ON BASEBALL
Murray and Ditka Still Waiting for Cubs
• E-MAIL
• PRINT
• SINGLE PAGE
• REPRINTS
• SAVE
• SHARE
• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• NEWSVINE
• PERMALINK
By MURRAY CHASS
Published: February 4, 2007
No bigger Chicago Cubs fan lives than Bill Murray. But heÂ's a Bears fan, too. Asked the other day if he was a Bears fan, Murray said, Â"Yeah, IÂ'm in Miami.Â" He didnÂ't add, Â"you dummy,Â" but he seemed to utter the words silently.
Skip to next paragraph
John Gress/Reuters
In Bill MurrayÂ's 56 years, the Bears have been kinder to him than the Cubs. But heÂ's still a passionate fan.
M.L.B.
• Schedule/Scores
• Standings: A.L. | N.L.
Wild Card Standings
• Stats: A.L. | N.L.
• Team Reports
Yankees
• Schedule/Results
• Individual Stats | Team
• Roster | History
• Discuss the Yankees
Mets
• Schedule/Results
• Individual Stats | Team
• Roster | History
• Discuss the Mets
During his 56 years, the Bears have been kinder to Murray than the Cubs. The Bears today are playing in their second Super Bowl and fourth National Football League championship game with Murray as a devoted fan. He has not experienced the delight of seeing the Cubs in the World Series.
Â"We were so close, five outs away, a three-run lead,Â" he said. Â"I donÂ't like to reflect on that game because everybody dwells on it. ItÂ's like the Bill Buckner game.Â"
Murray was talking about the Steve Bartman affair in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series. Bartman, a fan, prevented Moises Alou from catching a foul pop for the second out of the eighth inning. The Cubs proceeded to make a series of errors, and the Florida Marlins scored eight runs and won the game and then won Game 7.
Had the Cubs secured five more outs and held their lead, they would have been in the World Series for the first time since 1945. As a child, Murray, who was born in Wilmette, Ill., in 1950, never saw the Cubs in the postseason. They have reached the postseason four times in his adult years, but the World Series has been off-limits.
Â"Someone said youÂ're going to be very upset when you lose,Â" Murray said, recalling the 1989 N.L. Championship Series against San Francisco. Â"I said: Â'You donÂ't get it. WeÂ've been losing since I was born. If defeat was going to break me, it would have happened a long time ago.Â' Â"
The Bears have won more N.F.L. championships at Wrigley Field than the Cubs have won World Series. Each team has played at Wrigley five times for its sportÂ's championship, with the Bears winning four times and the Cubs none. When the Cubs won successive World Series in 1907 — thatÂ's 100 years ago — and 1908, Wrigley Field had not been built.
When the Bears won the Super Bowl in New Orleans after the 1985 season, Mike Ditka was their coach, and the outcome helped make him a legend in Chicago. DitkaÂ's second-most memorable Chicago feat was his rendition of Â"Take Me Out to the Ball GameÂ" during a seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley.
Â"I was probably the second-worst singer,Â" Ditka said. Â"Ozzy Osbourne was the worst. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was late and had to run up the steps.Â"
Like Murray, Ditka spoke by telephone from Miami, where he is doing Super Bowl analysis for ESPN. Like Murray, Ditka is a Cubs fan.
Â"I am,Â" said Ditka, a former tight end from Aliquippa, Pa. Â"I grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan because of Stan Musial even though I was in Pittsburgh.
Â"My first autographed ball was Pie Traynor. I hit a home run in Little League and they gave me a ball autographed by Pie Traynor. But I was always a Stan Musial fan. HeÂ's from Donora, Pa. I still have his picture hanging in my home in Florida and my restaurant in Chicago.Â"
Murray and Ditka are both experts on Cubs fans.
Â"Cubs fans love the Cubs,Â" Murray said the day before Groundhog Day. Â"If youÂ're a Cub fan, youÂ're sort of a graceful loser. YouÂ've lost so many times you have some grace about it.Â"
Ditka said: Â"They call the fans diehard for a reason. TheyÂ're there. ItÂ's like going to Fenway Park. Wrigley Field is a special place. ItÂ's a cathedral of baseball. The fans are terrific. TheyÂ're as positive as can be.Â"
The CubsÂ' performance last season, however, strained the fansÂ' unquestioning allegiance. They had watched the crosstown White Sox and the Boston Red Sox win the World Series the previous two seasons, ending lengthy droughts, and now it was supposed to be the CubsÂ' turn.
Â"ThatÂ's how I saw it, too,Â" Murray said. Â"But then I pick the Cubs every year. But I really thought the momentum of all this would make it happen.Â"
The Cubs, however, had an assortment of injured players, most notably Derrek Lee, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, and finished with the N.L.Â's worst record (66-96).
Â"They didnÂ't keep too many people healthy,Â" Ditka said. He said he thought the poor season had embarrassed the Cubs and prompted them to spend a lot of money this off-season. The team brought in a new manager, Lou Piniella, and signing the free agents Alfonso Soriano and Ted Lilly, among others.
Murray offered a different view.
Â"The thing is for sale,Â" he said, referring to the Tribune Company, the CubsÂ' owner. Â"I think once itÂ's for sale everything changes and teams spend lots and lots of money. ThatÂ's what IÂ've noticed. Whoever buys it is going to eat all this money. They donÂ't care what happens. ItÂ's a great way to go out, spending someone elseÂ's money and still get tickets for the game.Â"
Ditka noted that the Â"organization has taken some heat the last few yearsÂ" but endorsed the off-season moves.
Â"The old story is wait till next year,Â" he said. Â"Next year is here. Bringing in Lou is big. Sometimes you have to get ticked off, show some passion. The game of life is emotion. You have an emotional guy leading them now. A lot of guys donÂ't like Lou, Bobby Knight, me. But weÂ're around for a reason.Â"
Murray hopes that reason is to get the Cubs to the World Series. Â"It will be very sweet when it happens,Â" he said.
Billy MartinÂ's Buddy Murray and Ditka Still Waiting for Cubs
• E-MAIL
• PRINT
• SINGLE PAGE
• REPRINTS
• SAVE
• SHARE
• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• NEWSVINE
• PERMALINK
Published: February 4, 2007
(Page 2 of 2)
George Steinbrenner had a whole board of buttons to push when he wanted to get at his favorite target, Billy Martin, but the one that worked better than most was the Art Fowler button. Fowler, a former major league pitcher, who died last week, was MartinÂ's pitching coach, confidante and drinking buddy.
Skip to next paragraph
M.L.B.
• Schedule/Scores
• Standings: A.L. | N.L.
Wild Card Standings
• Stats: A.L. | N.L.
• Team Reports
Yankees
• Schedule/Results
• Individual Stats | Team
• Roster | History
• Discuss the Yankees
Mets
• Schedule/Results
• Individual Stats | Team
• Roster | History
• Discuss the Mets
When Steinbrenner wanted to make Martin uncomfortable in his job as Yankees manager, he would fire Fowler or not let Martin hire him as pitching coach.
Fowler was the pitching coach in 1978 when he was fired the first time. Al Rosen, the club president, did the deed before a Sunday afternoon game in Detroit in June. It was the last game of a road trip, and by the time the team bus arrived at the team hotel in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., a devastated Fowler had had so much to drink he couldnÂ't get off the bus unaided.
A month later, Martin resigned after uttering his memorable remark about Steinbrenner and Reggie Jackson, Â"The two of them deserve each other; oneÂ's a born liar, the otherÂ's convicted.Â"
Yet Fowler returned again and again as MartinÂ's pitching coach even though he didnÂ't have much effect on the pitching staff. One time Fowler went to the mound and told the pitcher, Â"I donÂ't know what you did, but you got Billy really upset.Â"
SosaÂ's Comeback
Some players donÂ't know when theyÂ're well off. Having sat out last season, Sammy Sosa did not take the hint when virtually no one showed interest in him. Now he is poised to try to make a comeback, signing a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.
Maybe he wants to play so that he can delay the day of reckoning when he will learn if he will join Mark McGwire as a superstar who was snubbed for the Hall of Fame. Sosa has 588 home runs, 5 more than McGwire, and is fifth on the career list. Like McGwire, though, he is suspected of having hit many of them with the aid of performance-enhancing substances.
Sosa didnÂ't come off as poorly as McGwire at the Congressional hearing in March 2005, but he was unconvincing nonetheless in his denial that he had used steroids. Â"I donÂ't have too much to tell you,Â" he said in response to a question. He also hid behind a supposed language barrier.
Except for a corked bat, Sosa has never been found guilty of anything. But he could be buried under the weight of circumstantial evidence.
Until Sosa and McGwire staged their scintillating home run contest in 1998, only two players, Babe Ruth and Roger Maris, had hit 60 homers in a season. They barely reached that mark and reached it once each. Sosa reached the mark three times, slugging 66, 63 and 64 home runs in a span of four seasons. Before that run, the most home runs he had hit in a season was 40 in 1996.
He will draw intense scrutiny when he returns and all of the steroids questions will be brought up again. So why is he attempting a comeback?
Â"This is what he loves to do more than anything,Â" Adam Katz, SosaÂ's agent, said. Â"HeÂ's passionate about it. He feels he can still contribute. HeÂ's taken some time off away from the intense media scrutiny, and heÂ's recharged.Â"
Sosa, 38, isnÂ't coming back for the money. If he wins a job with the Rangers, he will have a $500,000 salary and could earn $1.6 million in so-called makeable bonuses for fewer than 500 plate appearances.
ChicagoÂ's Kind of Team, the Blundering Blackhawks ArenÂ't
Peter Wynn Thompson
The BlackhawksÂ' home attendance has fallen. In 27 games this season, 12 crowds have been smaller than 12,000 in the 20,500-seat United Center.
• E-MAIL
• PRINT
• SINGLE PAGE
• REPRINTS
• SAVE
• SHARE
• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• NEWSVINE
• PERMALINK
By DAVE CALDWELL
Published: February 4, 2007
Frank Pellico is the Chicago BlackhawksÂ' longtime organist, which means he usually gets to play in front of thousands of empty red seats at the United Center and for a mediocre team that often disappoints the fans who do show up.
Skip to next paragraph
N.H.L
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Teams | Statistics
• 2006-07 Standings:
East | West
•
• Discuss the N.H.L.
Rangers
• Schedule/Results
• Roster | Statistics
• Discuss the Rangers
Devils
• Schedule/Results
• Roster | Statistics
• Discuss the Devils
Islanders
• Schedule/Results
• Roster | Statistics
• Discuss the Islanders
Peter Wynn Thompson
The Blackhawks are a sharp contrast to the Bears, but some hockey fans share dual allegiances.
Â"Well, each game is brand new to us,Â" Pellico said cheerfully last Sunday on a snowy, windswept afternoon in Chicago. Â"We have to do each game like weÂ're in first place. Nobody backs down. I donÂ't see many down people at all.Â"
Pellico excused himself because he was supposed to start playing 90 minutes before the game, when the arena gates opened. In this instance, Pellico played for 15 minutes before any people found their seats. A Blackhawks game rarely creates a stampede.
Only 11,182 would come to watch the Blackhawks end a 10-game losing streak by beating Calgary. It was the 12th crowd of less than 12,000 in the 27 games that the Blackhawks played this season at the United Center, which seats 20,500 for hockey.
Sam Walter and three of his friends, all in their 20s, decided an hour before the opening face-off to come watch the Blackhawks. They got their choice of $15 seats in a corner of the upper level.
Asked why they came to the game, Walter smiled and said, Â"The Bears are off, and itÂ's fun.Â"
A $15 ticket is barely more than a movie, he said. He paused, then said, almost sounding as if he were reminding himself, Â"This used to be a hockey town.Â"
The Blackhawks provide a sharp contrast to the cityÂ's beloved Bears, who will play in the Super Bowl for the first time in 21 years today. The Blackhawks, who have not won the Stanley Cup since 1961, stir little passion in a sports-crazy city.
Â"ItÂ's kind of hard at times to see it like this,Â" said Jon Eller, who sat beside Walter as he looked around the arena.
The sad part is that Chicago used to be an N.H.L. stronghold. The Blackhawks began play in 1926, and such hockey legends as Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito played for the team. Chicago Stadium, their old arena, was an N.H.L. mecca.
The arena, which stood across the street from where the United Center stands today, had a thundering organ and a booming foghorn that practically shook paint off the rafters after the Blackhawks scored. Traditions were established that are now fading away.
One called for fans to cheer the national anthem from start to finish, whipping up a din that drowned out the singer and generated energy. Some fans still try to carry on the tradition, but they are often hushed by others. Little is the way it used to be.DickÂ's also had racks of Ben Wallace Bulls jerseys. But there were only two Khabibulin jerseys for sale, both in childrenÂ's sizes. The only adult Blackhawks jerseys were the No. 55 worn by Éric Dazé, who has played one game in three years because of injuries.
Skip to next paragraph
N.H.L
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Teams | Statistics
• 2006-07 Standings:
East | West
•
• Discuss the N.H.L.
Rangers
• Schedule/Results
• Roster | Statistics
• Discuss the Rangers
Devils
• Schedule/Results
• Roster | Statistics
• Discuss the Devils
Islanders
• Schedule/Results
• Roster | Statistics
• Discuss the Islanders
Â"WeÂ're definitely low on the totem pole in Chicago,Â" said Aucoin, who has been sidelined this year with a groin injury, Â"but one of the reasons I came here was because I knew there are still tons and tons of Blackhawks fans waiting for us to win.Â"
As they wait, they continue to direct most of their frustration at Wirtz, a barrel-chested man often called Dollar Bill, and usually not in a nice way.
His son, Peter, the teamÂ's 44-year-old vice president, wrote in an e-mail message: Â"Personally, it hurts me very much to see or read things that vilify my father. He is a man who has dedicated his life to the sport of hockey.Â"
The Wirtz family has owned the team since 1954, and Bill Wirtz has been the team president since 1966. His employees say they enjoy working for him, but a legion of fans considers Wirtz to be tight-fisted and old-fashioned.
Wirtz was unavailable for comment, but Peter Wirtz wrote that the franchise was committed to winning and had not given up on the season. Moreover, he said, the Blackhawks are trying to widen their exposure.
Although five televised home games sound modest, they are the most ever, and ratings are up. The Blackhawks have a discount-ticket plan for students. When the Blackhawks played well before Christmas, more fans came to watch.
Â"There was a lot of energy at our games,Â" Peter Wirtz wrote, Â"and the atmosphere in the building was tremendous. That is why I believe that Chicago is still a great hockey town.Â"
The recent 10-game losing streak was the second for the Blackhawks in as many years; before last year, the team did not lose 10 games in a row since 1951. This streak clearly tested the emotions of their latest coach, Denis Savard, a former Blackhawks legend.
After the Blackhawks won last Sunday, Savard said: Â"This is a great city, a great hockey town. I love this organization. I love this city. I love my players.Â"
Savard, 45, retired after the 1996-97 season and became an assistant coach early the next season under Craig Hartsburg. Savard proceeded to work under Hartsburg and six head coaches that followed.
Then it was SavardÂ's turn. He replaced Trent Yawney on Nov. 29 and the Blackhawks won their next three games. They even had a winning record as late as Dec. 26. But injuries followed, along with defeats.
Â"It gets tough mentally sometimes, because the guys want to win,Â" said Martin Lapointe, a 33-year-old right wing who won two Stanley Cups with Detroit and signed as a free agent in Chicago last August.
The fans want to win, too, at least those paying attention.
Bears Make It a Practice to Force Turnovers
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
The Bears led the league with 44 takeaways, and that included recovering 20 of 32 fumbles.
• E-MAIL
• PRINT
• REPRINTS
• SAVE
• SHARE
• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• NEWSVINE
• PERMALINK
By CLIFTON BROWN
Published: February 4, 2007
MIAMI, Feb. 3 — After falling short of the Super Bowl last season, the Chicago BearsÂ' coaching staff sought ways to make its defense even more ferocious. The coaches studied videotapes. They charted plays. And they found an answer.
Skip to next paragraph
Multimedia
Graphic
The Chicago Takeaway Machine
Graphic
How the Bears Can Win
Blog
Times staffers cover the road to the Super Bowl.
Go to Blog »
N.F.L.
• Scores/Schedule
• Schedules: A.F.C. | N.F.C.
• Standings: A.F.C. | N.F.C.
• Teams | Statistics
• Transactions
• Injuries: A.F.C. | N.F.C.
• Discuss the N.F.L.
Giants
• Team Page
• Schedule/Results
• Statistics | Roster | Injuries
• Depth Chart | History
• Discuss the Giants
Jets
• Team Page
• Schedule/Results
• Statistics | Roster | Injuries
• Depth Chart | History
• Discuss the Jets
Â"We created 26 fumbles last season, and only got 10 of them,Â" Ron Rivera, the defensive coordinator, said during an interview Thursday. Â"This year, we wanted 11 guys running to the football. We wanted to play faster. We wanted more turnovers.Â"
The Bears led the N.F.L. this season with 44 takeaways, which included recovering 20 of 32 fumbles, And they want their next takeaway to be the Lombardi Trophy, awarded to the winner of SundayÂ's Super Bowl XLI between the Bears and the Indianapolis Colts. No matter the opponent, no matter the magnitude of the game, the Bears have four specific defensive goals every game:
¶To hold the opponent to 17 points or fewer.
¶To force at least four three-and-out series.
¶To force at least two turnovers.
¶To put the offense in scoring position at least once, or to score at least one defensive touchdown.
If the Bears accomplish those goals against Indianapolis, Rivera says, there will be a championship parade in Chicago. The BearsÂ' defense has carried them this far, finishing the regular season with four more takeaways than the next closest team, the Baltimore Ravens, and eight more than the next closest team in the National Football Conference, the Minnesota Vikings.
The inconsistency of ChicagoÂ's offense and quarterback Rex Grossman has been much discussed. Yet the Bears were the second-highest scoring team in the league during the regular season, tied with the Colts. Their 26.7 points a game came in part because their defense and special teams often scored, or gave the offense superb field position.
In their 39-14 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the N.F.C. championship game, the Bears forced four turnovers that led to 13 points, using the art of the takeaway to set the tone for the game. All N.F.L. teams talk about forcing turnovers, but the Bears obsess about it. During every practice, whenever there is an incomplete pass, defensive players keep running to the ball until one of them recovers it. Defensive end Alex Brown said that he and his teammates sometimes reacted to the ball as if they had been hypnotized.
Â"Every single practice, itÂ's emphasized, over and over,Â" he said. Â"IÂ've never been around a team, college, high school, that talks about turnovers this much. I have to catch myself during games sometimes, because thereÂ's a dead ball on the ground, the refÂ's blowing the whistle, but IÂ'm still chasing it. WeÂ're just trained to do it. The way we practice, it creates a sense of urgency when it comes to taking the ball.Â"
Bears Coach Lovie Smith, a former defensive coordinator in St. Louis and linebackers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, challenges his defense to take the ball at every opportunity. If one defender is making a tackle, somebody else should be trying to strip the ball. Deflecting a pass is good, but intercepting it is much better.
In his quest to have a fast defense, Smith has not been bashful about giving playing time to young players. Starting safety Danieal Manning is a rookie, as is defensive end Mark Anderson, who led the team with 12 sacks.
Â"IÂ've always been a coach that believed in playing rookies,Â" Smith said. Â"We look to see who our best players are, period. It doesnÂ't matter how old they are.Â"
When Rivera watches videotape, he often freezes it to count how many Bears he sees in the frame.
Â"If I only see two or three guys in the frame, I get on the other guys,Â" he said. Â"ItÂ's an accountability thing. They take a little bit of pride in it. They donÂ't want to get called out.
Â"When it comes to forcing turnovers, some guys just have an innate sense to do it. Charles Tillman is terrific at it. Brian Urlacher is very conscious of it. Adewale Ogunleye thinks about it. When youÂ've got three or four guys believing in it, it kind of spreads to more guys.Â"
Several times this season, the BearsÂ' defense has taken over a game with takeaways. The most notable example came in Week 6, when the Bears rallied from a 23-3 deficit against Arizona to win, 24-23, with the defense and special teams combining to score three touchdowns. On the BearsÂ' first touchdown, Anderson sacked Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart and forced him to fumble. Safety Mike Brown recovered and ran 3 yards into the end zone. Later in the game, Urlacher stripped the ball from running back Edgerrin James and Tillman recovered, running 40 yards for a touchdown. Minutes later, the Cardinals punted to Devin Hester, who returned the ball 83 yards for a touchdown.
When the Bears sense that their offense needs help, they increase their appetite for a turnover.
Â"We say it to each other on the sideline, Â'We need to get the ball back, right now,Â' Â" said Tillman, a starting cornerback. Â"ItÂ's big for momentum when you can get one, because a lot of times, thatÂ's what sparks the offense.Â"
The Colts certainly know about ChicagoÂ's knack for takeaways, and they have worked in practice on ball security.
Â"You can tell that itÂ's coached and emphasized highly,Â" Colts tight end Dallas Clark said of the BearsÂ' penchant for stripping the ball. Â"ItÂ's important as an offensive player to protect the ball. WeÂ've been working on that in practice and making the same conscious effort on trying to make sure we protect the ball and knowing that theyÂ're coming for it.Â"
There are some similarities between these Bears and the 1985 Bears, winners of Super Bowl XX. Both teams were led by tenacious defenses. And just as the defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan left the Bears after Super Bowl XX to become coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Rivera could be leaving after Super Bowl XLI to become coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
Rivera said Thursday that neither he nor his agent had spoken with the Cowboys, but he had heard the speculation that he was the CowboysÂ' top choice. Might Rivera give his defense an impassioned speech in their last defensive meeting, much as Ryan did before Super Bowl XX?
Â"I donÂ't know if any chairs will fly anywhere, but weÂ'll see,Â" he said.
More important than watching chairs fly, Smith and Rivera want ChicagoÂ's defense to fly, to create the takeaways that have been so much a part of the season. The Colts have not lost a fumble during the postseason, but Manning has thrown six interceptions. A few more takeaways by the Bears on Sunday, and their next takeaway could be the Lombardi Trophy.> |
0 comments:
Post a Comment