AVANT/CHICAGO

100 Years And Counting

100 Years And Counting

There are those that say sports are like life and they are right. It's a cliche but it's a cliche because it's true. Cliches best explain the life/sport similarities as well - expect the unexpected and there's no such thing as a sure thing. Watching the best Cubs team to take the field since 1908, suddenly shrivel into a shadow of themselves and roll over in 3 games to the Dodgers proves the point. Maybe it was coaching, poor play, coincidence or a curse, but no matter the 'why', you couldn't have honestly seen it coming. We learned a long time ago and many times since that sports, like life, is a roll of the dice.

Sports Are King In Chicago

Sports Are King In Chicago

The past couple weeks we've been dropping in some sporting posts as the time of year has brought on major excitiment in the city's teams. We held off until today for the post waiting for the White Sox to do the impossible - win 3 games in a row to get in the playoffs. For the first time in 102 years both teams in the playoffs - yep Chicago is baseball city. Also -

• Blackhawks are in Preseason action
• Bulls started training camp and Gordon showed
• Bears won a big game
• Cubs are set to take on the Dodgers tonight
• Northwestern is 5-0 in NCAA football
• So is Ball State (we hit Homecoming this weekend)
• The LFL (Lingerie Football League) unvieled the Chicago Bliss

The Soriano Affair

The Soriano Affair

Well not all the Cubs news is good these days. Seems like star player Alfonso Soriano might be caught up in an extra marital affair. Here is the report and more pictures. The evidence is flimsy and the pictures are certainly friendly, but intimate?  Either way, hopefully this doesn't derail the Cub's solid playoff run.

All-Time All Chicago Team

All-Time All Chicago Team

Better get used to this, there's gonna be baseball galore all over the city for the next couple weeks at the least. WGN is airing the All-Time All Chicago Team, a look at the best players ever from the city's squads. (Saturday at 3 PM in Chicago) With input from former players, announcers and viewer votes, WGN will help spark a debate that will garner more controversy then a Mayor Daley scandal. 

Mike Golic Jr., Will Yeatman arrested

Cheat Like a Champion Today.

Two Notre Dame football players and 35 other rich East Coast kids were arrested in South Bend late Saturday night. Irish reserves Mike Golic Jr. and Will Yeatman were nabbed on misdemeanor alcohol charges Only news because football players were involved. And apparently the Irish coach - Tubby Tuna Wanna-Be - is not only grossly overweight, but also under investigated for a cheating scandal not unlike the one he was involved with the Patroits.  Being from the area we cheer for Notre Dame, but not nearly as much after they pulled the ignorant and program damaging move of firing Ty Willingham for no reason and bringing TTWB Weis. (after hiring/firing a liar) Sadly the program will never be the same and it looks like their resorting to shady moves to lose now.  Play Cheat like a champion today.

2009 Cubs/Sox Schedule

There's No Time For Next Year

Just as this season is ramping into over-drive, the 2009 Cubs Schedule is here. Interleague games all against AL Central. White Sox looks like this. Games in the interleague of note - Milwaukee and Dodgers, as well as a game versus the Reds featured as the Civil Rights Game. Cross town classic matches up on June 16-18 and June 26-28. Way to much '08 to play out to be thinking about next year just yet.

Ashley Russell & Sports Weekend (Again)

Fall is a great sports time only if your baseball team is still in the mix. So for Chicago, that's both our teams. There will be lots of news about the Cubs and Sox over the next couple weeks, so we won't go into detail about their weekend accomplishments. Autumn also brings about football, so one can be mildly entertained by that during baseball breaks. Here's some of the highlights from sports of the weekend that was.

• Ashley Russell now prowling Big Ten Sidelines
• Cubs clinch division, set up for playoffs
• White Sox magic number is 5
• Roof top owner forced to advertise bad beer
• Northwestern is 4-0 for 1st time since '62
• Ball State crushed IU
• Blackhawks started preseason hockey

Will the Chicago Honey Bears Cheerleaders Make a Comeback?

Bears 1-1, Cheerleaderless

The Bear's game this weekend is our home opener versus Tampa Bay. Great weather for some football and the team is playing pretty well, but something is on our mind. Did you know the Bears are one of only a few NFL teams without a cheerleading squad?  That's something Chicagoans should be ashamed of. They used to have the rather popular Honey Bears, but they've been gone since '86. Although there are whispers that the Chicago Honey Bears Cheerleaders will make a comeback. Let's hope for that.

Sox Push Out DJ, Move Stone

Sox Push Out DJ, Move Stone

It was early 2001 when we moved to the city and driven to try and succeed as a writer first and foremost we took to poverty over a steady job for the first year in Chicago. Sharing a flat with 5 other people in Albany Park and never any extra money to spare, we spent many nights from April to October engrossed in baseball. Cubs games in the afternoon, Sox at night. Radio and TV rotated depending on where the game was being carried. That first season in the city we learned about baseball from the experts - Hawk Harrelson, Darrin Jackson, Steve Stone, Chip Carey, Pat Hughes, Ron Santo, Ed Farmer and John Rooney. And these 6 would continue to educate us on the game into the present. 

Weekend Party Chatter - Sports And Weather

Weekend Party Chatter - Sports And Weather

Usually the stuff of lame diner parties and awkward double dates, we're going to drop in some thoughts on both the weather and sports from the weekend because 1) the two were very connected, and 2) it was one of the more interesting sports weekends in months.

• Hurricane Ike and late summer rain caused both the Cubs and Sox to cancel games over the weekend. The Sox played a double header Sunday and the Cubs got the rather unusual 'treat' of moving Houston's home games to suburban Milwaukee. (Commissioner Selig doing his part to pad the coffers of his former team) The weather also played into most Midwest college football games. And a little run.
• In the game the Cubs played at Miller Park, over 23,000 fans showed up with a days notice - 98% of them being Cubs fans. They were treated to a piece of history. If you follow the Cubs you knew Carlos Zambrano would throw a no-hitter some day and Sunday night was it. It was the Cub's first no-hitter since 1972. Not only did the Cubs win, but Milwaukee lost 4 in a row to the Phillies and now the Cubs need any combination of 7 wins or Brewer's loses to clinch the Division over the next 14 games and are guaranteed at least a wild card playoff spot. A huge day for Cub's baseball.