Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry’s Unlucky Season

Short of P Randy Wells, has anyone on the Chicago baseball landscape had worse luck than Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry?  As we pass the first third of the 2009 season, it appears that every significant move that Hendry made in the offseason has stunk to high heaven.  Some of those major moves include:

(UPI Photo/Brian Kersey)

Signing OF Milton Bradley — Hendry signed Bradley to his first ever multi-year contract, a 3-year, $30M sweetheart deal, partially to cover last season’s potential mistake of signing OF Kosuke Fukudome.  The other part is that Bradley’s a switch hitter, adding yet another left handed hitting bat to what was once a righty dominated regular lineup.  All Bradley has done this season is boycott the media, bump an umpire, earning himself a 2 game suspension, appealing said suspension while being in the midst of missing 7 games due to a hamstring injury.  Now injured with a calf strain, Bradley is hitting .208 5 HR 14RBI and struggling to stay healthy.

Trading IF/OF Mark DeRosa to the Cleveland Indians for 3 minor league pitchers — evaluating all of Hendry’s moves, this one was the most baffling.  DeRosa played at least 6 positions and was an offensive force for the Cubs, keeping a big stick in the lineup while offering rest to regular position players with no drop off in ability.  DeRosa, along with former Cubs P Kerry Wood, was the heart and soul of the Cubs 97 win team in 2008.  His 10HR and 42RBI would by far lead the 2009 Cubs in both categories.  It seems that the right handed hitting DeRosa’s only problem is that he doesn’t hit left handed.

Signing OF Joey Gathright — Gathright was an insurance policy, a way to provide speed and fielding ability at the top of the Cubs lineup.  What Gathright amounted to was a poor fit in Chicago.  Hendry traded Gathright to the Baltimore Orioles for IF/OF Ryan Freel, whom the Orioles activated from the 15-day DL to complete the trade.  Hendry’s luck continues, as three weeks after completing this trade, Freel was back on the DL

Signing IF/OF Aaron Miles — The signing of Miles was a hedge to the DeRosa trade, as Miles is DeRosa lite.  Miles plays almost as many positions, but unlike DeRosa, Miles hits with zero power.  Miles played sporatically to start the season, but as he began to receive more playing time, he earned himself a seat at the table of the 15-day DL, adding further scrutiny to an already snakebitten Hendry offseason.

Keeping Rule 5 draftee LHP David Patton on the 25-man roster — This move was a particularly tough one and a huge risk, magnified by the roster turmoil the Cubs have seen in the first two months of the season.  Patton was outstanding in spring training, making the decision to keep him a very difficult one, considering it would have to be for the entire season, due to the Rule 5 rules.  Once the season began, Patton suddenly became hittable and unreliable, which is not a huge suprise from a young player who had never played professional baseball above the Class A minor league level.  Keeping Patton tied manager Lou Piniella’s hands in two ways: first, Patton was virtually unusable in any situation outside of blowout victories or losses; second, Patton cost the Cubs a roster spot for a more reliable pitcher, or a position player, which would have been useful when 3B Aramis Ramirez went down with a shoulder injury.

Signing RHP Chad Fox — Hendry took yet another flyer on the oft injured pitcher, and once again, it ends with what appears to be a season and career ending injury.  Fox ended last season with a major elbow injury prompting a brief retirement, only to be lured out of retirement for another go at bullpen work.  In his second appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 8th, Fox threw a wild pitch and grabbed his arm in obvious pain.  He is on the DL again and it appears that this time, his injury may be career-ending.

Other issues that are not directly related to Hendry moves, but have happened under Hendry’s watch as GM this season include:

• The Ramirez injury
• Carlos Zambrano’s injury and subsequent 5-game suspension and $3,000 fine for bumping an umpire while vehemently disputing a call at home plate in a game on May 27th, then 6 days later blows off a team flight to Atlanta without permission.
• LHP Ted Lilly’s fined $1,500 and nearly suspended for being ejected while arguing balls and strikes – in a game where he was not even pitching.
• An injury to RHP Rich Harden, forcing a move to the DL that has been longer than first anticipated
• Building an ineffective bullpen, with struggling LHP Neal Cotts, RHP Aaron Heilman, and set-up man RHP Carlos Marmol’s recent struggles
• Early ineffectiveness from IF Mike Fontenot, C Geovanny Soto, and 1B Derrek Lee

To be fair, not all of Hendry’s moves this season been a total disaster.  Some of Hendry’s smaller, under-the-radar moves have been quite strong, mainly:

• Bringing up Randy Wells when Zambrano went on the DL; then keeping Wells in the rotation as he has been the Cubs most dependable and effective starting pitcher of late.
• Promoting rookie IF Bobby Scales, an 11-year minor league player making his major league debut.  Scales became the feel good story of the season so far for the Cubs.
• Making an 11th hour decision to keep bubble performer RHP Angel Guzman as the 25th man on the roster after a horrible spring training.  All Guzman has done is become the best and most reliable reliever in the Cubs bullpen this season, sporting a 2-0 record (the first two wins of his major league career) with a 2.28 ERA, with 6 holds and a save.  Over a span of 12 games since May 8th, Guzman has been perfect, not giving up a single run.

While Jim Hendry’s moves have all backfired so far this season, to his and the Cubs credit, they haven’t panicked.   Odds are that players struggling this bad will rebound strongly and if the strong starting pitching continues, the Cubs still can boast the most talent of any team in the NL Central.  Only time will tell if this will be enough for a third straight post-season appearance.

Wednesday Chicago Cubs Roundup 6-10-09

Today starts a new feature — a Chicago team news round up of all things important to the Chicago Cubs.  The Cubs are in Houston, interleague play starts this weekend, and the bats seem to be warming up.  Big news on draft day Tuesday:

(AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

The Cubs select Cal OF Brett Jackson in Tuesday’s MLB Draft

Cubs Scouting Director Tim Wilken is “thrilled to acquire a player like Brett Jackson“

“Cub Fan” Brett Jackson dreams comes true.

Milton Bradley talks his way into tonight’s lineup and on the field….

Cubs looking for ideas on keeping Milton Bradley healthy.

Ted Lilly beats Houston Astros 7-1, with his bat and his arm…

Josh Vitters is heir apparent to Aramis Ramirez at 3B (and at the plate)

Maybe life without Mark DeRosa is not so bad?

Randy Wells is this year’s version of Angel Guzman in seeking his first career victory.

Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano is 14,000 votes shy of a starting OF for the 2009 MLB All Star Game, and needs YOUR help!

Chicago Cubs Implode Yet Again

The Chicago Cubs can describe their 2009 season in one word: inconsistent.  The inconsistency is maddening, frustrating, and certainly unpredictable.  Tonight’s 12-inning 6-5 come from ahead loss against a very average Atlanta Braves team is the latest example of the frustration and inconsistency that has enveloped this team to date.

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

June 1st is typically the time of the year when you really know what kind of team you have.  It’s the time of year where it can no longer be said that it’s still early in the season.  It’s not and the Chicago Cubs are still a mess.  Third base is a Bermuda Triangle, the bullpen is still an unknown, with the long guys getting pounded one day, the short guys the next.  Left handed relief is non-existent.  Suspensions of OF Milton Bradley and RHP Carlos Zambrano, injuries, fines, missed flights, arguing with umpires, multiple beatings of the Gatorade machine, the 2009 version of the Chicago Cubs are their own worst enemies.  The mess even extends to the very top of the organization, as Sam Zell and Tom Ricketts continue to slug it out, with no end in sight, over the fine details of the ownership transfer.

June 1st is here and the Cubs are still a spring training-like mess, sitting at a record of 25-25, in 4th place in the NL Central, yet they somehow are still in the race, only 4 games out of first in what appears to be MLB’s most competitive division.  Can they get their act together?  Can they weather the storm of a lost 3B Aramis Ramirez?  Can Bradley stay healthy and hit?  Can a left handed reliever emerge from the bullpen?  Hell, can anyone emerge from the bullpen with greater consistency? (right now, RHP Angel Guzman seems to be the only consistent pitcher in the pen)

If the biggest move the Cubs make this season is the banishment of the Gatorade machine from the dugout, the 2009 season will be another wash, yet another year in the 100+ year North side champioship draught.

Chicago Blackhawks Season Goes From Disaster To Dire

Three weeks of training camp.  Eighty-two regular season games.  Sixteen playoff games.  What has been a remarkable, rise from the ashes, success beyond our wildest dreams of seasons, has all of a sudden become a disaster and now, with the season precariously hanging by a thread, it has become a dire situation for the Chicago Blackhawks.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

The Detroit Red Wings are the New York Yankees of the National Hockey League.  They are the defending Stanley Cup champions.  They are also the deepest, most talented team in the playoffs — battle tested, championship brazen.  They were missing 3 of their top players, C Kris Draper, captain D Nicklas Lidstrom, and leading scorer C Pavel Datsyuk.  They never missed a beat.  In contrast, the Blackhawks were missing only one player, G Nikolai Khabibulin, and that made all the difference in the world.

After today’s 6-1 drubbing of the Blackhawks in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, the mighty Red Wings are once again in the drivers seat headed to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Where does that leave the Chicago Blackhawks?  They must now sweep the Red Wings in a 3 game series to keep their season alive, a task that’s nearly insurmountable.  The Blackhawks have been resilient all season.  They have been remarkably resilient in the playoffs.  But returning to Detroit carrying a 3-1 deficit against the best team in the NHL is a bit too much to ask.

It’s Sunday evening and Chicago Blackhawks fans are digesting the aftermath of this afternoon’s game, quelling the sting of a disastrous loss, resisting the notion that the season has already been wildly successful, beyond what anyone had imagined.  After all, making the playoffs was the goal and that was accomplished.  After all, with each win, and each preceding series victory, wanting more for the Blackhawks at this point could be construed as being  greedy.

So what do the Chicago Blackhawks need to do to get back into this series?  Three things they will need to get back into the series are:

1.  Take each game one at a time.  Game 5 is the most important game of the series.  You can’t look past that and you can’t have one thought about Game 6 until Game 5 is in the win column.  Game plan for that one game.  It’s a one game season now.  Win that, it’s another one game season, and so forth.

2.  The young Blackhawks need to play with more composure and maturity.  The Red Wings are a veteran, championship team.  They set the tone for this series with their hard checks and pinpoint rushes to the net.  The Blackhawks need to put the RW Martin Havlat hit behind them and play the type of game that got them this far.  Regardless of what Hawks Coach Joel Quenneville said about the referees, this game was lost when the Blackhawks abandoned their strategy to adopt a more physical, retalitory stance against the Wings.  It played right into the Red Wings strengths and the Hawks didn’t have the firepower to counter.

3.  It’s imperitave to get a full strength Nikolai Khabibulin and Martin Havlat back.  Havlat has been a marked man in these playoffs.  Both the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks pounded Havlat, trying to get him out of his game.  Havlat has been the Hawks catalyst, most clutch offensive performer of the playoffs.  It’s no surprise the Red Wings are bodying him up in this series.  Havlat has managed to avoid injury until now.  He will need to be at full strength for the Hawks to compete.  The loss of Khabibulin was probably the most brutal loss of all.  G Cristobal Huet was inadequately prepared to play and it showed.  If Khabibulin is out for Game 5, the Hawks are going home.  If he is back and ready to go, they have a fighting chance.

The Chicago Blackhawks are down to their final strike and the veteran Red Wings smell blood in the water.  The character of this Chicago Blackhawks team will be tested on Wednesday in Detroit.  The only question: will the young upstart live to fight another day?  By Thursday morning, we’ll all know……

A Beautiful Day At Columbia College Chicago

Crystal blue skies, not a cloud in sight.  Bright sunny day, so bright that a strong squint of the eyelids posed a constant reminder of sunglasses forgotten.  An unseasonably cool May morning, a Sunday morning.  The sign on the front of the building read UIC Pavillion, but inside, it was Columbia College Chicago all the way.

Today is May 17, 2009 and my step-daughter, Jessica Dreymann was attending her last official function as a Columbia College student, her graduation ceremony.  As of 10pm this evening, Jessi is officially a college graduate.  Actually, it was as of 2pm, but the celebration took us a few ticks  further on the face of the dial.

Jessi began her college career as a freshman at University of Iowa.  Eager to leave home for the first time, Jessi chose a school that was far enough from home to really experience being on her own, but close enough to come home if she really wanted.  Iowa was a learning experience in so many ways.

The first year of college is a dichotomy of life; you are a student, you are no longer under parental rule.  Iowa was a struggle in many ways for Jessi.  Normally an excellent student, with an impressive run at Glenbrook North High School in our hometown of Northbrook, IL, Jessi was really struggling in Iowa City.  In many ways, it was that first year of struggle that ultimately defined Jessi’s growth and development into the outstanding person she is today.  It is where she came of age, experiencing a giant leap in maturity and independence.  It is also the place that led her to today’s events at Columbia College Chicago, and it little did she know it was the most important experience of her life.

Jessi Dreymann graduated college today.  She graduated in 3 years.  She also graduated with honors.  She was able to accomplish every bit of this while working a full-time job.  Words can’t express how proud I am of Jessi’s accomplishments.  I only know one other person that has accomplished the same, and I’m married to her.  Yes, my wife and Jessi’s mom, Barb DeCesare, set the bar for today’s events.  I’m bursting with pride, inspiration, and joy for the accomplishment of both my girls.

Columbia College Chicago is a special place of higher education.  I noticed the minute I walked into the graduation ceremony at the UIC Pavillion.  From the smart, creative choice of excellent music to the guest speakers ability to provide short, but powerful words of wisdom, Columbia College’s dynamic, creative environment was on full display.  Distinguished honored speaker, author Ray Bradbury spoke stirringly about doing what you love and to love what you’re doing.  The spirit of love was the dominant theme of the day.

My highest compliments and regards to President Warrick L. Carter, Provost Steven Kapelke, and the various leaders of Columbia College for providing an environment for dynamic and creative learning, development of outstanding leaders, and most importantly, the mentoring of tomorrow’s change agents.

From create…change to Yes We Can, Columbia College Chicago ushered in two powerful phrases that define the spirit of Chicago, the destiny of higher education, and the intersection of the two into one magical morning.  After reading this post, you might be asking yourself  “What does this have to do with Chicago sports?”  Nothing at all.  It’s my daughter and I’m damn proud of her today, as I am every day and wanted to share that with my loyal and faithful audience.

The Legend of Chicago Cubs’ Bobby Scales

Deep in the heart of Georgia, a little boy tosses a baseball high in the air and catches it.  Each throw a little higher a bit more altitude, with a little more arc, making it harder to catch.  With each throw, a young man’s confidence grows, his belief that he can play this game called baseball becomes more and more immense by the minute.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Personal and family sacrifices, the hours of playing catch, hitting that little ball off the tee, running after a pop fly and fielding sharp grounders are finally paying huge dividends.  Joy intersects with passion and hard work, resulting in the formation of a dream come true.

Gradual advancement, more hard work, incremental improvement, maturity, the taste of success at the tip of your tongue, the fruits of your labor are starting to blossom.

Plateau.  They said it, not you.  Your stuck, stuck behind someone else’s dream, trying to find clear wind to fill your sails, but the others are tacking in front of you, stealing the very wind that drove you to success.  You move, they move, it’s not personal, it’s just competitive.  This is not the joy you envisioned, skewed but still in it’s light and nature.  A kalidescope of your original dream disappearing into a pattern of dashed hopes and missed windows.

Perseverance is a word whose meaning is deeply understood by few, lived by even fewer.  Tough times bring fight or flight, the tendency is finding a place to keep your head above water, settling for something steady and predictable, something more of a sure thing.  Common sense and fate may have been knocking on the door of the dream, a cruel foreshadowing of illusion, deep indication that it’s time to forge another path, to alter course.

Dusty roads, an endless bus ride, fast food and even faster competition.  Substitute teaching, working with kids, stealing time away to stay sharp, finding the inner strength to continue working on your game against all odds.  The dream is still at the end of your fingertips, if only someone could see the yearning, the desire, the intense burn of competition.

One chance is all he ever wanted.  One chance, if they could only believe in him a mere fraction as much as he believes in himself.  Portland, Oregon to  Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, and in the middle, Des Moines, Iowa.  Living year 11 of the dream, wondering if it will ever come true or will it be a constant reminder of what could have been…

By now, virtually every serious fan of the Chicago Cubs has embraced the feel good story of 2009, the emergence of rookie infielder Bobby Scales.  Scales, after toiling in the minor leagues for 10 seasons, finally got his cup of coffee in the major leagues on May 5th, courtesy of Cubs P Carlos Zambrano.  If Zambrano hadn’t been injured and if the Cubs didn’t have an immediate need for another infielder, the switch-hitting Scales would still be roaming the sweet dirt of Des Moines, Iowa.  Instead, all Scales has done is hit, going 8-18 (.444 batting average) with 1 HR and 5 RBI’s including a pair of two run doubles in yesterday’s 11-3 Cubs victory over the San Diego Padres. He’s gotten a hit in every single game he’s played.

There’s a good chance that Bobby Scales will be sent back to Iowa when the Cubs activate Zambrano from the 15-day disabled list.  The Chicago Cubs might be led by the likes of Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Milton Bradley, and Aramis Ramirez, but the heart and soul of the franchise is encased in players such as Scales.  If it all ended today, Bobby Leon Scales would have achieved the dream that every kid who has touched a ball has ever dared to imagine.

Chicago Cubs Begin Their Struggling Season

In comparison to 2008, the 2009 season has been brutally unkind to the Chicago Cubs.  From top to bottom of the organization, from the ballpark workers to the fans, the fuzzy lovefest that was 2008 has been replaced by a season that has all the markings of struggle written all over the brown, yet to grow ivy outfield walls.

(AP Photo/Kyle Ericson)

The Cubs struggles seem to be set in motion during a devastating post season playoff series against the Los Angeles Dodgers to close out what was then developing into a magical season of 2008.  As dominant as the Cubs were in winning 97 games in 2008, they were equally as feeble once the playoffs began.  The Dodgers sucked the life out of the Cubs, exposing every weakness and shutting down the most powerful NL lineup and battering around the league’s #3 pitching staff in a NLDS sweep.

In the off season, Cubs GM Jim Hendry, tried in earnest to make his team more flexible for manager Lou Piniella.  What he did was inadvertently neutered his two-time division championship team, cutting them off at the knees.  Like a mad scientist, Hendry first moved to clear his entire bullpen, short of his All-Star setup man, RHP Carlos Marmol.  Included in that purge was All-Star closer RHP Kerry Wood, who finally found a successful niche as a power closer.  Not that he didn’t need to purge most of that bullpen, but it’s unclear to me as I watch the Cubs struggle, why Wood, the heart and soul of the Cubs team and the most tenured of all Cubs players, leader on and off the field, was allowed to depart. Essentially, Hendry traded Wood for former Florida Marlins closer, RHP Kevin Gregg, a one-sided trade then, and even more magnified in view of this horrible start.

The other perplexing move was trading 2B Mark DeRosa to the Cleveland Indians, replacing him with free-agent RF Milton Bradley.  All Bradley has done since signing a 3-year, $30M contract is injure his hamstring, get kicked out of his first game at Wrigley Field, bump an umpire while arguing, earning himself a 2-game suspension, which he appeals, all while needing to sit out at least 16 games due to that injury, incidentially, while not being added to the disabled list.

This is the type of flexibility that Hendry and Piniella wanted?  A further highlight about how “flexible” the 2009 Cubs roster is, C Geovanny Soto injures his throwing shoulder and has to sit out a few games to re-evaluate the injury.  While Soto is out, reserve C Koyie Hill filled in very capably, but because the Cubs don’t put Soto on the 15-day DL, they are forced to list 2B Aaron Miles and others as the backup catcher.

3B Aramis Ramirez has missed the last 11 games due to a calf injury, but the Cubs choose not to add him to the 15-day disabled list, instead forcing an out of position 2B Mike Fontenot to play third.  In last night’s game, when Piniella needed to pinch-hit for the left-handed hitting Fontenot, he needed to employ Hill to finish out the game at 3rd base!  Recently, 1B Derrek Lee missed time with a strained neck.  1B/OF Micah Hoffpauir covered Lee at 1B, pushing RHP Carlos Zambrano into the lefty pinch hitting role.  Some flexibility.  This is the flexibility that results in 14 errors and many other misplays from players playing out of position.

Not to mention the current mess the pitching staff is in right now, started by the shoddy bullpen performance out of the gate and now spreading to the once very promising performance of the starting rotation.  The Cubs bullpen mess begins with the release of  RHP Chad Gaudin a trade-off engineered to essentially keep Rule 5 RHP David Patton and  RHP Angel Guzman, a player who is out of minor league options.  Patton’s been regulary pounded, the highlight, giving up a grand slam to St. Louis Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols in a recent 8-2 loss to the Cardinals last Saturday.  LHP Neal Cotts not only hasn’t been able to get anybody out, he has been a bases on balls machine, walking 6 batters in 5 innings.  The bullpen picture became even more muddled when Hendry was forced to release RHP Luis Vizcaino and his $3M contract (Vizcaino was picked up in a off-season trade with the Colorado Rockies for RHP Jason Marquis) to bring up power RHP Jeff Samardzjia, who probably should have been in the bullpen in the first place.  With both Marmol and Gregg struggling, RHP Aaron Heilman has been exposed and has been used too frequently, resulting in a bullpen that can’t be trusted to get anyone out at this point, much less protect any sort of a lead.

So after 21 games, what do we make of this Cubs team?  Apparently, the early showing is that the Cubs are a team that still appear to suffer from the hangover of last season’s crushing playoff sweep.  They also can’t stay healthy.  They are also a team that can’t hit, field, or pitch.  This is a team built to struggle, and struggle they will, and I predict, for the entire season.  This Cubs team might not have to worry about a 3rd straight playoff disappointment.

NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Who Do I Like?

As the natural follow up to yesterday’s post on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (hint: who I like and who wins seldom cross paths these days) I have my pick for tonight’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship.  Now after last night’s debacle in choosing Michigan State over North Carolina, many are now wondering if I have the fortitude to choose the underdog yet again.  Remember, it’s either the University of Connecticut Lady Huskies or the University of Louisville Lady Cardinals.

(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Last year, as my daughter reminds me over and over again, I picked against University of Tennessee and they won.  This year, I’m tell you who I like and I think it will be no surprise to anybody:

I’m going with UConn to beat Louisville 78-60 in an all Big East National Championship final.  Louisville will keep it close with defense, but ultimately, the Lady Huskies will break it open, complete their undefeated season and their 6th National Championship, their first since 2004.

Last night I went for the sentimental underdog, the Michigan State Spartans, playing at home and I got blown out of the water by a very determined and talented North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team.  (The Spartans got blown out of the water and took me with them.)

Tonight — it’s all about the favorite, taking a tight game and turning it into an 18-point win.  University of Connecticut will be the 2008-09 Women’s National Champion in basketball.

NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Who Do I Like?

Tonight’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game kicks off a week of solid sports events, both inside and outside Chicago.  If you are even a basketball neophyte, the question everyone is asking is who do you like in tonight’s game?  Remember, it’s either the Michigan State Spartans or the North Carolina Tar Heels.  I’ll tell you who I like and I think it will be a surprise to some:

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

I like Michigan State by 6 points.  The latest Las Vegas lines have North Carolina favored by 7 1/2 points against Michigan State, with an over/under of 153 points.  See for yourself, the Las Vegas Sun has the betting line on any kind of bet you can imagine for tonight’s game.

So your next question may be: Why do you like Michigan State so much?  Who would pick them to beat the heavily favored North Carolina Tar Heels?  Below are my reasons why:

1.  Playing at Ford Field is essentially a home game for Michigan State.  Not essentially, it IS a home game for the Spartans.  Home court advantage is typically worth a few extra points in hype and comfort to start any game.  In a tournament game, it’s worth even more.  In a championship game?  It’s worth it’s weight in gold.  Championship games are played at neutral sites to avoid the appearance of giving the home team a distinct advantage.  In this case, Michigan State is playing their biggest game of the season in front of what appears to be a very strong home court advantage.  Don’t think for a moment that Spartans coach Tom Izzo isn’t pulling out all the stops in the motivation department tonight.

2.  The rematch factor — North Carolina and Michigan State played each other on this very same court in the very same venue earlier this season (December 3rd, 2008).  The game was a blowout – the Tar Heels won by 35 points.  My rabid North Carolina basketball fans will say this shows a clear and distinct advantage for the Tar Heels.   Not so.  It’s very difficult to beat a team twice in a season, especially if the teams are close to each other in terms of talent/skill.  In December, Michigan State was playing their 4th game of the week and it showed.  They were also missing F Goran Suton, who has been playing his best basketball at the right time.  He’ll be needed to joust with Tar Heels F Tyler Hansborough.  North Carolina played it’s best ball in December.  Michigan State is peaking exactly at the right time.

3.  Championships come down to defense.  Ask University of Connecticut.  Ask any team that has played Michigan State.  Their defense is on fire right now. Michigan State made it their mission to shut down UConn’s front court on Saturday, which they did quite effectively.  UConn helped by missing 12 of 33 free throws, something I don’t expect the Tar Heels to do if they were in the same position.  Michigan State knows how to play an open style of offense.  They did it to beat UConn.  They also know how to play lock down defense as well as to play against lockdown defense, as they did it all season in the Big 10 in conference play.  The team that plays as though it’s on a mission on defense will win the game.  I believe that will be Michigan State.

There you go.  The prediction?  Michigan State 83, North Carolina 77 (yes, that would mean I am taking the over on the total points as well.)

The IHSA Unduly Influences Boys High School Basketball Championship

There is an unwritten rule in sports in the most simplest of terms, states that the outcomes of any competition should be decided on the field or court of play. In this stunningly bizzare twist of fate, the Illinois High School Athletic Association (IHSA) and the athletic administration of North Lawndale Charter High School were unintentional co-conspirators in determining the outcome of this season’s Illinois Class 3A Boy’s Basketball State Championship.

For those in the unknown, the Chicago Tribune high school sports reporter, Bob Sakamoto wrote a nice piece summarizing the facts:

In Friday’s 3A semifinal, North Lawndale began the game trailing 1-0 before the opening tipoff. Illinois High School Association Assistant Executive Director Kurt Gibson ruled that Lawndale’s illegal uniform mandated a technical foul.

Champaign Centennial’s Jeff Johnson made one of two technical free throws. As it turned out, North Lawndale lost by that one point, 66-65.

In tournament basketball, games with teams that are evenly matched, the outcome of the game is often decided by one single possession. You would like to think that the extra possession that resulted in a win for one team and a loss for another team would be earned in the heat of the battle, within the confines of the game itself. It appears in this case that game deciding possession was determined by gamesmanship of the rules prior to the tip off of the semi-final game of the high profile state basketball tournament.

While I’m not questioning the rule itself, what is in question is the inconsistency and randomness of how this particular rule was enforced. Both sides have pointed proverbial finger at each other in casting blame for the situation after the fact. According to the IHSA, the North Lawndale team knew they were in violation of the uniform rule, but were only warned about the infraction until the semi-final game, where the penalty was enforced. The North Lawndale team had to be aware that after several warnings, the IHSA could actually choose to enforce the penalty. It was a showdown that had no winner and no happy ending. Both parties are equally responsible for determining the end result of the crucial state championship semi-final game.

The only other issue that stands out is the extremely poor judgement the IHSA used in the timing of the enforcement of the uniform rule. Last week, in the face of severe public criticism and outrage, the IHSA issued statements defending their decision. While the decision itself may be defensible, the lack of sound judgement used in choosing that particular moment to arbitrarily enforce this rule is indefensible. If the IHSA knew the uniforms were out of compliance with their rule for the entire 2008-09 basketball season, why didn’t they choose to enforce their rule consistently and accurately from tip off of every game until North Lawndale conformed to the rule? If they had taken that approach, there would be no second-guessing of the rule enforcement in the semi-final game.

The IHSA should have acknowledged that they exercised poor judgement in enforcement of the uniform rule, thus inadvertently impacting the outcome of a tournament championship. This action would have disarmed any remaining critics. Instead, the IHSA justification introduces even more opportunity for criticism. Poor decisions are a fact of life, people are human, mistakes are made. Defending a poor decision not only reinforces that decision, but leads me to conclude that the IHSA has yet to learn the lessons from it’s mistakes and now establishes a trend of making poor decisions.