Blackhawks Toews, Keith & Seabrook Named To Canadian Olympic Team

Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews and defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent
Seabrook have all been selected to represent Canada in the 2010 Vancouver
Olympics. Forward Patrick Sharp, who was invited to the Canadian Olympic Camp, was not
selected to the team.

The three Hawks join a bevy of newcomers, as well as Canada team captain Scott Niedermayer and
Olympic vets Martin Brodeur and Jarome Iginla. Iginla, Sidney
Crosby and Chris Pronger are alternate captains for the team, selected by Team
Canada executive director Steve Yzerman.

The Most Depressing Upset Win Of All Time

Watching the Bears beat Minnesota in overtime Monday night should have felt great.

The division rival Vikings were playing for a chance at the top seed in the NFC, while Chicago had nothing to play for. Led by longtime rival Brett Favre, the Vikings were supposed to roll right through the hapless Bears en route to a first-round bye. They didn’t.

Jay Cutler looked like the QB the Bears traded for and the Bears’ defense finally looked like a cohesive unit. Devin Aromashodu had the game of his life and made us all wonder why he wasn’t on the field all year. It wasn’t even Robbie Gould, the most consistent Bear week after week, who won the game for the Monsters of the Midway. No, after Gould missed a 45-yarder for the win, Hunter Hillenmeyer pulled a Peanut, punching out the football at the end of an Adrian Peterson run and Nick Roach dove on the loose ball to give Chicago a second chance. 

More unbelievable than a Robbie Gould miss was what came next. The Bears won on a big-balled play call by the usually ho-hum, uninspired Ron Turner. Cutler to Aromashodu for a 39-yard game-winning TD on the FIRST play of the Bears’ third overtime drive. Ballsy.

The win should have made me feel good. And I guess it did, for a moment. It was nice to see the team play with some pride. It felt good to see the Bears’ defense make big plays and it was sure comforting to know that “good” Cutler is still in there somewhere.  

But after the initial glow of the win wore off–just minutes after the final TD, in fact–the game became utterly and completely depressing.  Where have these Bears been all year? How good would that win have felt had the Bears been playing for something–anything?  

The win didn’t answer any questions for Bears fans, in fact it just brought up more of them.  
 

Team Up With The Chicago Blackhawks

Wednesday, December 30 the Chicago Blackhawks are teaming up with LifeSource for a blood drive.

Do a good thing this holiday season and you might be rewarded with even more than a warm, fuzzy feeling inside–participants can win game tickets, meet players and enter to win Blackhawks memorabilia.

Click here for more information.

My Interview with Football 101 Women…

Check out the new-ish blog FOOTBALL 101 WOMEN, a site aimed at females who are football fans in-the-making. I recently did a quick interview with the ladies over there — check it out!

INTRO
PART 1
PART 2

Now THIS Is What I Call Christmas Spirit!

Now THIS is what I call Christmas spirit!

From the AP:

A Chicago man could be unwrapping the hundreds of Christmas gifts spread around his apartment for days, even weeks.

Trouble is, they aren’t really presents. They’re his own belongings meticulously wrapped by friends as a prank while he was out of town.

Louie Saunders’ packages contain everything from couch cushions to the beer in his refrigerator.

His friend Adal Rifai masterminded the scheme after Saunders gave him a spare key. It took 16 people, 35 rolls of wrapping paper and eight hours to finish the job.

Check out footage of Saunders’ crib–hands down the most festive apartment in all of Chicago!

[HT to SI.com’s Jimmy Traina]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

(well almost all…)

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

{HT to Chicago Tribune cartoonist Drew Litton}

The Singing Sucks But The Message Is Spot On…

A few tone deaf Chicago Bears “fans” have joined together to rewrite the Chicago Bears fight song. The result, “Lie Down Chicago Bears,” is nothing short of an instant classic. Check out the chick in the second row who is so ashamed by her team she refuses to show her face. Now that’s dedication to a parody.

[HT to Thrillist]

World’s Weirdest Christmas Gifts For Chicago Sports Fans!

If you, like me, tend to leave most of your Christmas shopping until the last minute, then you’re still out there hunting down gifts for friends and family. If you still need a present for the sports fan in your life, then hit up NSNG reader Ray Ballard, who sent me a super-badass Christmas present: coasters featuring the logos of my favorite Chicago teams all etched in glass. Definitely a great gift for that special someone who loves sports and hates unsightly glass rings.

If your friends and family deserve something really “special,” 
then check out this list of
the World’s Weirdest Christmas gifts for Chicago Sports Fans!

The First 14 Weeks Of The Season the NFL Gave To Me…

If you’ve been too busy tallying up Jay Cutler interceptions or placing bets on Lovie Smith’s future to keep an eye on the rest of the NFL, Fox Sports has packaged up the first 14 weeks of the season in this nifty little holiday song. Keep an eye out for Kyle Orton getting mauled, Favre being Favre and Cutler doing what he does best. 

Oh yeah, and if you really haven’t been watching anyone but the Bears, now might be the time to remedy that. Things are only gonna get worse for Chicago fans from here on out and I’d hate to see you forget what real football looks like.

[HT to NSNG reader and Denver Stiffs mastermind Andrew Fenstein]

Dunking On That Reindeer, Dunking On That Reindeer…

These videos have absolutely nothing to do with Chicago sports, but the sweet thing is, this is MY blog and I can post whatever I want! Mwahahahaha…

Okay so these totally badass Nike ads feature the Lebron and Kobe puppets teaming up with Santa to take on St. Nick’s reindeer in a pick-up game. Nike got the big guns for this one, with KRS-One voicing Santa and Lupe Fiasco voicing lead reindeer and champion smack-talker Blitzen.

When Blitzen and his Hoof Gang call up Santa to challenge him, Kris Kringle goes off, letting his lead reindeer know who’s boss…

Blitzen responds with his own pre-game smack…

When the two teams get together, the result is my favorite basketball-themed Reindeer v. Santa Christmas rap of all time. And that’s saying a lot…