 overall pick in the upcoming 2017 NFL draft will not cease for months to come. Will it be a quarterback? A safety? With free agency still to come, answering this question is difficult. One thing is for sure though. They are almost certain to have their pick of high quality pass rushers.
Myles Garrett is of course the big fish in the pond, widely believed to go within the top two picks between Cleveland or San Francisco. This has led to speculation about where the Bears goes once he’s off the board. The popular name being dropped constantly is Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Allen. He’s enjoyed a successful and productive run at the best program in college football.
It certainly would make sense. However, there is a growing movement among the media and scouting communities that there may be somebody who is even better. Someone that didn’t have the constant national attention Alabama receives. A player that Chicago fans would love, for more reasons than one. (continue to next page from top)
The unfortunate injuries that Kevin White has sustained in the NFL leave his entire future at risk. No matter what the Bears say.
Explosion, top-end speed, power …. those are just some of the adjectives used to describe White when he was coming out of West Virginia. After taking an interesting path, that included a stint in junior college, White emerged as a top receiving prospect when entering the 2015 NFL Draft.
All his strengths were pretty obvious. He has great hands, ideal size and God-gifted speed …. White was known as quite the play-maker his senior season.
The doubts were obvious as well. Only 23 total division one games to scout, essentially a one-year wonder and his lack of recruitment out of high school were all deemed as things NFL teams were going to examine very closely.
The end result was the seventh overall pick by the Chicago Bears. There was a need to fill with the recent departure of Brandon Marshall, and …. something not talked about as much as you’d think it would be, all the other top picks were already taken.
See, the thing is White fell right into Chicago’s lap, he wasn’t expected to be there at number seven. Almost all the mocks leading up to the 2015 draft had Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Dante Fowler Jr., Amari Cooper, Leonard Williams and Kevin White as the top players in the draft … by a decent margin. Did you notice how many of them there were?
Six. The Bears were picking seventh. That is why most Chicago mock drafts had selections like Vic Beasley, Trae Waynes or Danny Shelton. The wildcard was Washington’s pick of offensive tackle Brandon Scherff, almost nobody saw that coming. That allowed White to fall to the Bears.
If you’re paying close attention, there were SIX prospects deemed elite, but for some reason the first six teams all chose to pass on White. Why?
Kind of hard to answer that question, might be easier to figure out why the Bears took him. The answer to that appears to be because he filled a need, was deemed elite and White wasn’t supposed to be available. Therefore, when it was Chicago’s turn to draft it made the pick quite easy.
Fast forward two years and White has only played in four games….this leaves a glaring question.
Were his injuries predictable? The answer to that is essentially no. The reason it is “no” is because White’s injuries came in the form of bone breaks / fractures, it’s not like they were deteriorating muscles that could have been identified as weak during the draft process. However, the reason I say “essentially” is because his first injury was non-contact. Starting as a stress fracture in his shin, and ending with a steel rod in his leg, White’s first injury of a fractured tibia is reportedly due to over-training.
“The Bears, Pace said, learned of White’s stress fracture during organized team activities in June and immediately shut the receiver down, hopeful the injury would heal on its own.”
The 2015 NFL Draft was from April 30 – May 2, this basically means that White was part of the Bears for about one month before they “learned of his stress fracture.” What are the chances that this stress fracture was older than advertised and the very reason Washington went another route during the draft?
The answer to that may never come out. It would be extremely embarrassing to Ryan Pace, and the entire Bears organization, if it did. So don’t expect anything concrete, but you can connect the dots.
Considering hindsight in 20/20, and we can’t change the past anyway, the most important thing people want to know now is what White’s future holds. After sustaining a second season-ending injury that required surgery in 2016, Bears fans are now starting to doubt if White will ever again be the impact player he once was.
Safe to say that’s a legitimate concern, no?
“This is 100-percent recoverable, ” Pace said. “And it’s also, when you come off of a major injury like this, and you guys know this, it’s a matter of getting your body aligned. I think again there’s a gate analysis to make sure your hips and your hamstrings are ready to play at that speed.”
That was Pace’s most recent update on White’s situation. Like every other GM in the NFL, his word-choice was key. Yes, the injury is “100% recoverable” but the chances of White recovering and returning to the level he was previously playing at definitely aren’t.
The good news about this is professional athletes are much more likely to fall into the other 75% than regular people.
The bad news is a fractured tibia is only one of White’s injuries … he also sustained a fracture fibula in 2016 that also required surgery.
(estimated based on research, not White’s exact legs)
When a fractured tibia is repaired, via surgery, a steel rod and screws are inserted to align the bone. When a fractured fibula is repaired, they normally insert a metal plate, screws and pins. Nobody is 100% sure exactly what White has in his legs, but reports have confirmed he had a steel rod with screws after the first surgery, and a spiral fracture for the second. The spiral fracture came from excessive force when his leg was turned during a high ankle sprain.
“If surgery is required, it is generally performed immediately. Pins, plates, and screws are utilized in order to achieve solid fixation of the bony ends.”
Now, clearly I am not a doctor by any means, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure all this out.
When you look at examples like Paul George and Kevin Ware, these are basketball players who gruesomely injured their tibia’s. They have both now seemingly returned to their old selves after surgery and a long recovery period.
They fall into that 75% of athletes who are likely to return back to their former playing levels.
Joe Theisman, on the other hand, is a bad example. His gruesome tibia injury was so bad he was forced to retire.
White’s injuries are unique to these situations though. He didn’t gruesomely injure his tibia, nor has he contemplated retirement because of it.
Instead, he has broken both shin bones in the same leg and has had them surgically repaired with rods, screws and plates. This means he falls into the “unknown” category.
As confident as Pace seems to be, his reputation more or less depends on it.
The real truth is this ….
Kevin White has sustained injuries that have forever changed the way his legs feel. Rods, screws and plates are the recommended way of fixing such injuries but there’s no guarantee they will stay in place. Sure, something like a MCL/ACL combination would be considered much worse, but there’s no promises these “fractures” are going to be fully recoverable.
I am not insinuating that White will have lifelong problems with his legs, I am simply saying that he was considered an elite athlete due to his lower body explosion and there’s good reason to believe that will never be the same after the two recent surgeries.
When you add in the possibility of White’s first fracture happening before the time the Bears selected him, that’s only more of a reason for Pace to remain positive and try to save face.
Alshon Jeffery’s contract is up in the air, Eddie Royal was a terrible signing and there’s no real way to predict what the future holds for Kevin White.
How long do you wait before you add “receiver” to Chicago top draft needs?
As far as White goes, I can confidently say this….. Bears fans will likely give you one more chance, too many people watched what happened with Derrick Rose. If he suffers another significant injury that forces him to miss a good portion of 2017, then his professional football career will likely over…. before it ever really began.
It looks like we don’t have to worry about Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo having any desire to be a two-sport athlete anytime soon. As we’ve all seen since his time in Chicago, Rizzo can hit the shit out of a baseball but that skill apparently doesn’t transfer over into shooting a puck.
Rizzo was in attendance during last night’s Blackhawks/Red Wings game and received an enormous ovation when he appeared on the scoreboard during an intermission of the game.
For the second time in two years, Rizzo was selected to participate in the “shoot the puck” competition in which participants are given three opportunities to shoot the puck into the net that is covered by a board with three small holes at the bottom. Last year Rizzo missed all three of his attempts and last night proved to be no different.
Rizzo missed the net completely on his first two attempts which is quite embarrassing as I’ve witnessed small children at least hit the board during their attempts. Rizzo rebounded nicely to at least hit the board on his last attempt but failed to get the puck into the net.
It may have thrown him off that he was hitting a black piece of rubber and not a white baseball coming at him 95 mph but irregardless of sucking at hockey, you’re still my favorite first baseman Anthony.
The NHL has really stepped up their jersey game for this year’s All-Star game. Since the game is being hosted by Los Angeles, Reebok decided to use the Kings and their 50 year history as their inspiration. What came out is a classic look with all the bold colors the organization has used.
I like the old school template and the use of the stars across the bottom hem, much like the all-star jerseys of the early 90s. I don’t know a true hockey fan that wouldn’t enjoy these beauties over some of the recent designs. Especially, the neon abominations from 2015.
I’m sure you were wondering what divisions will wear each jersey. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Central will wear purple, Atlantic wears gold, Metropolitan wears white and the King’s Pacific division will wear black.
The Chicago Bears have a big dilemma on their hands. It’s no secret that changes are expected at the quarterback position in 2017. Finishing 3-13 and having three different men under center proves that much. This franchise has needed a reboot at that position for some time but wanted to make sure they gave Jay Cutler every opportunity to realize his potential.
Through a mix of bad luck, bad timing and mistakes on both sides it didn’t happen. Now GM Ryan Pace is in a bind. He wants to draft the next franchise quarterback, but the odds of posting a winning season with a rookie are rare. John Fox and his coaching staff are under the gun to win next season. So the idea of a “bridge” veteran quarterback who can start for awhile is being entertained.
Brian Hoyer is the popular in-house name, but many have eyes for another. One who is still young and went to the Pro Bowl just two years ago in Tyrod Taylor. It seems like a forlorn hope that he could somehow be lured to Chicago. Unless of course the Bears see the big picture. (continue to next page from top)
Perhaps Rajon Rondo knew before everyone else that he would finally get back onto an NBA court on Tuesday night. After getting five straight DNP-Coach’s Decision marks in his box score, courtesy of Fred Hoiberg, the veteran point guard ran his mouth to the media leading up to their game against the Washington Wizards.
Barely an hour after calling the reason for his benching “bullshit”, Rondo was the first man off the bench for the Bulls. Dwyane Wade was resting on the second night of a back to back in a current stretch of five games in seven nights. Jimmy Butler was back home in Chicago, nursing himself back to health. Nikola Mirotic caught whatever Butler has and was a late scratch. Hoiberg didn’t really have much of a choice.
Rondo looked aggressive immediately, getting to the basket and dishing out several assists in his first minutes since 2016. The afterthought “alpha” led a depleted Bulls team to a 36-26 edge after the first quarter, and they maintained a double digit lead beyond halftime. Rondo finished with 12 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds in 27 minutes. He also looked more lively on the defensive end, tallying 3 steals.
But the Wizards made a run, and Hoiberg’s undermanned squad couldn’t hold on. John Wall hit two big shots in the final minute of the 4th quarter, and the Bulls couldn’t respond.That’s what happens when there’s no Jimmy “Jordan” Butler on the floor in crunch time. The end result was a 101-99 loss for Chicago, who fell back below .500 again to 19-20.
Rookie Denzel Valentine came back from a three game absence in a big way. Before re-spraining his left ankle last week against Charlotte, he drained 3 of his 5 three point attempts. He picked up where he left off, scoring a career high 19 points on 5-11 shooting from downtown.
Quick Hits
The Bulls bench stepped up in a big way, dominating the Wizards’ reserves 48-16. Hoiberg used everyone at his disposal except 2016 2nd round draft pick Paul Zipser.
After getting manhandled by Steven Adams and Enes Kanter in their loss to the Thunder on Monday, the Bulls bounced back inside. Robin Lopez (14 points) had an efficient night in the post, and the Bulls outscored Washington in the paint 40-38.
John Wall led Washington with 26 points. His backcourt sidekick Bradley Beal chipped in with 19.
Next Up: The Bulls head to New York to take on Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose and the Knicks. After a mysterious disappearance caused him to miss their game on Monday, Rose is back with the Knicks and expected to play in their game against Philadelphia on Wednesday. Tipoff between the Bulls and Knicks at Madison Square Garden is Thursday at 7:00 PM CST.
The Chicago Bears have four months to figure out what they’re going to do in the upcoming 2017 NFL draft. No doubt it’s going to be the most momentous one in years for this franchise and its fans. It comes on the tail end of a putrid 3-13 finish in 2016 season, resulting in the highest draft slot the team has held (#3) since way back in 1972.
What people want to know is just what GM Ryan Pace plans to do with it. Will he try to add more juice to an already young and talented defense? He’ll have loads of options from pass rushers like Jonathan Allen and Derek Barnett to playmaking safeties like Malik Hooker and Jamal Adams. It would be hard to get angry about that.
Still, one problem remains. What do they do about the quarterback position? Pace himself said it was the single most important issue he has to address this off-season. Chicago may be founded on a legacy of defense, but they haven’t won a championship in over 30 years, and the QB position is the biggest reason why. It’s may be time to stop putting it off, and here’s why that’s the case. (continue to next page from top)
