Weekend Thoughts: Olympic Edition

Now that the Olympics are over (at least the will be tonight), we have the pennant race and football season to look forward to. So here are my thoughts as the we head into the awkward period when it's not the thick of a race in baseball, or football season:

• If Kyle Orton plays this whole season like he did on Thursday, the Bears marketing campaign may be "One city. One team. One Quarterback."
• There's one man in Chicago who was the talk of the town last year, but this year is the forgotten man: Bob Babich. The defense allowed 354.7 yards per game last year. In 2006, Ron Rivera's defense allowed 294.1 yards per game. His career could be in jeopardy this year.
• Sports Illustrated had an article about the Cubs bullpen by Luke Winn. It's mostly about Samardzija, Wood and Marmol, but Winn says that the Cubs have "the NL's deepest overall pen (righties Bob Howry and Chad Gaudin and lefty Neal Cotts could be solid setup men anywhere else)." Gaudin maybe, but Cotts and Howry shouldn't be major league pitchers anymore.
• In the article mentioned above, there is a photo of Wood in his windup. There's something in back pocket, and now I'm curious as to what it is. Probably a small cylinder with some petroleum jelly in it, or something of the sort.

And a congratulations to all medal-winning athletes at the Olympics, regardless of their country.

Bit of a boring week, eh?

So, this week has been fairly dull since Monday's big news. Cubs have won one, lost one against the Reds. Bears play again tonight, so things could heat up in a flash. But for now, sports in the Windy City are boring. I guess this means that it's time for my equally boring review of Madden 09 (for the Wii).
This new version has some small improvements, and is definitely, not drastically, better than last year's installment. For one the 5-on-5 mode is very fun. You have a quarterback, running back, center and two wide receivers on offense. There are four plays: run, short pass, medium pass and deep pass. You can also use the new Call Your Shot feature, which is fun. Before the game you decide starting position, number of downs, number of touchdowns to win and whether or not the players have big heads. On defense, you have a safety, linebacker, defensive tackle and two cornerbacks. Your four plays are blitz, short pass, medium pass and deep pass. That part is also fun. The playcalling menu has been improved, but the audible control is frustrating. Bottom line is, buy this game if you don't have Madden 08. If you haven't sold 08, save your 50 bucks.

Monday Windy City Roundup

Bears: Kyle Orton was named the starter today. And for once, since before last season, I agree with a decision that Lovie Smith has made. Orton is a much more consistent quarterback, and a game manager. I know that calling a QB a game manager is a cliche, but Orton really is. When someone makes smart throws, and slows the game down, they are a game manager. And that is exactly what Orton does. He reminds me of a lesser Peyton Manning. Sure, Orton isn't as smart, hard-working, or talented, but he is still capable in every important catergory. Grossman is a gunslinger, which can be good if you have a good offensive line (Brett Favre last year), but with one as bad as the Bears', a gunslinger is a problem (Brett Favre in '05 and '06). Grossman now is saying goodbye to Ortman and hello to the bench.

Cubs: Have a second straight Monday off. After a surprisingly good road trip down south, they have a six game homestand against Cincinnati and Washington. This gives the streaking Cubs a chance to shove a sword down the throat of Dusty Baker's new team. And Corey Patterson's new team. And Jerry Hairston's new team. Bring back Mark Prior, and the whole gang will be back at Wrigley for three games! This first series should be a challenge, with Harden, Lilly and Zambrano facing Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang. Arroyo and Harang are Cubs killer's, and Cueto 1-1 with a 4.97 ERA in two starts this year against the Cubs. Of course, all three are struggling this year. The series against the Nats only has Marquis vs. TBA. My prediction for this week is 4-2.

Team USA's Golden Boy Strikes Again

As stated earlier, Michael Phelps is ridiculous. If what he had done before these Olympics wasn't ridiculous enough for you, then this should convince you. He won his eighth gold medal last night, and did so with a large lead. He and team USA swam the 4x100 medley relay in 3:29:34, a new world record. This gives him 7 world records in his eight events. The only event where he doesn't hold the world record is in the 100 meter butterfly, the event with the stunning finish on Friday night. All total, he has set 32 world records in his career, and broken 25 of them. Mark Spitz set 33 world records.
Going into last night's race (Sunday morning in Beijing), I would not have wanted to be one of the swimmers in that relay. If one of them were to mess up, they would have been remembered for years as the swimmer who cost Michael Phelps his eighth gold medal. Because they won, no one will remember any of the others by Monday morning. Bask in your glory for two days Aaron Piersol, Jason Lezak and Brendan Hansen, because it won't last.

The Curse is Broken!!! (no, not that curse)

The Cubs have finally broken through and won one! The curse, the dreaded curse, the curse that has stood for multiple years, is finally broken! Smashed! Destroyed! Obliterated! Decimated! All on a Daryle Ward 3-run homer! Amazing! But, unfortunately, we still have to win a world series to break the actual curse. I was just talking about the curse of the Cubs in Florida. They had lost nine straight in Florida (including at the Rays in June) until Lou's favorite pinch-hitter ripped an 0-1 fastball into the seats. Our friend Paul Sullivan described him as smelling "like a brewery" during postgame interviews, due to his teammates' beer shower (combine weight, game-winning homer, and smelling like beer, and we've got ourselves another Prince Fielder).
But, why is it that it was so impossible for our Cubbies to beat the Marlins or the Rays? Probably bad luck. Every team has its hot and cold streaks, and the Cubs always played in Florida during a cold streak. Or maybe the Cubs decided to suck right then (betting scandal?). We may never know.

Changes Please: Doubleheader Edition

For some reason, I am really annoyed that the MLB continues to use the doubleheader as a way to make up lost games. I understand the importance of doing so, but there has to be a better way than the doubleheader. The current system calls for a midday or afternoon game (today's 12:10 start vs. the Braves), and a night game (6:15 tonight). This really wears a team down, and keeps them from being able to hold a steady division lead, or keep pace with another team, at least in the games following. Most of these players train to play nine innings a day, some as many as 12 or 13. But to have a guarantee of at least 18 innings in a day, means that the players will go into the next series tired and worn out. Starting pitchers especially are thrown off by this. They have to warm up, and like to know when they will be pitching next. If you have five days rest, your day to throw is a day later. So with a doubleheader, pitchers are thrown out of routine.
Without a solution, griping about a problem is no use. So I have a few solutions:
1. Forget about the game entirely. This is my least favorite. It's as if the game was never planned. Cubs only play two games this series against the Braves. Lou skips Harden (scheduled to pitch yesterday) and goes straight to Marquis. Harden can throw a simulated game (those words bring back memories). Unfortunately, this season couldn't go down in the record books, because they would have less games played. And half a game in the division doesn't really matter, because one team has played less games.
2. Wait until both teams have a day off to play it. This may mean a little extra travel, but the same things go for the rotation as option one. Obviously, later in the season this may be more difficult, so you could then use option three.
3. Have a designated number of days after the season and before the playoffs in which to play any makeups. This is my favorite. If there is no need to play all of the makeup days, then start the playoffs early. Also, it solves another problem with the current system: if the two teams don't have another meeting that season, and no overlapping off days, then the two teams will just use option one. I modeled this idea after my school having snow days at the end of the year in case we have any in the winter. If one team has too many rainouts in the first half, then you can have a day taken off of the all-star break for them.
So, in conclusion, option three will probably be the best; even better than the current system.

Olympic Watch

So, I feel like I can't really keep blogging about sports right now without writing something about the Olympics. And I can't really write about the Olympics without writing about Michael Phelps. Seriously, this guy is (with all due respect to Devin Hester) ridiculous. He currently holds 6 world records (four solo, two relay). He has broken 2 of his own world records. At age 16 he broke his first world record.
Yesterday he won the 200 meter butterfly and the 4x200 freestyle relay. New world records were set in both of those, including career gold medals at the Olympics. Phelps has 11 career golds.

To say that Michael Phelps is the most dominant swimmer ever may be an understatement. The most dominant Olympian? You have to go farther than that. Try most dominant athlete. He is in the conversation with Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, John McEnroe, Babe Ruth, Jack Nicklaus and Magic Johnson. Of all of the Olympics to lay witness to, this is definitely the one that I would choose to see. 1936 in Berlin with Jesse Owens vs. the world is a close second, but 2008 in Beijing is number one for sure.
Ridiculous.