Chicago Fire Season Comes to an End

As feared, the Chicago Fire’s season officially came to an end yesterday.  Going into their 3:00 pm start time, they knew they needed a win to advance to the playoffs as Houston and New England had both defeated their opponents by the time the Fire hit the pitch.  Nevertheless, the Fire couldn’t muster up enough firepower to defeat the New York Red Bulls and unfortunately, the loss dropped them to 6th place in the Eastern Conference and the last team out of the playoff race.

There was even a glimmer of hope at the beginning of this match as the Fire jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the 6th minute when Mike Magee buried the ball in the bottom right corner of the net.  The Fire were able to hold that lead for a while but the Red Bulls scored their equalizer in the 24th minute and from that point, it was all New York Red Bulls.  At halftime, the match was still knotted up at 1-1.  But in the 2nd half, New York goals in the 49th minute, the 56th minute, the 77th minute, and the 84th minute quickly ended any hopes of a Fire victory.  An extra time goal by the Fire’s Quincy Amarikwa was much too little, too late, and with the win, the Red Bulls won the Supporters’ Shield for finishing with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Adding insult to injury for the Fire was a Montreal loss later yesterday evening.  If the Fire had been able to win, they would have jumped to 3rd place, guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.  It wasn’t to be, however, and the Fire return home after another disappointing season.

 

Your daily Chicago sports schedule (game to watch)

Blackhawks @ Wild – 7:00 pm

Hump Day Hits- 10/23/13- Blackhawks, Fire, and Bears Oh MY!

The post where ChiTownSteve meets The Wizard of Oz and just in time for you to read on your lunch break!  Hump Day Hits is where I catch you up on what is going on around the sports world, what you may have missed, and what you’ll need to know moving forward.

 

Chicago Blackhawks: The Blackhawks have moved to 6-1-2 after last night’s 3-2 shootout victory over the Florida Panthers and just keep rolling along.  The offense has been middle-of-the-road at 15th in the league in goals scored with 2.7 goals per game.  On defense, they are 5th in goals against with 2.1 goals per game.  Those numbers will have to improve to match last season’s output when they were 2nd offensively and 1st defensively, but there is plenty of time to get things straightened out.  For now, this season has been truly a team effort as no individual Blackhawks players rank within the top-87 in total points.  Considering that, it’s amazing that they’ve only lost one time in regulation and twice in overtime.  Soon enough, Patrick Kane and/or Jonathan Toews are going to catch fire, and when that happens… look out!

 

Chicago Fire: Speaking of fire, Chicago’s soccer club took care of business last Saturday, beating Toronto FC 1-0.  I, however, was not on MY game, as I wrote last Wednesday that with a Fire victory and a Philadelphia loss, the Fire would clinch at least 5th place in the Eastern Conference.  That turns out to not be the case.  While they would defeat Philadelphia in a tiebreaker, I did not take into account that they may be only one point ahead of both New England and Houston, which is the case.  Currently, the Fire stand in 4th place with 49 points.  A win on Sunday against the New York Red Bulls and they’re in.  A loss, paired with a win by New England over 8th place Columbus and a win by Philadelphia over 10th place DC United and the Fire will be out of the playoffs.  It doesn’t look good as New York is the best team points-wise in the entire MLS and the game is in New York.  With Montreal, in 3rd place and tied with the Fire with 49 points, playing 9th place Toronto, the situation doesn’t look ideal for the Fire.  But there is still hope and with a win on Sunday paired with a Montreal loss, the Fire wouldn’t even have to participate in the play-in game.  There are a lot of different situations that can play out and it will be a very exciting Sunday.  Talk about a good week for the Bears to be on bye!

 

Chicago Bears: In case you missed it, and it bears repeating (no pun intended), Jay Cutler will be out for AT LEAST the next four weeks.  I capitalized “at least” because that is the bare (no pun intended) minimum that Cutler will be out.  A groin tear isn’t exactly an injury that’s easy to recover from.  It will take time and rest.  Cutler has historically been a quick healer, but four weeks may be pushing it.  With Lance Briggs, six weeks is a good guess for when he will be back, but that is another “at least” injury.  Chicago fans should be familiar with player injuries.  Just because you get a minimum time out amount doesn’t mean that it’s also the maximum time out.  Derrick Rose, for example, was supposed to be out 8-10 months and it took him a year and a half.  I’m not saying these situations will be the same, but it’s important to recognize that Cutler being out 4 weeks and Briggs being out 6 weeks are the best case scenarios.

 

Your daily Chicago sports schedule (game to watch)

Bulls @ Thunder – 8:30 pm     PRESEASON

Hump Day Hits- 10/16/13

Life got in the way yesterday so I wasn’t able to publish an entry, so let’s not delay any longer.  Hump Day Hits is where I catch you up on what is going on around the sports world, what you may have missed, and what you’ll need to know moving forward.

 

Chicago Blackhawks: The Blackhawks are off to an excellent start, going 4-1-1 in their first 6 games.  It’s no 24-game point streak to start a season, but it’s also nothing to roll your eyes at.  As I’d projected in my season preview, Patrick Kane has been the most productive player thus far for the Hawks with 5 points (and 4 goals), but his +/- stands at -3.  Jonathan Toews also has a negative +/- at -1.  This shows that the Hawks’ first line has struggled.  Meanwhile, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya are at +4, and Marian Hossa is at +3.  If the Hawks can get more balanced play from all of their lines, it will improve the team, but with only one loss through six games, it’s hard to find weaknesses in the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

 

Chicago Bulls: All of Chicago was in a panic when news surfaced on Saturday that Derrick Rose was missing the Bulls’ preseason game in Brazil against the Washington Wizards due to left knee soreness.  However, it seems that the situation was blown out of proportion, as these things tend to be.  The front office is not going to take a chance in a preseason game.  Rose himself, said, “My knee was good.  I never was worried about it. I could have played but the front office made a decision to sit me out. My health is number one.”  That fact was confirmed this past Monday when Rose practiced fully and seemed prepared for tonight’s preseason home opener.  All of Chicago should now be excited for the chance to see Rose running up and down the United Center floor again.  It happens tonight!

 

Chicago Fire: For all of my pessimism from my last Hump Day Hits about the Chicago Fire, they have really turned up their level of play recently and shut my criticism up.  The Fire have won two games in a row, the last win over FC Dallas putting their record over .500, at 13-12-7.  With two games left to play, they’re now in 5th place in the Eastern Conference.  As expected, New England has dropped to 7th place dealing with a much tougher schedule than the Fire.  Fourth through sixth place is occupied by the Montreal Impact, the Fire, and the Philadelphia Union, all with 46 points, though Montreal has played one less game.  This seems to be a battle between the Fire and the Union for 5th place and the last playoff spot.  Philadelphia’s last two matches are against Montreal and Kansas City, the 2nd place team in the Eastern Conference.  The Fire, meanwhile, play Toronto, 2nd to last place in the Eastern Conference, and end the season in New York, playing against the conference’s 1st place team, the Red Bulls.  It won’t be easy, but by all accounts, the Fire should advance and it all starts this Saturday against Toronto in a must-win game.  Because the Fire own the tiebreaker over Philadelphia, if they win on Saturday and the Union lose, the Fire will clinch a chance to advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

 

US Men’s Soccer: In other soccer news, the US Men’s Soccer team finished their World Cup qualifying schedule last night with a 3-2 victory in Panama.  Many of their starters did not play as the US had already locked up the 1st place seed in their division.  However, the game was still significant as it knocked Panama out of a chance to advance to the World Cup for the first time in their country’s history.  Instead, the American victory gave Mexico the chance to qualify for the World Cup when they play a home-and-home against New Zealand some time in mid-November.  I’m sure Mexico is very grateful!

#YoureWelcomeMexico @miseleccionmx

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) October 16, 2013

 

Your daily Chicago sports schedule (games to watch)

Bulls vs. Pistons – 7:00 pm     PRESEASON: Derrick Rose’s return to the United Center

Hump Day Hits- 09/25/13

It’s Wednesday again and I’m not on vacation.  That means it’s time to get back to Hump Day Hits!

Hump Day Hits is where I catch you up on what is going on around the sports world, what you may have missed, and what you’ll need to know moving forward.

 

Chicago Fire:  As always, let’s start with soccer, where I keep getting closer and closer to calling the season over for the Chicago Fire.  Two weeks ago, they picked up a huge win against New England Revolution, but as has been the usual this season, they were unable to maintain the momentum and dropped their next game, last Friday, to the lowly Columbus Crew, 3-0.  With only five matches remaining, the Fire stand in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.  For those unfamiliar with how the MLS Cup Playoffs work, the top five teams from each conference advance to the playoffs.  The first match in each conference is essentially a wild card game between the 4th place and 5th place teams.  Currently, the Fire stand 1 point behind New England with their last five matches against teams with a combined record of 44-62-39.  New England, on the other hand, faces opponents with a record of 62-56-29.  Therefore, the schedule favors the Fire, but time will tell if they’ll be able to do enough to sneak into the playoffs where, as I’ve said countless times before, anything can happen.

 

Chicago Cubs/Chicago White Sox: For those who follow this blog, you know that I’ve been tracking how terrible the Cubs and White Sox will finish.  With nine total games left, they now stand at 188 total losses, or three shy of tying their all-time record for ineptitude.  If the two teams go 5-4 over their last nine games, this will go down as the worst season of baseball in the history of Chicago, though after another Stanley Cup victory by the Chicago Blackhawks, I suppose the sports gods couldn’t let us get too full of ourselves.  Meanwhile, the White Sox blew a lead in the 9th inning last night to keep them at 62 wins.  They’ll have five more chances to capture one more victory, so as not to lose 100 games.  At least that’s something to cheer for.

 

Northern Illinois Huskies Football: The Huskies have faced every test so far this season and succeeded.  They defeated the now-3-1 Iowa Hawkeyes on the road in Week 1 30-27.  They then went on to wins at Idaho and at home vs. Eastern Illinois.  This Saturday marks their last big non-conference test, against the lowly Big Ten-member Purdue.  Purdue is currently 1-3, and if Northern Illinois is able to get past them, this season starts to look brighter and brighter, especially with Kent State looking much less intimidating as an in-conference opponent.  Currently, Ball State looks like their biggest competition, but the other 3-1 teams in the MAC, Bowling Green and Ohio are not on the schedule and play on the other half of the conference.  I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it looks like a disappointment if the Huskies don’t go undefeated this season.

 

Northwestern Wildcats Football: Northwestern, meanwhile, is also off to a great start!  They are now 4-0, having defeated California on the road, and Syracuse, Western Michigan, and Maine at home, and stand at #17 in the AP Top 25 and #16 in the USA Today Poll.  But here is when the schedule gets tough!  They have an off-week with all preparations pointing towards next weekend’s matchup against Ohio State at home.  It is Saturday, October 5th, and is ABC’s primetime game.  In my preseason preview, I picked that game as a victory for Northwestern and I stand by that projection.  After having watched this team, I remain as confident as ever that they can be the ones to end Ohio State’s 16 game winning streak, beginning with their first game of last season.  Start the countdown to the 5th now!

 

Your daily Chicago sports schedule (games to watch)

Cubs vs. Pirates – 1:20 pm

White Sox @ Indians – 6:05 pm

Hump Day Hits- 09/11/13 All Soccer Edition

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to Hump Day Hit, so let’s get to it with an all-soccer edition!

 

US Men’s Soccer:  The US Men’s Soccer team clinched a berth in next summer’s World Cup in Brazil with a 2-0 victory over Mexico and a draw between Honduras and Panama.  It was the fourth consecutive time that the US Men have defeated Mexico 2-0 when playing in Columbus, Ohio, the last three times happening in 2001, 2005, and 2009.  The win kept America in 1st place in their region, one point ahead of Costa Rica.  The loss dropped Mexico to 5th place and they are in real danger of missing their first World Cup since 1990 when they were banned for rules violations.  The last time they were unable to qualify was 1982.  The US team has two more qualifiers, on October 11th at home against Jamaica and on October 15th at Panama.  Wins in both would clinch 1st place in the region.  Mexico, meanwhile, plays at Panama, the team they’re currently tied with for 4th place, in a must-win game on October 11th.

 

Chicago Fire: Moving from the national team to our local team, when I last covered the Chicago Fire, they had just lost to New England and potentially ended their quest for a playoff berth.  Since that time, they have defeated Kansas City, drawn with Houston, and lost to Seattle.  Unfortunately, that 1-1-1 record is enough to have dropped them into 7th place out of 10 clubs in their conference.  With only eight games remaining, it seems that the Fire’s best bet now is to play as hard as possible and maneuver themselves into a respectable position.  Technically, they have played two fewer games than 4th place Philadelphia (four points ahead) and one less game than 5th and 6th placed New England and Houston (two points ahead), so with two wins, they’d be on the same point level, but nothing has occurred yet that gives me any confidence in this team’s ability to compete for the playoffs.

 

Your daily Chicago sports schedule (games to watch)

Cubs @ Reds – 11:35 am

Fire vs. Toronto – 6:30 pm

Sky vs. Mercury – 7:00 pm     ESPN2

White Sox vs. Tigers – 7:10 pm

Hump Day Hits- 08/21/13

Hump Day Hits is where I catch you up on what is going on around the sports world, what you may have missed, and what you’ll need to know moving forward.

 

We’re doing a “lesser” followed sports Hump Day here on the blog, catching up on the Chicago Fire and Chicago Sky.

 

Chicago Fire: The Fire’s season may have essentially ended last Saturday when they dropped their match against the New England Revolution 2-0.  Battling the Revs for 6th place, the loss now drops the Fire further out of the playoff picture.  While there is still plenty of time left, we’re getting close to the point where the Fire would need to run the table to even have a chance to make the MLS playoffs.  It’s been a disappointing season for sure, and the struggles of the White Sox and Cubs compound the negatives for the Fire.  This was a summer where they could have become the focal point of Chicago sports.  Unfortunately, they’ve been just as bad and haven’t been able to steal any attention away from the two local baseball teams.  There is a bit of hope still, but I wouldn’t count on it.

 

Chicago Sky: And now for the team that really should be the focal point of Chicago sports fans.  At the time of writing, the Sky were 2.5 games ahead of Atlanta for first and look primed to finish the season with their first ever winning record and make the playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s history.  As I’ve written on several occasions, the drafting of Elena Delle Donne is what turned this team around, though she has been dealing with several injuries lately, writing on WNBA.com, “As a competitive athlete there is nothing worse than being sidelined by an injury and having to watch the game rather than actually play.”  The emergence of Sylvia Fowles has also been huge!  Fowles is very much in the discussion for WNBA MVP, as she is 4th in points and 1st in rebounds.  The end of the season should be exciting and I can’t wait to see what the Sky have in store for the playoffs.  Should be fun!

 

Your daily Chicago sports schedule (one game to watch)

Cubs vs. Nationals – 7:05 pm

White Sox @ Royals – 7:10 pm

Hump Day Hits- 08/07/13

It’s that day again!

Hump Day Hits is where I catch you up on what is going on around the sports world, what you may have missed, and what you’ll need to know moving forward.

 

Chicago Cubs: The Cubs continue to plod along attempting to get through this season as quickly as possible.  With a loss to the Phillies last night, their record dropped to 49-63, good for 5th worst in the MLB, and at this point, it becomes about positioning yourself for the best possible draft pick in next year’s 1st year player draft.  The Cubs will be active on the waiver wire, evident in their claiming of OF Thomas Neal from the New York Yankees.  Neal has had minimal success in the major leagues, but has posted good stats in the minors, and as a 25-year-old, he is well worth the risk, but Cubs fans probably shouldn’t hold their breath to see if he makes an immediate impact.  It’s possible they’re able to deal Kevin Gregg through waivers this month, but that remains to be seen.  Nevertheless, I’m sure Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer are working around the clock to work out some deals that make sense.

 

Chicago Fire: The Fire are still attempting to make a furious comeback to the playoffs.  This past Saturday, they defeated Philadelphia 2-1 to improve their record to 8-9-4.  The Fire now stand in 7th place.  However, two weeks ago, twelve points separated the Fire from the 3rd place team in their conference, the Montreal Impact.  Today, that number is down to seven points and all of a sudden, the Fire are very much in this thing.  With their next three matches against Montreal (3rd place), New England (6th place), and Kansas City (2nd place), they need to come away from each game with at least a draw, and if that happens, I may come back in a couple of weeks explaining how the Fire are preparing for the MLS Playoffs.

 

Chicago Sky: As the Fire climb in the standings, the Sky are starting to fall.  With two straight losses, the Sky are barely holding on to 1st place and are still waiting for their star, Elena Delle Donne, to return to 100 percent after suffering a concussion before the all-star break.  She returned to the court last night and did play 32 minutes, but only put up 12 points and 2 rebounds.  If she can get back to full health immediately, this team should be fine and the two-game losing streak, both coming against the Indiana Fever, will be seen as a bump in the road.  I’m not too concerned as the Sky are definitely talented, but I’ll be monitoring Delle Donne to make sure she comes back strong, because if she can’t get back to her pre-all star game playing level, this team could be in trouble.

 

Chicago White Sox: Like the Cubs, the White Sox are positioning themselves for a good draft pick (currently the 2nd worst team in the MLB) and monitoring the waiver wire to see what they can find.  GM Rick Hahn said before Monday night’s game, “I am spending more time now on waivers than I did before the deadline.  It is a busy period of time right now.  Essentially during this month every player around baseball goes on waivers.  The bulk of the activity is in the early part of the month.”  The White Sox are usually among the most active teams during the waiver season, claiming players like Alex Rios and Manny Ramirez in recent years.  I don’t expect the White Sox to do anything major like that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a minor deal, similar to the Cubs getting Thomas Neal, goes through.

 

Your daily Chicago sports schedule (one game to watch)

Cubs @ Phillies – 6:05 pm

White Sox vs. Yankees – 7:10 pm

Hump Day Hits- 07/24/13

Hump Day Hits is where I catch you up on what is going on around the sports world, what you may have missed, and what you’ll need to know moving forward.

 

Chicago Cubs: The wheeling and dealing continues with the Chicago Cubs, contrary to their south side counterparts.  Matt Garza is gone.  He was dealt to the Texas Rangers on Monday for 3B prospect Mike Olt, RHP prospect C.J. Edwards, RHP starter Justin Grimm, and a player or two to be named later.  I think the Cubs came out very well in this deal.  Grimm, the least notable player in this deal, has been hit or miss this season posting a 7-7 record with the Rangers, along with a 6.37 ERA in 89 IP.  Through the first two months of the season, he was 5-3 with an ERA of 3.93.  However, since June, he has posted a record of 2-4 with an ERA of 9.91.  He’s only 24 years-old though, so there’s plenty of time to mature and progress.  Olt, meanwhile, is also 24, but was ranked by ESPN’s Keith Law as the 71st-best prospect in the MLB and 2nd in the Rangers’ system.  He hasn’t produced much this season, hitting .213 with 11 HR and 32 RBI in 65 games but it gives the Cubs another good corner infielder prospect.  Edwards, who might be the jewel of this deal, is 8-2 with a 1.83 ERA and 122 K in 93.1 innings in Class-A.  If any of these players pan out, the Cubs made a great deal.  It’s hard to find anything to dislike about what Theo Epstein and the Cubs are doing right now.

 

Chicago Fire: Let’s catch up on the Chicago Fire.  After two consecutive losses to Kansas City and Vancouver, they got a much-needed win against the lowly DC United.  Behind two goals from Chris Rolfe, the Fire were able to straighten the team out with a 4-1 victory and continue their upward climb to an unlikely playoff berth.  Their next three matches will be crucial for them.  On the next three Saturdays, they play Houston, Philadelphia, and Montreal, teams that are currently 5th, 4th, and 3rd, respectively, in their conference.  With only 12 points separating the Fire and 3rd place, victories in these three games would put them well on their way towards climbing up in the standings.  Three losses?  That would pretty much quelch any hope they have left.

 

Chicago White Sox: The Sox aren’t trading anyone yet and I can’t figure out why.  I’m worried that they’re waiting for the perfect deal and by the time the trade deadline rolls around, they’ll have waited too long and will have to take less of a prospect haul than they deserve.  But I may just be pessimistic.  With Garza traded, Jake Peavy becomes the next hot SP commodity on the market and he’s garnering interest from the Red Sox and the Cardinals.  Francisco Rodriguez was dealt yesterday which makes Jesse Crain next on the market.  Additionally, Alex Rios and Alexei Ramirez continue to get interest from the Pirates as a package deal, so it may just be a matter of the White Sox waiting their turn.  This next week is going to be very interesting and its importance for turning the White Sox toward the right franchise-path can’t be overstated.

 

Normally, I present these in alphabetical order, but I wanted to end this week’s Hump Day Hits with the Chicago Bears: Players report to training camp today!  Football season is here!!

So bear down, sports fans.  The wait is finally over.

 

Your daily Chicago and national sports schedule (one game to watch)

Sky @ Mystics – 10:30 am

US Men’s Soccer @ Honduras – 6:00 pm

White Sox v. Tigers – 7:10 pm

Cubs @ Diamondbacks – 8:40 pm

Why Are the White Sox Still Holding Out Hope?

It seems I’m mentioning a new season-low everytime I write about the White Sox.  Last night’s 8-2 loss to the Cubs meant that they’ve now lost all four games against their crosstown rival, the first series sweep by either team since 1998, when the Cubs swept the only series they played (at Wrigley Field).  Quite possibly another season low for the Sox, this season has been just miserable!  At 34-52, and last place in the AL Central, the White Sox are now the third-worst team record-wise in the MLB.  Of teams with under 40 wins, (Astros, Marlins, Brewers, Twins, Mets, Cubs) here is the White Sox record against those teams that they’ve played:

as of July 9:
Astros (32-57)- 1-3
Marlins (32-56)- 3-0
Twins (37-49)- 2-6
Mets (38-48)- 2-2
Cubs (39-48)- 0-4

If you’re keeping score at home, that’s a combined record of 8-15 against the worst five teams the White Sox have played.  That’s simply unacceptable.  If that record is coming against the Red Sox, Cardinals, Pirates, Athletics, and Rangers, then sure, maybe you keep the team together.  But it’s not.  It’s against the worst of the worst.  That means one thing: the Sox need to sell, sell, sell.  The longer they keep their number one squad out there, the better record they end with, the worse draft pick they receive.  When the crosstown Cubs have already started dealing (Scott Hairston being the most recent player dealt, to the Nationals in exchange for a relief pitcher) and they still beat you, it’s time to blow things up and start from scratch.

I’ve heard from other fans that the Sox want to play the Tigers (their first three games against them are this Tuesday-Thursday) before dealing away their assets, but why exactly is that?  If a deal is there to be had now, do it!  Right now, the Tigers should be the least of the White Sox’s worries.  There’s a saying in golf when entering Round 3 or Round 4- it’s not about how many strokes behind you are, it’s about how many players are between you and the leader.  Right now, there are three teams that separate the Sox and the Tigers, and that’s a gap they can’t overcome.  I think the more likely scenario is that their two greatest trade assets, Jake Peavy and Jesse Crain, are currently both on the DL, but expected back around the all-star break.  I think the Sox will stand pat until next week and come the 2nd half of the season next Thursday, all bets are off, and it should be SELL, BABY, SELL!

 

Your Chicago daily sports schedule (one game to watch)

White Sox @ Tigers  – 6:08 pm

Cubs vs. Angels – 7:05 pm

United States Men’s Soccer vs. Belize – 10:00 pm

Blog Confirmations

Certain projections that I have made in the previous couple of weeks have turned out correct.  I want to make note of those while taking a trip around the sports world.

 

Starting with the White Sox-

July 4, 2013: “And when the White Sox inevitably make an error, instead of cursing at your TV, just laugh about it.”

The White Sox did make one error yesterday, committed by Adam Dunn.  Nevertheless, they were able to still escape with a win, when Dunn made up for the error and hit a walk-off home run, appropriately setting off fireworks.

 

Moving on to the Cubs-

July 4, 2013: “And when the Cubs bullpen blows a [game] before they can get it to Kevin Gregg, just shake your head and think about the bright future that is seemingly always on its way.”

This projection also turned out to be true, as new Cubs acquisition Matt Guerrier seems to fit right in.  In his first appearance with the team, Guerrier came in to a 0-0 game in the seventh inning and promptly gave up one run.  The Cubs couldn’t score and ended up losing 1-0.  Bright spot- Pedro Strop also pitched one inning in the game and didn’t give up a single run!

 

To London-

July 2, 2013: “In Serena’s match yesterday, Sabine Lisicki (ranked 23) looked like the #1 seed.  She dominated the pace of play throughout the match and Serena looked uncomfortable and was on the run all day.  Lisicki is a great grass-court player and she is definitely a threat to win the whole thing.”

Sure enough, Lisicki has advanced to the Wimbledon Women’s Final.  She will play Marion Bartoli, the player who ended Sloane Stephens’ run.  I see Lisicki as the favorite to take home the Venus Rosewater Dish.  Certainly though, win or lose, she’ll be a top-20 player after this tournament.

 

To soccer!-

June 26, 2013: “Don’t look now, but the Chicago Fire are starting to play some really good soccer.  When I last discussed the Fire, they had just drawn 2-2 with the Portland Timbers.  Since then, they’ve defeated Colorado 2-1 away, and Columbus 2-1 at home.”

Well they’ve won again!  On Wednesday, they defeated Columbus 3-2, aided by a go-ahead goal by Chris Rolfe in the 84th minute.  Unfortunately, Mike Magee didn’t score in this one, ending his consecutive games with a goal streak, but with their third consecutive win, there are now just five teams that stand between the Fire (21 points) and the first place Montreal Impact (30 points).

 

And finishing up in the world of competitive eating-

July 4, 2013: “The holidays are about being with the ones you love, so surround yourself with friends and family today and eat meat…”

I didn’t mean stuff your face with 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes while your girlfriend watches from four feet away, but to each his own.

 

As always, your weekend Chicago and national sports schedule (games to watch):

Cubs v. Pirates – Friday, 3:05 pm

White Sox @ Rays – Friday, 6:10 pm

US Soccer @ Guatemala – Friday, 10:00 pm

 

Women’s Final at Wimbledon – Saturday, 8:00 am     ESPN

Cubs v. Pirates – Saturday, 3:05 pm

Rush @ Philadelphia – Saturday, 6:05 pm

White Sox @ Rays – Saturday, 6:15 pm     FOX

 

Men’s Final at Wimbledon – Sunday, 8:00 am     ESPN

White Sox @ Rays – Sunday, 12:40 pm

Cubs v. Pirates –  Sunday, 1:20 pm

Sky @ Liberty – Sunday, 2:00 pm

Fire @ Kansas City – Sunday, 2:00 pm     ESPN Deportes