The Best Parks In Chicago For SoftballDrew Krieson September 20, 2020 at 11:25 pm

It’s no secret that sports make up a large part of Chicago culture. And we’re not just talking about our iconic professional franchises. Every summer, Chicago parks find themselves filled with residents playing a variety of different sports. There’s baseball games, tennis matches, and plenty of courts filled with basketball players across the city. But there’s one sport, in particular, that has the spotlight, softball. The game of softball is rooted in Chicago where the first game occurred in 1867. With a variety of adult leagues and formats, like the popular 16-inch softball game, it’s not surprising to see games fill the city day and night. So, whether you’re looking to play a casual game with friends, or turn it up a notch and join a competitive league, we’ve got the scoop on some of the best parks in Chicago for softball.

Waveland Park

First up is Waveland Park which is located on the north side near another famous ballpark, Wrigley Field. At the Waveland Park softball fields, there are plenty of softball diamonds to host games. One of the perks of playing here is that the fields are maintained pretty well. Plus, if you end up needing a break from softball, the park has running and biking paths, tennis courts, and access to Lake Michigan.

Calumet Park

Calumet Park is another great spot for some Chicago softball. Located in Chicago’s east side, the park is perfect for families with younger players as there are a lot of junior fields here. Outside of the seasonal sports, Calumet Park also hosts sewing, woodshop, and dance lessons for community members!

La Follette Park

The next park you need to check out for some Chicago softball is La Follette Park. This park finds its home in the Austin community. Outside of the softball fields, La Follette Park features basketball courts, tennis courts, and even a fieldhouse with an indoor pool.

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Grant Park

The final park on this list is the premier park in Chicago for softball. Grant Park is located in the Loop and has held softball games for more than eight decades! Plenty of 16-inch softball tournaments and leagues have called Grant Park home over the years. The park is also home to Cloud Gate, the Maggie Daley Park, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Featured Image Credit: 16 Inch Softball Hall Of Fame Instagram Page

Chicago Bears: New York Giants game doesn’t prove muchVincent Pariseon September 21, 2020 at 1:00 pm

Chicago Bears (Photo by Rob Leiter/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bears are now 2-0 after a big win but it doesn’t really prove much.

As you wake up on this Monday morning, the Chicago Bears are tied with the Green Bay Packers for first place in the NFC North Division. They defeated the New York Giants in week two to move to 2-0 on the season. Like week one, things were very shaky at the end and it could have gone either way. If two or three final plays went differently, the Bears would be 0-2 instead of 2-0. They have to fix a lot of things otherwise they are going to start to get cold.

They didn’t prove much to anyone over the first two weeks. It has pretty much been two weeks of luck, hot and cold play, and Allen Robinson drama. For a 2-0 team, things feel very uncertain about the future. There is also Mitchell Trubisky who seems to change how he is playing every single quarter. Nick Foles is waiting behind him for the opportunity which leaves even more uncertainty.

They had to make a big comeback and then rely on the luckiest drop of all time to beat the Detroit Lions in week one. It was a tough game to watch in the first three quarters and then they were pretty good in the fourth quarter. Coming into the Giants game, they decided to play well early on this time. Then, they allowed the Giants to march down the field in the final two minutes with a chance to finish a game-winning drive.

It isn’t the most promising 2-0 that we have ever seen. The Packers are 2-0 and did it in a pretty convincing fashion. The Bears need to keep up with them this season including playing against them twice. The Minnesota Vikings are also really good on paper. They are 0-2 but they have the roster to turn it around quickly. The Bears need as many wins as possible if they want to hold them off.

Now, winning and being 2-0 is nothing to be sorry about but they need to be better for a full football game if they are going to keep up having a good record. The good teams will crush them if they don’t improve.

Next week is the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta. It is a pretty big test for them as they look to start to come together as a team. You can say that if they put together their strengths from the first two games, they will win. Their quarterback needs to be better for all 60 minutes which might be a lot to ask at this point.

One thing that isn’t too much to ask, is the defense to step up. They need that unit to play well to win. With the extra team going to the playoffs this year, a 3-0 start would be really nice. In the end, it doesn’t matter how you win as long as you win. We aren’t convinced they are a good team because they are 2-0 but are certainly happy they won both games. On to Atlanta.

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Chicago Bears: New York Giants game doesn’t prove muchVincent Pariseon September 21, 2020 at 1:00 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears are still a work in progressPatrick Sheldonon September 21, 2020 at 12:00 pm

Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bears still have a lot of work left to do.

The Chicago Bears are still very much a work in progress, which was apparent even after their victory on Sunday against the New York Giants. In a game that came down to the wire at Soldier Field, the Bears held off a final drive by Daniel Jones and the G-Men, to sneak out with a 17-13 win and begin the season 2-0.

In doing so, their chances of making the playoffs increased dramatically — at least statistically. However, if this team wants to have a realistic shot at making the playoffs, then there is much work to do over the coming weeks and months.

In their opener, they needed an otherworldly fourth quarter to overcome an already porous Detroit Lions’ secondary which lost key contributors during the game. In addition, the defense struggled to stop the run, as it clearly missed the presence of Eddie Goldman.

On Sunday, the team seemed to do a much better job against the run, only yielding a total of 75 yards. However, the Giants were without Saquon Barkley for most of the game, as he left after the first play of the second quarter with a knee injury.

One theme that continued from Week 1, though, was the Bears’ ability to run the football. They rushed for 135 yards after galloping for 149 last week. In doing so, Matt Nagy has demonstrated a willingness to commit to the run this year.

Another trend that persisted, albeit a negative one, was their inconsistency on offense. As noted above, the Bears’ offense was pedestrian for three quarters last week. After a relatively strong first-half performance from Mitch Trubisky (13-18 for 159 yards and two touchdowns), he stalled in the second-half (5-10, 31 yards and two interceptions).

For the Bears, the first two weeks offered an opportunity to work out the kinks against a pair of sub-par teams. As they move into Week 3, they won’t have that luxury as they face the Atlanta Falcons. Although they are 0-2, they have lost to the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. In those two losses, they put up a combined 64 points, so scoring won’t be a problem for them.

Next: Robinson situation should get Pace fired

They have, however, surrendered their share of points, giving up 78. However, the question will be whether the inconsistent Bears offense can take advantage and capitalize, or will they continue this Jeckyl and Hyde routine? If it’s the latter, it’s hard to imagine them scoring enough points to keep pace.

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Chicago Bears are still a work in progressPatrick Sheldonon September 21, 2020 at 12:00 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears: Why the offense should be run firstUsayd Koshulon September 21, 2020 at 11:00 am

The Chicago Bears offense needs to develop into a run-first team.

On Sunday, the Chicago Bears would leave Soldier Field undefeated through the first two games of the 2020 NFL season. Despite having some work to do on the offense, if there’s one part of the offense that was efficient all game, it was the running game led by David Montgomery and Cordarrelle Patterson.

Montgomery, the lead running back, comfortably rushed for 82 yards on 16 carries, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. On the Bears final possession of the fourth quarter, he’d have rushing attempts for one, ten, 11, and 23 yards on four different plays.

Patterson on the other hand, who’s been featured more in the running game this season had seven carries for 25 yards, averaging 3.6 yards per attempt. Essentially, for Patterson, who’s still transitioning to being a running back, brings speed to the offense, something that’s crucial in head coach Matt Nagy’s system.

Through two games, the Bears have rushed for a total of 284 yards, which averages out to 142 yards per game. Through the first two games of the Nagy era, the running game was always a sore spot for the offense, however, this season, the numbers have shown it’s been one of the biggest strengths for the Bears.

Outside of Patterson and Montgomery, the Bears also have Tarik Cohen and Ryan Nall who can be factors. While Nall isn’t a workhorse running back and Cohen is a gadget player who plays all over the field, when Nagy dials up a run for them, most of the time, it’s successful.

That’s why one of the best things that Nagy can do, is continue to commit to the running game and potentially even make the offense run-first. The biggest advantage of this isn’t just that the defense will have the opportunity to rest, it’s also that quarterback Mitchell Trubisky won’t be asked to do everything for the Bears.

Sunday’s game against the New York Giants clearly showed that when the Bears are able to run the ball effectively, the entire offense as a unit can gel and play at a higher level. Essentially, when Montgomery gets into sync, he’s able to be a catalyst that makes the entire offense run smoother.

Next: Chicago Bears: Extending Cohen before Robinson is foolish

Overall, through the first two games of the season, the Bears continue to run the ball effectively and teams clearly don’t have an answer. With the passing game and some wide receivers struggling to find rhythm, making the offense a run-first unit is something that needs to be as the season progresses.

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Chicago Bears: Why the offense should be run firstUsayd Koshulon September 21, 2020 at 11:00 am Read More »

Chicago Bears: Mitchell Trubisky’s start to the season is his best one yetRyan Fedrauon September 21, 2020 at 2:00 pm

Mitchell Trubisky #10, Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bears are 2-0 for the first time since 2013 and Mitchell Trubisky is a big reason why.

The excitement for the Chicago Bears was high after Week One’s win against the Detroit Lions, coming back down 23-6 in the fourth quarter, led by quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. The knock-on Trubisky was how the offense couldn’t move in the first half – he changed that fast against the New York Giants.

During the first drive against the Giants game on Sunday, Trubisky hit David Montgomery for his fourth passing touchdown of the season. The Bears would get a turnover three plays later, which resulted in a field goal. Before the end of the half, Trubisky hit Darnell Mooney for a touchdown, which is his fifth passing touchdown of the season.

At half time, Trubisky had already spread the ball out, throwing to 10 different players.

Those five passing touchdowns are more than Week one and two in 2018 and 2019 for Trubisky. He had just one passing touchdown in those four games over the past three seasons. Now, he has five to start the season.

Taking it back to his rookie season, he had just two in his first two games there. The first two games of the season have been a jinx for Trubisky that he has seemed to shrug off, as he not only is 2-0 for the first time to start a season, but he has two more passing touchdowns than his first two games of each season combined.

That’s an interesting stat that isn’t being talked about much. It’s also showing progress. In 2019, Trubisky had zero passing touchdowns after two games. It took him until Week three to throw his first touchdown. This year, he is on pace to throw 40-touchdowns. Will that happen? Probably not, but it shows just how well he’s started the season.

There are still some naysayers who believe Nick Foles should be the starting quarterback, but so far, the Bears are 2-0. Trubisky is having his best start to a season in his career, and things are looking up for this offense.

Trubisky should have had at least three touchdowns, but Anthony Miller missed a perfectly placed ball in the end zone that would have added to the Bears lead.

Fans who want to point out the obvious that the Bears struggled in the second half on offense have a point, but there were two critical plays that went against the offense.

The first play was Trubisky’s first interception, where it was a great defensive play on a tipped ball. The second play was Trubisky’s second interception. That play was a killer, as the Bears were moving the ball well. The interception wasn’t on Trubisky, it was on Allen Robinson. Robinson has to have those catches if he wants to be paid as a top wide receiver in football.

Extending Cohen before Robinson is a huge mistake

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The biggest test of the season, so far, comes next week against the Falcons. It’ll be an interesting matchup. The Bears have to get the running game involved for the third straight week and Trubisky has to continue this passing-touchdown streak. If they can’t put up 25-30 points, it’ll be a tough game to win.

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Chicago Bears: Mitchell Trubisky’s start to the season is his best one yetRyan Fedrauon September 21, 2020 at 2:00 pm Read More »