Chicago Sports

No one who watched last season’s Class 6A state championship game will ever forget it. The game will be remembered for decades. Cary-Grove beat mighty East St. Louis with an astounding display of discipline and toughness.

It was the performance that every high school football coach dreams about. The Trojans reached the summit of Illinois high school football, finishing as undefeated state champions and the top-ranked team in the final Super 25.

Most of those players are in college now and there is only one direction to go when you reach the top: down. But Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg is starting a new adventure, one that every dad treasures. He’s coaching his son Peyton, the Trojans’ starting quarterback.

“He’s a normal Cary-Grove kid,” Brad Seaburg said. “It’s been good so far. He’s trying to improve just like everyone.”

Peyton Seaburg and the Trojans’ offense didn’t resemble last season’s well-oiled machine, but the defense stepped up and led the way to an 18-0 win against visiting McHenry on Saturday.

“We’ve improved every week and that’s been our whole goal,” Brad Seaburg said. “Our defense took huge strides today. They played outstanding. Gavin [Henriques] has three interceptions in the last two games.”

Cary-Grove (3-1, 3-1 Fox Valley) grabbed four interceptions and forced a fumble. Linebacker Charlie Ciske, just a sophomore, had two sacks. He’s one of several young players stepping up on varsity for a tradition-rich program.

“It’s a lot to take in but I’m so happy to be part of it,” Ciske said. “What I’m learning impacts more than just football. It helps you be more mentally, emotionally and physically tough and just a better, stronger person overall.”

Colin Desmet had 11 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown. The senior running back/linebacker also snared an interception.

“A lot of kids are stepping up into new roles this season so it’s been a process,” Desmet said.

Desmet’s one-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter opened the scoring. Seaburg threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Desmet in the third quarter to make it 12-0. The Trojans missed all three extra-point kicks.

Seaburg was 3-for-7 passing for 75 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

McHenry quarterback Dominick Caruso threw the four interceptions but also made a lot happen. The senior was 14-for-27 passing for 245 yards. Jacob Zarek had six catches for 166 yards for the Warriors (0-4, 0-4).

“McHenry played well,” Seaburg said. “They played hard and tackled real well. We couldn’t get anything sustained offensively.”

Expectations are always high at Cary-Grove, but this is likely a rebuilding year. Jacobs and Prairie Ridge are the Fox Valley leaders so far.

The Trojans play at Prairie Ridge on Friday. It’s a huge rivalry and traditionally one of the biggest games in Class 6A every season.

“There’s a lot of things about that game,” Seaburg said. “It’s two quality high schools and two programs that have historically had success. I know our kids look forward to it and our fans do too.”

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Nico Hoerner’s right biceps mild strain will sideline him for at least a couple more days, and it’s uncertain when the Cubs’ standout shortstop will return.

“It’s a little worse off than we thought,” admitted manager David Ross, who said an MRI indicated the injury needed to be treated with more caution.

Hoerner hasn’t played since injuring the arm while diving and making a quick throw Sept. 11 against the Giants. But with a .291 batting average, an 86.8 percent contact rate and 11 Defensive Runs Saved, there’s nothing left for Hoerner to prove to the Cubs this season.

As of now, the Cubs haven’t publicly hinted the thought of shutting down Hoerner, who indicated to Ross that he’d like to return this season.

“I would say we’re going to try to work on him to get back,” Ross said. “He wants to get back.”

Timely insurance policy

In the event the Cubs don’t re-sign Willson Contreras this winter, they appear to have no worse than a capable part-time replacement in Yan Gomes.

With Gomes behind the plate, starters Marcus Stroman (3.06), Justin Steele (1.36), Keegan Thompson (3.42), Kyle Hendricks (2.83) and Adrian Sampson (2.67) have an ERA lower than their season mark.

Gomes, 35, was signed to two-year, $13 million contract with a 2024 club option before the December 2 lockout.

“I think he just has that veteran presence back there, and guys trust him,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “He can relate to guys. He also knows the right time to challenge them a little bit.”

Gomes has caught the likes of Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Chris Bassitt and Frankie Montas prior to joining the Cubs.

“His level of communication with the player and the staff, being on the same page, he really takes pride in covering the whole part of every part of the game and communicating it,” Hottovy said. “He does a great job of that. When he gets guys to trust it’s going to work, he has the ability to influence them in a lot of ways.”

This and that

The contract of infielder Esteban Quiroz was selected from Triple-A Iowa. Quiroz appeared as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning but struck out. …Right fielder Seiya Suzuki was placed on the paternity leave list to attend to the birth of his first child in his native Japan. … Left-hander Sean Newcomb and first baseman Frank Schwindel were designated for assignment.

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How the Chicago Bears rookies performed relative to their peers

The Chicago Bears had an incredible comeback victory in Week 1 over the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears’ second-round rookies played a massive role in the win. Their performance helped to quiet the analysts who predicted their selection would be a net positive for the Bears. General manager Ryan Poles has been criticized by the national media and fans for his choices in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Poles chose to draft a cornerback, Kyler Gordon, and a safety, Jaquan Brisker, with his first two selections. The most blatant complaints were that Poles didn’t address needs on the offense to help second-year quarterback Justin Fields. (I was one of them.)

I thought it would be interesting to make a week-by-week comparison of how Gordon and Brisker stack up compared to their peers. Their peers in this comparison will be wide receivers or offensive linemen taken after Gordon and before Velus Jones Jr. to evaluate Poles’ choices versus other general managers.

This is obviously a short sample size. It’s possible the Bears’ draft choices or their peers blossom after their rookie year. It also doesn’t factor in possibilities like the Bears trading up for first-round talent. But it’ll give Bears fans a chance to see if the Bears were missing out on offense or if Poles’ decision to not overcook the board was prescient. Here’s a list to see how the Bears’ picks compared to a player you might have chosen. I was a fan of picking wide receiver George Pickens or an offensive lineman.

How Chicago Bears rookies Gordon and Brisker performed in Week 1

(CB) Kyler Gordon: PFF grade has Gordon at a 62.8 overall rating. He had an impressive six solo tackles. He gave up five receptions. One of those receptions he blew the coverage on, allowing wide receiver Jauan Jennings to have a significant gain on third down.(S) Jaquan Brisker: PFF grade has Brisker at a 61.2 overall rating. He only allowed one reception. Brisker had a huge fumble recovery in the Redzone.

How the Chicago Bears rookie peers performed in Week 1

Giants (WR) Wan’Dale Robinson: PFF grade has Robinson at a 75.4 overall rating. He caught one pass for five yards. Robinson’s day was cut short by a knee injury.Texans (WR) John Metchie III: Metchie will not be playing this season for health reasons.Patriots (WR) Tyquan Thornton: Did not play in Week 1 due to injury.Eagles (C) Cam Jurgens: Not much to report on Jurgens. He didn’t do enough to get on the stat sheet or grading sheet.Steelers (WR) George Pickens: PFF grade has Pickens at a 50.1 overall rating. He caught one pass for three yards. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky targeted Pickens three times in his debut.Colts (WR) Alec Pierce: PFF grade has Pierce at a 40.3 overall rating. Pierce had a rough start to his NFL career. He dropped a would-be-touchdown in Week 1.Chiefs (WR) Skyy Moore: PFF grade has Moore at an 80.4 overall rating. Moore only had one target for the Chiefs. He made the most of it by making a 30-yard completion.Buccaneers (OG) Luke Goedeke: PFF grade has Goedeke at a 49.6 overall rating. He gave up no sacks of Tom Brady in his first NFL start.Vikings (OG) Ed Ingram: PFF grade has Ingram at a 79.3 rating. Ingram struggled in the passing game but was spectacular in the Vikings’ rushing attack.Jaguars (C) Luke Fortner: PFF grade has Fortner at a 44.2 overall rating. Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson called Fortner’s performance “not great but good.”Patriots (G) Joshua Ezeudu: PFF grade has Ezeudu at a 50.3 overall rating. He allowed one sack in his first start. Ezeudu’s performance was much like Ingram’s, better in the run game than the pass.Titans (OT) Nicholas Petit-Frere: PFF grade has Petit-Frere at a 65.5 overall rating. He was impressive in the passing game for the Titans but earned a negative EPA grade in their rushing attack.

Poles did well with value in Week 1 for the Chicago Bears

Poles’ decision to take both Gordon and Brisker appears to be solid through the first week of the NFL regular season. We’ll see how this continues through the season as the wide receivers get more reps with the quarterbacks and the offensive linemen settle into their offensive schemes.

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Jaire Alexander had much to say about the Bears matchup

The Chicago Bears started of their season with an exciting upset over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1. Their Week 2 opponent, the Green Bay Packers, had a pathetic showing against the Minnesota Vikings in a 23-7 defeat. The loss didn’t appear to humble Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander, who seems to relish in the opportunity to play the Bears.

Recently history should give Alexander confidence going into the Week 2 matchup on Sunday Night Football. The Packers have won six straight games in their series with the Bears. It’s a rivalry game that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has claimed to “own.”

On Friday, Alexander made comments that backed up Rodgers’ statements last season. Per Ryan Wood of USA Today, Alexander made comments that rub salt in the wounds of Bears fans.

“It’s fun. It’s exciting,” Alexander says. “I always say, ‘Things could be a lot worse. I could be a Bears fan.’”

That hits below the belt.

Both teams’ players have been putting up “bulletin board” material

Jaire Alexander made quite a few more comments Friday. He wants a shutout. Alexander also wants Packers fans showing up lit. He wasn’t the only player making exciting comments before the rivalry game. Bears backup defensive end Trevis Gipson promised a win Sunday night.

It’s fair to say this game will have a lot of emotions between the players on each team. Bragging rights will be on the line during their primetime contest.

As for Jaire Alexander, he needs to focus on playing better defense. His secondary got absolutely rocked by Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson in Week 1. Jefferson made Alexander look ridiculous. I’ll keep repeating Sunday night, “Things could always be a lot worse. I could have this play on my film record.”

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A 71-year woman died early Saturday in a house fire that also injured a firefighter and a man in Roseland on the Far South Side, officials said.

About 4 a.m., officers were called to the 10500 block of South Forest Avenue for a fire on the second floor of the home, according to Chicago police.

The woman was found unresponsive and taken to Roseland Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

Another person in the house, a 77-year-old man, was listed in critical condition at the same hospital, Chicago fire officials said.

A responding firefighter was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital with a knee injury from a fall, fire officials said. He was listed in good condition.

The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.

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Isometimes wonder if you try to guess my weekly theme before you open your copy of Sports Saturday (for which we are all appreciative that you do). I’m sure that it is of no surprise to you that I couldn’t let an event as momentous as the change in the monarchy in Great Britain, an event that has captured the world’s attention, go without inclusion in our weekly quiz.

Now, I am not deeply invested in the royal family, but I have respect for the dedication that Queen Elizabeth had to service in her lifetime. And, yes, I am slightly dismayed that King Charles is not referring to himself as “King Chuck.” I do have some royalty on my r?sum?. There was a period when I was known as “The Czar of Entertainment” on Boston television. But enough about me. It’s time for the weekly quiz. May you reign supreme.

1. After the death of King George VI, Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary ascended to the throne on Feb. 6, 1952, at age 25. How many World Series were Chicago teams in during Queen -Elizabeth’s monarchy?

a. 5

b. 4

c. 3

d. 2

2. On May 15, 1991, the A’s visited the Orioles at Memorial Stadium. Also on that date, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip visited the ballpark. They saw Hall of Famers Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken Jr., Harold Baines, Dennis Eckersley and Tony La Russa. The queen was accompanied to the game by the President and the First Lady. Who were they?

3. Cecil Fielder played 13 seasons in the AL and hit 319 homers. He’s still alive, which is why his son, Prince, is not King Fielder. Prince, who played 12 seasons, seven in the NL and five in the AL, also hit 319 homers. Which Fielder (as a batter) hit more home runs against Chicago teams?

4. Here’s another royal father/son question. Pitcher Mel Queen had a son, Mel, who was no Shohei Ohtani, but he did start his career as an outfielder and finished as a pitcher. As much as I would have liked, for the purposes of this question, neither played for a Chicago team. So, here are some fathers who played in the bigs. Which (if any) played for a Chicago team?

a. Jose Cano

b. Tito Francona

c. Dave LaRoche

d. Steve Swisher

5. He was known as “King Felix.” -Pitcher Felix Hernandez won 169 games for the Mariners, but he was 0-1 against the Cubs and 7-7 against the White Sox. Against the Sox, in 143 2/3 innings, King Felix struck out 125 and allowed 21 homers. Jim Thome hit the most Sox homers against Hernandez. Did he:

a. Have more homers than strikeouts?

b. Strike out more than he homered?

c. Have the same number of homers and whiffs?

6. In the 1970s and ’80s, there was a surly ballplayer with a somewhat redundant last name, Dave Kingman. He played three years for the Cubs and had a memorable season in 1979, when he slammed 48 homers, drove in 115 runs, slugged .631, had an OPS of .956 and struck out 131 times. Kingman led the league in four of those five categories. In which did he finish second to Dave Winfield?

7. The Kansas City Royals were born in 1969. Three of the four players listed below played for the Royals, Cubs and White Sox. Which one didn’t?

a. Tom Gordon

b. Billy Hamilton

c. Pete LaCock

d. Moe Drabowsky

8. George Herman Ruth had many nicknames, but of all of them, the most famous was “the Babe.” Many of his nicknames were related to royalty, such as “the Sultan of Swat.” Here are four nicknames. I may or may not have made up some of them. Please determine which are real and which are from the quizmaster’s fertile (or fertilizer-filled) brain.

a. “The Earl of Boston”

b. “The Maharajah of Mash”

c. “The King of Swing”

d. “The Baron of Brews”

9. Paul Goldschmidt is having a wonderful season. While it’s less prestigious than it once was, Goldy is trying for the Triple Crown, leading in batting average, home runs and RBI (please, don’t use or say RBIs; it’s not “Runs Batted Ins”). Who was the last NL Triple Crown winner?

a. Jimmie Foxx

b. Frank Robinson

c. Joe Medwick

d. Chipper Jones

ANSWERS

1. The Cubs reached and won the World Series in 2016. The White Sox reached and won the World Series in 2005. However, the Sox also reached but lost the Series to the Dodgers in 1959. The answer is three, but as Meat Loaf sang, “Two out of three ain’t bad.”

2. President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush.

3. Prince Fielder hit 22 homers against the Cubs and seven against the White Sox for a total of 29. Cecil hit 34 against the Sox and never played the Cubs, which means the elder Fielder is king and the younger remains Prince.

4. Jose’s son Robinson never played for Chicago. Tito’s son Terry played for the Cubs in 1986. Dave LaRoche had two sons in the majors. Adam ended his career in 2015 with the White Sox, but Andy never played in Chicago. Steve Swisher was a catcher for four seasons with the Cubs, and, yes, his son Nick Swisher played for the White Sox in 2008.

5. Now, I know you think the quizmaster loves it when the total is the same, but that’s not the answer. I loved this question because, with the White Sox, Thome hit three homers against King Felix and struck out only twice. That’s why the guy is in the Hall.

6. In 1979, Dave Winfield led the NL with 118 RBI, the most of his career and the only time he led the league in any major batting category.

7. Pete LaCock (son of Peter Marshall, famed host of Hollywood Squares) played his entire career with the Royals and the Cubs. The other three played for all three teams.

8. “The Maharajah of Mash” and the “King of Swing” were real.

9. It’s been awhile since Joe Medwick won the crown with the Cardinals in 1937 with a .374 batting average, 31 HR and 154 RBI. That season, “Ducky” also led with 156 games played, 111 runs scored, 237 hits, 56 doubles, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and total bases.

See you next week, and don’t forget to write. It looks like we will have a great end to the regular season.

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Look, this frustrating White Sox season is all Tony La Russa’s fault.

Or maybe it’s Rick Hahn’s and Kenny Williams’ fault.

Or is it the players’ fault?

But wait: What about the man who sits at the top of all this? Is it Jerry Reinsdorf’s fault?

In this week’s “Polling Place” — your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter — we asked who’s chiefly to blame if the Sox fail to reach the postseason.

“It’s so easy to pick the owner,” @ShawnaP79 commented, “but this is on La Russa. You see the difference since he has been gone.”

“La Russa is the problem,” @TimothyMccue2 wrote, “but the owner is who put him in charge.”

More voters were in line with the latter take.

We also asked about Notre Dame: Is this going to be a losing season for the 0-2 Irish? And, of course, we asked about Sunday’s Bears-Packers game in Green Bay. Dare we even consider the possibility of a Bears win?

Offered @VerbanEmil, “I’m drunk with hope.”

Bottoms up, and on to the polls:

Poll No. 1: Who is at the top of the blame list if the White Sox fail to make the playoffs?

Upshot: The front office is getting an undeserved pass, according to @ScottTKennedy, who cites a weaker pitching staff than the Sox had in 2021. The players are the real problem, say @TFroehlig and @raulbarrogan43. Whatever the truth is, the bottom line is the Sox have to win like crazy the rest of the way or else they’ll go down in local history as the frustrating duds they’ve already been for five-plus months.

Poll No. 2: Is Notre Dame — off to an 0-2 start — headed for its first losing season since 2016?

Upshot: Saturday’s home game against Cal shouldn’t — again, shouldn’t — be a problem, but there are so many potential losses left on the schedule. You want us to name them? Fine: North Carolina, BYU, Clemson, USC. Wait, those are just the obvious ones. You’ll just have to take our word for it that there could be some other miserable Saturdays in the mix for the Irish.

Poll No. 3: The Bears are 9 1/2 -point underdogs in Green Bay on Sunday. What’s your pick?

a. Packers cover (XX%)

b. Packers win, Bears cover (XX%)

c. Bears win outright (XX%)

Upshot: Remember that one guy who was drunk with hope? He has lots of company. The Packers have treated the Bears like trash for a good three decades, but voters see a close game coming and — more of them than we can believe — a Bears win at Lambeau Field. We don’t want them to be wrong, mind you, but let’s just say we’re a tad less cautiously optimistic.

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The Fire’s availability report for Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to CF Montr?al was too long to list here, with seven players out and another questionable due to injuries.

That begs the question: Why are the Fire so banged up? Is coach Ezra Hendrickson to blame? Is the team’s performance staff not doing its job? Or is it luck?

“Well, you know, injuries happen,” Hendrickson said. “We have had some unfortunate ones. I think we have a very good training staff. The high-performance people are [a] very knowledgeable staff that we have.”

Hendrickson said most of the injuries — specifically Kacper Przybylko’s back problem –were chronic issues that players had coming into the season. Yet as the year has worn on, more and more Fire contributors have found themselves on the shelf. And for the Fire, the absences couldn’t have come at a worse time.

There have been opportunities for young players such as Andre Reynolds II, but the problems have led Hendrickson to make other adjustments like starting defender Jonathan Bornstein as a central midfielder. That decision — in part due to Federico Navarro’s suspension for yellow card accumulation — was costly, as the veteran committed a turnover that led directly to a CF Montreal goal.

“We do our best we can as a staff, as a club, to protect our players,” Hendrickson said. “Sometimes maybe guys play a little longer than maybe they should or we didn’t rotate some games that maybe we should have, but all in all I thought we did what we can to make sure that guys are available. Because for a coach, the most important thing, doesn’t matter how good a player is, if he’s not available to play it’s very difficult. So we try to do our best as a complete staff to make sure we limit those injuries.

“But they have happened, and we have to deal with them and move on. We can’t really point fingers right now because we are all in this together and we are all trying to make this club a successful club, and it’s going to take everyone with that kind of mentality and that kind of focus for it to happen.”

Managing injuries is incredibly important for any team, and maybe more so for the Fire.

Their depth, an obstacle even before attrition set in, was going to be worth monitoring. And their biggest name, designated player Xherdan Shaqiri, has international commitments with Switzerland that add to his workload, and he isn’t exactly known for his durability.

Along with improving the roster, figuring out how to keep more players healthy should be one of the key goals this offseason.

“We’ll get this thing sorted out, get guys back on the pitch as quickly as we can,” Hendrickson said. “And moving forward we just make sure we do what we can as a club to make sure that player availability is something that’s front and foremost because that’s what it takes to win games in this league. You have to have the players to do it but every team has some injuries. We just have to manage it better and deal with our injuries the best way we can, and I think that’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

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