Hey.. you... remember me?

So I'm perusing the game recaps from last night and I see this headline.

Mets win on Tatis' 2-run double in 12th

My first thought was, "there is no way Fernando Tatis is still on a major league roster". So I click on the link and expect to see a new Tatis just called up from the minors with the first name of something like Alex, Ernesto, Raul, etc. Man, was I pumped to see it was actually Fernando. Now most you will probably remember Fernando for his one good year in St. Louis where he hit the two grand slams in one inning. Or perhaps you were a Cubs fan who shat themselves thinking they had to face this guy for the next ten years. Anyways, the main thing about this is that I want to hear your stories about a player who you thought was long gone returning to a box score/game recap near you.

With Julio Franco out of the picture, I'm interested to see some good names out there.























-Decent Destroyer

WNNNNNBC

I can't speak for everyone (I can't even speak for myself half the time...okay a quarter of the time), but there are two things I'm really looking forward to right now: 1) Watching the Blackhawks play on WNNNBC next year (even though W signifies radio, it just feels better to say it that way). After watching a great Penguins/Wings game 3 of the Lord Stanley's finals on an HD screen with bunny ears, it had me thinking back to the outdoor game that the Penguins played against the Sabres (?) this year. It may have been the Rangers, but I'm a Hawks fan so who really cares. Back to the point. The bunny ears kind of give you that same analog snowy feeling as does the actual snow that would've been viewed by most TV watchers these days on a 1080p HD screen during that one outdoor game where the Penguins wore baby blue for some reason. Why pay a monthly HD fee to see snow when you can have two jimmy rigged wires pointing N/NE and N/NW and get the same experience. The one sport that it becomes an issue on is golf as most tournaments I've seen are played in the warm weather. I digress. Since the Blackhawks are on track to win it all next year, I wonder what type of publicity stunt the Gary Bettman show will pull to get the Red Rising onto WNNNNBC. Outdoor game's already been done. My guess is he'll arrange a game in the clouds against team Care Bears. I would watch it if it was on WNNNNBC. The second thing I'm looking forward to is Splash Mountains first post. I don't think he cares about this blog...which pretty much checks out cause it's for the average Chicago Sports fan...not the avid fan.

- The Numbers Guy

Prediction from South Africa

I write from the comfort of my hotel room with probably a 5+ day old plate in the closet with silverware and remnants of food caked on each (I've only been in the room for 1 night...so you do the math). It just had me thinking about the upcoming 2008 world series: Cubs v. White Sox. Big Z vs. Oz-fest. "The Riot" vs. A.J.'s nickname. Vance Law vs. Vance Law. See you there in 08.

- The Numbers Guy

The Man in the Middle.... from ... suburban white America

Well, you only get to make your 1st post once and unfortunately the Numbers Guy used his introducing the blog. That was his decision and I respect him for that, but I think I would have gone a different route.

I thought long and hard about this and well, I need to touch on a subject close to my heart. For all of you that know me, this post should come as no surprise.

The Caucasian Bulls player has always been close to my heart. Growing up a huge Bulls fan and dreaming of one day hearing Ray Clay shout my name was something I always played through my mind. All of the restrictions of me making it (average height, athletic ability, etc.) didn't really matter to me back then. As long as I watched guys like these, I knew I had a shot.



Ed Nealy was always a big inspiration for me. He didn't have the size that put him in the category of Greg Ostertag, Big Country Reeves, or Jim McIlvaine. With his 6'7" stature, he needed other skills to survive his 10 seasons in the NBA. Even Phil Jackson had this to say about him, "It's guys like Ed who make coaching a pleasure. If you give me a reason to put him into a game, he's going to find a way to contribute." Granted Phil doesn't give any specific ways that Ed contributes, but I think you get the drift. It's the same type of comment undersized rookies get when Mel Kiper calls them a "winner" and mentions "heart makes up for his size". We all know those type of guys never fail. And don't mention guys like JJ Redick, Tommy Frazier, Eric Crouch, and basically any other Nebraska QB you can think of.








Big Old Will Perdue also was very close to my heart. Now I knew I would never be able to match the size of good ole number 32 but at least I could match the average looks. I didn't need to grow fancy facial hair or ink my arms up with a picture of my grandmother who raised me while working 3 jobs. And you know what, average wasn't good enough for Will. He needed to get uglier and so as we all remember he went to the facial mask.




A couple honorable mentions go out to





Although not a Bulls player, I loved Mike Gminski. And his resemblance to Will Ferrell is something I have gained respect for over the past few years. If there is one thing Mike needs, it's more cowbell.












Dave Corzine was one of the first white guys I remember on the Bulls. His scraggly beard and awkward motions made watching those first years with MJ bearable.

Breaking the #2 curse

It is said that Vance Law was denied the jersey #2 after he signed with the White Sox in the early 80's and instead given the #5. While the carrot dangled in front of Law's face he was obviously perturbed as evidenced by this O-Pee-Chee card. Later on as the story goes, Vance unknowingly cursed the number 2 while playing both for the White Sox and the crosstown rival Cubs in his short career. While it's not widely known, what I'm about to present may be shocking as we pull up the corner of the carpet to find all that's been swept under Chicago sports fans' rugs. Of course, I'm talking about the curse of the #2 in Chicago sports teams. It can only be discussed now that the curse is seeming to lift. Let's dig into the history:

Exhibit A
1994 Cubs - Rick Wilkins wore #2 and batted .227 on the year.
2008 Cubs - "The Riot" wears #2 and currently is batting .331.
Coincidence? I'll let you decide.

Exhibit B
1987-88 Bulls - Brad Sellers wore #2 and was 1 of 7 (a mere .143) from 3 point land this season.
2007-08 Bulls - Just 10 years later, Thabo Sefolosha wears the same #2 but had a 3 point shooting percentage of .330 during the season.
Starting to see a pattern? Me too.

Exhibit C
1998-99 Blackhawks - While it's listed that Boris Mironov (wearing #2) scored 0 goals for the hometown Hawks this season, I seem to remember him scoring negative goals for the Hawks that season as well as the next few seasons he played. This was the only time in professional sports history that the NHL refs had to tie a Blackhawks jersey to the other teams goal to remind Mironov which net he was trying to score on. He still occasionally scored on his own net.
2007-08 Blackhawks - #2 Duncan Keith came in with 12 G's and 20 A's on the year as the mold on the #2 curse was being broken before our eyes.

I'll stop at Exhibit C. It goes without mentioning the string of subpar QB's that have worn #2 for the Bears (i.e. PT Willis, Will Furrer, etc).

Here's to breaking the curse!

Sincerely,
The Numbers Guy

"the numbers don't lie"

Intro

Welcome to the average chicago sports fan blog-o-sphere!

What you'll find here:
- average commentary from a few average chicago sports fans
- old chicago sports news, sometimes from other decades (i.e. why the bulls let Dave Corzine go?)
- hypothetical situations (i.e. what if the bulls did a sale/leaseback arrangement for Ben Wallace where they trade him to the Cavs and then lease back his services when they play against a team where he'd be a benefit to have in the lineup.)
- analysis of Chicago sports team moves that have been swept under the rug for years (i.e. Where is Michele Goulet?)


What you won't find here:
- breaking chicago sports news
- great perspectives that enlighten the reader
- dollars & sense about the business of bringing in new players or letting others go (i.e. should the Bears pay Urlacher?)
- draft day coverage, preseason camp coverage, etc.

Thanks and look forward to some average dialogue!!