This time of the season brings back memories for a lot of players who have been traded. Cubs infielder Matt Duffy is among them.

Duffy didn’t expect the Giants to trade him on Aug. 1, 2016. But by the end of the day, he had been sent to the Rays as part of a deal built around lefty Matt Moore.

The Giants were contending – and ended up winning the NL wild card before losing to the Cubs in the NLDS – and Duffy expected to be part of a team adding pieces. And since he was recovering from an injury, Duffy was confident he’d stay in San Francisco and told his now-fiance that morning there was nearly a zero percent chance he’d be dealt.

Then 20 minutes before the deadline, Duffy said he was told by then-Giants general manager Bobby Evans that the Rays wanted him in the deal. Evans told Duffy he’d try to include prospects instead of a proven major leaguer, but if the Rays wouldn’t budge he’d make the trade.

Evans then made the trade.

“It hit me like a ton of bricks,” Duffy said. “It was the last thing on my mind that day. It was tough for sure, but I’m happy it happened.”

Trades are a part of life for baseball players, a part that isn’t present in most other careers. Duffy experienced that in 2016, and many of his teammates could before the July 30 deadline.

“It can loom for some guys,” Duffy said. “It’s… focus on today and that’s it.”

One year down…
Saturday was the one-year anniversary of 2020’s opening day, which also marks one year since David Ross debuted as Cubs manager. Over that time, Ross said he’s learned many things, including how to deal with adversity while trying to get better and keep growing.

Ross’ job now is obviously different from it was when he was a player. Now it’s on him to find the Cubs’ advantages and exploit weaknesses in the opponent, though that was part of his job when he was a catcher and calling pitches.

That doesn’t mean the player mentality in him is completely gone.

“That’s the one thing that I talked to these guys about after the All-Star break,” Ross said. “There’s not really a day that I don’t want to run out of there with them and go and try to impact the game.”

Steele steps
Lefthander Justin Steele allowed one run in four innings Friday at Triple-A Iowa, where he’s getting stretched out to maybe join the Cubs’ rotation. But Ross wasn’t bequeathing Steele a spot when he returns.

“We’ll wait and see how that goes before we put somebody in another guy’s spot that doesn’t have any experience at the big-league level starting,” Ross said.

Briefly…
Jake Arrieta (right hamstring tightness) will throw a live batting practice Monday at Wrigley Field. Currently on a rehab assignment at Single-A South Bend, Rowan Wick (left oblique strain) might join him.

* The Cubs announced they’ve signed seven of their remaining 2021 draft selections, including third baseman James Triantos, their second-round pick. Sixteen of the Cubs’ 20 picks have signed.

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Two men were wounded, one critically, in a shooting Saturday morning in Humboldt Park.

The men were standing on a sidewalk about 7:10 a.m. in the 800 block of North Drake Avenue when a male exited a dark color sedan and opened fire in their direction, Chicago police said.

One man, 50, was struck multiple times in the upper thigh and transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said.

The second man, 25, was also struck in the thigh and taken to the same hospital in good condition, police said.

The shooter returned to the sedan after the attack and fled the scene, according to police.

There is no one in custody.

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SAITAMA, Japan — After a stunning loss in the opener, the U.S. women’s soccer team vowed to be ruthless against New Zealand.

And they rebounded in a big way.

The Americans cruised to a 6-1 rout of New Zealand in front of First Lady Jill Biden at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.

With the United States leading 2-0 at the break, Biden arrived in time to watch the team put the game away in the second half at Saitama Stadium.

The United States was blanked by Sweden 3-0 in the opener. It was the team’s first loss since January 2019 and snapped a 44-game unbeaten streak. The Americans had not been held scoreless since 2017.

But the Americans vowed to regain control of the tournament. Defender Kelley O’Hara said the United States needed to be “ruthless” against New Zealand.

“Sweden was a very good team and we didn’t play our best, and when you do that up against a top opponent, they’re going to punish you. So that wasn’t our best performance,” Crystal Dunn said. “I think we came into Game 2 knowing that we don’t go from being a really great team two days ago to not being a great team anymore.”

Rose Lavelle scored off a well-placed pass from Tobin Heath in the ninth minute to give the United States an early lead — and the team’s first goal of the Olympics. Despite the lack of goals, the Americans dominated the half, unlike their out-of-sorts start against the Swedes.

Lindsey Horan scored with a header in the final moments of the half to put the United States up 2-0 at the break. It was Horan’s 23rd international goal and it came on her milestone 100th appearance for the national team.

Horan called it surreal: Her 100th cap while the First Lady looked on in an otherwise empty stadium.

“I think my approach going into this game — obviously it’s in the back of your head that you’re getting your 100th cap — but I didn’t want that to be a factor today, Horan said. “I think we wanted to get the job done and my focus was doing whatever I possibly could to help the team win. I’m happy to get a goal and yeah, it’s nice to have a fan in the stands, too.”

It could have been worse for New Zealand but the United States had four disallowed goals, all for offside, in the first half.

An own-goal by Abby Erceg extended the U.S. lead to 3-0 in the 64th minute. New Zealand avoided the shutout with Betsy Hassett’s goal in the 72nd.

Christen Press, who came in as a second-half substitute, scored from the center of the box in the 80th off a feed from Red Stars’ own Julie Ertz, before Alex Morgan scored in the final minutes of regulation. Another New Zealand own-goal closed out the game in stoppage time.

“Look, from our perspective I thought we had a terrific 80 minutes and unfortunately the last 10 minutes kind of let us down a little bit on the scoreline,” New Zealand coach Tom Sermanni said. “From an effort perspective, you can’t fault the players, they gave blood sweat and tears on the field tonight to come up against a very good team.”

U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski made five changes to the starting lineup he used against Sweden, giving Carli Lloyd the start over Morgan, Megan Rapinoe for Press, Ertz for Sam Mewis, Emily Sonnett for O’Hara, and Red Stars’ Tierna Davidson for captain Becky Sauerbrunn.

The United States, the reigning World Cup champion, has been to every Olympics since women’s soccer joined the event in 1996. The world’s top-ranked team has five gold medals, more than any other nation.

The U.S. also lost the first match of the 2008 Beijing Games, falling to Norway 2-0, but went on to win the gold.

Their nemesis at the Olympics has been Sweden, which booted the Americans from the Rio de Janeiro Games in the quarterfinals five years ago.

“I think we were a little bit more composed, a little bit more patient on the ball this game, and we know it’s going to be challenging chasing that gold medal,” Dunn said. “So we’re not taking anything for granted.”

New Zealand lost to Australia 2-1 in its opening match and the Ferns’ chances of reaching the knockout round grew slim with Saturday’s loss.

New Zealand had not played any matches since March 2020 because of coronavirus restrictions.

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Chicago Bears: A lot to consider with James Daniels extension talk by Tom Kavanaugh

The City of Brotherly Love might be Philadelphia but the Chicago Blackhawks are trying to make this the city of brotherly hockey. On Friday, they acquired Seth Jones from the Columbus Blue Jackets a week after trading Duncan Keith to the Edmonton Oilers for Caleb Jones. Now, Seth is worlds better than his brother but Caleb can be an effective player too. Now, there is a new set of brothers on the team not named Jones.

With the 62nd pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, the Blackhawks selected Colton Dach. Yes, he is the baby brother of Blackhawks center Kirby Dach. They are both centermen. Colton is coming off two seasons where he played for the Saskatoon Blades. He was projected to go somewhere in from the late first round or second round.

In the short 2020-21 season for the Blades, Dach had 11 goals and 9 assists for 20 points in 20 games. He didn’t light the world on fire but those are still really good numbers. He has a chance to be a very good NHL player if he continues developing at his current pace.

Kirby was, of course, a first-round pick. In fact, the Hawks took him with the third overall pick so that tells you what NHL teams think of him. Colton might not reach Kirby’s level but you never know. You can only hope that playing together ignites a fire in both of them that allows them to succeed at the highest level. They are both very good players.

The Chicago Blackhawks are getting younger and more skilled in the organization.

It doesn’t seem likely that the younger Dach will end up in the NHL right away. He has some development to go before he takes that stage. In fact, there were questions as to Kirby making it in year one too but he was so good early that they kept him. If the Hawks were smart, they would let Colton develop at his own pace.

This is a good way to kick off day two for Chicago. Little Dach is actually not so little. He stands at 6’4? and 205 lbs. That is huge for an 18-year-old kid trying to make his way to the NHL. A lot of his high-end skill revolves around his big shot. He uses his hands in a way that makes it hard for goaltenders to read which is why he has so much success.

Related Story: The Chicago Blackhawks made an interesting first-round pick

When he develops a little more, the shooting along with the playmaking should really take him to a new level. This is a great pick for the Chicago Blackhawks as they try to continue adding young talent while remaining competitive.

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Where Are We Going So Fast?

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A Coincidental Conversation™ about turning codependency into independence-y

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By James Warda,
today at 9:58 am

Imagine you’re the parent of a 12-year-old girl and she comes to you one day and asks if both of you can go to therapy together. Next, imagine that two years later, she accompanies her good friend to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to support her in recovery. Then, imagine that same girl growing up, and because of the acceptance and authenticity she experienced in both situations, and her courage to face her own codependency head-on, then dedicating herself to becoming a counselor.

What would you think of her?

Well, I think of her as a superhero. And these things we just mentioned were part of her “origin story.”

Now, if you ask Michelle Farris, a licensed psychotherapist and anger management specialist and the person described above, if she considers herself a superhero, I’m guessing she’d shrug off the term with a friendly chuckle and eyeroll. In fact, I’m sure that’s the response you’d get, because I know she doesn’t think of herself that way.

But I do.

Because that’s the way I think of anyone who takes on the extremely difficult work of healing their own “stuff” and not passing it on. Then, to top it off, she actually helps others do the same.

I first “met” Farris when I came across her YouTube channel speaking in a real, human way about codependency and reached out to interview her. As for how to define “codependency,” during our conversation, Farris described it as “a relationship pattern where you focus on others at your own expense.”

A simple definition, yes. But in that simplicity is the key. It’s the way Farris offers all her work. Direct. Simple but not simplistic. Compassionate. And believing in you in a way that helps you believe in yourself.

So, with that, below are 11 takeaway quotes from my conversation with Farris  (slightly edited for length and flow). And I’m guessing that, after you read them, you’ll want to watch our full conversation.

Takeaway Quote: On some of the coincidences that led to her becoming a counselor. “When I was 12, I literally asked my Mom to go to therapy with me, and she took us,” Farris said, “The experience of therapy, being heard, being witnessed, was very healing. The next thing, when I was 14, my best friend got sober in Alcoholics Anonymous and I went with to support her. People were talking about their issues openly, getting support, laughing, and I had never seen anything like that, where people weren’t pretending to be something different than who they were. Those two experiences, and my own recovery later, shaped me to want to be a therapist.”

Takeaway Quote: On coming home through counseling. “I was codependent and, as a kid, relied on food to cope so my first program was Overeater’s Anonymous,” Farris said, “Then, when I got to college, I realized I didn’t have any skills to live. I didn’t know how to make friends or feel good about myself and be my own advocate. So, once I got into recovery, it was like, ‘Oh, I’m home. People are talking about things that are in my heart.”

Takeaway Quote: Dysfunction is in the eye of the beholder. “We look at these behaviors as dysfunctional,” Farris said, “but as kids, they work. If you’re a people pleaser, it works. People like you. They can count on you. That’s why it’s so hard to give these behaviors up. At one time, they worked. But then we realize they’ve outlived their usefulness. Then we’re stuck, and we don’t know how to reverse the people-pleasing and actually advocate for ourselves, say no, and insert our own opinions. That’s where the recovery really needs to happen.”

Takeaway Quote: On whether it was easy to become vulnerable in sharing her own story. “As a therapist, you have to be mindful of what you share,” Farris said. “I heard someone once say, ‘Share the scar, but not the wound,’ and that resonated with me. The reason I feel more comfortable sharing now is that I’ve done enough work to see the value in sharing it. So, that someone might say, ‘Oh, I felt that way, too. Maybe it’s ok for me to get help.’”

Takeaway Quote: How she defines codependency. “I see it as a relationship pattern where you focus on others at your own expense,” Farris said. “You’re giving, you’re helping, you’re possibly controlling the outcomes. Of course, there are reasons we do that. The codependent person is very ‘other-focused.’ They don’t really pay attention to what they need because they’ve learned the only way to get their needs met is if they’re pleasing other people and taking care of them and making sure everything outside of them is ok. That’s what kids in dysfunctional families do. They don’t learn it’s ok to have an emotion, to have an experience and to just be a kid. Sadly, avoiding the self and getting our value from outside is really painful because it doesn’t last.”

Takeaway Quote: On the two prongs of therapy. “The beginning parts of therapy,” Farris said, “are about looking at old beliefs that aren’t working for us and being willing to ask ourselves questions like, ‘Is self-care selfish? Do I have the right to get my needs met? Do I have the right to set boundaries? Do I have the right to actually feel my feelings?’ We don’t learn that growing up. If you don’t learn it’s ok to have your feelings, be yourself, and advocate for yourself, then life just gets hard, and relationships get frustrating. At the same time, it’s important to become more aware of our self-talk and how negative it often is.”

Takeaway Quote: We choose the thought after thought. “First, you have to identify when you have that first thought of negative self-talk,” Farris said. “Of course, you can’t change that first thought. It’s random. But you can catch it. Then, once you do, you can say ‘Now, I’ve got to choose something else next.’”

Takeaway Quote: Why meditation scares some people. “When I sit, the feelings will come up,” Farris said. “If I don’t want to be in my own body and my own experience and I haven’t been feeling my feelings and I am really stressed, or I do have a lot of anger and resentment, sitting still is going to bring all that up. Meditation scares a lot of people because it brings them face-to-face with themselves and their own emotional experiences and if there’s a lot there they don’t want to deal with, they’re going to say ‘No, it’s not for me.’”

Takeaway Quote: What to do if you’re overwhelmed by a feeling. “Usually, I recommend tapping,” Farris said. “It’s something they can do on their own. A series of taps on their hand, their face, upper body, and so on, as you’re talking about your stress. A tap on these pressure points can calm the physical reaction of stress. The other thing you can do is sit down for five minutes and literally have a feeling. You may even cry, which is ok, because it can release that pent-up emotion. If you can feel your feelings, you’ll feel more centered in the long run. You may, of course, need help doing all this based on how much trauma you’ve had, how long it’s been going on, and so on. A support system always helps.”

Takeaway Quote: On what she advises when people feel stuck. “Sometimes feeling stuck is part of the process,” Farris said. “Growth isn’t linear and has its ups and downs. I try to humanize that the work is one day at a time. Some people will say, ‘What if I’m doing it wrong?’ As long as you show up, you’re not doing it wrong. Even if you’re depressed, even if your relationships aren’t where you want them to be, the fact that you keep coming back and looking at yourself, eventually that will get better. ‘Stuck’ for me is if you’re not functioning well.”

Takeaway Quote: Why she starts phrases with “What I want for you…” and “What I don’t want for you…” often in her YouTube videos. “It’s what I wanted someone to say to me as a kid,” Farris said. “I wanted someone to say, ‘You don’t have to do this process perfectly, it’s going to be messy and it’s ok. It doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.’ I want to give people the permission to get into the process.”

Takeaway Quote: On not passing on our pain “It’s when someone says ‘No, I’m not going to pass on my pain. I’m going to feel it.’ And, by feeling it, they change it. Even owning your pain is stopping the dysfunction, including telling your kids things like, ‘I’m not feeling great right now,’ apologizing when we yell, and so on. The previous generation didn’t really have the resources or permission to do that. But we do.”

___________________________________________________________________________

Learn more about Michelle Farris at www.counselingrecovery.com.

Watch full Coincidental Conversations™ interview with Michelle Farris

Additional resources:

Co-Dependents Anonymous

______________________________________________________

Contact me at [email protected] and learn more at jameswarda.com.

Comments Note: All comments are reviewed. Any that are considered to be a personal attack or hate speech will be removed. In my blog, I always try to be respectful. I expect the same from my readers, both in responses to me, and about or to each other. And, again, thank you for reading.

@2001-2021, James R. Warda. All rights reserved.

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James Warda

James Warda, author of “Where Are We Going So Fast?”, is a keynote speaker who focuses on connecting to each other, and ourselves, through our moments. His background also includes being a writer and speaker for Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises, and a columnist for the “Chicago Tribune” and Pioneer Press.

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A 36-year-old man was found fatally shot Saturday morning in Chatham on the South Side.

About 5:10 a.m., officers heard gunshots in the first block of East 79th Street and found the man lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, Chicago police said.

Someone in a light-colored sedan had fired shots at him and fled the scene, according to police.

The man was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced. He has not yet been identified.

No one is in custody, police said.

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I celebrated my grandson’s 21st birthday on Friday. There was no cake or balloons or ceremonial toasts.

He lives out of town. I wanted to hug him. I’m not paranoid, but the potential for him to become an innocent victim of the ongoing gun violence in my neighborhood is too real for me to take the risk of having him visit.

“First and foremost, the mass shootings have become fashionable for some of the guys involved in gang conflict,” said Tio Hardiman, founder of Violence Interrupters, an anti-violence organization that claims to have mediated 40 conflicts so far this year.

“The escalating gun violence is fueled by a lot of interpersonal conflicts which spirals into gang conflict. The new fad is shooting into crowds,” he said. “The police are doing the best they can do, but the police cannot stop violence on the front end. Police get involved once a crime is committed, but often it is too late.”

Hardiman’s explanation sums up the problem. For instance, a couple of weeks ago, I got a frantic call from a young Black man who desperately is trying to save himself and his family from gun violence.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

I am not using names or addresses because I fear for their safety. This family’s troubles started in April when the father reported to police that a man in his 30s sexually abused his 15-year-old daughter.

He said he took his daughter to the hospital and filed a police report. The alleged abuser was arrested and charged with “sexual assault,” and police took him into custody. Six days later, he bonded out. “This guy is a sexual predator of a child and a parolee. How did they even give him a bond?” the girl’s stepmother asked.

Fast-forward to July. By then, the conflict had escalated to the point the father said he went to the 3rd District police station to report threats being made on his life.

His daughter’s alleged abuser was now hanging around the apartment building where this family lives. Things came to a head on July 5, when the alleged abuser’s sister (a tenant in the same building) and the stepmother got into a physical altercation resulting in the arrest of the stepmother.

According to an email from a police spokesman, “officers responded to a call of a person with a gun. A female, 24, related that a known offender, female, 46, pulled a gun on her and battered her. The offender was taken into custody and charged.” The stepmother claims she did not pull a gun. Police charged her with a misdemeanor for making physical contact with the 24-year-old.

When the stepmother was released from police custody and returned home, the accused abuser allegedly confronted them in the parking lot, blocking their path with his car.

“I got out of my car, and he reversed and hit my wife. He hit her hard,” the father told me.

A police spokesman confirmed a vehicle struck the woman in the parking lot of her apartment building, and the incident is under investigation.

“The police never came. The fire department and the ambulance arrived. When I got to the University of Chicago hospital, there were detectives there, but they were there for other situations,” the father said.

The stepmother suffered a broken leg, a fractured leg, and a broken arm that required screws and a plate, he said. “She will be in a wheelchair for a while. I’m in the hospital with her every day. I spend the night with her to make sure she’s OK,” the father told me.

Meanwhile, [the alleged abuser] is still on the street.

“The elephant in the room is gun violence in Black communities across our nation,” said Hardiman.

“There needs to be an African American army — not to go out and kill people, but to go out in the strongest possible way to bring these young guys to a table of peace by any means necessary,” he said.

Young brothers march proudly to chants of “no justice, no peace.”

But to end this vicious cycle, the peacemakers have to get them to see that street justice is no justice at all.

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One morning in 2010, I sat in the office of then-Penn State football coach Joe Paterno — 83 at the time — and listened to him explain the two reasons he still was getting up at 5 a.m. every day and going to work.

Helping young people was one. Surviving was the other. Deep inside major-college football’s winningest coach at the time stirred the feeling that retirement would hasten his demise.

But the next year brought the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal. By the time Paterno tried to get out in front of it, he was far too late. After 61 years of coaching at the school, Paterno was fired in November 2011. Two months later, he was dead.

It was cancer. Those close to him were convinced a broken will contributed, too.

”My name — I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something,” Paterno said, crying uncontrollably, the day after he was fired, according to biographer Joe Posnanski. ”And now it’s gone.”

He was right about that. His name was ruined. So were those of Penn State president Graham Spanier, vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley. Careers: over. Reputations: destroyed by cover-up.

There’s always a damn cover-up.

And the public unraveling of a cover-up involves two essential questions. The first: How much did so-and-so know? And, eventually, the second: If so-and-so knew anything at all, how could he fail to do the right thing and allow future victims to be preyed upon? The second question never, ever goes away.

Did the Blackhawks cover up an alleged sexual assault against a player by former video coach Bradley Aldrich during their run to the 2010 Stanley Cup title? Did then-president John McDonough, general manager Stan Bowman, hockey executive Al MacIsaac and mental-skills coach James Gary know all about the assault and fail to do any of the right things? Was knowledge of Aldrich’s nefariousness even more widespread in the organization than that?

If allegations brought in separate lawsuits against the Hawks — one by the former player, another by a former high school student whom Aldrich was convicted in 2013 of assaulting in Michigan — are true, then reputations and careers must fall.

The Hawks have hired Chicago law firm Jenner & Block to conduct an ”independent review” of allegations that include the team providing positive references to potential employers after Aldrich left the organization in 2010. One dearly hopes the truth — all of it — will be exposed, but ”independent” reviews don’t always turn out to be so independent. Perhaps the NHL eventually will have to get more involved.

”We need to give the experts the necessary time and the latitude to do their job well,” Bowman said during a video conference Thursday with reporters. ”I am eager to speak about this in more detail in the future, but for now I have to respect the pending litigation and the independent review that’s underway. I’m not going to be able to make any comments about that at this time. We have to let the process play itself out.”

The Hawks and the NHL have avoided saying whether the findings of the investigation will be made public, which is a troubling sign. Anything less than transparency would be suspect and an egregious disservice to us all — and especially to all those who have been victimized by sexual assault.

In March, the British newspaper The Guardian ran a series on sexual assault in sports ran a series on sexual assault in sports and specifically examined sexual abuse by pedophile coaches. There was a story on South Korean Olympic coach Cho Jae-beom, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for abusing a gold-medal-winning speed skater. Another story examined the sordidness of former Irish Olympic swimming coach George Gibney, who fled the country — to the United States, eventually — to avoid trial. Another explored the actions of the monstrous Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics national-team and Michigan State University doctor who is serving a 60-year sentence for his crimes.

The series didn’t include the Sandusky scandal. It didn’t include the University of Michigan scandal surrounding former athletic doctor Robert Anderson, alleged to have abused athletes at the school for decades. It left out Graham James, the former Canadian junior-hockey coach who was convicted of sexually abusing multiple players who went on to NHL careers.

But present in all those cases mentioned above were varying degrees of cover-up. There’s always a damn cover-up.

And though the names of the abusers are the ones that ring loudest in our memories, many of those who try to keep the cat in the bag — who fail miserably at doing the right thing — end up going down, too, inked with the indelible shame they deserve.

Hours before he was fired, Paterno released a statement in which he said he would retire at the end of the season. Penn State’s board of trustees voted instead to cut ties immediately, rendering the statement moot. Nevertheless, six words from Paterno’s missive live on as the most meaningful and memorable quote he ever gave — an epitaph, of sorts.

”I wish I had done more.”

In the end, they always do.

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Chicago Blackhawks make an interesting first-round pick by Vincent Parise

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Chicago Bears (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bears’ offensive line has been a focal point of conversation throughout their discourse. Yet, that discussion seems to exclude fourth-year pro, James Daniels. Everyone knows that the offensive line as a whole has struggled with health and overall performance. Daniels is seen as one of the stronger links of that chain. Therefore, he doesn’t bear the brunt of much criticism that the o-line often receives.

Daniels’s performance should be talked about much more, considering he is entering the last year of his contract with ten other starters. Many fans think he deserves to be brought back without having any hard evidence to make his case.

The difficult part of building that case is that there really isn’t an attainable stat to refer to to get the full picture of how offensive linemen perform. There are numbers like blocking grades, run/pass blocking win rate, pressures allowed, etc., yet even those can vary and fail to paint the full picture.

The Chicago Bears are hoping that James Daniels makes an impact in 2021.

In order to get a well-rounded understanding of how an offensive lineman is playing, you must go through the tape and evaluate them with your own eyes. Those other stats can help fill in the gaps but the film is the meat and potatoes of the evaluation.

That said, I dove into the film to get to the bottom of how Daniels has faired out. In hopes of answering the million-dollar question (pun intended) on whether he deserves a contract extension or not.

Next: The two faced run blocker

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The Bears don’t seem married to playing at Soldier Field.

What about the Fire?

”We’re committed to Soldier Field,” owner Joe Mansueto told the Sun-Times. ”I’d like to see if we can make it work in a very robust way for our fans. Ultimately, we’ll listen to our fans and see how the experience is.”

When discussing Soldier Field, which the Fire moved back to before last season, Mansueto called it an iconic venue with a central location that’s easy to get to, saying there are ”a lot of pluses” to it. The mindset, Mansueto said, is not to look around for other possible stadium locations but to make it work at Soldier Field ”in the most robust way possible.”

”Longer term, we’ll see how it goes,” Mansueto said. ”As you know, in Chicago, there’s not a lot of places to put a stadium even if you did want to do it, so it’s not obvious what you would do to improve upon Soldier Field. I think we’ve got a very good experience.

”Let’s kind of live with that for a bit and see how it feels. If we find that it is in some way lacking or we could make it better for the fans, I think we’re certainly open to that. But right now, that’s not the focus.”

The initial portion of the lease signed in 2019 is three years, with two three-year extensions, then two one-year extensions.

For Mansueto, the criteria to judge whether Soldier Field is the right place would begin with the fan experience and whether supporters enjoy games there and can get there. Another is demand for Fire games and whether the stadium has too many seats or just the right amount. The economics of playing at Soldier Field are also a factor, and the Fire don’t have as much control over concession and parking prices some other teams do.

All told, Mansueto said the Fire are happy with Soldier Field and praised the Chicago Park District and ASM Global, which manages the venue.

”It can be a bit of a hassle with the Bears’ schedule and trying to thread that needle and make everybody happy,” Mansueto said. ”But other than that minor inconvenience, I think we’re pretty happy with Soldier Field to date.”

The Bears don’t seem to be and have submitted a bid to purchase the Arlington International Racecourse land in Arlington Heights. Mansueto said the Fire are paying attention to those developments and

acknowledged that if the Bears leave, it would relieve some scheduling headaches. Among them are a front-loaded home schedule, two games that have had to be rescheduled and a game Sept. 29 that must be moved to another venue.

But Mansueto isn’t hoping for the Bears to leave and said the Fire are happy with their fellow Soldier Field tenants.

”I think if I had my choice, I would rather see the Bears stay,” Mansueto said. ”I think it’s good for Chicago. I think it’s good for the venue, Soldier Field. There’d be some tiny positives if they left, but I’d rather see them stay and be our co-tenant at Soldier Field.”

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