Chicago Sports

Joe Henricksen and Michael O’Brien take on a big mailbag, answering questions from the listeners. They also give their Two Takes.

Topics include which teams still have something to prove, what the future holds for several prominent holiday tournaments, which schools have potential to be basketball powers, Jeremiah Fears and Jordan vs. Plumbers.

The podcast is on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, so please subscribe.

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CINCINNATI — Tom Browning, an All-Star pitcher who threw the only perfect game in Cincinnati Reds history and helped them win a World Series title, died on Monday. He was 62.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office announced Browning’s death on Twitter, saying he died at his home in Union, Kentucky. No cause was given.

Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to Browning’s home about 1 p.m. after receiving a report of a man found not breathing. They discovered him unresponsive on a couch, and efforts by deputies and EMS personnel to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. Browning was pronounced dead at 1:13 p.m. Foul play is not suspected, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The Reds issued a statement after being in contact with a member of his family, team spokesman Rob Butcher said.

“The entire Reds family is stunned and deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Tom Browning. Affectionately referred to as ‘Mr. Perfect,’ Tom was a true Red who after his playing days made the Cincinnati area his home and remained heavily involved with the organization,” the club said.

“A fan favorite, the Reds Hall of Famer touched fans’ hearts at team events, Reds Hall of Fame festivities and Reds Community Fund activities. We join Reds Country in mourning the loss of one of our all-time greats, who created so many memories and magical moments for us all. Our deepest condolences to Tom’s family during this difficult time.”

Known as a colorful character, Browning once bolted from the Wrigley Field bullpen and sat in full Cincinnati uniform with Chicago fans atop a rooftop across the street during a Reds-Cubs game in July 1993. He was fined $500 for that stunt, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

The left-hander’s biggest individual moment on the mound, however, came when he retired all 27 batters he faced in a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Riverfront Stadium on Sept. 16, 1988.

Following a two-hour rain delay, the game started at 10:02 p.m. and took only 1 hour, 51 minutes. It came a little more than three months after Browning lost a no-hit bid in San Diego in the ninth inning on a one-out single by Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

Browning’s gem against the Dodgers was one of just 23 perfect games in major league history and the only one for the Reds, baseball’s oldest professional franchise.

Just more than a month later, the Dodgers won the World Series — making Browning the lone pitcher to toss a perfecto against the team that won the championship that same year.

“RIP my friend Mr. Perfect Tom Browning,” tweeted Hall of Fame shortstop and former Reds teammate Barry Larkin. “We shared some great times as well as the same birthdate 4/28. You will be missed.”

Browning was 18-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 1988 and made the National League All-Star team in 1991. He went 20-9 with a 3.55 ERA in 1985, finishing second to St. Louis Cardinals speedster Vince Coleman for NL Rookie of the Year and sixth in NL Cy Young Award voting.

Six times Browning won at least 14 games. He led the NL in starts on four occasions, had six years with more than 225 innings pitched and gave up the most home runs in the league three times.

Browning went 15-9 with a 3.80 ERA in 1990 to help the Reds win their most recent pennant and World Series crown. He was 2-1 with a 3.71 ERA in three starts that postseason, beating the powerhouse Oakland Athletics 8-3 on the road in Game 3 of the World Series to help the Reds pull off a stunning four-game sweep.

“He was just a wonderful person. He was as beloved a Cincinnati Red as there’s been in the city,” said Butcher, the Reds’ longtime vice president of media relations. “Everybody who’d ever met him just loved the guy. He was fun. I guess that’s the word — he was fun.”

Browning spent 11 seasons with Cincinnati from 1984-94. He broke a bone in his arm during a game in 1994 and finished his career by pitching in two games for the Kansas City Royals in 1995.

In 12 big league seasons, he was 123-90 with a 3.94 ERA in 302 games (300 starts).

“I would go on our winter caravan with him and he was just — we’d be on the bus for hours and the stories he would tell were just spectacularly funny,” Butcher said. “You could tell his teammates loved him. I mean, when he was around our other Hall of Famers and around his old teammates, you could just tell they just adored the guy.”

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On Dec. 3, the New York Rangers were nearing an abyss. Things came to a pressure point during the home game against the Chicago Blackhawks, one of the worst teams in the league. En route to another loss, captain Jacob Trouba had enough. The defenseman laid out two massive hits, got into two fights, and as he was escorted off the ice for a five-minute roughing major on the latter, threw his helmet into the boards. Along the way, he appeared to yell at his teammates on the bench: “Wake the f— up!”

Did they ever.

Since then, New York has rattled off seven straight wins and is starting to look like the team that made it to the Eastern Conference Final last year. Coach Gerard Gallant admitted to our broadcast crew before Sunday’s rematch against the Blackhawks (a 7-1 Rangers win) that his team suffered from a hangover to start the season. Because of what they achieved last season, they believed things would come easy to start this year. Instead, they had to work for it. His players agree.

“We weren’t playing good hockey. We were in a little bit of a lull. We had expectations that we were just supposed to win games because of last year,” Adam Fox told me on Sunday. “[Trouba] brought energy. Obviously he did what he had to do to get us going. Some emotion is what we needed to respond pretty well.”

Added Vincent Trocheck: “Whenever your captain shows that much emotion, and he goes out of his way to make a hit or get in a fight to get the guys going, it’s a message sent to our team that something’s not right. After that game, we had a talk, and everything we talked about has kicked in.”

During the second intermission of Sunday’s game, Rangers assistant Gord Murphy told me he liked that his team was “finding a way” — something that wasn’t a guarantee for them a few weeks ago. “Our players are in a good place,” Murphy said.

After the game, I asked Trocheck to describe the confidence level of the Rangers right now.

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“It’s higher than it was,” Trocheck said. “I think it was pretty low at one point. But we’ve done a lot recently, and worked at doing everything the right way so that we can be more predictable on the ice. And our confidence is starting to build more and more.”

A SIDE STORY brewed in that Dec 3 Blackhawks game: Blackhawks forward Andreas Athanasiou, the recipient of a massive Trouba hit, questioned the captain’s role on the team calling him “an $8 million player with zero goals.”

“It didn’t really bother me,” Trouba told me before Sundays game, with a laugh. But he clearly remembered the moment. After scoring his first goal of the season a night earlier — on an empty net — Trouba doubled his total with a goal in the 7-1 blowout win against Chicago. Athanasiou was also on the ice, and Trouba immediately made eye contact with him, and appeared to mouth: “Do you want the puck?”

The rebuild in Chicago

After being between the benches for two Chicago Blackhawks games this past week, it’s been tough to see the team in this way. They’ve picked up just three points since Nov. 14 (1-14-1 record) getting outscored 72-30 in that span. For context, the next closest teams in that span are Philadelphia and Arizona with 11 points.

This is all part of the Chicago front office’s grand plan — conduct a rebuild in earnest, leverage this season for future sustained success. But none of it has been easy on the players or coaching staff, who take pride in putting in a good effort. You can see the frustration on Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews nearly every shift. Kane has the lowest shooting percentage of his career; it’s sub 4 percent, and his career average is 11.5. And after scoring seven goals in his first 11 games, Toews has just three in the 18 since. While they’re frustrated, they’re still committed to the team.

Coach Luke Richardson shared a great story about Toews making two mistakes in a game against the Oilers last month. Toews asked Richardson to show those clips in the video session with the team. Richardson didn’t, but let the players know the captain had asked to, setting an example for accountability. The Blackhawks are expecting Kane and Toews to come to them sometime in the new year letting them know which direction they’d like to go at the trade deadline. Neither player is rushing into a decision, and it’s not guaranteed they will be traded.

2 Related

GENERAL MANAGER KYLE DAVIDSON told me on Friday that he hasn’t had any specific trade discussions on any of his players yet. The trade market has been slow this season. As one GM told me at the Board of Governors meetings, “It’s impossible to get a trade done right now. Nobody can get anything done.” Things are expected to pick up after the holiday freeze. Aside from Kane and Toews, Davidson has told his GM peers that all of his UFAs will be available. But while the Blackhawks are looking to accumulate as many picks and prospects as possible — and ideally spread them over the next few draft classes — Davidson says he isn’t just trading players for the sake of trading players. In other words, he’s not giving away players for sixth-round picks just to say he did it.

ONE OF THE BLACKHAWKS players I believe has been generating value is defenseman Jarred Tinordi, who was an important waiver claim by Chicago in October. If he’s healthy at the deadline, he would be a solid sixth or seventh defenseman pick up for a contender. But it was tough to see Tinordi leave the ice on Sunday leaking blood after taking a puck to the face. He was placed on IR with a facial fracture.

Tinrodi took a skate blade to the face in a Dec. 9 game against the Jets, and received between 50-100 stitches (the team doctor said he lost count). Tinordi had been wearing a protective cage in his games since, and Sunday was the first time he took it off. Brutal break.

Richardson and Davidson were both effusive about Tinordi when I asked about him before Sunday’s game, explaining how his role had grown. At age 30, this was the most regular role Tinordi has had in the NHL. He’s spent his career on six different NHL teams, bouncing up and down between the NHL and AHL, and takes pride in being a sound, physical defenseman, but also a leader. His maturity makes him a beloved teammate. (When he went down on Sunday, the Rangers, one of his former teams, showed a great level of concern as well). In the Friday game against Minnesota, goalie Petr Mrazek was disappointed by the second goal he let in, which trickled past him. At the TV timeout, it was Tinordi who came to chat with Mrazek, hyping him back up.

Wild find their game

BILL GUERIN HAS demonstrated, in his short time so far as GM of the Minnesota Wild, that he has a pulse for what his team needs. It began with his decision to buy out Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, knowing the locker room needed to turn over to new voices. It continued last year bringing in Marc-Andre Fleury, one of the most popular players in the NHL.

This year’s addition of Ryan Reaves can’t be understated. Reaves had his first signature moment last week, a massive open ice hit on Detroit’s Filip Hronek which sparked Minnesota to victory. His impact goes further than that. “Everybody says we got bigger and more firmness because of him, but I think his presence is more than physicality,” coach Dean Evason said. “He’s not going to run people every game. He’s very calm on the bench. He’s very mature. His work ethic — he’s ripped up — sets an example and he’s just a really good teammate. I think that’s more the impact.”

Evason said before Wild power plays, Reaves gets absolutely jacked up, screaming “Let’s go power play, pow pow!” before kicking the bench in front of him — fully aware he’s not going to go out there. Reaves is just pumped for the team, period. “Sure it’s nice to have a guy who can beat the heck out of anybody he wants at any time, it makes everyone a little firmer,” Evason said. “But he’s a great teammate, and he also can play. If Ryan can’t play the game, he’s not going to be on our hockey club just to fight.”

Alex Ovechkin is chasing down history, as goal No. 802 will put him second all time. Follow along on ESPN and ESPN+ as Ovi scores his way up the record books.

Upcoming Caps games:Dec. 22: at Ottawa Senators7 ET NHL Power Play on ESPN+Dec. 29: vs. Ottawa Senators7 ET

When Seth Jones mentioned the Blackhawks need to “play a system that’s good for all of us” after another discouraging loss Sunday, it was worth asking the question.

Does he believe in the Hawks’ current system? Is it just the execution, not the system itself, letting them down?

“It’s the execution, for sure,” Jones said.

That answer aligns with what coach Luke Richardson has said as well as with the eye test.

Richardson’s switch from Jeremy Colliton’s controversial “hybrid man-on-man” defensive structure to a more conventional, zone-like “box-plus-one” structure in training camp seemed like a much-needed change.

Even now, after 15 losses in 16 games, it’s difficult to argue any other structure would be better. This is exclusively a lack-of-talent problem. Imagining this patchwork, mistake-prone roster attempting to follow Colliton’s frequently mistake-prompting approach triggers instant nightmares.

“We could go man-on-man, but if we’re not strong enough to kill the play, people are going to slide off, and then there’s people leaving people to go to that guy, so everything is not going to work,” Richardson said recently. “That’s what we’re harping on. Focus on a ‘hit and a pin’ with your guy, and then we’ll get some help. It did work.”

After all, when the Hawks commit turnovers, lose track of their marks, double up on opponents pointlessly, get caught flat-footed while puck-watching or make risky dives to steal the puck, they’ll get burned. The structure is just a starting point, Richardson said.

“When it’s your chance to engage, you have to hit and pin and kill the play and get the puck and move it forward,” he added. “[If you don’t], it doesn’t matter what system you play, you’re breaking down.

“Then there’s a five-on-four or there’s a two-on-one somewhere in the D-zone, so nothing is going to work. You have to have a special goalie to make a big save. We’ve put our goalies in that position too much.”

On Friday, the Wild’s first goal came after the Hawks pursued the puck around their defensive zone without killing the play for nearly a minute. The constant movement eventually opened up lanes for three consecutive cross-ice passes and a tap-in goal.

The Hawks’ structure actually held up well throughout the shift, making it a perfect example of execution letting them down.

On Sunday, conversely, almost every Rangers five-on-five goal happened off an odd-man rush, and the one that didn’t — Filip Chytil’s opener — was jump-started by Jack Johnson’s turnover that gave the Hawks no time to set up their structure.

“We have to trust that what we were doing the first part of the first period is going to work for 60 minutes,” he said. “But we didn’t, and I don’t think we trust it. So we somehow have to get back to that.”

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Tanking.

It’s a dirty word, one that implies deviousness and cowardliness and something one step above cheating.

It’s a pity that tanking by a sports team ever makes sense. I hate it. Always have. So, I can guarantee, do all athletes.

But you can’t argue with the rules of a sports league, even — rather — the lack of rules by that league. And if the NFL says the worse your team’s record, the higher your pick in the upcoming draft, well, if a decent season and playoffs are lost, why not tank away? The best college players go at the top of the draft. If you’re bad, you can get one.

That’s where the Bears are now. At 3-11 with three games left, they are a nowhere team headed nowhere, except to the drawing board for the 2023 season and beyond.

We don’t need to see more from electric young quarterback Justin Fields to know his future, with talent around him, is unlimited. It took the Bears 40 years to draft a quarterback with as much potential as their only Super Bowl-winning QB, Jim McMahon. And Fields is the one.

If you think Fields’ “development” for three more games matters for next season, it’s possible. But little that’s learned now will translate to an advantage nine months away.

The only thing that translates for sure is a devastating injury. Such a needless thing would be a stone-cold disaster for this fleet, elusive athlete who has taken a beating but whose legs are yet undamaged.

Blow out an ACL or rip an Achilles tendon, and Fields might not even be ready for next season. One is reminded here of sad cases such as once-electric Bears running back Tarik Cohen, likely done with football after suffering a blown knee on a fair catch in 2020.

And if you want to move to another sport, consider that Bulls guard Lonzo Ball still is not able to play after a seemingly minor meniscus injury from almost a year ago, one that doctors initially thought would take four to six weeks to heal.

Yes, we’d miss watching Fields make magic. And, yes, he could add to his astounding, league-leading 1,000 rushing yards. He could go for Lamar Jackson’s NFL quarterback record for a season of 1,206 yards. But it would be a hollow crown, even if the Bears won out. They’d be only 6-11.

Former Bears quarterback Bobby Douglass set an NFL quarterback rushing record with 968 yards in only 14 games back in 1972, a mark that stood for 34 years. The Bears’ record that season? A miserable 4-9-1.

To take full advantage of the NFL’s tolerance for tanking, the Bears could rest Fields, knowing his backup, Nathan Peterman, makes losing simple.

Looking at this as it stands right now, without the scruples of morality or, I suppose, the dictum of fair play, the Bears could make sure to lose out and be assured of no worse than the second pick in the draft. Win the last three games, and they drop to 14th.

Draft position matters. It could be the difference between taking Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf, Troy Aikman or Tony Mandarich.

The likely first pick this year will be Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud. But the Bears don’t need a starting quarterback, so the No. 2 spot is dandy. It means they could take either of two star defensive linemen, Georgia’s Jalen Carter or Alabama’s Will Anderson. Or anybody else they please. They could also trade down and snag more picks. The possibilities are huge.

Don’t forget, the Bears could easily lose the last three games without trying. A deeply flawed team can’t suddenly change.

It’s understood, and welcome, that NFL players and coaches hate to lose. No coach or general manager could even hint to players that they give less than their all.

The idea is so contrary to the football code that former Browns coach Hue Jackson ripped owner Jimmy Haslam for supposedly offering Jackson a bonus to lose. This was just after Jackson had been fired, and he was mad. He pulled back his statement later.

But for a league that oddly tolerates tanking — no Ping-Pong balls or lottery for these fellows — it makes you think. The Bears won’t tank. Can’t do it. But, man, you wonder if they should.

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Monday, December 19, 2022

NOBLE LEAGUE – BLUE

Golder at Noble Street, 7:00

NOBLE LEAGUE – GOLD

Butler at Bulls Prep, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Addison Trail at Stagg, 6:00

Agricultural Science at Bremen, 6:00

Christian Liberty at Mooseheart, 6:00

Crane at UC-Woodlawn, 5:00

DRW Prep at Collins, 6:30

Eisenhower at Catalyst-Maria, 5:00

Elgin Academy at Beacon, 7:00

Ellison at South Shore, 5:00

Englewood STEM at Brooks, 5:00

EPIC at Roosevelt, 5:00

Excel-Englewood at Horizon-McKinley, 5:30

Genoa-Kingston at Woodstock, 7:00

Hampshire at Buffalo Grove, 7:00

Herscher at Clifton Central, PPD

Julian at Schurz, 5:00

Lake View at Maine South, 7:00

Leo at Phillips, 7:00

Lincoln-Way West at Tinley Park, 6:00

Maine West at Niles West, 6:30

Marian Central at Cary-Grove, 1:30

McHenry at Belvidere North, 7:30

Midland at DePue, 6:45

Muchin at Rowe-Clark, 7:00

Normal West at Yorkville Christian, 7:00

Northtown at North Shore, 6:00

Perspectives-Lead at Thornridge, 6:30

Phoenix at Dyett, 5:00

Reed-Custer at Somonauk, 5:30

Richards (Chgo) at Clemente, 5:00

Rock County Christian (WI) at Our Lady Sacred Hea

Round Lake at Mundelein, 7:00

St. Francis de Sales at Homewood-Flossmoor, 6:30

UIC Prep at Solorio, 6:30

KANSAS CITY – HYVEE ARENA (MO)

Hyde Park vs. Savannah (MO), 6:00

FORRESTON

Aquin vs. Eastland, 6:00

Milledgeville vs. Polo, 7:30

Pecatonica vs. Dakota, 7:30

Lena-Winslow vs. Winnebago, 6:00

MESA MOUNTAIN VIEW (AZ)

Benet vs. Jefferson (NY), 2:30M

WATSEKA

Tri-Point vs. Illinois Lutheran, 5:00

Donovan vs. St. Anne, 6:15

Cissna Park vs. Horizon-Southwest, 7:30

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – BLUE

Loyola at Mount Carmel, 7:00

INTERSTATE EIGHT

Plano at Kaneland, 7:00

Sandwich at LaSalle-Peru, 6:00

Sycamore at Morris, 7:00

NOBLE LEAGUE – GOLD

Noble Academy at Johnson, 5:30

Rowe-Clark at ITW-Speer, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-SOUTH

Carver at Hirsch, 5:00

RIVER VALLEY

Grant Park at Gardner-So. Wilmington, 6:45

SOUTHLAND

Thornridge at Thornton, 6:30

Thornwood at Rich, 6:30

UPSTATE EIGHT

Bartlett at Glenbard South, 7:00

East Aurora at Glenbard East, 6:30

Elgin at West Chicago, 7:00

Fenton at South Elgin, 7:00

Streamwood at Larkin, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Amboy at Leland, 5:30

Beecher at Coal City, 6:45

Bogan at Evergreen Park, 6:00

Bradley-Bourbonnais at Morgan Park, 7:00

Bremen at Lincoln-Way East, 5:00

Bulls Prep at Fenwick, 7:00

Chicago Military at Perspectives-MSA, 5:00

Chicago Tech at Ellison, 6:30

Clifton Central at Prairie Central, 7:00

Collins at Tilden, 5:00

Comer at Marist, 7:00

Crete-Monee at Andrew, 5:30

Cristo Rey-St. Martin at Waldorf, 5:30

Disney at Raby, 7:00

Farragut at Kenwood, 5:30

Fenger at Dunbar, 5:00

Glenbrook South at Lake Forest, 7:00

Hancock at Goode, 5:00

Harlan at Jones, 6:30

Harvard at Belvidere, 6:30

Herscher at Kankakee, 6:00

Illinois Valley Central at Dixon, 7:00

Intrinsic-Downtown at Washington, 6:30

Juarez at DuSable, 5:00

Lakes at Cary-Grove, 7:00

Lisle at Aurora Central, 7:00

Marian Central at Warren, 7:00

MCC Prep at Steinmetz, 5:00

Momence at Wilmington, 6:45

Newark at Seneca, 7:00

North Boone at Durand, 7:00

North-Grand at Manley, 5:00

Perspectives-MSA at Chicago Military, 5:00

Prospect at Glenbrook North, 6:30

Proviso West at Bowen, 5:00

Rauner at Excel-Englewood, 5:30

Richards at St. Laurence, 7:00

Ridgeview at Dwight, 7:00

Shepard at Manteno, 7:00

Southland at Reavis, 4:30

St. Edward at Riverside-Brookfield, 6:00

St. Ignatius at Lane, 5:00

St. Viator at Crystal Lake South, 7:00

Tilden at Collins, 5:00

UC-Woodlawn at Little Village, 5:00

UIC Prep at Kennedy, 6:30

Urban Prep-West at Longwood, 5:00

Vocational at Julian, 5:00

Wheaton Academy at Christ the King, 6:30

Woodland at Lexington, 7:00

FORRESTON

Pearl City vs. Forreston, 6:00

River Ridge vs. Orangeville, 7:30

Newman vs. Oregon, 7:30

Stockton vs. Byron, 6:00

MESA MOUNTAIN VIEW (AZ)

Benet vs. Pinnacle (AZ), 2:30M

WATSEKA

Westville vs. Hoopeston, 5:00

Iroquois West vs. Watseka, 6:15

McNamara vs. Milford, 7:30

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

NOBLE LEAGUE – BLUE

Baker at Mansueto, 7:00

DRW Prep at Pritzker, 7:00

Muchin at Hansberry, 7:00

Rauner at UIC Prep, 7:00

RIVER VALLEY

Beecher at Tri-Point, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Ashton-Franklin Center at Hinckley-Big Rock, 7:00

Bulls Prep at De La Salle, 6:00

Collins at Schurz, 5:00

Eisenhower at Amundsen, 6:30

Excel-Englewood at Leo, 6:00

Farragut at Lindblom, 5:00

Golder at Washington, 5:00

Hancock at Reavis, 3:00

Lockport at Minooka, 5:30

Lowpoint-Washburn at Leland, 5:30

Maine West at Waukegan, 7:00

Marmion at Marquette, 7:00

Mather at Crane, 5:00

North Shore at Beacon, 6:30

Northside at Chicago Academy, 5:00

Phoenix at Clark, 5:00

Proviso West at Horizon-Southwest, 12:30

Putnam County at Yorkville Christian, 7:00

Reed-Custer at Gardner-So. Wilmington, 6:15

Richards (Chgo) at Manley, 5:00

Somonauk at Sandwich, 7:00

South Shore at Perspectives-MSA, 5:00

Stark County at Midland, 7:00

Sterling at DeKalb, 7:00

Sullivan at Uplift, 5:00

York at Lake Zurich, 7:00

FORRESTON

13th Place Semi-Final, 5:00

13th Place Semi-Final, 6:30

Consolation Semi-Final, 8:00

Consolation Semi-Final, 8:00

5th Place Semi-Final, 6:30

5th Place Semi-Final, 5:00

MESA MOUNTAIN VIEW (AZ)

Benet vs. Higley (AZ), 2:30M

Thursday, December 22, 2022

CENTRAL SUBURBAN – SOUTH

Evanston vs. New Trier, at Northwestern U, 7:00

CHICAGO PREP

Holy Trinity at Rochelle Zell, 8:00

DU KANE

Batavia at Wheaton-Warr. South, 7:00

Glenbard North at Wheaton North, 7:15

St. Charles North at Lake Park, 7:00

MID-SUBURBAN – EAST

Elk Grove at Rolling Meadows, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE RED-SOUTH / CENTRAL

Curie at Perspectives-Lead, 6:30

NON CONFERENCE

Antioch at Legal Prep, 1:30

Bloom at Proviso East, 6:00

Cary-Grove at Grayslake Central, 7:00

Catalyst-Maria at Brooks, 5:00

Christ the King at Detoit Jesuit (MI), 6:00

Coal City at Plano, 6:45

Comer at Kennedy, 7:00

Crane at Julian, 5:00

Deerfield at Naperville Central, 7:00

Dixon at Princeton, 7:00

DRW Prep at Harlan, 5:00

Dundee-Crown at Elgin, 7:00

Farragut vs. Austin, at North Lawndale, 5:00

Fenger at Rich, 7:00

Fremd at South Elgin, 7:00

Grant at Schurz, 5:00

ITW-Speer at Prosser, 7:00

Jones at Dunbar, 6:30

Lake View at North Shore, 6:00

Lane at Northside, 5:00

Little Village at Dyett, 5:00

Loyola at Notre Dame, 7:00

Metea Valley at Geneva, 6:00

Newark at Aurora Christian, 7:30

Noble Street at Kelly, 5:00

Northridge at IC Catholic, 7:00

Palatine at Highland Park, 5:30

Plainfield North at Lincoln-Way West, 6:30

Raby at YCCS-Innovations, 5:00

Schaumburg at Buffalo Grove, 7:00

St. Laurence at Mather, 5:00

St. Patrick at Lakes, 3:30

Taft at Hoffman Estates, 7:00

UC-Woodlawn at DuSable, 5:00

FORRESTON

Semi-Final, 6:30

Semi-Final, 8:00

15th Place, 5:00

13th Place, 6:30

11th Place, 8:00

7th Place, 5:00

MARENGO

Genoa-Kingston vs. Harvest Christian, 10:30

Sycamore vs. Rockford Christian, 12:00

Woodstock North vs. Fenton, 1:30

Stillman Valley vs. Wauconda, 3:00

Grayslake North vs. Freeport, 4:30

Rochelle vs. Richmond-Burton, 6:00

Woodstock vs. Crystal Lake Central, 7:30

Marengo (BYE)

MESA MOUNTAIN VIEW (AZ)

Benet vs. TBA

Friday, December 23, 2022

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-NORTH

Amundsen at Senn, 1:00

NON CONFERENCE

Baker at Bowen, TBA

Burlington Central at Glenbard West, 5:00

DRW Prep at Thornwood, 6:30

Hansberry at Ellison, 2:30

Lake Park at Mundelein, 5:30

Libertyville at Vernon Hills, 5:30

Lindblom at Naperville North, 2:30

North Chicago at Niles West, 6:30

St. Francis de Sales at Sandburg, 5:00

Timothy Christian at Ridgewood, 6:00

CREDIT UNION 1 ARENA (UIC)

Hyde Park vs. Mount Carmel, 4:00

Joliet West vs. Sacred Heart-Giffin, 5:30

Simeon vs. Young, 7:00

St. Rita vs. Cathedral (IN), 9:30

FORRESTON

Consolation Championship, 5:00

5th Place, 6:30

3rd Place, 5:00

Championship, 6:30

HINSDALE CENTRAL

Stevenson vs. Glenbard East, 9:30

Oswego East vs. Lincoln-Way Central, 11:00

Morgan Park vs. Richards, 12:30

DePaul vs. Morton, 2:00

Marian Catholic vs. Maine South, 3:45

Auburn vs. Willowbrook, 5:15

Hinsdale Central vs. Oak Forest, 7:00

Homewood-Flossmoor vs. St. Charles East, 8:30

MARENGO

Consolation Quarter-Final, 10:30

Consolation Quarter-Final, 12:00

Consolation Quarter-Final, 1:30

Consolation Quarter-Final (BYE)

Quarter-Final, 3:00

Quarter-Final, 4:30

Quarter-Final, 6:00

Quarter-Final, 7:30

Saturday, December 24, 2022

No games scheduled

Sunday, December 25, 2022

No games scheduled

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Right-hander Jameson Taillon and Cubs vice president of pitching Craig Breslow carved out about 30 minutes for lunch at Zero Bond in New York last month. They stayed for over two hours, and if Taillon hadn’t had other engagements that day, they might have talked for longer.

“I left that meeting feeling like this could be a really great fit,” Taillon said in his introductory Zoom press conference Monday.

The Cubs made Taillon’s four-year deal official on Monday. His contract is worth $68 million, a source confirmed two weeks ago when the parties agreed to terms. For Taillon, that in-person meeting — along with the individualized videos the Cubs sent — became a separator in his free agency decision.

“Everyone I talked to, it just felt easy,” Taillon said of the Cubs. “It felt right. I was impressed with every team, for sure. But the Cubs felt genuine in that regard, that they reached out early, they reached out often.”

The Cubs had other advantages as they pursued Taillon, who said he talked to “a lot” of teams. From his time with the Pirates, Taillon knew what it was like to pitch at Wrigley Field when the Cubs were playoff contenders. And the club assured him they were going to spend to improve.

Taillon sought input from ex-Cubs: his Yankees teammates Anthony Rizzo and Scott Efross, and former Pirates teammate Trevor Williams.

“All the feedback I got was like, ‘Dude, if you have the opportunity to play there, you really have to take it,'” Taillon said.

Early on, the Cubs sent him custom videos about the Wrigley Field experience, history of the team and the fan base. He said he loved the videos so much that he watched them every day for a couple weeks. No other teams had done that. And no other team met with Taillon in person.

Some free agent meetings are more formal. Others, like Breslow’s one-on-one lunch with Taillon last month, are free flowing. Breslow came armed with a tablet loaded with a series of slides on the pitching infrastructure’s insights, but those augmented the natural conversation.

“I was struck by his aptitude and curiosity,” Breslow said in a conversation with the Sun-Times.

They talked about changes Taillon made coming back from injury. Since his second Tommy John surgery, in 2019, Taillon’s mechanical adjustments have given him more ride on his four-seam fastball. He’s also separated his cutter and slider.

They talked about tweaks Taillon still wants to make to his delivery and pitch usage. He hopes to throw his curveball more and fine-tune the consistency of his cutter and slider.

Taillon impressed Breslow with his desire to take on a leadership role and help build the pitching staff’s camaraderie. From the other side of the field, Taillon had noticed Cubs veteran pitchers Kyle Hendricks and Marcus Stroman cheering on their teammates.

“There’s a level of detail and engagement and awareness to that,” Breslow said, “that goes beyond just saying things on their face.”

Taillon and Breslow “nerd[ed] out on pitching,”as Taillon put it. They discussed Taillon’s career path, the advantages of playing in Chicago, restaurant recommendations. They looked up at the clock, and two and a half hours had passed.

On Breslow’s way back from New York, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer reached out to see how the meeting went. The Cubs had received so many positive reviews on Taillon’s makeup that Breslow wasn’t quite sure.

He couldn’t say whether it went so well because Taillon was as interested in the Cubs as they were in him, or because “he just seems like a great guy who’s super easy to talk to.”

About two weeks ago, Taillon’s commitment answered that question.

“I feel like I still have some untapped potential that I’m really trying to hunt down,” Taillon said Monday, “And I felt like this was a great fit to help me find that.”

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Monday, December 19, 2022

NOBLE LEAGUE – BLUE

Golder at Noble Street, 7:00

NOBLE LEAGUE – GOLD

Butler at Bulls Prep, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Addison Trail at Stagg, 6:00

Agricultural Science at Bremen, 6:00

Christian Liberty at Mooseheart, 6:00

Crane at UC-Woodlawn, 5:00

DRW Prep at Collins, 6:30

Eisenhower at Catalyst-Maria, 5:00

Elgin Academy at Beacon, 7:00

Ellison at South Shore, 5:00

Englewood STEM at Brooks, 5:00

EPIC at Roosevelt, 5:00

Excel-Englewood at Horizon-McKinley, 5:30

Genoa-Kingston at Woodstock, 7:00

Hampshire at Buffalo Grove, 7:00

Herscher at Clifton Central, PPD

Julian at Schurz, 5:00

Lake View at Maine South, 7:00

Leo at Phillips, 7:00

Lincoln-Way West at Tinley Park, 6:00

Maine West at Niles West, 6:30

Marian Central at Cary-Grove, 1:30

McHenry at Belvidere North, 7:30

Midland at DePue, 6:45

Muchin at Rowe-Clark, 7:00

Normal West at Yorkville Christian, 7:00

Northtown at North Shore, 6:00

Perspectives-Lead at Thornridge, 6:30

Phoenix at Dyett, 5:00

Reed-Custer at Somonauk, 5:30

Richards (Chgo) at Clemente, 5:00

Rock County Christian (WI) at Our Lady Sacred Hea

Round Lake at Mundelein, 7:00

St. Francis de Sales at Homewood-Flossmoor, 6:30

UIC Prep at Solorio, 6:30

KANSAS CITY – HYVEE ARENA (MO)

Hyde Park vs. Savannah (MO), 6:00

FORRESTON

Aquin vs. Eastland, 6:00

Milledgeville vs. Polo, 7:30

Pecatonica vs. Dakota, 7:30

Lena-Winslow vs. Winnebago, 6:00

MESA MOUNTAIN VIEW (AZ)

Benet vs. Jefferson (NY), 2:30M

WATSEKA

Tri-Point vs. Illinois Lutheran, 5:00

Donovan vs. St. Anne, 6:15

Cissna Park vs. Horizon-Southwest, 7:30

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It took just 13 games for Justin Fields to break the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season, and he now needs to average 69 per game over the final three weeks to set the single-season record for a quarterback. It’s very doable, considering that he is averaging 76.9 for the season and 100.8 over his last eight games.

He has established himself as the best running quarterback in the NFL, which is a tremendous accomplishment in his development and incredibly promising for the Bears during their rebuild.

But Fields often downplays that aspect of his game and did so again after running all over the field in the loss to the Eagles, saying he doesn’t intend to be a 1,000-yard rusher regularly.

Why not?

Being a runner doesn’t mean he can’t also be a passer. Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts have established ideal balances that make them extraordinarily challenging to defend.

Fields has half of that nailed down, and he’s well on his way as a passer. He has been efficient, though far from prolific. The more yards he can get by throwing, the fewer are needed on the ground, and that would enable him to find the right mix like Jackson.

That endeavor will be easier if the Bears fortify their offensive line and bolster their pass-catching crew. There was a third-and-10 late in the first quarter, for example, when the Eagles got immediate pressure with just four pass rushers, had a spy waiting for Fields if he took off running and none of his receivers were open whatsoever. What’s he supposed to do with that?

Nonetheless, Fields looked good overall as a thrower and runner Sunday, completing 14 of 21 passes for 152 yards with two touchdowns for a 119.5 passer rating and running for 95 yards on 15 carries. Here’s a look at what he did well and what needs improvement:

Impossible escape on run

Great quarterbacks are magicians. They can turn any disaster into a success. Whether that’s Patrick Mahomes treating third-and-seven like it’s backyard football or Justin Herbert seemingly never being out of a game, it’s an art.

Fields has that potential with his legs. He has gotten 23% of his yardage after contact, and it has become routine to see him turn losses into gains. He bailed the Bears out of a second-and-27 from the Eagles’ 48-yard line midway through the second quarterback by doing that. It was his best play of the game.

Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick, one of the NFL’s top rushers, beat right tackle Alex Leatherwood off the line and dived at Fields’ feet at the Bears’ 44-yard line. That would’ve been an eight-yard loss, but Fields sidestepped it. Reddick sprung up and wrapped his arm around Fields’ neck at the Bears’ 46 and was on the brink of sacking him, but Fields ducked out of it, changed direction from right to left and was gone for a 39-yard run.

Instead of third-and-33, it was first-and-goal at the 9. Magic.

Fields’ escape of Reddick was so hard to believe that him shaking a few defenders a moment later was barely noticed. But when Eagles cornerback Darius Slay and linebacker T.J. Edwards closed in on him at the 33-yard line, Fields dodged both and left Edwards flailing as he briefly got one hand on him. Fields made it 29 yards on his own and got another 10 thanks in large part to good blocking by wide receivers Byron Pringle and Velus Jones.

Running back David Montgomery scored on the next play to put the Bears up 6-3. Not bad for a possession that seemed destined to end in a punt before Fields’ run.

Ups and downs passing

Fields’ completion percentage, yards per pass and passer rating were all good, but few quarterbacks win with just 152 yards passing. He’s averaging 157.5 this season, barely above what he did as a rookie, and that just isn’t good enough.

Take Jackson, for example. When he set the quarterback rushing record with 1,206 yards in 2019, he also averaged 208.5 yards passing. That’s overwhelming. That’s why he won MVP. Over his four seasons as full-time starter, he has averaged 203.9 yards passing and 69.3 rushing, and the Ravens have gone 39-15 in his starts.

The two ways for Fields to step up his passing is to recognize downfield opportunities faster and get better in obvious passing situations — the most difficult predicament for all quarterbacks — to extend drives. The Bears have run the 10th-fewest plays this season. More plays would mean more opportunities.

It’s on Bears general manager Ryan Poles to facilitate that with better personnel around Fields than who played with Sunday.

The good? Fields succeeded on both fronts on his 35-yard touchdown pass to Byron Pringle in the fourth quarter and his 20-yard strike over the middle to Equanimeous St. Brown on third-and-10 in the first quarter.

On the Pringle touchdown, Fields looked past shallower options in running back Darrynton Evans and wide receiver Dante Pettis to take advantage of a blown coverage and hit Pringle all alone near the end zone. On the third-down play, he hit St. Brown perfectly in stride so he could get another eight yards after the catch.

The bad? While at first it looked like a simple drop when Pettis didn’t catch Fields’ fourth-and-three throw in the flats early in the first quarter, which cost the Bears a scoring chance, his throw was significantly behind Pettis. That made it a tough catch and allowed cornerback Avonte Maddox to get back into the play. That hurt.

Another play Fields can fix happened late in the first quarter when he scrambled for seven yards (Eagles defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh clearly hit Fields unnecessarily on his slide, by the way). There’s nothing wrong with a seven-yard gain on first down, of course, but he could’ve hit Montgomery for at least 10 if he’d reacted quicker.

Those are two relatively forgettable plays, but they would’ve made a significant difference. If he starts making those, it’ll be a big boost to the Bears’ offense.

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Even at 3-11 with no playoff hopes, the Bears still have some goals in the final three games of the season. But one goal should stand at the top of the list:

Protect your quarterback.

Even if Justin Fields doesn’t finish a game-winning drive or throw for more than 200 yards against the Bills, Lions or Vikings, at this point there’s only thing that can turn the arrow pointing down heading into the 2023 offseason — an injury to Fields that impacts his offseason or beyond.

It’s a legitimate concern after Fields was sacked six times for 61 yards in losses in a 25-20 loss to the Eagles on Sunday at Soldier Field. The Bears have allowed 48 sacks this season and are 32nd and last in sacks allowed per pass play.

“I’m always concerned about Fields,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “That’s the franchise quarterback, this is always a big issue. So we’re always looking to protect him and do a better job of that. And certainly we need to do a better job than we did yesterday.”

Sunday’s game was close to a worst-case scenario for the Bears. The Eagles have the best defensive front in the NFL and came in with a league-leading 49 sacks. The Bears’ offensive line, which has been in flux all season, suffered another blow when guard Teven Jenkins was carried off on a stretcher with a neck injury four plays into the game.

Not only that, but the Bears inserted Alex Leatherwood at right tackle in a rotation with veteran Riley Reiff. So for most of the game, the Bears had players at right guard and tackle — Michael Schofield and Leatherwood — who had never played together.

Leatherwood was beaten by linebacker Haason Reddick for a sack and allowed three other pressures in 10 pass-blocking snaps. He did not play in the second half.

“He has some good moments going against some good pass rushers,” Eberflus said. “So I think he learned some as well. He had some adversity. That is always going to happen when you play some good rushers. He just has to build upon that and learn from that experience.”

It remains to be seen if that will happen. Eberflus would not commit to continuing Leatherwood’s audition Saturday against the Bills. While Leatherwood, a 2021 first-round draft pick by the Raiders, is a potential starter in 2023, it might not be worth the risk to see any more. That’s one reason why the Bears acquired Reiff in the first place — he’s a proven veteran with enough experience to hold his own.

“We’ll see what happens as we go,” Eberflus said.

Jenkins’ status is in doubt after the injury and it’s likely Schofield will start against the Bills. That at least would give the Bears two veterans on the right side of the line in Reiff and Schofield.

The Bears also won’t be facing the Eagles again. The Bills also are one of the NFL’s best defenses — second in points allowed and ninth in yards allowed — but 13th in sacks per pass play. The Lions are 26th in sacks per play. The Vikings are 22nd.

Fields has been pretty sturdy this season and he recovers quickly. He did not play against the Jets because of a separated shoulder, but returned the next week against the Packers.

Fields missed one snap against the Eagles on Sunday, when he cramped up prior to a key third-and-14 play in the fourth quarter. Nathan Peterman replaced him and threw an incompletion intended for Nsimba Webster.

“Yeah, that was a little stressful,” Eberflus said.

And that was just one play. Fields said he’ll do a better job of hydrating pre-game to avoid the cramping problem in the future. But Fields taking care of himself is one issue. The Bears taking care of Fields is a much bigger one.

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