Awhile back I wrote about the launch of the Ryan & Jenny Dempster Family Foundation. The Cubs pitcher and his wife started the charity to raise awareness of
the 22q11.2 deletion (DiGeorge Syndrome), a
genetic disorder their 10-month-old daughter Riley suffers from.
Dempster has always been a favorite of mine for the way he combines hard work and passion for the game with a fantastic sense of humor. (He definitely stole the show in my piece on the Cubs’ Gatorade cooler…)
He’s truly one of the most genuine and kind athletes I’ve worked with and someone any Cubs fan should be proud to have on their team.
Teammate Ted Lilly seems to feel the same way about Dempster and his charitable efforts. Lilly has offered to give the Dempster Foundation $10 for each of his strikeouts this season and $1,000 for each of his wins. Last year Lilly had 151 strikeouts and 12 wins, so if he can match that effort, that means over $13,000 for the Foundation.
Tuesday the Chicago Cubs finalized their 25-man roster. Left-handers Tyler Colvin and Chad Tracy earned the final spots, beating out Micah Hoffpauir, Sam Fuld, Chris Robinson (neither the Black Crowes singer nor the back-up catcher had a chance at making the final roster) and veteran Kevin Millar, who was released by the team.
Get to know a little bit more about the 25 men who will wear the Cubs “C” on Opening Day 2010…
It’s official: The Blackhawks aren’t going to win the Stanley Cup this season.
It won’t be because of goalie play. It won’t be because their defense is banged up or their power play is inconsistent. It won’t even be because they’re limping into the postseason with absolutely no momentum or confidence.
The Blackhawks aren’t going to win the Cup because of this:
Last Wednesday I attended a screening of “The Street Stops Here” at the Chicago History Museum. The film will premiere on PBS stations nationwide Wednesday, March 31 at 10pm (ET) and if you’re a hoops fan–or just a fan of incredible stories–I highly recommend you watch.
The documentary, produced by Chicago-based TeamWorks Media, chronicles
a season in the life of legendary high school hoops coach Bob Hurley
Sr., who has coached at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City for over
36 years. While Hurley’s team is fighting to win the school’s 25th
state championship, the poor, inner-city Catholic school is fighting
just to keep its doors open.
I took over the Showcase Studio at WGN to guest-host ChicagoNow radio again this past weekend. My guests included sports guys, political experts, neighbor-haters and Chicago’s nightlife king. (Find out how he was duped into eating breast milk cheese on national television!)
Sunday night the Chicago Blackhawks fell 4-2 to one of the worst teams in the conference, the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Hawks’ back-to-back losses to the Jackets drop their record to 5-6-2 since the Olympic break and 2-4-2 in their last eight contests.
For much of the game, the Hawks were lacking spark and energy. The team seemed half-asleep down 3-1 until a short-handed goal by Patrick Sharp late in the third period cut the Jackets’ lead to one. A late flurry nearly resulted in the tying goal, but it was too little, too late for the slumping Blackhawks.
With just eight games remaining before the playoffs, Chicago has lost the confidence and swagger they had before the Olympic break. After their two most recent losses the players have acknowledged that something is wrong, but haven’t been able to stop their skid.
For most of the season many considered the Hawks a Stanley Cup caliber team with shaky goaltending, but now it’s clear that the once-invincible Blackhawks have plenty of holes. Joel Quenneville needs to get his guys back on track–and now–so they don’t head into the postseason stripped of all confidence and momentum.
Teams like Detroit and Nashville are just hitting their stride and won’t think twice about ruining the Hawks’ golden year.
The final score doesn’t reflect the challenge Cornell gave No. 1 Kentucky Thursday night, but anyone who watched the game saw a team full of non-scholarship players give a bunch of future NBA first-round picks all they could handle. Kentucky’s athleticism, speed and length were ultimately too much for
the Big Red, who were never able to get into a good rhythm offensively.
After jumping out to a 10-2 lead, Cornell let DeMarcus Cousins and UK capitalize on high-percentage shots in the paint to go on a 30-6 run. A 16-point halftime deficit was simply too much for the Ivy Leaguers to overcome, despite much improved play in the second half. Had adjustments been made earlier, the Big Red might have had a chance.
Kentucky’s defense shut down Cornell’s number one weapon, their three-point shooting, and the Big Red didn’t take advantage of what was given to them. Kentucky was double-teaming the ballhandler on screens, leaving the man rolling to the hoop wide open, but it was obvious to the Wildcats–and everyone watching–that the Big Red weren’t looking for that second option. Stymied beyond the arc, the Cornell players were taken out of their rhythm and weren’t able to create off the dribble or get aggressive in the paint.
Watch tonight’s game with fellow Cornell alums at Harry Caray’s Wrigleyville!
Tip-off is at 8:57pm Central–see you there!
I wrote a guest spot on tonight’s Cornell/Kentucky game for the site One Great Season. Check out a snippet…
Any Given Thursday: Cornell Aims For Hollywood Ending
Thursday night when Cornell takes on Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, Hollywood better be watching.
Forget “Hoosiers,” the tale of the Big Red taking on Big Blue has
enough intrigue to make Oliver Stone commission the screenplay for “Any
Given Thursday.” Just look at the way the villain and underdog roles
are already fleshed out.
A team that’s won seven NCAA Championships and a team that’s only
appeared in seven NCAA Tournament games. A bunch of “one-and-done”
freshmen taking on a group of “one last run” seniors. A coach who’s
worked his way around the rules against a coach who’s worked his way up
the ranks. Kids playing for the scholarship money and a chance at the
NBA and kids playing for the love of the game and a chance to take a
break from studying.
The screenwriter won’t need to create new characters, either; these Cornell heroes already boast dramatic Hollywood story lines…
No Spain, No Gain 