State & Local News

By JERRY RILES

Penalties, turnovers, and injuries.

That was the formula for yet another Bears defeat on Thursday night.

But woe and behold these mucks had a chance to pull it out to win it 13-10 on a last drive of the game.. And boy what an ugly, sloppy, nasty drive.

Unfortunately, it ended just like it started for starting Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. With an interception. The final 10-6 49ers over the Bears.

San Francisco’s Michael Lewis picked off Cutler’s final pass of the game in the end zone to seal the victory.

“I think we are a better football team,” Head Coach Lovie Smith said after the game. “We need to just finish a game and get a win.”

The Bears were penalized 10 times for 75 yards against the San Francisco 49ers.

Just before the 2-minute warning at the end of regulation, Bears offensive lineman Chris Williams was a bit overzealous and was called for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty that pretty much ended the Bears chances in a 10-6 loss.

Cutler threw 5 interceptions on the night. His 17th of the season after just nine games. The first 5 pick game of his career. He finished with 29 completions, 52 attempts, for 307 yards on the night.

“Jay realize what that did for the team. There’s still a lot of football to go,” Smith said. “This one hurt but we’ll comeback.”

A year ago at this time, he had thrown just 10 picks after the 10th week of the season with the Denver Broncos. The difference though, between this season and last, is that he has already been sacked 19 times.

The last Bears QB to throw 4-interceptions in one game twice in one season was Billy Wade back in 1962.
Cutler recorded his first 4-INT game of the season in week 1 against the Green Bay Packers.

Is Cutler trying to force too many of his throws in trying to make something happen? Is the offensive line that bad and aren’t giving the pro-bowl QB enough time? Are the Bears poorly coached or are they just simply bad?

The Niners defensive line did an impressive job of taking away the run game of the Bears and putting pressure on the O-line while forcing Cutler to make mistakes.

The last time the Bears defeated the Niners in San Francisco was way back in 1986 when the great late Walter Payton was running the rock. Mike Ditka’s Monsters beat the west coast squad 26-10 in week 6.

Tight end Desmond Clark left the game after injuring his neck.

After suffering a tough loss against the Arizona Cardinals last week and now this humiliating defeat the Bears and Smith will have time to prepare for Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles a week from Sunday at Soldier Field.

The Bears fall to 4-5 on the season.

(Jerry Riles is a bi-weekly 5on5 contributor featured every other Tuesday in the RedEye)

By JERRY RILES

0.3

That was the most important number between the Chicago Bulls staying undefeated at the United Center or picking up their first loss at home.

Close but no cigar for the Bulls. Very close! I mean it.

The Denver Nuggets defeated Vinny Del Negro’s young squad by a final of 90-89. They fall to 4-3 on the regular season thus far.

But that’s not the story.

Joakim Noah pumped in 12 points and a career high 21 rebounds in the loss, but Brad Miller was the story down the stretch.

After being inserted into the game following a Bulls :20 second timeout, trailing by one just before the end of regulation, it was Miller-time.

The big man took in the inbound pass from teammate Kirk Hinrich, heaved up a desperation shot just inside the three point circle behind the free throw ring, and nailed a jumper as time expired in regulation.

“I thought it was good initially,” the second year coach said. “You can catch it but you have to get it off really quick.”

Miller appeared to do that, and the officials agreed. But after reviewing the tape, they changed their minds and ruled the shot no good.

Del Negro agreed that instant replay is needed and that TV cameras should be there to help decide the outcome of games. He said you definitely want to get the call right.

Like the NFL, the video was inconclusive which means unless it’s an obvious mistake or bad call, the decision should stand, unfortunately, the refs reversed it after reviewing the play anyway. It was too questionable to make a definitive decision. Shame on the refs.

Former NBA star and current Comcast analyst, Kendall Gill said, in the league, officials usually favor the home team on close calls like the Miller play. “The rule of thumb is you have to let it stand just on principle.”

League rules indicate that if there’s less than 0.3 seconds remaining on the clock a basket is ruled good only if the ball is around the cylinder on the inbounds pass. The shooter cannot grab, pivot, and shoot in that amount of time and have the basket count.

In this case the ball wasn’t near the rim, but all the replay video indicated that Miller got the ball off just as the clock hit zero and the horn sounded. The red light came on as the ball left his finger tips.

My question is whatever happened to home court advantage or the tie goes to the runner? Usually on a bang-bang play the offensive player gets the nod. The game officials later said it was a judgment call.

Were the officials wrong in changing their call at the end of the game? Should instant replay decide the outcome of an NBA game? Can the Bulls bounce back from this disappointing defeat?

I think this only enhances their hunger to succeed and thrive in the Eastern Conference.

They take on Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors up in Canada on Wednesday night. Bosh becomes a free agent at the end of the 2009-2010 season.

The Bulls need to continue to play hard and stay hungry if they want to get Bosh or any of the other free agents coming out at the end of the season.

It was close but why over rule a call made on the court? The play could go anyway and it certainly did.

Let’s just hope the Bulls can light that cigar at the end of one of these seasons very, very soon. It should only take 0.3 seconds to do it. Maybe!

(Jerry Riles is a weekly 5on5 contributor featured every Tuesday in the RedEye)

To our viewers-

You may have noticed that reporter Carlos Hernandez Gomez has been missing from our coverage for several months. Carol Marin wrote about Carlos’ battle with cancer this past weekend. Here’s a link to that story.

We all wish Carlos the best on a speedy recovery.

By JERRY RILES

Losing ugly.

Better yet, it was an old fashion butt kicking.

The Arizona Cardinals kicked the Bears all over their home field beating the so-called Monsters of the Midway 41-21, dropping them to 4-4 on the season.

Defensive end Alex Brown, in his post game comments, said it’s not easy for him to put a loss like this behind him.

Believe me it’s not easy for the Bear fans either.

Brown stepped up by admitting that he needed to play a better game defensively. He collected 2-sacks and a forced fumble in the Bears fourth loss.

Unfortunately, Brown and the Bears could not stop Kurt Warner and that Cards offense. Arizona moved the ball successfully producing an impressive 18 first downs against the home team in the first half.

They were so good, the squad from out West converted all five of their third downs against the Bears defense. Warner threw five TDs on the day.

It all started going downhill very early. Thanks to 3-time pro-bowler defensive tackle Tommy Harris.

At the 13:42 mark in the first quarter, on just the fourth play of the game, Harris’ frustration level exceeded its limit. The defenseman punched Card’s right guard Deuce Lutui in the face as he lay on the turf of Soldier Field. The refs saw it and tossed him out of the game for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Bears were also hit with a 15-yard penalty.

Talk about a lack of discipline. Talk about a stupid penalty. Does this come down to coaching? The game just started. How could a player in the eighth game of the season lose control on just the fourth play?

Is Head Coach Lovie Smith to blame? Fans are calling for his firing. Should he be fired? Have the players given up on the coaching staff? It appears there’s no imagination on either side of the ball.

Harris gets ejected. Charles Tillman is escorted off the field and into the tunnel after injuring his shoulder. He would be done for the day, and linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer gets rattled as well.

This Bears team appears to be going in the wrong direction. DOWN!

Smith believes the Bears can fix the problems they have. That’s nice to know, but unfortunately, they won’t have much time to work on getting things righted.

It’s a short week. Very short. They take on the 49ers in San Francisco on Thursday night. It’ll be a quick turn around for them for sure.

The Bears have talked about executing a lot. Good luck. They couldn’t even do it against visiting Arizona at Soldier Field. And, the Cards did it without star receiver Anquan Boldin who is nursing an injury.

Tight end Gregg Olsen feels the Bears can bounce back from the terrible defeat. The only problem is they’ll be taking on Mike Singletary’s Niners, and he won’t be feeling too sorry.

Olsen would have three touchdowns on the day in a losing effort. QB Jay Cutler who found his tight end would finish the day 29 of 47 for 369 yards including the three strikes and an interception.

Samauri Mike is very aware of this Bears team demeanor. Can Lovie’s team get back on track Thursday night? In Singletary’s words “Can’t do it.”

They are riddled with injuries, have very limited talent, and lack depth at the safety position. It sure would be nice to have Mike Brown back there playing center field.

And the scary thing is, the schedule only gets tougher. So if you thought the Bengals, Browns, and Cardinals games were ugly, just wait, there’s more to come.

A .500 record might not be too bad by the end of December. Ugly, yes!

Continue reading "CLTV SPORTS :60: Bears Get Their Ugly A$$ Kicked!" »

By JERRY RILES

The New York Yankees are the Champions of the World.

They defeated the Philadelphia Phillies to win the 2009 World Series for the 27th time in franchise history. Call it money, call it high priced talent, call it the greedy, but whatever the case, the boys in pinstripes made it happen again.

7-3 was the final from the new Yankee Stadium.

Alex Rodriguez collects his first. Derek Jeter latches on to another. Johnny Damon picks up one with his second team. The Yankee magic continues in the Bronx.

The goal and the mission was to win the entire thing after the Steinbrenner family invested and built a $1-billion modern day Yankee Stadium. They acquired a smart, disciplined, and intellectual manager in Joe Girardi. They sought out and convinced C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira to sign on with a team of stars and they all made it happen.

Even pitcher Andy Pettitte, after all the steroid controversy, can finally smile up to the baseball gods and say thank you.

Are the Yankees deserving of the championship? Did they simply pay for the darn thing? Do you hate New York? Maybe yes to all or some, maybe no to all or some. But one thing for sure the drought is finally over in the Big Apple.

After nine years the Bronx-bombers once again bring home the World Series title and they win it in front of the hometown crowd. Even those fortunate enough to spend more than $1,000 for a seat per game during the regular season. How sweet it is. Even former White Sox nutty guy Nick Swisher gets a ring.

29 homers during the season and most of them on the road. What a great teammate and quite an acquisition by the organization.

And son Hal the new GM of the team, was so elated after the victory, that he shouted out to daddy George Steinbrenner during the post game celebration who was watching from home, and said “Dad this one’s for you.”

The Boss gets his wish. Another title!

A-Rod finally had the opportunity to hoist the trophy as a World Series Champion after an incredible post-season performance including six homeruns while also being binged three times.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Yankees do it the right way. They pay, they play, they win.

Hideki Matsui was named the game’s MVP after killing the Phils pitching, including Game 6 hurler Pedro Martinez. Godzilla belted in six runs in leading the Yanks to the 4-2 series victory over the defending champs.

What a night in New York. Lady Liberty certainly is standing proud sitting in the Hudson River just outside the city that never sleeps.

The captain Jeter once again held the trophy in the house that HE built, and super closer Mariano Rivera was so ecstatic that he predicted that he would return to play for the squad for another 5 more years.

And just think, it all started in spring training. These guys just seem to play the game the right way, and when that happens, everyone can now see what the results are.

The White Sox tasted that magic in 2005. Let’s hope the Cubs can share in the experience come 2010. The Ricketts, new owners of the organization, made a prediction after paying $850-million for the team, that there would be a World Series victory on the north side. The only question not answered was when.

Hopefully, the new family will be able to tell their fans very, very soon, “This one’s for you.” Congrats to the 2009 World Series Champions. The New York Yankees.

Continue reading "CLTV SPORTS :60: 27th Time Yanks Do It. What About The Cubs? " »

By JERRY RILES

Three turnovers, nine penalties, and a loss once again to the hosting Atlanta Falcons down in the Georgia Dome was not what Lovie Smith and his Chicago Bears were looking for, but it’s what they got.

The Bears beat themselves 21-14 falling to the Falcons for the second straight year. Last year it was a Matt Ryan deep pass coupled with a Jason Elam game winning field goal.

On Sunday night, it was a combination of coaching, poor execution and just bad judgment.
Running back Matt Forte fumbled the ball twice inside the red zone with the Bears knocking on the door.

That should not have happened. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner should have called a Jay Cutler dive at the one for the touchdown instead of handing to Forte. The running game wasn’t clicking based on the play selection.

Did the Bears drop this contest because of the lack of creative play calling by Turner? Did Lovie and his coaching staff fumble the ball in game planning? Was it Cutler trying to do too much, or was the offensive line just bad?

Smith admitted during the post game comments that the blame for the lost starts with him. He’s absolutely right. It starts with the top man. The coaching staff should’ve been prepared. Turner wasn’t.

Cutler was indeed too cocky. When you try to thread the needle between three defenders down the middle of the field to get the ball to the tight-end, that’s simply being too cocky. Play smart. I’m not against taking chances, but do it intelligently.

The play of the offensive line was not up to standard as well. Future Hall Of Famer Orlando Pace was called for a false start on fourth and one during the Bears last drive.

Defensively, rookie middle linebacker Nick Roach, filling in for the injured Brian Urlacher and Hunter Hillenmeyer, got brunt several times simply because he has very limited experience.

Defensive coordinator Smith and sideline guy Urlacher should’ve assisted the Northwestern grad in recognizing some of the Falcons lineups and formations.

They didn’t and Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzales hooked up for a 10 yard touchdown strike in the back of the end zone.

Now the Bears are tied for second in the NFC North with rival Green Bay. Both at 3-2 with Minnesota leading the division with a 6-0 slate.

Next up, former teammate Cedric Benson and the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio. Benson will be ready. He had a disappointing game against the Texans rushing for 44 yards on 16 carries. Let the games begin.

It’s time to regroup fellas.

Continue reading "CLTV SPORTS :60: Can Bears Stop Former Mate Benson?" »

By JERRY RILES

Here come the Hawks. Man, here come the Hawks.
What a tremendous performance by Coach Joel Quenneville’s bunch. The Blackhawks skated to a 6-5 come from behind victory over the Calgary Flames over at the United Center.

The comeback, as you’ve heard by now, was for the record books. Trailing 5-zip in the first period, the sluggish boyz ripped off six unanswered goals in the next 45-minutes to knock off the Flames in front of a spirited UC crowd of 20,000.

Brent Seabrook scored the game winner :26 into the overtime period. OVERTIME! This was the second time in two games the Hawks needed extra time to win.

Saturday it took a club record nine-round shootout against Colorado to claim that amazing 4-3 victory off an Andrew Ladd goal. It would be the longest shootout in team history.

Last night’s overwhelming win would be the Hawks biggest comeback in the team’s history as well.
Some hockey experts around town believe the guys on skates have a better and more exciting game than the guys on the hardwood. What do you think? Back-to-back history making performances supports their argument.

The Bulls are still trying to figure things out without their star player and second year head coach Vinny Del Negro.

Derrick Rose has yet to lace them up this early preseason due to a bad wheel. If you ask me, both the NHL and the NBA are pretty good and exciting. Could they both improve…of course?

Jonathan Toews believes if the Hawks stay the course and reach their short term goals throughout the season the bigger picture of advancing to the Stanley Cup will happen for sure.

“To win our division or make the playoffs, even, is going to be a tough task,” the captain explained.

“We have to not try to bite off more that what we can chew at any given time. If we keep everything short-term and worry about that, the long-term goals will take care of themselves.”

With Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith and the rest of the boyz it should make for a fun and exciting season.

Don’t count the Bulls out either.

Continue reading "CLTV SPORTS :60: Those Amazing Hawks" »

By JERRY RILES

Hey, Miguel Cabrera you can try to blame it on the alcohol as Jamie Foxx would say. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll get off that easy.
I don’t mind if you have a nice cold one or two after work with co-workers and/or friends, but to hang out with the team who’s chasing you in the division and attempting to help eliminate the Detroit Tigers from the playoffs, man that’s cold.
To make matters worse, you get to the house at about 5am in the morning and began to get into it with your wife. If she’s upset with you for staying out all night long and then coming home intoxicated, the only thing you needed to do was man up.
“I said I was sorry for what I did,” said Cabrera, who sat in front of his locker with a contrite look.

That’s it? All this commotion as the team makes a playoff run and you can just say to them I’m sorry? I don’t think skipper Jim Leyland is going to accept that kind of apology sitting down. You guys have to play 163 games this season to get into the playoffs. Talk about selfish. Despite a 2-run blast off the end of your bat, the Tigers are going home and the Twins will face the New York Yankees in the first round of the ALDS. Talk about timing. You got caught with the three Ds. Drunk, Domestic, Defeat. What a tough week.
I must commend your wife Rosangel. She did not put up with your crap. How dare you begin yelling and fighting with her after staying out all night with a White Sox player in a Birmingham (Detroit suburb) hotel? She had every right to scold and kick you out of the house.
Now, you were the only two in the house, so I don’t know if she hit and attacked you or not, but police felt they had to remove you from the residence to prevent any further confrontation.
I don’t condone hitting women. Just be a man and step away. I know in your state it must have been somewhat difficult.

Continue reading "CLTV SPORTS :60: Cabrera-Don't Blame It On The Alcohol Dude!" »

By JERRY RILES

Cubs fans said goodbye to another year of not reaching the ultimate goal. Another season of saying “wait ‘til next year”. The 101st time the franchise will look toward another season of trying to get that monkey off their backs.

In one of his final press conferences of the season, Cub manager Lou Piniella told reporters that injuries were the main reason the Northsiders struggled in ‘09. It had nothing to do with a lack of production regarding pitching or hitting.

So, I ask the question, why was hitting coach Von Joshua brought in to boost the team’s offense? He replaced Gerald Perry midway through the season in hopes of lighting a fire under a group of so called sluggers who could barely hit the side of a barn.

The only real bright spot for the Cubs offensively was second baseman Ryan Theriot. At one point during the first half of the season, the little spark plug had cranked out something like four homers in a five game span.

That all slowed down after a local writer simply asked the innocent question about rather or not The-riot was under the influence. The influence of possibly engaging in performance enhancing drugs.

Of course Theriot isn’t engaging, we believe, but the newspaper article appeared to have some type of effect on him. He began to struggle at the plate along with the rest of his teammates.

Continue reading "CLTV SPORTS :60: The Cubs Are At It Again!" »

Driving down the bumpy streets of Cicero the last thing I expected to see was the majestic building and grounds of Hawthorne Race Course. My fellow CLTV producer Lindsey Nesselbush and I, along with two Executive Producers, Jeimmie Nevalga and Frava Burgess, were invited to watch CLTV anchor/reporter Monica Schneider act as the "celebrity guest announcer" for one of the horse races.

I got a kick out of her being called a celebrity -- which I guess to the average person she is, but to me- her producer, she's just Monica (this must be how Angelina Jolie's assistant feels).

Continue reading "Just Horse'n Around" »