Chip Shots: Quickshots: Bowman Banishes Big Buff

Chip Shots
A Sports Blog

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I'm Chip Ramsey a career broadcaster who has been a sports radio program director in Milwaukee and Nashville. I've covered everything from high school and college sports (including the SEC, Big Ten, MVC and OVC) to Major League Baseball, The NFL and the NHL. I have a few things to say, and when I want to say them, I say them here.

I mostly talk about my teams, which would be the White Sox, Bears, and Blackhawks, but I do talk about other things as well. Thanks for dropping by. I hope you will bookmark this site and visit often!

Chip's broadcast career

Chip Shots: Quickshots: Bowman Banishes Big Buff

Quickshots: Bowman Banishes Big Buff

Before you get to weeping, wailing and gnashing your teeth over the dispatch of Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and Big Ben Eager to Atlanta for a couple of spare parts and a prospect, think hard. The Blackhawks are salary cap challenged and had to move some players to save others. Would you rather have a one-dimensional player like Bufuglien or someone like Patrick Sharp on your roster? Or have a bully like Eager or someone like Kris Versteeg? And this doesn't even include the discussion about re-signing Antti Neimi. These are the challenges Stan Bowman was faced with, cleaning up the mess left to him by Dale Tallon who wrote some bad contracts (yes, Crytobal Huet, we're talking about yours.)
Here's the great thing about what Bowman is doing: Yes, he traded a hero, but in doing so, he allowed other heroes to stick around to defend the cup. How often have Chicago GMs of the past caved on public sentiment and retained a player who could have been traded at the peak of his value but was so wildy popular with fans, they stuck around and then sucked. Bowman isn't afraid to make whatever move he needs to make to position this team to defend the cup, the public opinion be damned. Think of him as a more quiet, less intense, less sentimental version of Kenny Williams.
While I'll miss Byfuglien. the fact that Chris Pronger owned him during the first four games of the finals is enough to convince me that someone else can probably do his job better. The guy who the Hawks will miss will be Sopel, who is an outstanding shot blocker. But because he doesn't score much, fans forget about him
Welcome back, Carlos Quentin, we've missed you.
Now that the Sox have won two straight against Atlanta, do you believe yet? Come on, just a bit.
If things finish today like they've been going the last two days, the White Sox will need to send a gift basket to both the Mets and Brewers. The Mets, who are a hot team themselves,have been beating up the Tigers while the Brewers, behind some suddenly decent pitching, have been taming the Twins.
Ozzie Guillen is saying all the right things about wanting to stay in Chicago and not go off to Miami. Maybe it's because Florida owner Jeffery Loria is such a bad owner. Firing your manager during a winning streak? Not backing him when he disciplines the star player who badly needed a spanking? Ozzie wouldn't last ten minutes in an environment like that and even he knows that.
Speaking of Loria, I have a theory on why the Marlins chose yesterday to jettison Fredi Gonzalez. Tuesday night against Baltimore, there was an incident where Jeremy Guthrie hit a Marlins batter and the umpire immediately warned both teams that any further close ones would be cause for ejection. Gonzalez never did retaliate against the Orioles during the game. Perhaps Loria took that as a sign of weakness and a sign that his manager didn't have his players backs.
Or, it could be Loria is trying to catch lightning in a bottle like he did in 2003. During that season, Loria axed Jeff Torborg and replaced him with crusty old Trader Jack McKeon and won the world series (not to mention coming back against the Cubs in the NLCS.). I doubt that will happen this year with the Marlins shaky pitching staff.
Lovie Smith keeps talking about how good he thinks the Bears will be. His exact quote "We know what a good football team looks like and we think this is a good football team." After the Hawks winning the Stanley Cup and with the Sox creating good buzz with their recent tear and reinsertion into the AL Central race, Lovie better be right. Chicago teams will be on a very short leash for the next couple of years. Let's hope a good football team looks a lot better than one with "all the pieces in place." Of course, even the Lions look good in OTAs.
As poorly as they've played lately, the Cubs scare me this weekend against the White Sox. A wounded bear is a dangerous bear.
Okay, I'm glad the US has moved on in the World Cup, but I still don't care. There is a certain faction in the media desperately wanting Americans to embrace soccer. That to me is like eating a crap sandwich. No thanks.
If I were Phil Jackson, I would mount my horse and ride off into the sunset. He has nothing else to prove and coaching for less money isn't worthy of what he has accomplished.