- At the end of last week, Chicago took a collective kick to the groin as two of the best players in the city, Patrick Kane and Derrick Rose, both went down with significant injuries. Let’s address D-Rose first. This is the third knee injury for Rose in a short time span. That has to raise a red flag. Granted, it was his meniscus, which apparently hadn’t healed fully from his second knee injury. From all I’ve seen and heard, it’s taken quite a toll on Derrick mentally to come back from the second knee surgery. How will this affect him? He’s not on his own time table anymore. After his surgery it was made known by the doctors that the meniscus was clipped and that he should be back in 3-4 weeks. And that’s when the Bulls will expect him back…just in time for the playoff surge.
- Kane, on the other hand, in a very nebulous play, fell into the boards and broke his collarbone. He had surgery and is out for 12 weeks. This is extremely more significant than the Rose injury for a few reasons, in my opinion. First and foremost, he won’t be available until the Western Conference Finals IF the Blackhawks advance to that point. At the same time, for a team that has struggles to score, losing their leading scorer does not bode well for them. Luckily, in the time since the injury, Stan Bowman has made some key acquisitions (along with salary cap relief) in order to maintain their position as a Stanley Cup contender. Only time will tell.
- Ronda Rousey is the baddest woman on the planet. In her title defense against Cat Zingano, it required all of 14 seconds for her to defeat Zingano and retain her title. After taking the time to watch all of the fight (I jest) it’s glaringly obvious that Zingano’s mistake was bull-rushing Rousey. While meant to catch Rousey off guard it only opened Cat up to the arm bar that Rousey so famously imposes on her combatants. If you blinked you missed it. Can we please give Rousey some competition?
- Another sad day in Chicago this weekend as Chicago White Sox legend Minnie Minoso passed away at the age of 89. Minoso broke the color barrier on the South side of Chicago. Two years later, Ernie Banks would break the color barrier on the North side of Chicago for the Cubs. Losing them both in the same year is a tremendous blow for the city of Chicago and their baseball fans. In yet another substandard effort by the National Hall of Fame, Minoso was not inducted before his death. His time in baseball shows that he belongs in the Hall. It’s pretty disgusting that two of the major icons of Chicago baseball were not inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame before their passing so they could appreciate the honor. Minoso, along with Ron Santo, will forever be adored by Chicago baseball fans. And I agree with Bruce Miles (Chicago Cubs beat writer for the Daily Herald - @brucemiles2112) that the annual Crosstown Cup should be renamed the Banks-Minoso Cup in honor of these two great athletes.
- Curt Schilling took to the Internet to defend his daughter this weekend in regards to knuckleheads and social media. If you have not read his article yet, please go to https://38pitches.wordpress.com/ and read his post. It’s pretty disturbing. I've always felt that social media is a chance for cowards to be “courageous” and I use that term VERY loosely. Because what they post is not courageous at all, it’s disgusting, vulgar and downright reprehensible. Back in my day we had a condition called ‘liquid courage’. It boiled down to the fact that if you’d had enough liquor you’d say things you normally wouldn't say. Lucky for us, we didn't have social media so if we were idiots only the people around us at the time heard it. It wasn't on display for the whole world to see – FOREVER. And that’s where I feel this generation needs to learn a few lessons. There are very few things in this world that we get more passionate about then sports. I love being on Twitter when my teams are playing so I can converse with like-minded fans about the contest. But there’s always the imbeciles who use it as a platform to spew vitriol and hatred to those people they disagree with on subjects. It’s unbelievable to me that someone would have the chutzpah to post content with such animosity on their mind. Schilling decided to do something about it…and I applaud him loudly. He posted comments on his blog so readers could see who posted the awful comments. From what I have read so far today, one poster lost his job and another is suspended from the college he was attending. Good for them! It is sad that social media has devolved to this level when there is so much good that can come from it. Today’s youngsters need to understand the importance of the digital imprint they leave on society. Maybe, just maybe, instances like this will wise them up to the perils of not using filters when online.
Let's do this, @Cubs and @whitesox. The #BanksMinosoCup. My short @dailyherald take. http://t.co/ymwhr7QzpE
— Bruce Miles (@BruceMiles2112) March 1, 2015
That's it for today. Later this week I may get into Franchise tags and players that are now available in free agency in the NFL. The cap has risen to $143 million, so it bodes well for some. MLB previews coming soon too!
Shawn
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