chicago Page 26 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Last Man Standing In Bears' Exhaustive Kicker Competition Bonks Extra Point To Timbuktu
The kicker competition at Bears training camp has been an ongoing delight for anyone who is neither a Bears fan nor a kicker auditioning for the job. Nine—one two three four five six seven eight nine—kickers were initially rounded up and cast in Matt Nagy’s weirdly self-loathing quest to somehow ban...
Why Your Team Sucks 2019: Chicago Bears
Some people are fans of the Chicago Bears. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Chicago Bears. This 2019 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here....
It Is Hazardous To Be A Bears Kicker Under Matt Nagy
If you want the simplest, hardest piece of news from Kalyn Kahler’s fantastic writeup for Sports Illustrated of the Chicago Bears’ offseason kicking saga, it’s that the decision to cut Cody Parkey was made immediately upon the second doink. If you want the most important and still-relevant piece of ...
The Brain Of Nick Castellanos Has Transcended Time, The Standings
Professional athletes are known to enter some strange head-spaces in order to stay focused and conquer doubt and all the rest of it. Still, it must be said, Cubs outfielder Nick Castellanos is truly smelling the psychosphere these days. He was asked Tuesday night why he greets manager Joe Maddon wit...
Craig Kimbrel Had To Pitch In A Ballpark Of Little Leaguers Mocking Him
The Cubs’ 7-1 win over the Pirates in Williamsport, Penn., on Sunday night wasn’t the tightest of ballgames, but the Little Leaguers in attendance had fun all the way through the end. In the ninth inning, with the game far out of reach and Craig Kimbrel on just to get some reps after coming off the ...
Former Running Back Cedric Benson Dies In Motorcycle Crash
Former Bears, Bengals and Packers running back Cedric Benson died on Saturday in a motorcycle crash in Austin, Texas, according to multiple reports. He was 36....
Bill Walton Learned How To Enjoy Baseball In Real Time
On the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, former NBA superstar Bill Walton made his way into the broadcast booth of NBC Sports Chicago to be the color commentator for a White Sox-Angels game. Walton was his usual self whenever he spoke, taking quantum leaps from topic to topic as he transitioned between...
Kyle Long Tried To Beat A Teammate With His Own Helmet And Then Barfed
Training camp fights are a relatively common occurrence, but few are as eventful as the scrap that took place on Wednesday between Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long and defensive lineman Jalen Dalton. Here is a description of the fight that is just packed with evocative imagery:...
The Cubs Were Screwed By The Worst Strike Three Call Of The Season, Maybe Of All Time
Maybe it’s time to let our robot umpire overlords reign supreme. At the very least, Cubs fans would be well within their rights in calling for the technology that will, in theory if not yet in practice, remove human error from strikes and balls, after Chicago was on the wrong end of one of the worst...
Matt Nagy Has Double-Doink On The Brain
Time was running out in the first half of the Bears’ preseason loss to the Panthers on Thursday night, and Chicago was in field goal range. Well, ostensibly. Bears coach Matt Nagy took one look at the spot of the ball after the half’s penultimate play, and immediately had sweaty-palmed flashbacks. D...
Javy Báez Spices Up Garbage-Time Plate Appearance, Bats Lefty
The ninth inning of Thursday night’s Cubs-Reds game was a real circus, and I mean that in a good way. The Reds were down 12–5, they’d used four pitchers, and they were not coming back, so to finish the eighth and work the ninth they turned pitching duties over to Kyle Farmer, a second baseman. Farme...
Here Are Some Other Potential Locations For MLB Games
On Thursday, the Yankees, White Sox, and MLB announced a partnership to play a regular-season game next year at—or, more precisely, near—the iconic Field of Dreams. This follows the recent trend of the league scheduling meaningful games in non-traditional places like Japan, Mexico, and London....
Lucas Giolito's Wife Calls Out Anthony Swarzak's Wife For Being Ignorant Toward Tim Anderson's Wife
Bria Anderson, wife of White Sox shortstop Tim, had a heated Instagram discussion with Elizabeth Swarzak, wife of Braves reliever Anthony, about gun violence and race, the impetus being last weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. Swarzak, whose IG account is now protected, came off sounding...
The Cubs' Bullpen Is Currently Held Together With Scotch Tape And Sticky Tack
The Cubs escaped what could have been a crushing loss by just a few feet on Monday night, leaving Wrigley with a 6-5 win over the A’s after leading 6-2 heading into the eighth inning. The final out in the top of the ninth came stressfully, as with two runners on and the A’s down by just one, Marcus...
Phillies Pitcher Vince Velasquez Was The Best Left Fielder In Baseball For One Night
Baseball is always at its weirdest in deep extra innings, and thanks to Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez, we have another point of evidence for that axiom. In the 14th inning of Friday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, Velasquez did something no pitcher had done in nearly 39 years: ...
"Mai Tai Guy" Has No Regrets Over Stealing Walk-Off Home Run Ball From Kids
The Cubs beat the Reds in dramatic, walk-off fashion on Tuesday night, as Kyle Schwarber hit a 10th-inning dinger to put an exclamation point on a Chicago day that had already seen the capture of notorious alligator Chance the Snapper. And as one minor local reptilian celebrity was consigned to a bu...
Let The Alligator Throw The First Pitch
Chance the Snapper—a Chicago alligator who gained fame last week when he was first noticed living in the Humboldt Park lagoon—was taken into custody Tuesday morning by reptile expert Frank Robb, who was hired specifically to grab the creature. Before he was apprehended, the 5-foot-3 Chance captured ...
Report: Cubs Co-Owner Todd Ricketts Has Been Getting Away With Not Paying His Full Property Taxes
Thanks to an open records request filed by the Chicago Tribune, we now know that Todd Ricketts, finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, has been getting a substantial tax break that he doesn’t deserve thanks to false documents filed by his attorney....
Today's NFL Would Have Been Perfect For Doug Flutie
It’s been 14 years since he last played professional football, but Doug Flutie is suddenly relevant again. In the run-up to the draft, there was a big feature in the Washington Post, along with a 15-minute chat on The Rich Eisen Show. When I first reached out to ask about an interview, Flutie’s agen...