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As we head into the Thanksgiving Holiday, there is a feast of sports news to catch up on. Starting with our “beloved” Chicago Bears…
Last night the Bears continued their winless streak in San Francisco as the Bears were pounded on by the 49ers by a final score of 32-7.
This was a battle of the backup quarterbacks as both Jay Cutler for the Bears and Alex Smith of the 49ers were sidelined with concussions sustained in their respective games last week.
Second year Niners quarterback Colin Caepernick had his way with the Bears defense. He was dual threat both passing and rushing.
The Frisco ground game also pitched in, but the biggest story was the 49er defense. Their pass rush made the Bears’ offensive line look like statues as Jason Campbell was sacked and hit multiple times.
The offense had no answer or solution to the dominant 49ers defense. To make matters even worse, the Bears defense looked lost out there.
The consequence of last night’s loss is that the Bears are now tied with those damn Green Bay Packers for first place in the NFC North (7-3 record).
The Packers also own the tie breaker over the Bears due to their victory at Lambeau Field back in week two.
Jay Cutler will speak with the media at 11am today to update the masses on his recovery. It is still unknown as to whether or not he will play this Sunday.
Perhaps today’s press conference at Halas Hall will shed some light on the situation. Regardless of who starts under center this week, the Bears still have to play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
Both sides of the ball will be tested as the Bears will have their hands full. On the offensive side, they will need to protect either Cutler or Campbell from Vikings defensive end Jared Allen.
Allen is a fierce pass rusher and can stop the run when needed. On the defensive side, the Bears will have the daunting task of trying to either stop or contain Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.
Peterson has had a remarkable recovery from ACL surgery, and has put up solid numbers this year.
If the Vikings can’t get it done on the ground, they will turn to second year quarterback Christian Ponder.
Ponder has been having a pro bowl year so far. He makes the big throws, he’s not afraid to take a hit, and he can make the Bears pay if they focus too much on Adrian Peterson.
The schedule from here gets a little harder for the Bears. They need to win if they are to keep pace with the Packers.
The Bulls haven’t done much better than the Bears as they have also lost two in a row. The 5-5 Bulls are in the final stages of their annual “circus road trip”.
Tonight they make their way into “Clutch City” to take on the Houston Rockets. This will be a good opportunity for the Bulls to take advantage as the Rockets have lost their last three and only sport a record of 4-7.
The blockbuster James Hardin trade at the beginning of the season hasn’t quite worked out the way the Rockets were hoping.
Their other big acquisition, Jeremy Lin, has also struggled. Lin hasn’t been the same since he had knee surgery which caused him to miss the second half of last season.
Hopefully the Bulls can take advantage of the Rockets woes and get back into the win column. As for the other United Center tenant, the Chicago Blackhawks are still in limbo as the NHL is still on strike.
Both the NHLPA and the NHL Owners remain at a stalemate and it doesn’t look like this will end any time soon. The league has already cancelled the annual New Years Day Winter Classic.
Our good friends at the Chicago Rush have been very busy during the Arena Football League’s offseason.
Yesterday the team announced that it had re-signed some key players from the 2012 season. Defensive linemen Derek Walker and and Darrel Campbell, fullback J.J. Payne, offensive lineman Ryan O’Neill, and defensive backs Semaj Moody and Jorrick Calvin will all be returning for 2013.
While all of these men were key players last season, the biggest re-signing has been top wide receiver Reggie Gray.
Reggie Gray has been the leading receiver for the Rush the last couple of seasons. He is also a fan favorite, and he is very involved in the Chicago community and with charitable causes.
After teasing fans about a possible move to another team on his Facebook page over the last couple days, Gray officially announced just after 5pm on Monday that he will indeed to return to the Rush.
These transactions are just a small portion of what the Rush have done since the free agent signing period in the AFL began. You can see the rest of the Rush’s offseason activities here: http://arenarush.com/news/rush/?article_id=238
There are also rumors swirling that the Rush could see either a change in color scheme, logo, or both.
Nothing has been confirmed so stay tuned. This weekend I will be back on the beat as I will be covering the Wolves game this Saturday night.
The 8-5-2-0 Wolves will play host to the Milwaukee Admirals who have become one of the Wolves’ biggest rivals.
Face off is just after 7pm from the Allstate Arena, and you can follow me during the game on Twitter @GabeSalgado82 #Q101Sports
You can also friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GabeSalgado82
I am also on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/gws1182
WWE Champion CM Punk shoots the puck at the United Center
WWE Champion CM Punk once again showed why he is a Chicago sports star when he appeared last night at the United Center for the Chicago Blackhawk’s home game against the Vancouver Cannucks. Punk whose proudly displayed his love for the Cubs in the past, appeared during the Blackhawk’s second intermission classic ‘Shoot the Puck’ challenge on Comcast SportsNet where fans and celebrities take three shots at the net from center ice for prizes and charities. Watch CM Punk in the Shoot the Puck challenge on CSN
Though the Straight Edge Superstar did not score, he joked that he gets the “fighting” part of hockey better than the shooting and skating parts of the game. Punk is getting ready for the biggest pro wrestling show of the year, WWE’s Wrestlemania XXVIII where he will defend the WWE Championship against Chris Jericho on April 1st.
Last night’s game had a WWE feel to it as several fights broke out between the bitter rivals in the NHL’s Western Conference with even all-star Hawks forward Patricke Kane adding to the battle with a body check on Cannuck’s Andrew Alberts. The Hawks won in overtime 2 to 1.
To read more pro wrestling blogs, check out @KevKellam on Examiner.com with the Pro Wrestling Examiner. Wrestling fans mark down your calendars, Rumble Radio will present a live pre-Wrestlemania chat show extravaganza live on WXAV.COM on Wednesday, March 28 th at 7pm CST. Tune in for a fun and hilarious rassl’n talk days before the big show. Follow@RumbleRadio on Twitter and Facebook to get podcast info to download the show.
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.
You can follow me on Twitter: @GabeSalgado82 Hashtag: #Q101Sports
You can friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GabeSalgado82
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