Chicago Sports

PARIS – It’s no longer Nikola Vucevic’s “No. 1 language,” but the Bulls big man was still proficient in speaking French.

Make no mistake about it, though, when it comes to on-the-court cursing that’s where Vucevic’s Serbian still reigns supreme.

“Oh, all Serbian,” Vucevic responded, when asked what his language of choice is when he needs to fire one off without NBA officials knowing. “In Serbia, we have some intense curse words.”

Just don’t ask him to play translator this week.

While Vucevic told his Bulls teammates that he will help with “accommodations and stuff,” he warned them to figure out the language themselves.

“It’s Paris. It’s a big city. Everybody knows it,” Vucevic said. “I just told them I will not be a translator. I don’t care. I know French but I will not be a translator. I have my own sh– to do, sorry, stuff to do.”

That he does, and no apology needed.

The NBA Paris Game 2023 has personal meaning for Vucevic. Living in Belgium for 12 years when he was younger, and learning the French culture and language, how could it not? That’s why he’s so excited about the Thursday game with the Pistons.

He still has friends that live in Paris, an uncle – Savo – who coaches in France, and he has family coming from Montenegro. None of which have ever seen him play live in an NBA game. But it’s more than just Vucevic needing to hoard as many tickets as possible leading up to tip-off.

It’s what the NBA playing in another country does for the culture. The Bulls last played in Paris in the 1997 “McDonald’s Open Final.” Vucevic was seven then, and recalled that year vividly. Just the idea of an NBA team coming overseas was impactful.

In his mind, it was impactful then and it still is now.

“It’s very important,” Vucevic said. “Obviously, the NBA is growing more and more globally. Unfortunately, a lot of kids from the rest of the world don’t get a chance to go to an NBA game or even see an NBA player in person. For a lot of people here, kids especially, it will be huge to get a chance to see us. Even if they just run into us around the city, I’m sure they’ll be excited.

“It matters a lot to players too. Growing up, we were fans of the game and had idols and eventually we all got lucky enough to play against some of those and meet them and talk to them. You still get star-struck at times even when you make it to the NBA. So we’re looking forward to it.”

And the timing couldn’t be better.

The tickets for the Bulls-Pistons game sold out almost immediately, with Paris currently in an NBA frenzy thanks to top prospect Victor Wembanyama. The 7-foot-2, 19-year-old is not only considered the most talented player to come out of France, but NBA scouts have tabbed him as a potential generational player that could turn an organization’s fortunes around almost immediately.

“That’s how it starts,” Vucevic pointed out. “You had Tony Parker and Boris Diaw [from France], and the younger generation after them, [Nicolas] Batum and Evan Fournier, all those guys. With Victor, he’s a one of a kind player and one of the biggest prospects the NBA has ever seen. So I’m sure once he gets to the NBA, I’m sure there will be even more buzz and people will talk about it even more.

“The more good players you have that go to the highest level and play from your country, the more interest people will have in it. I was just here in September and just walking around the city, you can tell people really love the game. It’s a great place to have a global game here by the NBA.”

No translation needed.

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Carla Knorowski cried as she sat on the couch at her Lake View home and watched news coverage of a fire tearing through Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

It was April 2019. The smoke and flames struck a nerve.

Several weeks earlier, Knorowski, a professional fundraiser who’s raised millions for her alma mater, the University of Illinois at Chicago, began working with Friends of Notre Dame de Paris on the organization’s board of directors.

Her mission was to raise money for the upkeep of the building. But it quickly took on a new purpose and sense of urgency as untold millions would be needed to restore and rebuild.

Knorowski organized a global virtual fundraising event whose participants included cellist and onetime Paris resident Yo-Yo Ma, actress Glenn Close, filmmaker Ken Burns, journalist Scott Simon and Notre Dame Cathedral organist Olivier Latry. The event raised about $500,000.

More recently, she organized an event at the University Club of Chicago that featured the two French architects in charge of rebuilding the centuries-old cathedral. Her efforts were so successful they even grabbed the attention of France’s top leaders.

Knorowski, who travels to Paris frequently and was there just last week, donned a hazmat suit at the cathedral in July while touring the damage and progress that’s been made.

“The roof was lead and it melted and there was a lot of lead dust in the building, so I wore the hazmat suit to limit exposure,” she said. “The cathedral was a labyrinth of scaffolding.”

It’s scheduled to reopen in 2024, though restoration is slated to continue through 2030.

Knorowski, who continues to actively raise money for the effort, first laid eyes on the cathedral in the early 1980s.

In college, traveling with only a backpack, she voyaged to Paris. It was a feat for a girl from the Northwest Side who grew up under the impression that trips to Europe were reserved for 25th wedding anniversaries.

“I fell in love with it, and like Hemingway said, ‘If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.’ Well, that really rang true for me.”

Knorowski, 63, began visiting towns named after Paris 12 years ago. She has visited every town in the United States named Paris.

“I thought, ‘They must also be special.’ So I went to see what they were all about,” she said.

In each town, she found a way to contribute.

In Paris, Arkansas, she judged a costume contest at a parade at the town’s Butterfly Festival. In Paris, Tennessee, she volunteered at the world’s biggest fish fry, where she slung baked beans. In Paris, Illinois, she attended a Paris High School basketball game and donated money to the school’s library.

“I really try to become part of the community. If I don’t come up with anything, I’ll take an empty plastic bag and pick up trash,” Knorowski said.

“Some people are like, ‘What are you doing? Why?’ They don’t get it. But the world is a big fun place, and you have to go enjoy it and let it be fun,” said Knorowski, who also enjoys running marathons.

Her support has not gone unnoticed.

In the fall, in a ceremony in downtown Chicago, French Consul General of the Midwest Yannick Tagand awarded Knorowski the National Order of Merit, one of France’s highest honors. Tagand pinned the hardware on her jacket and planted a kiss on each cheek.

“As far as we are concerned, she has played a crucial role. … She has been a friend of France for 40 years,” Tagand said, noting Knorowski’s travels and long history of charitable work and promoting shared cultural values.

Knorowski, who grew up near Belmont and Cicero, described receiving the award and a certificate signed by French President Emmanuel Macron as a “pinch me moment.”

“I was quite surprised and quite honored and very humbled to have received it. To just be recognized for something I would have done regardless,” said Knorowski, who is currently the chief development officer for the U.S. Naval War College.

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Traveling with puppets is difficult. Just ask any of the participants of the fifth Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, opening Wednesday and featuring artists from across the globe performing at venues across Chicago.

Or ask New York’s Basil Twist, whose intricate, dazzling “Dogugaeshi” was supposed be a centerpiece of the 2022 festival. Instead, the production’s more than 500 hand-painted sliding screens were stranded in Germany, victim of a snarled supply chain.

“The show travels by ship,” said Twist, explaining the preferred mode of overseas travel for puppetry artists. Flying their heavy, often oversized creations is exorbitantly expensive and, even were cost not a factor, the one-of-a-kind, handmade puppets and sets are too delicate to survive the rough-and-tumble journey of checked baggage.

“It’s been through the Panama Canal three times. But getting to Chicago last year from Germany in time? That was impossible. This year? We’re doing it,” Twist said.

Twist’s production will join the others converging on the fest, which opens with Plexis Polaire’s “Moby Dick,” the French company’s moody spectacle featuring whales large enough to fill your entire field of vision and details so intricate you can pick out the scars and tattoos on Captain Ahab’s doomed crew.

Manual Cinema’s “Frankenstein,” acclaimed when it premiered at Court Theatre in 2018, closes the festival.

In between, there are exhibits, art installations, films, workshops and an array of shows that range from kid-friendly (The Gottabees’ playful “A Squirrel Stole My Underpants”) to wildly surreal (the melting ice marionettes of Theatre de L’Entrouvert’s “Anywhere”) to tales rooted in history (Theodora Skipitares’ “Grand Panorama” explores Frederick Douglass’ fascination with photography) to the fraught state of Brazilian politics (“Macunaima Gourmet” from Brazil’s Pigmali?o Escultura que Mexe).

“With Omicron surging and supply chain issues, our compromise last year was not to have any international artists, so that was a very different festival,” Smith said.

This year, the puppets are converging on Chicago from South Africa to Norway. Below, a quintet of shows to check out during this month’s 12 days of puppetry.

‘Dogugaeshi’ — Basil Twist

A commission from the Japanese Society, Dogugaeshi is created with sliding screens that open — think Russian nesting dolls by way of a kaleidoscope — to reveal images within image within image. Strains from both East (the stringed shamisen) and West (Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” in an arrangement by Twist’s father) provide a soundscape.

“For centuries, dogugaeshi artists traveled on boats to different islands, kind of like a circus,” Twist said. “Every time I visit my storage space, I am astounded by how they moved the show. It’s just so massive. It’s also contemplative, almost like a meditation.”

‘Choo. Choo. Whistle. Woof!’ — Naive Theatre Liberec, Czechia

Czechia’s Naive Theatre has been producing for more than 70 years, making it one of the oldest companies at the fest. Its production is a love story centered on dogs riding model trains.

“We came across articles about dogs that can travel by train, by themselves, and always know when to get off and how to get home. This is how the idea was born — that the traveler will be a small dog and the reason for his brave journey will be, as usual, love,” said the theater’s Michaela Homolov?.

‘Invitation to a Beheading’ — The Rough House Theater Co., Chicago

Inspired by Nabokov’s novel about a teacher condemned to death, the production features “a very real chopping block and a very real axe,” said Rough House co-artistic director Mike Oleon. “It’s a combo of macabre and joyous fun that tackles the darkness of mortality with a sense of glee and openness.

“[It’s] especially well-suited for puppetry and physical theater because it is set in a mindscape in which the rules of reality are constantly shifting.”

Manual Cinema’s ‘Frankenstein’ — Manual Cinema, Chicago

Since its acclaimed debut in 2018 at Chicago’s Court Theatre, “Frankenstein” has toured from South America to the upper reaches of the Arctic Circle.

“It’s changed significantly since 2018,” said Manual Cinema co-artistic director Sarah Fornace. “It’s tighter, with even more of a focus on Mary Shelley and the baby she lost as a framing device.

“We were inspired by the foreword she wrote to the 1832 edition of the novel. She wrote she was inspired by this dream where ‘I lost my baby, and brought him back by rubbing his limbs.’ “

‘Hamlet’ — Janni Younge Productions, South Africa

Shakespeare’s blood-soaked tale of royalty, murder and revenge is steeped in “words, words, words,” to borrow a snippet of Shakespeare’s dialogue (uttered when the titular prince becomes fed up with language in lieu of action). But Younge’s innovative staging (presented in collaboration with the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center) is wordless, with life-sized puppets tackling the seminal tragedy.

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PARIS – DeMar DeRozan doesn’t exactly love interruptions to his regiment.

There’s a flow to an NBA season, and any little disruption in that becomes a distraction.

This week, DeRozan’s willing to make an exception.

It isn’t often that the forward gets to pack up his five kids – four daughters and one son – for an in-season road trip, but that’s exactly what he did for Thursday’s upcoming NBA Paris Game between the Bulls and the Detroit Pistons.

“To be able to be here and experience that as a basketball player is amazing,” DeRozan said. “And then to have my son and my daughters here to witness it is an awesome thing. I’m going to get a feel and experience with them with us having a day off [from practice on Tuesday]. Obviously the Eiffel Tower … just everything about [Paris], trying the food, taking some tea home. Just taking it all in.”

As DeRozan pointed out, not bad for a guy from Compton, who as a boy would have never imagined playing in Paris.

“No, never have I ever, ever [imagined it], so that’s another reason why it’s so cool to even be here,” DeRozan said. “It just shows you how far playing basketball can take you.”

But there is also a basketball side of this week that actually plays in DeRozan’s favor. While he usually would hate playing just one game over a seven-day span, because of his ailing right quadriceps, the schedule works for him in the recovery department.

While DeRozan went down in the third quarter of the Jan. 9 loss in Boston, he had been dealing with soreness with the quad for weeks before that. The Celtics game just compounded it.

DeRozan missed the next three games, watching the Bulls lose to Washington and Oklahoma City, before getting back on track against Golden State on Sunday, but he now has the luxury of another three off days to get the leg right without missing any more games.

If the Bulls did have to play on Tuesday, rather than explore Paris with their families, DeRozan admittedly didn’t know if he could go.

That’s not the case for Thursday.

“For sure, yeah,” DeRozan responded when asked if he was playing.

According to coach Billy Donovan, DeRozan did participate in parts of the light Monday practice, continued getting treatment on Tuesday, and then would really push it in Wednesday’s scheduled practice to make sure that he has no setbacks.

But all indications were the Bulls would have their leading scorer back.

“It’s an experience that’s one of a kind,” DeRozan said. “I’ve been in the league 14 years and I’ve never been to Paris. So to come here and be able to compete, and do something in front of a fan base you don’t get the chance to do something in front of, I don’t take the opportunity for granted one bit. It’s the experience that lasts a lifetime.”

Ball-ing out

While Lonzo Ball (left knee surgery) made the trip to Paris with teammates this week, they might not want to get used to seeing him on the road just yet.

Ball, who was yet to play this season after undergoing a second knee procedure in less than a year back in September, will still continue doing his rehab in Chicago when the team returns on Friday. The trip to France was the exception, with Ball usually able to get more done at the Advocate Center than on the road.

“Obviously I’ve got to work through [discomfort],” Ball said of the process. “There’s going to be pain there because of the surgeries and I’m getting back in and moving things, but I’m just trying to stay positive and move forward.”

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Soldier Field is a terrible football stadium. Let’s get that out of the way right now.

It might be iconic. It might be on the lake. It might be where your grandpa took you to see Mac Percival and Bob Pifferini do their thing. But please leave nostalgia at the front desk. And don’t forget that the Bears played at Wrigley Field until 1971.

Soldier Field is a ridiculous 10-pound alien toilet seat crammed into a five-pound box. Originally opened in 1924 as a big ”U”-shaped venue to handle every kind of sporting event — from heavyweight fights to ski jumping to, yes, football — the stadium has been updated so many times it makes Madonna’s face alterations look quaint.

It likely was cool to watch Austin beat Leo in the 1937 Prep Bowl in Soldier Field in front of 120,000 fans. But that was during the Depression, and TVs hadn’t even been invented.

If you don’t believe Soldier Field is an eyesore, remember that it lost its National Historic Landmark status in 2006. That happened after a 10-member federal committee voted unanimously to de-list the place because it was so architecturally offensive.

”If we want to keep the integrity of the program, let alone the landmarks, we really had no other recourse,” a committee member said.

And that’s just the outside. The inside is terrible, too. Cramped, inelegant and jury-rigged, it’s the lowest-capacity stadium (61,500) in the NFL, un-roofed, incapable of hosting a Super Bowl.

This being Chicago, of course, everything comes down to politics. The Bears now are investigating building a new stadium in suburban Arlington Heights, on the site of the defunct Arlington International Racecourse, and Chicago city leaders don’t like this.

In June 2021, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Bears season-ticket holder, said the Arlington Heights idea was ”clearly a negotiating tactic that the Bears have used before.” Bears officials claim they’re serious.

Actually, they’ve been moderately serious before. I remember when then-Bears chairman Michael McCaskey showed me a rendering of a proposed stadium in some southern or western suburb, and I got a big chuckle because one of the stadium entrances in the drawing was a giant growling bear’s head. Yep, that might have been a negotiating ploy.

But now the Bears have signed a $197.2 million purchase agreement for the 326 acres where the racetrack was, a deal a team official tells me will be completed in the first quarter of this year.

If they purchase the land, they still don’t have to build. But what they’re talking about is a domed stadium, as modern as they come, with all kinds of amenities in the area around it. Not an add-on, jury-rigged stadium contraption, but something new, sleek, Super Bowl-worthy, like what they do in other cities.

And the thing Lightfoot and all the big talkers forget is that the NFL is one armor-plated cartel, with each of the 32 franchises a protected outpost within that cartel. You want another team in your town? Dream on.

Confronted with the stadium issue, mayoral candidate Willie Wilson said, ”What I would do, I’ll buy another team in Chicago.”

Hilarious.

Chicago likely could support three NFL teams, maybe more. But the NFL does as it pleases, shoots down all threats to its sanctity. For reference, check the U.S. Football League’s 1986 monopoly lawsuit against the NFL — and its $1 reward for winning.

Lightfoot, so snarky at the start — the Bears, she said, should focus on ”beating the Packers finally and being relevant past October” — now is begging the Bears to stay in town. The new half-baked plan by Landmark Development to put a dome on Soldier Field is as ridiculous as it is grotesque. It wouldn’t just be putting more lipstick on a pig; it would be adding high heels and a wig hat.

Yes, the Bears are lousy, but they can do what they want. (That cartel thing, remember.) And if they could start fresh in Arlington Heights, 30 miles northwest of Chicago, in a new stadium with space, with modern amenities, with a structure that looks toward the 22nd century, not back to the 19th, maybe they could win a few games, too.

Half the teams in the NFL don’t play in the city they’re named for. The Giants and Jets haven’t played in New York City — or even New York state — for 40 years.

It’s time, Chicago. Do something new. Let it happen. Even if it’s in another town.

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When an alleged drunk driver plowed into the bus carrying a St. Ignatius College Prep hockey team through northern Indiana in November, a promising season came to a grinding halt.

But on Sunday, the junior varsity squad had a triumphant return to the ice, scoring a 5-0 victory against Aurora’s Marmion Academy.

Among those packing the stands at Fifth Third Arena on the Near West Side were three of the four players who remained sidelined, dozens of first responders and a Good Samaritan who sprang into action after the crash.

“We’re just hoping for continued healing and recovery for them,” Spencer Montgomery, St. Ignatius’ hockey director, said of the players. “The good news is we’re able to field a team and get back to play, but we’re not done with the incident.”

On the night of Nov. 12, a speeding semi-truck driver swerved across lanes of U.S. Route 30 in Warsaw, Indiana, before running through a red light, crashing into the team bus and knocking it on its side, according to court documents. Witnesses said it didn’t appear the truck’s driver, Victor Santos, tried to slow down or avoid the bus.

Santos, 58, of Brooklyn, New York, faces multiple felony counts of causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. Court documents show he’s a registered sex offender in New York, and he was convicted of rape in 1999.

Sixteen St. Ignatius junior varsity hockey players have filed a lawsuit in connection with the crash, naming Santos and the trucking companies involved as defendants.

The hockey team had been competing in a tournament at Culver Military Academy and was returning to its hotel from dinner. At least 16 players were hurt, three of them critically.

The road to recovery — both physically and emotionally — hasn’t been easy, but most of the players are back to playing shape, Montgomery said. The team is now in line to make the playoffs and has a series of makeup games scheduled this month.

“In a lot of ways, they really needed to just get back on the ice,” Montgomery said of the players who have returned. “There’s something about hockey for the 90 minutes you’re on the ice, everything can kind of disappear and you just get to play a game.”

John Chandler, president of St. Ignatius, said the response to the crash was “a testimony to the care of this community,” crediting both those who responded and the outpouring of support locally. “There’s a lot of lessons that our broader community has learned: the fragility of life [and] not knowing what’s going to happen necessarily in the next moment,” Chandler added.

Through it all, Montgomery said the players have stood by each other as they grappled with the fallout from the shared traumatic experience.

“In the dark moments, you have to look for the light,” he said. “And this group has bonded together and leaned on each other. And then the opportunity to come back and compete, and get back to the game of hockey, is a real blessing.”

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Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson spent part of his day off Sunday watching the NFL playoffs.

It was mostly for fun. But he also believed it might prove applicable to the Hawks, considering they’ll get no closer to the NHL playoffs than the NFL playoffs this season. That hunch proved correct.

When Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle dropped a potential 50-yard catch in the first quarter against the Bills, then rebounded to make a crucial 25-yard catch on third down in the fourth quarter, Richardson was watching. He hoped his players were, too, and would notice how “mentally strong” Waddle was and transfer that lesson into hockey.

And when Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel took far too long to call a play on fourth down later that drive, leading to a delay-of-game penalty that essentially lost the game, Richardson was still watching. It reminded him of the importance of having plans in place beforehand for all scenarios.

“You need a mental break,” Richardson said Monday. “[Days off] are scheduled in there for those reasons. Watch some football. And sometimes that’s good, because it gives you a little reality [check] to watch other teams making mistakes or executing in a different sport. It gives [the players] a little something they can bring back to their own game.”

The mental break helped calm down Richardson, who criticized the Hawks more strongly Saturday — after a pathetic 8-5 loss to the Kraken — than at any previous point this season.

In his postgame comments, he called the team out for “a lack of mental and physical preparation” and questioned the effectiveness of their pre-game and off-day routines.

“Feeling good about yourself is a good thing,” he added. “But if you feel good about yourself and stop doing what got you there, that’s a bad thing.”

The Sunday off-day was pre-scheduled, so he could do nothing about its existence — thus the special focus on how he spent it and how he hoped his players spent it. But evidently, they spent it well. Richardson said Monday he liked the collective sense of dissatisfaction radiating around Fifth Third Arena.

“Everybody was grumpy,” he said. “They got used to winning, they got used to being smiley and happy around the rink, and they did not want to lose.”

Colin Blackwell, for one, certainly felt that way. The former Kraken forward called his effort against his former team “awful,” adding that he “didn’t influence the game in any positive ways” and “let the team down a little bit.”

Richardson canceled the Hawks’ typical morning video session, deeming their play Saturday too off-base to even justify analysis, and instead ran an intense practice with drills emphasizing one-on-one and two-on-two battles.

Afterward, he discussed some defensive-zone tactical changes in a lengthy full-team huddle, then broke them down further in small-group settings.

“A few questions came up,” he said. “Then a couple guys stayed when everybody else milled away, and they had a few more questions. It got a couple guys talking, and they go away talking, and [then] another guy stays and asks more questions. They just want to make sure they’re understanding it right, which is great. Just one question probably answers 10 questions, because other people are thinking the same thing.”

The Hawks will begin the second half of their season Tuesday, hosting the Sabres for game No. 42, before hitting the road for 13 of their next 18 games through the end of February.

Wins might be just as scarce in the second half as they were in the first half, which the Hawks finished 11-26-4. Richardson acknowledged that Monday; his players are quietly aware, as well.

But the Hawks’ unity, resilience and motivation has rarely faltered this season — in spite of their lack of success — and Richardson expects the lingering embarrassment from the Kraken gut-punch will ensure those traits return again Tuesday.

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Illinois defensive back Devon Witherspoon 2023 NFL Draft scouting report

Devon Witherspoon finished the 2022 season in elite company and truly showed why many teams will be looking to draft him in the first round. Witherspoon had an historic season for the Illini just like Chase Brown and it is no wonder they had such a successful start to the season. Now a senior and declaring for the NFL Draft we will look into why NFL scouts are so high on Devon Witherspoon.

Playing all 12 games this past season Witherspoon was elite as it gets at cornerback. He played over 700 snaps where he had 41 total tackles, 14 pass break ups, 3 interceptions and only allowed an incredible QB rating of 24.6 when throw at. The Big 10 always produces some really talented and athletic wide receivers over the years and this year is no different. Witherspoon was lockdown in coverage and allowing an average QB rating of 24.6 when thrown at is special.

Devon Witherspoon was also nominated for the Thorpe award. The Thorpe award is given to the best defensive back in the country. Devon was one of the 3 finalists for that award and he is the first finalist for the Thorpe award in Illinois history. Devon Witherspoon was also a semifinalist for the Bednarik award which is awarded to the best defensive player in college football. He was then voted consensus All-American which again is the first time in Illinois football history a defensive back was voted consensus All-American.

The Chicago Bears don’t immediately need another cornerback and maybe for the long term. At least not in the first round. Jaylon Johnson, who has certainly come into his own this past season and Kyler Gordon, the rookie who found his game after a sluggish start have both shown that cornerback is looking good. Also both Johnson and Gordon were second round picks. Plenty of times the Bears looked horrible in coverage but it is hard to blame defensive backs when the opposing quarterback has all day to throw the football. Maybe Witherspoon wouldn’t be worth a high pick for the Bears but having depth at corner is truly never a bad thing.

Let’s get into the scouting report for Devon Witherspoon where we will look at strengths, weaknesses and if he will fit in the Chicago Bears plans for the 2023 NFL Draft.

Position: Cornerback

Height/Weight: 6 foot, 180 pounds

Career Stats: 41 games played, 148 total tackles, 22 total PBU’s, 5 total interceptions (3 in 2022), and only surrendered a 24.6 QBR in 2022.

Via NFL Draft Buzz:

Strengths:

Has the length and speed to become a starter quickly.Reads routes and anticipates throws at the first down marker well. He covers a lot of ground in a hurry and reads the Quarterback’s eyes to determine routes and break on throws fast.Has been elite in man coverage in 2022 with route anticipation and closing speed.Can excel in zone coverage because of his closing speed and wrapping up receivers post catch technique.If he gets the jump correct or lines someone up he can hit hard.

Weaknesses:

Needs to tighten angles in pursuit and needs to consistently tackle better.Undersized and underpowered when lining up in press coverage.

How does Devon Witherspoon fit with the Chicago Bears?

I alluded to this earlier that Chicago doesn’t seem to need cornerbacks for a little while. Johnson and Gordon are both young and pretty good already. Having depth at corner is always great but adding a third cornerback with a first round pick would be boneheaded. Witherspoon is elite in my opinion. I think he will be a good cornerback for someone.

The cool thing about the Bears having this coveted number 1 pick is that with the supposed heavy draft capital the Bears will receive in return for the pick, they could find themselves with a late first round pick or another early second rounder. If Witherspoon ends up falling it wouldn’t be a bonehead move at that point in my opinion. Again it depends on how much draft capital Chicago will receive. I don’t see Witherspoon being a Bear but Illinois football had some studs this year that needed to be mentioned.

Projected round:

CBS Mock Draft (No. 17 overall)

Pro Football Focus (No. 14 overall)

The Draft Network (No. 18 overall)

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Two’s a crowd: Michael Pittman to Chicago?

Rumor has come out in the past week that the Indianapolis Colts are considering sending wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. to the Chicago Bears with picks for the number one overall pick. After the Colts wasted big bucks on veteran and career-choker Matt Ryan, they are desperate to draft their next guy in 2023.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard said recently he’d do whatever it takes to draft the right quarterback. He might think he can get away with fleecing the Bears. Bears insider David Kaplan recently said there were reports the Colts had a package in mind that included Pittman, possibly another player, and a “bevy” of picks.

Dear lord, no. The Bears already have two number two wide receivers in Chase Claypool and Darnell Mooney. They don’t need Pittman to come and be the third number two option. If the Colts aren’t putting offensive guard Quenton Nelson in that package, Ballard isn’t serious about a number one overall quarterback in this year’s class.

Pittman has just over 2,500 yards and eleven touchdowns in his first three seasons in the league. Those numbers are in the same ballpark as Mooney and Claypool. The Bears need a true number-one wide receiver now. Pittman is a waste of space on the Bears’ sideline when there would be value in a trade for a player like Nelson or another high draft pick.

Desperate Bears fans respond on Twitter

Bears fans responded on Twitter. Some fans, eager to see a 21st-century passing game, are over eager for Pittman to come to Chicago. Other fans seem more level-headed. Here are the best takes on Twitter on the trade rumor to send Michael Pittman to the Bears.

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The White Sox announced the signings of seven international prospects Monday, agreeing to terms with right-handers Luis Reyes ($700,000) and Denny Lima ($10,000), outfielders Abraham N??ez ($700,000) and Albert Alberto ($50,000) and infielders D’Angelo Tejada ($350,000), Rafael ?lvarez ($350,000) and Juan Uribe Jr. ($200,000).

Reyes, 17, is the Sox’ top prize. The 6-2 Dominican is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 4 international pitching prospect and No. 41 overall.

Uribe Jr., 16, has the most well known name. Juan Uribe played shortstop on the 2005 World Series champion, recording the last two outs in Game 4 at Houston. Uribe played for the Sox from 2004-08 during his 16-year-career that included stops with the Rockies (2001-03), Giants (2009-10), Dodgers (2011-15), Braves (2015), Mets (2015) and Indians (2016).

Uribe Jr., 5-10, 170-pounds, was born in Chicago.

The Sox expect additional international signings.

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