Moving the Friendly Confines?

Photo from a game I went to in 2009.

As an 8 year old I made my first pilgrimage to Wrigley Field. It was 1998, and I remember kind of being in awe of the entire trip there. The ride on the L was something special especially once we were above ground on the Red Line and saw the ballpark in the distance. Even with the troughs in the men's bathrooms, the concrete that wasn't quite as bad as it is now, and the posts blocking view of the game, Wrigley and the area around it has a certain charm you can't really get anywhere else. It's part of what has kept me coming back at least once every year since, along with my love for the Cubs.

And yet even with all that, I'm starting to find myself more in favor with ideas of relocation to a nearby town than I would have guessed. Monday saw a Comcast Sportsnet report about Rosemont mayor Brad Stephens offering a tract of land for the Cubs to use if they wanted to make the move. Right now no one seems to be taking the offer very seriously, but a Tribune writer did entertain the thought in an editorial.

The biggest obstacle I see here obviously lies with cost. Right now owner Tom Ricketts has a $500 million plan to renovate the park, including a complex built across the street on Clark. A brand new one is probably going to cost a lot more than that (probably in the neighborhood of a billion) and I understand and agree with the reluctance of taxpayers to want to foot the bill for a new stadium despite owners nationwide pulling the same fast one over on their neighbors (random biased note that is semi-related: this is why more teams should have similar ownerships to those of the Green Bay Packers, but legally we can't. This should change).

If the cost of a new place is not an issue (and since the land wouldn't cost anything), then I think it's worth it to at least publicly flirt with the idea and see if you can force the city's hand. The Cubs are the only team in the bigs with the issues of needing to cooperate with rooftop vendors across the street as well as having landmark restrictions limiting advertising. As much as I like not being bombarded by advertising everywhere, I'm also not actively looking for it as I'm usually paying attention to the game, so it's not really an issue for me there. That's more of a TV revenue thing, and would allow for more money to stream in.

The trickiest part is with some of the fans who go to Cubs games for the experience of going to Wrigley Field or for the "yuppies" as a lot of people call them who go just to get drunk (which is a waste of money... just saying). Just the prospect of a new ballpark is usually enough to get people to come. Putting it in a decent spot like Rosemont where you have O'Hare in the neighborhood, plus tentative access to public transportation there makes it a pretty attractive and not terribly inconvenient destination (assuming traffic doesn't end up awful because of this, which it usually is in that area during the evening rush anyway).

I'm not saying the Cubs absolutely have to move out there or absolutely have to stay. Whatever Tom Ricketts decides is the best course of action for the club is good enough for me, and hopefully the decision helps the club in the long run (and brings titles. Those are important). Either way, anyone who says they will stop being a Cubs fan if they move is not a true Cubs fan and should stop claiming as such. Yes, Wrigley is a part of the mystique of the Cubs franchise, but true Cubs fans will support them whether they're at Clark and Addison or in Rosemont. If you can get the city of Chicago to go along with renovation plans mostly unhindered and modernize Wrigley into less of a crumbling old relic, go for it. If not, and you can get a deal good for the franchise elsewhere in Chicagoland, don't be afraid to pull the trigger.

I love Wrigley Field as much as any Cubs fan. But if Chicago wants to play hardball, why not try to beat them at it?

ALL of the Brackets

I have a love and passion for pretty much all things sports, but absolutely nothing compares to the first 4 days of the NCAA Tournament. My work schedule aligns such that I have Friday off and can catch several games that day, and needless to say, shortly after the brackets came out I pored over them in trying to figure out how to fill everything out. I do think I got an answer though.

Like last year, I am hosting a tournament pool on Yahoo for anyone who is interested. Nothing special to be offered this time other than the ability to lord over me that you picked winners better than I did. Odds are you probably will; I have a tendency to do well on the Thursday, stumble a little on the Friday without too much damage done, then see everything get destroyed on Saturday. Probably a good thing that I only have a single 1 seed advancing to the Final Four, but I'm sure it will be more chaotic than a Final Four of Louisville, Georgetown, Miami and New Mexico.

If you think you're better at picking this stuff than I am, the group can be found here and it is free to join (both for Yahoo and because I'm not putting money on this... again, the whole "gambling is illegal" thing.) I would love to see this thing fill up!

Good luck!

NCAA Tournament Preview: Middlebury College vs. North Central College

When you are a fan of a Division III school, there's one mecca that you want your school's sports teams to reach: Salem, Virginia. It's the site of the Stagg Bowl, D-III's football championship game (unofficially named the Purple Bowl after seven straight Mount Union/Wisconsin-Whitewater battles there) and in previous years the site of the D-III Final Four. This year they're showcasing twice as many games as they get the quarterfinals and semifinals. And for the first time, North Central is crashing the party at the Salem Civic Center.

I made it 0-3 on tournament games this season and wasn't tracking the game, but fortunately the Cardinals were able to put enough distance between them and the Titans late to secure a berth in the Elite 8. You knew whichever team made it out of the Bracket of Death was going to have a good shot at winning the whole thing, and I certainly believe the Cardinals can. But this is another Bracket of Death the Cardinals will have to navigate. For all the praise the CCIW gets, you certainly have to include the NESCAC as another of those elite conference in Division III with all 3 of its entrants surviving to this point. The Cardinals get one of them on Friday.

Middlebury College vs. North Central College
Salem Civic Center (Salem, VA)- Fri. March 22, 2013- 7:30pm

About Middlebury College
From Middlebury, VT
25-3, At Large team from NESCAC
Defeated Curry 68-66 in the first round, defeated Cortland State 67-63 in the second round, defeated Ithaca 73-72 in the third round.

What really scares me about this Middlebury team looking at their schedule is that of their 3 losses, only one came in regulation, and it was by one point. The others needed at least one overtime to decide (one game needed 3). On the other hand, 2 of those losses were to Williams (sitting on the other side of the bracket facing #1 St. Thomas) and the 3OT loss was to Amhert (#2 seed, possibly looming in the semis). We could be looking at North Central storming through the elite of New England depending on how those other games play out.

At hand though is a very tough team, looking at the numbers and given how many close games they've had to play. Middlebury boasts a better scoring average at 78.5 points a game but also gives up a little over 65, compared to North Central's 69.6/58.5 splits. If anything, if this game gets slowed down it plays more into the Cardinals' favor because they're used to stifling defense.

Individually, the guy who scared me most based on season numbers was big man Peter Lynch, who at 6'6" is like Middlebury's version of Landon Gamble, scoring 15 points a game on 63% shooting. However, he's only averaged 11.7 in the tournament and was held in check by Ithaca last night (8 points on 2-7 shooting). However, the Panthers had their backcourt step up. Guys like Joey Kizel (14.2 on the season, 16 in the tournament) and Nolan Thompson (12.6, 13.7) have stepped up their games to make up for it. They are a streaky outside shooting team (shot 3-18 from deep in the first round and 14-25 last night) but that can be dangerous if they're on. The key is for their role players to step up.

That's what makes me really believe the Cardinals can come through and win the title. Derek Raridon isn't scoring quite as much (13.7 points per game in the tournament, averaging 14.6 on the year), and Gamble hasn't done as much since his 17 point game in the first round (19 in the past 2 games), but other guys have stepped up. Charlie Rosenberg had 11 off the bench in the first round. Last week Brandon Williams was perfect from the field with 13 points en route to knocking off the defending champs, and last night it was Jack Burchett dropping 18. Meanwhile Vince Kmiec has evolved into a great two-way player, setting a new school single-season record for steals with 64 so far, and will probably break the school's all time record before CCIW play begins next season. This team just seems to have an aura about them that seems like they are destined to end up in Atlanta. If the Cardinals win Friday, the winner of the Amherst-Cabrini game would loom on Saturday and hopefully I'll have a couple most posts about this team to come, including one about a victorious return to Naperville with trophy number 31! Go Cardinals!

NCAA Tournament Preview: Illinois Wesleyan University @ North Central College

I didn't make it to Benedictine on Saturday for, from what I heard, was a fun game in a playoff atmosphere. Fortunately the Cardinals held on and made plays late to knock off the defending champs. And for whatever reason, it left some Whitewater folks a little salty. (Kudos to whoever was in charge of the @NCC_Athletics Twitter at the time for a genius response.)

So for the second straight year, the Cardinals have advanced to the Sweet 16, but they weren't the only one to advance from the CCIW. Wheaton got knocked off, but a familiar and deadly foe awaits in the next round.

Illinois Wesleyan University at North Central College
Gregory Arena- Sat. March 16, 2013- 7pm

About Illinois Wesleyan
From Bloomington, IL
23-5, At Large team from CCIW
Defeated Transylvania 80-71 in the first round, defeated Washington (Mo) 71-67 in the second round
1-1 vs NCC this year (won 69-61 at IWU, lost 87-83 in OT at NCC)

With no track championships to tie up parking spots, Merner Fieldhouse can come to life again. The Cardinals remain unbeaten in games where they're considered the "home" team and have not lost in Naperville so far this year, but Illinois Wesleyan is no small task.

The Titans lead the conference in scoring at 72.5 points a game (for the record, NCC is 4th at 69.1) and boast an incredibly balanced attack. Andrew Ziemnik and Brady Zimmer are tied for the team lead with 11.1 points per game apiece, along with 4 other guys who average between 8 and 11 points a contest. Ziemnik has 32 points in the 2 games between these schools so far, and is the key guy to watch out for.

The Cardinals still haven't played a "perfect" game in a while, surviving bad free throw shooting (11-20 Saturday) and an off shooting night in general by everyone not named Brandon Williams or Landon Gamble. But that's been the beauty of this team: they take opponents' best shots and have had different guys step up to make plays throughout the game and the leaders finish it off at the end.

Given the season split between these teams combined with NCC's unblemished record at home, I would find it hard to believe that the Cardinals don't make it to Salem, Virginia and the Elite 8 for a shot at heading to Atlanta in April. If it doesn't happen, it will be because a very good Titan team made the plays and earned their way to Salem and the CCIW should be honored to have one of these teams making it this far.

Get to Merner early on Saturday. Given the rivalry, the gym is bound to be packed, even if NCC will be on Spring Break. We need the support again. Go Cardinals!

Play Fair, Win With Humility, Lose With Integrity

I know most of my posts on here deal with major sports stories about who's who and what's going on in the world of sports (I even said so myself in a Beacon News article posted last week), but I do need to come to the forefront when things unfold like they did in Peoria yesterday.

At work this morning I saw an article on the Tribune's website about the Class 2A Boys' Basketball Championship game and took note of a peculiar headline about the losing team, Seton Academy, refusing its second place trophy. Based purely off the headline, I wasn't quite sure what to think, though reading the article answered a lot of questions. More on that in a moment.

As a sports fan who has maybe too much of a competitive nature (thankfully not to Michael Jordan's extent), in and of itself I don't necessarily mind seeing a team refuse to accept a trophy that isn't for a championship, though the context does somewhat override this. I'm personally not a big fan of the "Everyone gets a trophy!" mentality that seems prevalent in society today, though this isn't the case in the IHSA. You get a plaque for winning smaller tournaments at regional and sectional sites, and then if you make the Top 4 you get a trophy. In order to get one though, that requires 5 or 6 straight wins, and it's hard. In my four years at Aurora Christian, we only won one regional (my senior year, the year I predicted we'd at least get that far) and fell just short against Byron for a sectional title. It was very disappointing, given that I was a senior and that was the end of my direct involvement in ACS basketball, but I was proud to be part of that group of guys that added to ACS lore (as head coach Don Davidson put it, "Good teams play in March," and the sectional title game was in March. We fit the bill.) Had we advanced beyond that, I would have been more than happy to hold a trophy of some kind had we made it to state, even if it was only a 4th place trophy.

Then I read the Tribune article.

What's a Regulation Loss?

I've been largely quiet on the hockey front here, a lot of it due to the fact that of the four major sports, hockey is the one I know the least about. But when a team goes halfway through a season without a loss in regulation, it deserves attention.

I've been home for a lot of these games and have gotten to see chunks of a lot of them, so I've been able to see a lot of the dramatics unfold before my very eyes. And really, this is an incredible run that is (deservedly) getting a lot of national media attention. This is a run the likes of which has only been seen once before (the '79-80 Flyers, who registered 35 straight games with a point) though not in a condensed season like this with back-to-backs and 3-games-in-4-nights throughout schedules. It's not worth comparing that to, say, the Heat's 16 game winning streak as both are impressive in their own ways.

What really impresses me with this Blackhawks team though is how deep they are. In 21 victories, 15 different guys have registered game-winning goals. During their slide last year, the Hawks' stars couldn't get anything going and there was no one left to pick up the slack. This year it's not an issue. The defense has gotten a lot better on all 3 pairings so it's not just Keith and Seabrook doing all the heavy lifting. Most impressive though has been the play of Corey Crawford and Ray Emery. Crawford was much maligned last year for not playing too well, especially in the playoffs against Phoenix. Maybe it was the infamous sophomore slump, but whatever the case, the Hawks are the most complete team in the NHL right now, and it's insane to think about.

Talking heads like Stephen A. Smith seem to think that a streak like this in hockey isn't as impressive as one in basketball, but on the whole, there's so much more parity in hockey. Of the 24 games so far, a majority have been decided by one goal, and the Hawks are not only unbeaten in regulation, they're also unbeaten in the 5-minute overtime. All 3 losses have come in shootouts... which is even more incredible.

Purely based on the Law of Averages, a regulation loss is bound to happen sooner or later and my hope is that it doesn't deflate this team. Of course, a lot of teams and their fans have been saying that the streak is going to end when they take on the Hawks, and it has yet to happen. I don't expect it to still be intact, but I would be beyond thrilled if this stretch is still running come April 19th when I cross "catch a Blackhawks game" off my sports bucket list. I'm sure the second half of this season will be full of as many amazing moments as the first, and hopefully it all culminates in a parade downtown this summer celebrating another Stanley Cup.

NCAA Tournament Preview: Wisconsin-Whitewater @ North Central College

This past Saturday marked 4 years of dating my fiancee, so I was out to dinner and missed out on the excitement at Merner, prompting texts of "how can you miss this?!" from Geoffy. Turns out I did miss out on a pretty good game and seeing the Cardinals move on to the deadly part of the Bracket of Death. The NCAA and NCC also had to scramble a little bit to accommodate the second round.

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater vs North Central College
Rice Center (Benedictine University; Lisle, IL)- Sat. March 9, 2013- 7pm

About Wisconsin-Whitewater
From Whitewater, WI
24-4, WIAC Champions
Defeated Dubuque 58-42 in the first round

North Central has the opportunity this weekend to host the D-III Indoor Track and Field championships in their beautiful new Residence Hall-Recreation Center, so it would have been a logistical nightmare to try and host a basketball game as well. Thankfully our friends up the road offered their facility. I've been to a couple concerts in the Rice Center and caught the first half of NCC's game against Benedictine earlier this season there. It's a really nice gym, and it's going to be absolutely packed on Saturday.

Readers of COAS with ties to North Central probably know quite well the illustrious recent history of Warhawk athletics, with 11 national championships to their name, including winning 4 Stagg Bowls since 2007 (beating North Central a couple times on their way to those wins, including a quarterfinal contest in Naperville in 2010 that Ryan Piers and I won an award for). Basketball history has been a little less notable, with the last meeting coming in 2008 with a Whitewater victory. But if that 2010 football game is any indication, Whitewater will bring plenty of fans to pack the Rice Center, since Whitewater, Wisconsin is all of 2 hours away.

Looking to this year, Whitewater is the defending national champion and only lost a couple players to graduation, which makes this matchup somewhat terrifying. Sophomore guard Quardell Young leads the Warhawks in scoring and is one of 4 guys averaging double figures. Freshman Darnell Harris is their main big man (11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds per game) alongside senior Luke Knoble averages 10.8 on 59 percent shooting. Despite a lot of freshman and sophomore contributors, you can't say this team is "inexperienced" since they did win the title last year. They have a lot of length and balanced scoring, something you need to get through this stage, but so does North Central.

One of the things I really took away from the win on Saturday was that the Cardinals didn't get everything going until late in the game since Derek Raridon took a while to get going offensively and Vince Kmiec was having some trouble scoring as well. Fortunately for North Central, they have Landon Gamble, who's averaging 14.5 points on 58 percent shooting, and is one of, if not the best offensive post players in the nation, and Charlie Rosenberg is coming off the bench to provide further low post scoring if the jumpers aren't falling. Comparing team scoring numbers, Whitewater is about a point per game better offensively but the Cardinals are a little more stifling on defense.

I do think the Cardinals can come away with this one again with a little bit more balance and while youth isn't as big a factor this time, I'm not sure Whitewater can defend Landon Gamble (seeing as almost no one can) and Derek Raridon seems due for a big game. Either way, this is going to be another great game and one I would get there early for. Go Cardinals!