Good News

In the next day or two our ads should be back up and running - none of this PSA garbage. As always thanks for your support!

I will return to posting as well...Breaking down each team eliminated from the playoffs and those teams who never made it...What will their offseason plans be?

Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow: Salukis Dismiss Sophomore Guard

Two days after the Southern Illinois University men's basketball team tipped off its season with its annual Maroon Madness, the team finds itself without an integral member of the team.

Sophomore guard Ryan Hare was dismissed from the team according to a release via the school's Web site on Sunday night.  Hare averaged 7.5 points per game and started 26 of the team's 31 games as a freshman.  In September, Hare was suspended after being arrested and charged with felony battery and trespassing.

TBDS sources have informed the blog that the charges stemmed from a fight that might be related to a domestic issue.  Hare was given a second chance, but citing a violation of team rules (also known as breaking whatever rules Coach Lowery laid down after the suspension) Hare was dismissed and has left the SIU Carbondale campus.

Bears Buzz: Damned In The Dome

Dave Kaplan used 97 words to describe Jay Cutler's on-field performance in Sunday night's 21-14 loss against the Atlanta Falcons.  He used 110 words to describe Cutler's post-game performance.

Yep.  It's going to be one of those kinds of Mondays in Chicago.

Huet is Only Thing Going Wrong with Blackhawks...Too Bad He's the Goalie

There is no more Dominik Hasek, Patrick Roy, or Curtis Joseph. Martin Brodeur is still a pretty good goaltender, but the era of great goalies in the NHL seems to be slowly diminishing. Despite this overall trend, there is definitely someone out there better than Chicago netminder Cristobal Huet.

Antti Niemi, the Blackhawks' backup, may become the starter more if Huet continues to struggle. Huet was pulled against Calgary last Monday after allowing three goals in under a minute. He allowed only one goal at Nashville, but the Predators had just 13 shots on net.

Then Saturday came, and Huet's troubles showed again and the Hawks fans responded with a chorus of boos at the United Center. There were some bad goals scored by Dallas, as the game-winner came on a dump-in that bounced a couple times off the boards and over the arms of a startled Huet. Now, that was a pretty bad bounce, but you cannot let a goal in like that.

I knew Huet wasn't as good as Nikolai Khabibulin, and there were some concerns when the "Bulin Wall" left for Edmonton. Yet, Huet was marvelous in the season-ending loss at Detroit in last year's postseason, and he looked pretty solid in the regular season. Still, there was a reason Huet didn't play in the playoffs until Khabibulin got hurt. He was not as good as the starter, and it is not like Khabi is the greatest goalie in the world.

Chicago will be near the top of the NHL in goals scored, but in the end, a solid goaltender is needed to win the Stanley Cup. Niemi may get more playing time, but he has yet to prove himself and may have some inconsistencies as well. We will see what happens the rest of the season, which continues this Wednesday when the Hawks host Vancouver.

This is definitely a title contender, and the only thing standing in the Blackhawks way is a good goalie. Unfortunately, this is a pretty big barrier to overcome.

Rebuilding The Cubs: A Challenge Proposed, A Challange Accepted

I was recently challenged by a friend/reader to rebuild the Cubs.  It’s not as if that is a new concept to me, seeing that I’ve played this game on PlayStation, PlayStation3, XBOX and XBOX 360 many times before.

The catch is to do it fairly.  It won’t be like in video games where I can outsmart computer GM’s that don’t appreciate young talent.  Instead, I’ve been challenged to do so taking into consideration that I won’t be able to hold up opposing general managers at gunpoint and acquire Jose Reyes for Aaron Miles and Milton Bradley.

I have until Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. to post it.

Starting Point: The Cubs’ Opening Day payroll was $134,809,000.  The Cubs have $16.5 million coming off the books in 2009 when they wipe away Rich Harden, Kevin Gregg, John Grabow and Reed Johnson’s contracts off the books.  I’m also being given $10 million to work with as a $10 million payroll bump to approximately $144 million seems reasonable given how much money the Cubs bring in.

Those are the details.  What are the chances of this getting done?  Do the Cubs fans who read TBDS have faith in someone who has enough time on his hands to accept such a challenge?

Your Random Cubs Post: Sammy Sosa vs. Alfonso Soriano

It's Sunday.  I should be solely focused on football, beer and grilled meats.  However, last night's Yankees-Angels classic ALCS late-night, extra-inning showdown got me to thinking about the Cubs.

Specifically, Alfonso Soriano.  It all started from a Twitter post from sports blog(ger) Souvenir City (@SouvenirCity for those of you keeping up on the Twittersphere.) that read, "Why would you ever throw Vlad or Soriano a strike? Aren't they Sammy Sosa but 8 years later? #ishouldbeanadvancescout" during the Yanks-Angels game.

It was the reference to Soriano that got me thinking, "@SouvenirCity #Cubs fans in 2002: "Remember when Sosa was a 30-30 guy?" Cubs fans in 2009: "Remember when Soriano was a 30-30 guy?" Hmmmm..."

It's like in Ace Ventura realizes Finkle is Einhorn and Einhorn is Finkle.  Without that whole kissing a dude thing.

Making Sense Of Nonsense: Gaines Adams

Over the winter, M.J. Hartwig had a series called "Making Sense of Nonsense" as he tried to find rationalization by some of the offseason moves in baseball.  This morning, I find myself doing something similar for the Chicago Bears, who acquired defensive end Gaines Adams from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for a 2010 second round pick.

The Bucs are 0-5 and are in the midst of a major rebuilding project.  So I cannot fathom a reason why their management would trade the former No. 4 overall pick in the 2007 draft to a NFC rival for a second round pick.  On the other side, why would the Bears want to acquire a player who has clearly underperformed since coming to the NFL while mortgaging their future in the process.

I guess one man's garbage is another man's gold.

Adams broke out in a big way during his junior year at Clemson, collecting 9.5 sacks and followed it up with a 12.5 sack season as a senior.  The 6-foot-5-inch, 258-pound lineman was named to all five official All-American teams, justifying his place an an elite-level draft pick.  However, Adams has struggled on the field since coming to the pros, leaving critics and experts to label him as a bust as the team passed on (the real) Adrian Peterson, who was selected three picks later by the Minnesota Vikings.

Somewhere, the Bears think this is a good move.  And on some level it is.  Acquiring Adams is somewhat of a safety net in case the team is unable to to re-sign Adawale Ogunleye or Mark Anderson.  Ogunleye is leading the team with 4.5 sacks, while Anderson has played well -- but not well enough compared to his monster rookie season. 

Adams could also find himself as the pet project of defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, who has done an outstanding job reforming the Bears' front four into a fearsome group of badasses.  And while Marinelli has earned his paycheck through four games, he could go further into cementing his place on the coaching staff by milking all the talent out of Adams.

For the second straight season, the Bears will be without first and second round picks -- unless the team acquires one before the April draft.  It's not as if the Bears have had great success in the top two rounds, but that's a back-handed insult of a team's ability to scout top talent if I've ever heard one.

So all the Bears trade rumors were a bit misguided.  Does Jerry Angelo have any one else to deal for, or yet, does he have anything to deal in the first place?

Pigskin Pimpin: Salukis FTW! Edition

The Southern Illinois University football team had won 127 games from 1994-2008.  None of them were at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

In what is arguably the most bitter rivalry in the Gateway Missouri Valley Football Conference, the University of Northern Iowa had always gotten the better of Southern Illinois when the games were played indoors.  Panthers fans called it "Dome Magic."  Saluki fans called it (expletive deleted) ... among other things.

And as yours truly predicted on Friday, it all came to an end as the Salukis beat the Panthers 27-20 on Saturday at the little dome of horrors.

Consider the following.  Southern has had six head coaches try and fail to beat UNI in its back yard since Rey Dempsey's squad did the trick in 1983 en route to the school's lone national title.  Ten different First Team All-Americans have suited up in the maroon and white.  None of them came home with a road win at Northern Iowa.  Southern has fielded 16 different 1,000-yard running backs.  But none had carried the Egyptian Hunting Dawgs to a road win in the terror dome.

That all became nothing more than a past nightmare as Deji Karim rushed for 125 yards and what turned out to be the game winning touchdown. The 1-yard score on 4th-and-Goal gave SIU a 20-13 lead with about five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

On the Panthers' ensuing possession, cornerback Brandon Williams took back a pick six to put the game on ice.

And for good measure, former Saluki great Jerry Hairston Jr. scored the winning run for the New York Yankees after leading off the bottom of the 13th with a base hit.  I guess you could pencil in a 10-tackle day for Bart Scott against the Bills and a 100-yard rushing game for Brandon Jacobs against the Saints as a pair of former Dawgs will hit the gridiron later today.

And now, the rest of your Pigskin Pimpin' on a Sunday morning...

SIU Wins ... Just Like Someone Predicted

I'm like Jimmy The Greek ... but I like black people.

Friday:

Today:

Um, yeah.  Did I call it or did I call it?

Southern Illinois > Northern Iowa: Book It!

Deji Karim is good.  Everyone knows that by now.  And quarterback Chris Dieker threw for 274 yards last week in a game fans and coaches have been waiting for him to have for a long time.  Chauncey Mixon returns for the Saluki defense after leaving Week 1's loss with a busted jaw.

I could bore you with numbers and drown you with plenty of logical reasons why the No. 5 Salukis of Southern Illinois Universiy will finally end their drought inside the UNI Dome on Saturday against Northern Iowa.

I won't.