Chip Shots Top Ten Chicago Sports Moments of 2011
With little fanfare, here are my favorite and least favorite Chicago sports moments from 2011:
10) Bulls are Back: Led by the stellar play of Derrick Rose and the intense coaching style of first year head man Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls made it to the conference finals for the first time since the Jordan era.. They lost to LeBron and the Miami Heat, four games to one. LeBron and the Heat went on to lose in the finals to Dallas. You may be wondering why the Bulls are only at number ten. It's because I really do not give a rat's behind about the NBA.
9) Packers Dominate Bears: With their victory on Christmas day, the Green Bay Packers have become only the second team in NFL history to beat an opponent four times in the same calendar year. I live in Wisconsin and I can't even wear my Bears gear in public anymore because people start laughing.
8) Sox Trade Santos: Bobby Jenks was let go because the Sox had Sergio Santos waiting in the wings. So, what did the Sox do? They sent Santos to the Blue Jays for a handful of magic beans named Nestor Molina (It's too bad he's not a catcher). The trade was made despite the fact that Santos was the least of the Sox contractual worries. Kenny Williams then claimed the Sox were rebuilding, but outside of his surprising re-signing of John Danks, he has done nothing to support it. Me thinks Kenny is talking out of both sides of his mouth to confuse his competitors.
7) Over and Dunn: Apparently new White Sox DH Adam Dunn didn't get the memo about the Sox being "all in" in 2011. Instead, Dunn couldn't hit the broadside of a barn and some say he might have hit his peak. Dunn's season was one of the worst ever for a major league player and credit Ozzie Guillen for giving Dunn few at bats in September so that he wouldn't meet the league minimum. If he did, it would have gone on record for the lowest batting average ever. The Sox are confident that Dunn can rebound in 2012. The stat heads, not so much.
6) Hawks Mount No Defense: It was a long year for the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Salary cap issues necessitated the trades of several important pieces of the championship team and the Hawks struggled with toughness issues. There was also a pretty large hangover from winning the cup. The Hawks squeaked into the playoffs on the last day of the season as the eighth seed. There, they fought gallantly against the hated Canucks, losing in seven games. The good news is this years edition of the Blackhawks is kicking butt and is one of the early favorites to win the cup again.
5) Boston Theo Party: The Cubs had a miserable 2011, which ended with the firing of GM Jim Hendry. Cubs owner Tom Ricketts has been a successful businessman for many years and knows that if you find a bright manager in another company, you hire him away. Enter Theo Epstein, the former boy wonder of the Boston Red Sox. Whether or not he can break the Cubs curse remains to be seen, but the Cubs will at least now be operated like a new age franchise. And the geeks shall inherit the earth.
4) Under my Thumb: The Bears were cruising along at 7-3 and shocking the world until Jay Cutler broke his thumb in San Diego. Shortly thereafter, running back Matt Forte blew a knee against Kansas City and much losing followed. The Bears were exposed as a team with no backup quarterback. How desperate were the Bears? Josh McKown was coaching a high school team at this time last month. He started last Sunday. Without Cutler, the Bears sucked like we thought they would.
3a) He Gone: Not such a shock, but sad in a way as the Ozzie-Kenny BS that started in 2010 continued to dominate the Sox headlines in 2011. Although both put on a smiling public face, the damage was done and when Ozzie had an opportunity to bolt, he did to Miami and the Marlins. The biggest shocker was not Ozzie's leaving, but who will be replacing him: Former third baseman Robin Ventura, who has as much major and minor managing experience as I have.
3b) He Gone With Him: The Sox also waved goodbye to lefthander Mark Buehrle, who is following Ozzie to Miami. Buehrle gave the Sox every chance in the world to re-sign him, but in the end, bad contracts (Dunn, Rios, Peavy) and the Chairman's long standing order to not re-sign pitchers in their 30's sent Buehrle to join forces with his former manager. Fans are saddened by the loss of Buehrle, not only because of his solid pitching and great defense, but because he is a truly good guy. He will be sorely missed. Later, the Sox extended John Danks, who, unless Jake Peavy can come all the way back, is the new ace of the staff. Yikes.
2) Damn Cheeseheads: The Bears were beat up physically in the NFC Championship game. In the first half, Jay Cutler strained a knee ligament and couldn't go in the second half. Fans evoking the names of Butkus, Ditka and George Halas were outraged and questioned Cutler's toughness. Then, Todd Collins came in and sucked. He was removed for Caleb Hanie who sucked just a bit less, making the Bears think they had a viable backup for 2011. Ooops! Bottom line, the Packers beat the Bears for the second time in three weeks and eventually went on to win the Super Bowl. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was seen walking across Lake Michigan shortly there after. The loss left a bad taste in Bears fans mouths and it got even worse after two more losses to the Cheeseheads in 2011.
1) Santo Gets His Due : Almost a year to the day after he passed away, Cubs great Ron Santo was finally elected to the baseball hall of fame. Santo had been a victim of the worst miscarriage of justice since Dr. Sam Sheppard in being repetedly denied entrance to the hall. Some of it came from his prickly personality as a player and his uber competiveness which rubbed several veterans committee members the wrong way (you know who you are, Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt.) In the end, Santo finally got in, but didn't live to see it, which makes it a bittersweet moment for fans.
10) Bulls are Back: Led by the stellar play of Derrick Rose and the intense coaching style of first year head man Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls made it to the conference finals for the first time since the Jordan era.. They lost to LeBron and the Miami Heat, four games to one. LeBron and the Heat went on to lose in the finals to Dallas. You may be wondering why the Bulls are only at number ten. It's because I really do not give a rat's behind about the NBA.
9) Packers Dominate Bears: With their victory on Christmas day, the Green Bay Packers have become only the second team in NFL history to beat an opponent four times in the same calendar year. I live in Wisconsin and I can't even wear my Bears gear in public anymore because people start laughing.
8) Sox Trade Santos: Bobby Jenks was let go because the Sox had Sergio Santos waiting in the wings. So, what did the Sox do? They sent Santos to the Blue Jays for a handful of magic beans named Nestor Molina (It's too bad he's not a catcher). The trade was made despite the fact that Santos was the least of the Sox contractual worries. Kenny Williams then claimed the Sox were rebuilding, but outside of his surprising re-signing of John Danks, he has done nothing to support it. Me thinks Kenny is talking out of both sides of his mouth to confuse his competitors.
7) Over and Dunn: Apparently new White Sox DH Adam Dunn didn't get the memo about the Sox being "all in" in 2011. Instead, Dunn couldn't hit the broadside of a barn and some say he might have hit his peak. Dunn's season was one of the worst ever for a major league player and credit Ozzie Guillen for giving Dunn few at bats in September so that he wouldn't meet the league minimum. If he did, it would have gone on record for the lowest batting average ever. The Sox are confident that Dunn can rebound in 2012. The stat heads, not so much.
6) Hawks Mount No Defense: It was a long year for the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Salary cap issues necessitated the trades of several important pieces of the championship team and the Hawks struggled with toughness issues. There was also a pretty large hangover from winning the cup. The Hawks squeaked into the playoffs on the last day of the season as the eighth seed. There, they fought gallantly against the hated Canucks, losing in seven games. The good news is this years edition of the Blackhawks is kicking butt and is one of the early favorites to win the cup again.
5) Boston Theo Party: The Cubs had a miserable 2011, which ended with the firing of GM Jim Hendry. Cubs owner Tom Ricketts has been a successful businessman for many years and knows that if you find a bright manager in another company, you hire him away. Enter Theo Epstein, the former boy wonder of the Boston Red Sox. Whether or not he can break the Cubs curse remains to be seen, but the Cubs will at least now be operated like a new age franchise. And the geeks shall inherit the earth.
4) Under my Thumb: The Bears were cruising along at 7-3 and shocking the world until Jay Cutler broke his thumb in San Diego. Shortly thereafter, running back Matt Forte blew a knee against Kansas City and much losing followed. The Bears were exposed as a team with no backup quarterback. How desperate were the Bears? Josh McKown was coaching a high school team at this time last month. He started last Sunday. Without Cutler, the Bears sucked like we thought they would.
3a) He Gone: Not such a shock, but sad in a way as the Ozzie-Kenny BS that started in 2010 continued to dominate the Sox headlines in 2011. Although both put on a smiling public face, the damage was done and when Ozzie had an opportunity to bolt, he did to Miami and the Marlins. The biggest shocker was not Ozzie's leaving, but who will be replacing him: Former third baseman Robin Ventura, who has as much major and minor managing experience as I have.
3b) He Gone With Him: The Sox also waved goodbye to lefthander Mark Buehrle, who is following Ozzie to Miami. Buehrle gave the Sox every chance in the world to re-sign him, but in the end, bad contracts (Dunn, Rios, Peavy) and the Chairman's long standing order to not re-sign pitchers in their 30's sent Buehrle to join forces with his former manager. Fans are saddened by the loss of Buehrle, not only because of his solid pitching and great defense, but because he is a truly good guy. He will be sorely missed. Later, the Sox extended John Danks, who, unless Jake Peavy can come all the way back, is the new ace of the staff. Yikes.
2) Damn Cheeseheads: The Bears were beat up physically in the NFC Championship game. In the first half, Jay Cutler strained a knee ligament and couldn't go in the second half. Fans evoking the names of Butkus, Ditka and George Halas were outraged and questioned Cutler's toughness. Then, Todd Collins came in and sucked. He was removed for Caleb Hanie who sucked just a bit less, making the Bears think they had a viable backup for 2011. Ooops! Bottom line, the Packers beat the Bears for the second time in three weeks and eventually went on to win the Super Bowl. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was seen walking across Lake Michigan shortly there after. The loss left a bad taste in Bears fans mouths and it got even worse after two more losses to the Cheeseheads in 2011.
1) Santo Gets His Due : Almost a year to the day after he passed away, Cubs great Ron Santo was finally elected to the baseball hall of fame. Santo had been a victim of the worst miscarriage of justice since Dr. Sam Sheppard in being repetedly denied entrance to the hall. Some of it came from his prickly personality as a player and his uber competiveness which rubbed several veterans committee members the wrong way (you know who you are, Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt.) In the end, Santo finally got in, but didn't live to see it, which makes it a bittersweet moment for fans.
Posted by Chip Ramsey at 12/28/2011 10:36 AM 
Categories: Chicago Bears, Hockey, Pro Baksetball, Chicago White Sox, Ozzie Guillen, Pro Football, Baseball
Tags: That Snake Named Jake Lovie The Big Donkey Life Behind The Cheese Curtain Matt Forte Rockin Robin Sergio Cry Baby Cutler
Categories: Chicago Bears, Hockey, Pro Baksetball, Chicago White Sox, Ozzie Guillen, Pro Football, Baseball
Tags: That Snake Named Jake Lovie The Big Donkey Life Behind The Cheese Curtain Matt Forte Rockin Robin Sergio Cry Baby Cutler
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