Patrick Sharp 300 Career Points

I realize that I am late to the party on this, but if you have ever read my blog you know that I am late to the part on blogging on most things. Patrick Sharp got his 300th career point on Thursday. One of my twitter friends was asking for photo-shopped pictures of sharps head on a 300 character. I did not post this to her, I made this today. I saw her blog and you can visit her blog by click the MsBlackhawks link at the bottom right of my blog page. I saw the images that she got and I decided that I should make my own so that I could blog about how amazing my favorite Blackahawks player is. Okay, I'm done with the citing and boring stuff, onto Patrick Sharps amazingness.
When I saw that he got his 300th point I was super happy, he ended up getting another point for scoring on the open net later in the game. I was really happy when I saw this, though because I have known for awhile that he was a good player. I chose him to be my favorite around 2007 or 2008 when the Blackhawks started to be talked about again in Chicago. This year he has shown his talent the best and it just seems right that this is the year that he hits a great milestone. He is a beast and he has been scoring goals like a machine,(refer to my last post for a great pic to represent that) and he has also been getting a lot of assists. That leads to a lot of points. I guess what I'm trying to say is CONGRATS SHARPIE ON 300 POINTS!!

Blackhawks Struggles

I was planning on posting this basic post about four days ago, when the Blackhawks were making me very mad and they were not playing well at all. Now they won last night and they won earlier today, against pretty good teams, but not great teams. This is a step in the right direction, but we still need a lot more wins and not to lose a couple days after a win. There is something in hockey called a winning streak. Apparently the players don't understand what that is this year. The Blackhawks players can't seem to get it in their head that just because they won last year doesn't mean that they will automatically be in the playoffs this year. It doesn't work that way. They have to play like they want it, they have to play like it is last year. I have a feeling that Johnaton Toews' speech pumped up this team in a major way, no matter what he said. If we get a 10 game winning streak starting with these two games I would not be surprised. People say that Toews is not a good leader for our team. They must be kidding. He was the reason we won the game today and he is the reason we win many games. Just because he isn't a bitch like Crosby and doesn't have a big personality like Ovechkin doesn't mean that he isn't a good leader. He is a big leader for our team and a lot of the players on this team say that.
Back to the Blackhawks struggles. One of the reasons I think they are having a bad year is the beginning. They are a young team. I am as old as Patrick Kane. I know if I won the Stanley Cup the next year I might not play as well; I would feel invincible. I think that is what happened to a lot of these players. They won and therefore thought that nobody could ever beat them now. That caused the beginning of the season to be not such a great start and now we are in a tough situation as we get into playoff push mode.
Another reason for the slow start and not great season is that we have had a lot of injuries. Kane has been injured once for a long time. Toews was out for a little while. Hossa has been out for a lot of this year. Those guys were the first line last year. If you expect a team to win a lot of their games with those guys gone at points, you are crazy and have very high expectations. I knew from the point when they all got injured that this wasn't going to be a fabulous year. You can't blame a team for that, and I know I sound like a Cubs fan pulling the injury excuse, but Kane, Toews, and Hossa??
I'm going to end on a positive note. My favorite player since 2008 when I started paying attention the blackhawks again is having a monster year. He is, obviously, Patrick Sharp. He has 30 goals and most of those were while the other big parts were injured. He stepped up in a big way this year. He knew that some of the better players were injured and the Blackhawks would have an even worse year if somebody didn't step up. He knew this and he stepped into that position and scored like crazy. @blinkfink182 even made a great photoshopped picture of him. Everyone reading this follow him on twitter at that name.

(visit blackhawksdl.com for more)
I think that picture sums it up well.

Pitchers&Catchers Report Tomorrow

Since tomorrow is the day that the pitchers and catchers report, I will talk about them even though this is the start of spring training which is the start of the season. I will post about the White Sox and what I think will happen this season later, but right now I will talk about the pitchers and the catchers.
The first pitcher is one of my favorites, Mark Buerhle, and he sort of made a big deal recently talking about Michael Vick and how he hoped that he would get injured, because Mark is a very passionate dog lover. I don't think this will effect his performance, but nothing really does. He will be the opening day picture for the 11th time, i think. This is a guy that loves playing with the White Sox and loves pitching in general. He is one of the quickest pitchers and I think he will have another great season.
The second is Mark's prodigy, Johnny Danks. Every year it seems like Danks gets better and I think that will continue this year. I like the fact that we have both good lefties and righties. Danks is an important part of our team and works quickly just like buerhle.
The third is Gavin Floyd. Like with Danks he keeps getting better every year and I think he will again this year. Both are young pitchers with promise learning from two greats in Buerhle and Peavy. I expect him to come back better this year and get a couple more wins.
The fourth is Sale. I think the White Sox are getting ahead of themselves with him. They drafted him last year and are ready to start him this year. I think they should keep him in the bullpen for a year or two. He needs time to mature, and we see that with other pitchers. I like his pitching and I think he is a very good pitcher, but he should wait to start.
The final is Peavy. I'm not sure when he is back. Part of me wants him to come back soon, because I obviously want to see him play and pitch for us. The other part of me wants him to get as much rest and rehab as he possibly can so that when he comes back he is better.
I know this was quick, but I will get in deeper later on in spring training.

Jack Skille Traded

jack skille was just trade for a panthers player named frolik. i dont know much about him, but skille hasnt been playing well and so i think anyone is vetter than he has been lately. we also got a goaltender from the panthers and that will help in the future. Turco has been playing well as long as crawford, but at some point turco will be too old and this guy will hopefully be a good step in for the second goalie position. overall i think this is a good trade. skille wasnt playing well lately and fans were expecting someone to get traded so i think they made the right decision. i hope this new guy will make a big impact and i look forward to seeing him work with the hawks.

Derrick Rose

There is no doubt that Derrick Rose has been playing very well this season. He has game in and game out lead this team in scoring, this year he has tried to reach the free throw line more often and he has. The best thing about Derrick Rose penitrating to get to the line is that he is probably going to make the original shot and that makes a lot of his chances and1s. When you get and1s and you can shoot free throws like Derrick Rose can that really helps your team. He is a great player and the Bulls management knew that when they drafted him first overall. This has to be one of the best examples of how having the first pick can help and can help in a hurry. It was only a couple years ago that the Bulls were dismal and made me shake my head, along with the rest of the NBA. Now that Rose is leading this team and that I've gotten over my struggle with the NBA I like this team and I think they are going to do great things. If they don't win this year because they don't have a 2 guard I'm fine because this is a very young team and they have about 10 more years of good play and I'm only a little kidding. Derrick Rose will be a player in 10 years and a few of these players we be there too. They are a great team. Now onto the MVP talk about Rose.
Rose has been playing great this season like I said before. He has been playing like an MVP and yet he hasn't been recognized like one until just recently by the national media. Rose is a great player and this season he has improved a lot and has really stepped up to that upper echelon of players. I think he deserves this award 100%. It is only the middle of the season, but I think DRose is only going to get better not worse. I doubt he will get injured(knock on wood) and so I think they should just hand it to him now. You might talk about some of the other contenders. They are LeBron, Wade, Dirk, and Rondo. LeBron and Wade are probably not going to win this because the votes will be split for them because they are both playing well but they are playing together. Dirk will probably not get this because the Mavs seem like they are falling and Dirk was injured for a chunk of the season. I don't think he will win this award, but if Derrick doesn't get it Dirk should. Now onto Rondo, this is the one that I have a lot to say about. People think Rondo is a better point guard because he had a good year last year. Derrick has had a good year last year and this year and people still don't realize how good of a year he is having this year. When the Bulls played the Celtics most recently Derrick showed up Rondo. He played better both as a scorer and as a passer. Rondo didn't have a great game, but Rose still played better than Rondo would have in a good game. The Bulls won and Rose came out victorious. After this people still didn't think of Rose as an MVP candidate. I think people as fans of the game and the national media have wised up a little and now consider him, but still don't always pick him as a favorite. I think they should have him as the favorite. He is a great player and is having a great year and deserves the MVP.

The Bulls

If you are someone who reads this blog often, you know that I am not a huge fan of the NBA. Well, in the past few months I have become quite the fan. I realized that if I wanted to call myself a true Chicago fan that I had to be a little bit more interested in the Bulls. So, I started to watch a few games. As I watched my first instinct was that the refs are ridiculous and they won't call anything. As I watched the Bulls play more the more I liked it. I think I can now officially call myself a Bulls fan, I've been outed. So lets get talking about the team.
This summer their was a lot of talk about LeBron (sorry anybody reading from Cleveland) and how he might go to the Bulls because we have a great young team. This week I realized that maybe this team is better off without him. Instead of him we got Boozer, who I think fits in a lot better. LeBron would be trying to take the ball, when this is Rose's team and he is the guy who takes the ball. I think the team works a lot better together than they would if LeBron was on the team. Rose is having an oustanding year and with James on the team he would not have numbers near as high and impressive. This was the best thing for the team, now I think we can beat the team that LeBron ended up going to and beat the Celtics as you have seen. I'm not saying that this is a for sure thing, but don't be surprised if the Bulls make it to the Finals. The chances of them beating the Lakers are slim, but its the same with almost every team. I think that maybe something will happen just like what happened with the Blackhawks. They are the surprise team one year, and then the next year they are on top more than before and they win it all. The Bulls have a lot of potential and a lot of really good young players. I think their coach knows how to use them and this team is going to be very good. Go Bulls!

bears

just wanted to say: THE PACKERS R GOING DOWN!!!!

AFC and NFC Championship games

AFC
This game is the Steeler and the Jets. I like both teams. The Steelers have a great defense, but so do the Jets. I think I might take Big Ben over Sanchez just because Ben has more experience. There is part of me that is saying that the Steelers are going to win without a problem, then again there is part of me saying that the Jets beat the Patriots, who says they will stop now. This is a very tough decision. Both teams are very good and deserve to be their. This game could go either way. I think the Jets spent a lot of their energy game planning for the Patriots. They have been planning for them probably since they knew they were in the playoffs. So I think the Jets might not be well prepared for this. I originally trusted my gut to say that the Jets would win, but as I wrote that little bit I got to thinking that the Steelers are probably going to win this game. I'm going to pick Steelers 24 Jets 17.
NFC
I think everyone knows who I'm going to pick in this matchup. I'm going to pick the Bears, but not just because I am a Bears fan, I have serious reasons. The Bears can beat the Packers. The Bears could have beat them week 17 when we had nothing to play for and the Packers had nothing to play for. Our defense can and has stopped Aaron Rodgers while he is hot as well as other quarterbacks. Our special teams will hopefully step up and our running game has to be good. I believe we can do it. I have this huge feeling that February 7th the Bears will be the Super Bowl champions.

Da Bears. Why they will be in the Super Bowl.

I have a great feeling that the Bears will make it to the Super Bowl this year. I'm also not just some crazy Bears fan who is dreaming of this. I have logical reasons why I think this.
The Bears are playing the Seahawks. That's right the team that finished 7-9 this season. Yes I know that they beat the Saints last week. I know that. I watched the game. Just because they beat the Saints doesn't mean we will lose too. The Saints had a bad defensive day. There is no way that our defense does that. They will step it up because its the playoffs. We are going to destroy the Seahawks. I would love to see a blowout. I have a feeling that we might see that. So then we move on to play probably the packers.
Playing the Packers is going to be a tough game. I have a feeling we will win this game because we have beat them this year at Soldier field. That was before the Bears had their breakthrough. Watching the game last week I thought they could have tried harder at the end to win, but they didn't. The Bears are built to beat the Packers. Our defense knows how to stop them. Our offense does get stopped but as long as they score less than we do we win. I think we can win this game. Winning two games and one of them against a team without a winning record. Yes it sounds reasonable.

Bears: Looking back at the season

The Bears just finished their season about an hour ago. They ended it on a bad note, but also a good note in a way. They lost to the Green Bay Packers, but the good part was that they weren't going to back down just because they had already sealed the 2nd seed and after the falcons won could not get the 1st seed. They wanted to beat the Packers it would have been a better story if they would have won, but that's all right. They played hard and only a couple people got hurt and they are minor injuries. This was a good risk to take because if they would have won the fans would have loved it and I think the fans loved it either way. But, lets move on to the rest of the season. I will start from the beginning.
Week 1
The Bears were playing the Lions in this game. With a 0-4 pre-season I was a little doubtful about whether the Bears would win or not, especially because it was looking like Detroit was starting to build a pretty good team. I was on the road during the time of this game, so I was listening on the radio. I didn't quite get the full experience but I found myself saying yes and no and come on about half of the ride. I remember that the Bears scored with only like one minute left and then the Lions marched right on down the field and they threw a pass to Calvin Johnson and it was complete, no wait it was incomplete. Then there was a review and the refs said that there was this rule that you have to be able to come up from the catch and hand the ball to the ref and Johnson apparently could not do that. The Bears got lucky and left that game with a win. Already the Bears were starting a controversy about themselves.
Week 2
I remember going into this game praying that the Bears might get lucky and actually win. I was not impressed at all with the way they played against Detroit, so I thought they had no chance to beat the Cowboys. They went into that game and they won it. They were undefeated. I know a lot of Cowboy fans kept saying that the Cowboys beat themselves not the Bears, but the Bears played one of their best games of the year and they flatout won. By that time I was super happy that the Bears had not lost yet. Seeing they lost all their preseason games this was huge to beat a team that was supposed to be one of the best in the league this year.
Week 3
Both teams entered undefeated. It was the greatest rivalry in sports at its best. Each team fighting for an early lead over the NFC North. The Bears didn't start very well and they played kind of sloppy, but the Packers played worse. They had 19 penalties and if a team wins with that many penalties the other team has some problems. This is the game that surprised me even more than when I found out that the Bears beat the Cowboys. This meant we beat the Packers, remained undefeated, and lead the NFC North. Those are all really good things for a football team that was predicted last in some polls.
Week 4
Enter the sloppiness and the bad stretch. Jay Cutler was sacked way too many times and was eventually knocked out of the game with a concussion. I was excited about this game at the start because I was hoping the Bears would continue to be undefeated. They did not and they lost. This was probably one of their worst games this season. This was the first game where the terrible offensive line was exposed. Some of the players were just letting guys threw or that's what it looked like. The Bears looked like they were in trouble.
Week 5
Todd Collins was forced to start this game because of Jay Cutler's concussion. Let me tell you I have not seen anyone play the quarterback position worse than he did in that game. Yet, the Panthers are awful and we are lucky the one week we didn't have Cutler we were playing them. We got away with a win, and got ready for the next week against another "easy" opponent.
Week 6
The Bears were playing the Seahawks in this game and they figured this was going to be another easy win. We went in with the wrong attitude and we lost. This was our down time in the season, we were looking bad and we lost this game even though we should have won. We could beat this team. Our offensive line looked bad again and our offense all-together looked bad. We were a lost team. Our defense and special teams were the only things giving us any points. We needed a win and we were playing another team we should have beat.
Week 7
We played the Redskins in this game and we should have won. I don't even mean that in we should have played better and actually won. I mean that if Lovie would have challenged that one Jay Cutler play we would have won this game. Lovie decided not to and talks of him being fired came up again because apparently that is bad decision making. I agree. This is a game we could have and should have won and yet we were finding a way to lose. After the bye week we would find our way to win, instead of lose and fixed many of our problems.
Week 8
Bye Week.
Week 9
In this game we played the Bills. They are another one of those easy teams. Fans were hoping the Bears wouldn't lose to another low grade team. The Bears came out of their bye week looking good. The offensive line looked a lot better. They were running the ball more, which took a lot of pressure off of Jay Cutler and the offense ran well. They still weren't ready to face high caliber teams, but they were getting better. This game started a 5 game win streak that helped lead us to winning the NFC North and to being the number 2 seed.
Week 10
This game was against the Vikings. I remember watching this game and almost everything was going right. During Bears games I often get stressed out, but this was one of the few where everything ran smoothly. This was the game where I thought the true Bears that are in the Playoffs now came out. The offense ran better than it ever had before and the defense was staying tough against a great quarterback and running back.
Week 11
We played the Dolphins this week and we got lucky some people say that we played their third string. I would agree with that, but we still had to go there and play. We had to win that game regardless of who their quarterback was and we did it. This was another good sign and a good week. People could really see the offense come together and the defense was the constant in all of this. They stayed tough and helped the Bears win a lot of their games this season.
Week 12
The defining game. This was the game where people actually took us seriously and found out that we could beat big teams. The Eagles were hot. Michael Vick was playing like an MVP and they were one of the best teams in the NFC at the time. The Bears went into this game and flat out outplayed them. Jay Cutler outplayed Michael Vick. The defense was huge and made a great game winning play when they intercepted Michael Vick's pass near the end zone. After this the Bears weren't a team that kept getting lucky and winning, we were a real contender.
Week 13
A rematch with the Lions. We knew they might be playing with a little revenge on their minds because they actually deserved to win the first game. We were the hot team now and we went in and beat the struggling Lions. This wasn't a monumental win, it was just the Bears taking care of business again. The next week would be the hardest of them all.
Week 14
This is a game I don't even want to talk about. It was freezing cold and their was snow and we got manhandled by Brady and their offense. Our defense looked terrible. They were on their heels the whole game. They disappointed a lot of people in Chicago who were looking for another win over a heavyweight team. It didn't happen and exposed more issues.
Week 15
If the Bears thought that the last week was cold and snowy they were in for a treat. This week they had to play the Vikings outdoors in the middle of a blizzard almost. It was terrible conditions, but the field was taken care of well and the Bears played better than the Vikings did. Cory Wooton took down Favre early in the game and we found out this week that this blow was the blow that ended Brett Favre's career.
Week 16
Now we were playing another power team from the AFC East and we weren't going to let what happened to us last time happen again. This game the tables were turned. The offense played very well, but the defense did not play well at all. The thing about this game is that it showed us that when one side of the ball doesn't play well the other one steps up. Most of the season the defense was stepping up for the offense, but in this game the offense stood up for the defense. It also proved that we could actually win a game at home.
Week 17
I already talked about this week so I will make it short and sweet. I like the fact that starters played the whole game. It showed that the Chicago Bears never give up and they never stop fighting just because they have nothing to fight for. We weren't going to lose that game because we didn't try. We were going to try and however it turned out we were okay with that.

Overall I'd say this was a great year for the Bears. A lot of players hit huge milestones and the team hit a huge milestone. We are back in the playoffs for the first time since we went to the Super Bowl. We are doing a lot of things right, but during our bye week we have a lot to work on and I think we will. We are going to go into the playoffs prepared and hopefully win our first game and be in the NFC Championship game.