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Well the big story of the night is our beloved Chicago Bulls. They soundly defeated the Orlando Magic on their home turf by a final score of 85-59. Although Magic Center Dwight Howard still had a double-double, the Bulls were able to keep his numbers low with just 12 points and 18 rebounds. The Bulls defense was just overwhelming tonight.
The rest of Orlando’s starters only scored a total of 27 points, while Orlando’s bench players {which include former Bulls Guard Chris Duhon} only scored a combined 13 points. I wonder if “Superman” regrets not getting traded after this loss. The Bulls have now won 4 in a row without both Derrick Rose and Richard Hamilton.
Rose is still day to day with a pulled groin, and Hamilton is still day to day with that separated shoulder. There is no timetable set for their returns, but with back to back games against the Toronto Raptors coming up, the Bulls are in no rush to bring them back unless they are %100. Plus the Bulls have proven they can win without them.
Even more good news for the Bulls is that tonight’s victory has given Head Coach Tom Thibideau his 100th career victory as a head coach. He is also the fastest coach to accomplish this feat. I see red and perhaps a championship.
After all, they did embarrass the Miami Heat last week. We got a lot of hockey news to cover. The Blackhawks ride a 3 game winning streak into Columbus tomorrow night to take on the division rival Blue Jackets. Johnathan Toews and Niklas Hjalmarsson are still questionable, but the Blackhawks are confident that they can beat Columbus without them.
After defeating Lake Erie and Toronto over the weekend, the Wolves are off for the next couple of days before finishing their three game road trip against believe or not, Lake Erie. The Wolves are 7-1 during the month of March and because of their amazing play they have moved up to 3rd in the AHL’s Western Conference playoff picture.
The Wolves are still a ways away from clinching a playoff spot, but they are on the right track. And there is the Chicago Express. Of course as I reported on Sautrday night, their 4 game winning streak was broken by the Trenton Titans. Well the Express had a rematch with the Titans on Sunday night. However instead of starting a new winning streak, their losing streak is now 2 in a row.
They lost once again to the Titans 5-4 in overtime. The Express are now finished with non-division games and will only play division games for the remainder of the season. But all hope is not lost, thanks to the Cincinnati Cyclones losing 2 in a row of their own over the weekend the Express managed to gain a point. And because of that point they are now tied with Cincinnati for the final playoff spot in the ECHL’s Eastern Conference.
The Express are off tomorrow but will go head to head with Cincinnati on Wednesday. The Express have a chance to take that #8 spot, and have their own destiny in their hands. After Wednesday, they play a home-and-home series with the Kalamazoo Wings on Friday and Saturday. And then on Sunday afternoon the Toledo Walleye come calling to the Sears Centre, face off is at 4pm.
And I will be in the press box for that contest so keep your browser locked on Q101.com for my live reports. In college hoops, the DePaul Lady Blue Demons fell to the mighty Tennessee Lady Volunteers 63-48. Their hopes of finally reaching the lady’s Sweet 16 were dashed on their home court at Allstate Arena. Pat Summit proves to be the better coach once again.
On the men’s side, Illinois State had a date on the west coast with Stanford in the 2nd round of the 2012 NIT. But it would wind up being the last game of the season for ISU as they fell 92-88 in Palo Alto. Despite having three players scoring 20 points in the game, the Redbirds just did not have enough firepower to keep up with the Cardinal. But the Redbird nation does have something to look forward to for next season.
In soccer, the Chicago Fire will have most of the week off before facing Philadelphia on Saturday. The Fire just came off a 1-1 tie with Montreal in their 2012 regular season opener over the weekend. The Fire hope to gain their first victory of the 2012 season this weekend.
The only big NFL story of the day is that former Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning has signed with the Denver Broncos. And as a result, the Broncos are looking to trade Tim Tebow. Despite the progress Tebow has made, Broncos Vice President John Elway felt that the Broncos needed a veteran signal caller now instead of building for the future.
And with that in mind the Broncos offered Manning a contract reportedly worth $95 million. Hopefully the Broncos have made the right decision.
As for Arena Football, the Rush continue to practice in preparation for game #2 on the 2012 season. The Orlando Predators fly into Allstate Arena on Thursday night with kickoff at 7:30pm. Rush Quarterback Russ Michna and Linebacker Kelvin Morris won player of the week awards last week, both men are looking to add to their accolades.
And with the AFL’s labor dispute now in the past, the Rush will no longer have distractions and can focus on football. I will be covering the Rush game this Thursday night, so keep it here on Q101 for my reports from Allstate Arena. As for the other indoor football team in town, the Chicago Slaughter will take their 1-2 record into Cedar Rapids on Friday night.
And finally, in Spring Training the Cubs beat Seattle 12-7 and the White Sox lose to Cincinnati 1-0 in the Cactus League. If you plan on attending the Rush game on Thursday and/or the Express game on Sunday. Don’t be afraid to say hi if you see me making my way through the arenas.
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Tim Beckman, that’s right Tim Beckman. For those of you who don’t know who he is, I will give you some background. For the last three seasons (2009-2011), Beckman was the head coach for the University Of Toledo. There he lead the Rockets to back to back 8 win seasons in 2010 and 2011. They also made back to back bowl game appearances during that span.
They lost the 2010 Little Ceasars {Motor City} Bowl, and this season he led Toledo to the Military Bowl. Beckman was unable to coach the game because of his hiring at Illinois, but Toledo defeated Air Force 42-41. Beckman’s first year at Toledo wasn’t so great though, the Rockets only went 5-7 in 2009. But Beckman has proven he can turn a program around.
When Tim Beckman took over the Toledo program, he replaced long time Rockets head coach Tom Amstutz. Amstutz did take the program to glory by leading them to two Mid American Conference championships and 4 MAC West Division championships between 2001 and 2005. The Rockets also went 2-2 in 4 bowl games during that span.
The Rockets were one of the best offensive teams in college football during that time. They’re power running attack produced NFL running backs like former Chicago Bear Chester Taylor. But rumors of recruiting violations and three straight losing seasons from 2006-2009 led to his demise. Tim Beckman was brought in from Oklahoma State where he was the defensive coordinator.
Under his leadership not only did Toledo’s defense improve, but they also changed the face of the offensive identity of the Rockets by bringing in the spread offense. Tim Beckman’s Rockets were one of the best scoring offenses in the Mid American Conference. The Illini already run a form of the spread led by Nathan Scheelhasse.
But defense was Illinois biggest weakness during the 2011 season. While Beckman may improve the Illini when it comes to X’s and O’s, the bigger question is whether or not Beckman will be able to recruit in Big Ten territory. For the immediate future, The Fighting Illini already have some pieces in place.
But in the long term, Tim Beckman will need to make some noise in the recruiting department in order to be successful at Illinois. But the Illini have already set the wheels in motion in a positive direction by defeating UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger bowl on New Years Eve. We can only hope and pray that better days are on the horizon for the Fighting Illini football team.
The Bears season may be over but the offseason is just getting started. After 10 years the powers that be at Halas Hall have finally pulled the plug on Jerry Angelo. He was fired from his general manager position on Monday. Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz and Quarterbacks Coach Shane Day will be leaving as well.
But Lovie Smith will remain the Head Coach of the Bears and now the search is on for a new general manager. Despite all that the Bears accomplished under Angelo, he hasn’t always made the best decisions. Before Jay Cutler, Angelo had paraded in some of the worst quarterbacks in NFL history. He wasn’t the best draft guy, and on many occasions he failed to land big free agents.
The Bears are still looking for that elusive super bowl title, and hopefully a new general manager with a fresh perspective can help the Bears finally get over the hump. And lastly we have a Terrell Owens update. There is both good news and bad. The good news is that he may finally have a team to play for in 2012.
It’s not an NFL team, instead it’s the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League located in suburban Dallas, Texas. Although nothing has been made official yet, reports are that the deal is worth six figures ranging from $250,000 to $500,000. But again nothing has been finalized and we will keep you updated.
As for the bad news, on Tuesday night T.O. used his Twitter account to announce the death of the grandmother whom he affectionately referred too as “Grandmama”. As documented on his VH1 reality show, she had been battling Alzheimers for many years. We here at Q101 send our thoughts and prayers with Terell and the Owens family.
You can follow me on Twitter: @GabeSalgado82
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is reporting that a league source says the Bears have fired General Manager Jerry Angelo. More to come…including the next shoe to drop. Will it include Jerry’s right hand man Tim Ruskell being promoted? Lovie and the crew following Jer out the Halas Hall door ala Mike Quade?
Meanwhile, as expected (as opposed to the totally unexpected firing of Angelo), the Sun Times has more on the departure of Mike “My Name Rhymes With ‘Smarts’” Martz. God was he a smug, strange bastard:
A surprising purge Tuesday at Halas Hall still left the Bears in an unsettled situation. Now that they’re getting better at firing, they still have to get better at hiring.
That task not only will belong to team president Ted Phillips, but coach Lovie Smith, who has to find a new offensive coordinator after Mike Martz resigned over ‘‘philosophical differences.’’ Martz’s resignation appeared to be a technicality.
“That was Lovie’s call,’’ Phillips said. ‘‘They had some philosophical differences and a parting of the ways.”
Either way, it leaves the Bears with a huge void at a critical juncture of Smith’s coaching tenure. This will be the Bears’ third offensive coordinator in four seasons and, more important, quarterback Jay Cutler’s fourth in five years.
Smith struck out with Terry Shea in 2004, had moderate success with Ron Turner from 2005 to 2009 and saw two years of slow progress with Martz. He has yet to hit a home run.
“I have a lot of confidence in Lovie,’’ Phillips said. ‘‘We’ve talked about it already today, and I think he’s going to [get the right guy]. None of us [is] perfect; we all have made mistakes. He’s going to correct it, and I have complete confidence in his ability to do that.”
READ MORE HERE
Source: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/9798621-606/ted-phillips-mike-martz-resigned-because-of-philosophical-differences.html
The offseason begins now for the Bears.
They will have a meeting Monday at Halas Hall and players will be given end-of-season physical exams, then released until the start of the offseason program, probably in late April.
The first day teams with returning head coaches are allowed to start offseason programs is April 16.
The first order of business for coach Lovie Smith and the front office will be making decisions on his assistants. The contracts of offensive coordinator Mike Martz and special teams coordinator Dave Toub are expiring, and Smith could elect to replace Martz. If he replaces him with offensive line coach Mike Tice, Smith will have to find another offensive line coach.
General manager Jerry Angelo and his scouting staff will be preparing to upgrade the roster. Evaluations for the April 26-28 draft kick into high gear the week of Jan. 22 in Mobile, Ala., at the Senior Bowl. Then comes the scouting combine in Indianapolis, which begins Feb. 22.
Source: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-01/sports/ct-spt-0102-up-next-bears-chicago–20120102_1_senior-bowl-draft-evaluations-contracts
Wow what a week for the once speedy Willie Gault from your Superbowl Champion Bears (no need in mentioning the year anymore, right? We all know it. It’s not like there has been more than 1 cotton pickin Super Bowl Champ in this town!): The man who routinely blew past helpless d-backs only to subsequently drop the bomb is back to his old ways of experiencing highs and lows almost at once. Just days after having his stolen Super Bowl ring found at an LA pawn shop and returned to him by police, now the heat’s back at #83′s door…only this time they want to talk to him! Regardless of his stone hands, Q101 loves all things ’85 Bears, so Willie, godspeed on breaking the government’s tackle (unless, of course, you are a thief, and then, well, we hope you’re as fast as ever…cause there will surely be some dudes who want to, um, chat with you). Check this out:
The SEC said Willie Gault, the former Chicago Bears wide receiver and Olympic track star, is among six people charged with artificially inflating the stock price of a heart-monitoring company.
The agency said the company, Heart Tronics, repeatedly announced millions of dollars of sales that didn’t exist. The company installed Gault as a figurehead CEO to “generate publicity,” according to the SEC, while behind the scenes the company was controlled by a California lawyer who hired stock promoters to tout Heart Tronics shares on the Web.
The lawyer, Mitchell J. Stein, made nearly $8 million from “secret trades,” the SEC said. In a lawsuit the SEC filed against Stein, Gault and others, the SEC said Stein “orchestrated a brazen series of frauds designed to inflate the price of Heart Tronics stock so that he could profit from selling its securities to investors.”
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-sec-sues-former-bears-wide-receiver-willie-gault-20111220,0,3615285.story
Move over Jerry Sandusky. Stand down Barry Bonds. Ryan Braun, we’ll get back to you later. Bernie Fine? Grab some bench for a bit. The sad parade of creepy, cheating, and down right dangerous sports figures being busted for various and sundry acts has whipped into Chicago beating the snow by days if not weeks it seems. Read this nonsense courtesy of CBS News, and imagine how a change in ownership would do a city good at this point. It seems Halas Hall, which has longed lacked credibility,is hell-bent on taking its status as a league laughingstock to new depths, or heights, depending on your perspective.
(CBS/AP)
Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd, who was arrested Wednesday on federal drug charges, was a top drug dealer in Chicago and police have a list of NFL players who were supplied drugs by the receiver, a law enforcement source told CBS Radio’s 670 The Score.
The list is “in the double-digits”, according to the source who spoke to the Chicago radio station.
Hurd was locked up in federal custody Thursday as his stunned teammates learned he had been charged with trying to set up a drug-dealing network following his arrest with more than a pound of cocaine.
Feds bust Bears WR for bid to deal cocaine, pot CBS Chicago: Read the entire criminal complaint here
U.S. Magistrate Young Kim ordered Hurd held until at least Friday while prosecutors and defense attorneys work out bond details before he is sent to Texas to face charges.
The handcuffed Hurd declined to comment on the charges. Asked before the hearing if he was still a member of the Bears, he said: “As far as I know.” He shook his head when asked if he had talked to anyone on the team.
“Sam intends to fight these charges, and we intend to defend him fully,” said high-profile defense attorney David Kenner, one of Hurd’s lawyers. “We have complete confidence in him.”
Kenner told The Associated Press that he and partner Brett Greenfield had not evaluated all of the information in the case. But Kenner — who successfully defended rapper Snoop Dogg against murder charges — said he had other cases where the evidence appeared to be stacked against his client.
“They start off looking terrible, and then we end up with `not guiltys,”‘ Kenner said.
Kenner and Greenfield said they expected Hurd to be released from custody Friday.
Hurd, 26, was arrested Wednesday night after meeting with an undercover agent at a Chicago restaurant, according to a criminal complaint that says the player was first identified as a potential drug dealer over the summer as the NFL lockout was coming to an end.
Hurd told the agent that he was interested in buying five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in the Chicago area, the complaint said. He allegedly said he and a co-conspirator already distribute about four kilos of cocaine every week, but their supplier couldn’t keep up with his demands. A kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.
Hurd told the agent “his co-conspirator is in charge of doing the majority of the deals” while he focused on “higher-end deals,” the complaint said.
He agreed to pay $25,000 for each kilogram of cocaine and $450 a pound for the marijuana, according to the charges, and then said he could pay for a kilo of cocaine after “he gets out of practice.” He walked out of the restaurant with the package and was arrested.
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-400_162-57344219/source-hurd-provided-drugs-to-other-nfl-players/
Wisely, the players in the Chicago Bears locker room avoided making the obvious connections on Sunday after an absolute dog of a 24-18 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Nostalgia, déjà vu, the phrase “remember last year?” None hold a place with this team.
Yes, in 2010 the Bears entered the bye with a 4-3 record. Yes, they shored up protection issues during the week off, and corrected Mike Martz’s throw-it-all-over-the-yard mentality to reel off five consecutive wins on the way to winning an NFC North crown and a berth in the NFC title game.
“I don’t think we’re that same team,” Bears cornerback Charles Tillman said.
He’s absolutely correct, which isn’t necessarily a negative. By acknowledging and embracing it, Tillman and his teammates give themselves a shot at developing into what they want to be for the second part of a schedule that includes matchups with five teams – Philadelphia, Denver, Kansas City, Seattle, and Minnesota — currently sitting at or below .500.
Because as optimistic as they were walking off the field at Wembley Stadium, the Bears aren’t far away from falling into the group referenced above.
In throwing two interceptions and finishing with a passer rating of 60.2, quarterback Jay Cutler reverted to old habits, launching balls off his back foot. The offensive line gave up just two sacks and four quarterback hits throughout the game. But because of inconsistent protection, the Buccaneers kept Cutler under constant duress.
Coming into the game, the Bears had converted 9 of 45 third downs through the first six games in situations they needed 8 yards or more to move the chains. Inconsistency on the money down nearly doomed this team in London.
The Bears converted only 1 of 5 third downs in the second half, with Cutler throwing away a third-quarter possession on an interception to Corey Lynch. On the verge of ruining another vintage performance by Matt Forte, who rushed for 145 yards in becoming the first player since 2004 to reach 1,000 yards from scrimmage in a team’s first seven games, the Bears finally came to life on offense in their second-to-last possession by gaining four first downs to close out the night on a Robbie Gould 25-yard field goal.
The Bears led by just three as the kick sailed through the uprights.
“We had a great first half, came out hot,” Cutler said. “Since the third quarter, things kind of went downhill for us. We know we’ve got to get back and clean up that stuff and finish games; put the defense in tough spots. We’ve just got to get better.”
After joking about seeing a “squirrel [on the field] and a streaker” receiver Roy Williams said “you can’t look up the road” at the rest of the schedule. That would be easy for this team to do because of the similarities between its current situation and last year’s when they went on to win seven of their next eight games after the week off.
“You look back, you see where you were last year, and you think about it,” receiver Johnny Knox said. “We’re in that same position.”
But the truth is this isn’t that same team.
“I think we know that. We’re not walking around here thinking we’re the same team as last year,” said Tillman, who led the team with 10 tackles. “No, no, no. You can’t keep living off of last year’s success. We’ve got to make our own destiny.”
Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post?id=4673043
CHICAGO — No matter how high the risk, Devin Hester still expects opponents to kick to him. The Chicago Bears sure don’t mind if they do.
“This is the reason guys are playing in the NFL — they’re the best players in the world and teams are not going to just shy away from one player on a team,” Hester said.
Some do.
The Panthers didn’t, and Hester made them pay.
He had earlier set up a touchdown run by Forte with a 73-yard kickoff return before he ran back a line-drive punt 69 yards in the second quarter to move ahead of Eric Metcalf on the all-time list. His three somersaults in the end zone after the touchdown that made it 24-10 got him flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, but more important was he once again made a team pay for kicking to him.
“He is a weapon. You have to play eventually; you can’t just continue to kick the ball away,” coach Lovie Smith said. “Devin hadn’t really been that involved, hadn’t really had a lot of big returns so far, so of course I can see why teams have chose to kick the ball to him. They may think twice now.”
The Panthers (1-3) cut the lead to four points at halftime and had their chances to go ahead in the second half but came up short, spoiling coach Ron Rivera’s return to Soldier Field while wasting another big performance by Newton.
The NFL’s third-leading passer coming in, he threw for 374 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more. Carolina wound up with 543 total yards, but the rookie was clearly frustrated afterward.
“I play the game and I want to win every single game I play,” said Newton, who sat by his locker for an extended period with a towel on his head. “Obviously, it hurts when I lose, but it’s not just me. We have guys on our team that you know they have given it all they got. For me, to some degree, I felt like I let some teammates down. But just to look into those guys’ eyes each and every play and to know those guys are battling, it just works wonders for our whole team and its chemistry.”
Steve Smith passed Muhsin Muhammad as Carolina’s all-time leading receiver, finishing with 181 yards on eight catches. He needed 23 to set the record and now has 9,414 in his career, but a few key plays helped preserve a wild win for the Bears.
Tight end Jeremy Shockey was called for offensive pass interference in the third quarter — one of eight penalties against Carolina. It wiped out his 22-yard TD catch from Newton that would have given the Panthers the lead and the momentum.
“I’d like to get an explanation from the league and understand why they would call something like that,” said Shockey, who said the official making the call didn’t give him one.
“We pay their salary and I can’t even get an explanation,” he added. “They should be accountable, as well. They get paid a lot of money.”
Former Panther Julius Peppers then blocked a 34-yard field-goal attempt by Olindo Mare.
He also missed a 52-yard try after Charles Godfrey intercepted Jay Cutler at the Chicago 38. Robbie Gould made it 27-23 when he nailed a 24-yarder with 6:41 remaining.
The Bears (2-2) added to their lead in the closing minutes, when Forte broke off a 40-yard run and Marion Barber took it in from the 3, sealing the win after back-to-back losses to New Orleans and Green Bay.
Forte broke his previous career high of 166 yards last year against Carolina and shook off a brutal performance last week, when he managed 2 yards on nine attempts. He joined Walter Payton (275 and 205) and Gale Sayers (205) as the only Bears to run for 200 in a game, and Chicago wound up with 224 yards on 31 attempts.
“The holes were huge out there even toward the end of the game,” Forte said. “We just kept on pounding and pounding them. The offensive line wore the defense out.”
Source: http://www.ajc.com/sports/hester-forte-carry-bears-1193064.html
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