W2W4: 2014 Chicago Bears Pre-Season Week 2

@BrewMastrJoe



As we enter into this second week of preseason football, and with all the national hype about "Johnny Football", I am here to ask one question.

What are we to expect of the Chicago Bears tonight?

What and Who are we looking at?

The emergence of the Bears high scoring offense last year was soured by one of the historically worst defensive teams ever to be fielded by the Chicago Bears.

Thanks to Phil Emery.  This all feels like years ago.

So, what are we looking at tonight?  Here's a few things I plan on keeping my eye on.



Jared Allen

I'm sure this one is one everyone's list.  How is Allen going to look tonight? It's his first preseason game so the expectations cannot be to high, but the eye test will be all I need.  In a game that has no bearing on the season, as long as Allen looks like he's in shape, isn't getting blown off the line of scrimmage, and suffers no injuries, I wouldn't be too worried about his future.


Offensive Line

Jordan Mills will be sitting out his second game in a row tonight giving Ola and company a chance at few extra reps.  The run game didn't look that sharp last week, but that is expected in the beginning of the preseason as RB's and Offensive Lineman take more time to get in sync.  The Bears are taking a very cautious approach to Mills after his surgery last January, so even without him in the starting lineup tonight, I'm looking for the Bears to show some flashes of a solid running game.  Even if it's the pass that helps set up the run.


3rd WR Option

Who will emerge in the wake of Marquis Wilson's clavicle injury? Can Michael Spurlock's skill set help the Bears this year? Can Josh Morgan going across the middle or throwing a block or two be enough to get him on the team? Or maybe Eric Weems steps up this week and shows he can be more than just a special team contributor.  Judging on how Weems dropped that easy ball thrown to him last week, I'd say he's the long shot out of the three.


Shea McClellin and Jon Bostic

These two looked atrocious last week.  Shea was getting blocked, he was out of position on numerous plays, and really didn't seem to do anything productive, beyond standing in his spots.  Shea has an uphill battle ahead of him playing in a defense that really doesn't fit his skill set.  Jon Bostic is a beast.  His explosiveness and hard hitting is essential in this Bears defense, but he didn't look to well either.  It's week 2 and by now, all those preseason sophomore jitters should be out of their system.  Let's hope those two can turn it around and make some plays tonight.

Number 2 QB position

Jordan Palmer might have played his way out of the #2 QB spot, but who really thought he was going to keep it.  I know this sounds pessimistic, but Clausen is a Trestman guy, and they go back a few years ago to when Clausen was working out for the 2010 draft.  In all fairness to everyone in this situation, Clausen did prove he deserves this chance.  He looked poised and sharp last week throwing 2 TD's unlike Palmer who hasn't been playing as well as Clausen.  

Wrigley Field: 100 Years of Misery, Happy Birthday!!

@BrewMastrJoe

(This is an excerpt from an earlier blog that I have updated and re-edited for Wrigley Field's 100th Anniversary)

From 1906 to 1910 the White Stockings (who were now officially dubbed the Cubs) won 4 National League Pennants, had 4 World Series appearances in 5 seasons (1906-1910), and won back to back World Series titles ('06, '07). 

They were the first MLB team to win back to back World Series. 

West Side Grounds

In the early twentieth century, immigrants who lived on the West Side of Chicago had no clue what this sport called baseball was.  

Attendance at the West Side Grounds started to suffer.

The Cub's were now feeling the pinch once again. 

With most fans leaving the West Side Grounds to go to the new modern Comiskey Park, it was time to respond.  

Another modern ballpark was being built on the corner of Clark and Addision in 1914 for the new Federal League. With the White Sox on the South Side, the Cubs on the west side, there was a new league and team on the north-side, the Chicago Whales. 

The league folded in 1915 and the Whales were no more.

At the start of the 1916 season, the Cub's started calling Weegham Park (Wrigley Field) home.

Weegham Park

It wasn't long before the Cub's found themselves in the 1918 World Series against the Boston Red Sox. 

At the time, Wrigley Field could only hold a crowd of 14,000.  Comiskey Park held a capacity of 28,000 people and ownership felt that Wrigley Field lacked what the forner had, and wanted to increase revenue at the gates. 

Greed obviously played a role in that decision. 

 The Cub's "traveled" to the South Side to play at Comiskey Park and gave away their home field advantage, 

and the World Series in 6 games.

This is where everything would take a "loosing" turn for the Cubs.

Other than going 1-3 at Comiskey Park against the Red Sox, in 1918, the Cubs have a dismal 

2-11 World Series record at Wrigley Field dating back to the '29 World Series.  They are 8-24 in the World Series they have appeared in, and are winless at Wrigley Field in '29, '32, and the '38 World Series. 

1945 seemed to be the only World Series the Cub's showed up for.  They won two games on the road in Detroit, and won game 6 (in 12 Innings) at Wrigley to force a game seven, which they lost.

In 2003, the Cub's played the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

It was the franchise's first post-season series win since 1908.   

The Florida Marlins came to Chicago for game one of the NLCS and were victorious.  The Cubs won the next three games in the series, but in game five Josh Beckett pitched a two hit, one walk gem that shut the Cubs out, bringing the series back to Wrigley Field for games six and seven.

D'oh! 

In game six, the Cub's were only five outs away from their first pennant in 58 years, but all that changed on a foul ball hit to left field.  Ushering the Cub's into the Steve Bartman era.  

What a load of crap.

Luis Castillo ends up walking, and two batters later Alex Gonzalez bobbles a double play that could have ended the inning. It was a defensive error that costs the Cub's game six.  Bartman did not help the sitchuation.

Like Bob Stanley of the Red Sox,  had he not given up that wild pitch in game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Buckner would not be an adjective.  

After taking a 3-1 series lead, even if we lost game six, the Cub's still could come back and win game seven!!  But everyone had the same cold bitter feeling I had.  

The "curse" loomed.  

I never believed a curse even existed. 

I attended Game 2 of the 2008 NLDS.  

What I witnessed next changed a lot for me.

Four consecutive fielding errors by Mark DeRosa, Derrek Lee, Ryan Theroit, and Aramis Ramirez led to a 5 run inning which sucked the life out of the Wrigley Field crowd.  

The good vibes were fading fast and the so was the crowd.  For the next five innings it was nothing but sloppy pitching and spotty hitting.  

I was stunned.  

Arriving home, I turned on Sportscenter to watch that evenings highlights.  Instead I was treated to a collage of the Cub's five post-seasons collapse of '84, '89, getting swept in '98, Bartman, and then the "four" errors.  

Something I personally got to witness. 

A 2-11 World Series record at Wrigley Field and an abysmal .333 winning percentage in the World Series is all the proof you need.  Need more proof?

Eight consecutive post-season losses dating back to the 2003 NLCS. 

D'oh!

Wrigley Field sits on what used to be known as the Chicago Theological Lutheran Seminary grounds.  

There really hasn't been much to brag about in the last 106 years and it's not looking like it's going to get any better.  

Well, there always next....century?

2014 Chicago Cubs

@BrewMastrJoe

Who are these 2014 Chicago Cubs.  They can create runs, pitch, play defense, and have a guy or two in the bullpen that can throw.  

This pitching staff is pulling their weight, but it's not a staff that says "I GOTTA SEE THESE GUYS PITCH!!" The last pitching staff the Cubs had to that effect, would maybe be the 2008 group, but that could be debated.  

Oh Cubs.  How I wish it was two years from now.  

Seeing Javy Baez and his bat speed in spring training and the rest of the league reacting is a great feeling.  Watching Kris Bryant develop last fall, Albert Almora showing his maturity and speed, and how Mike Olt bounced back and crushed the ball in spring training had just reinvigorated the Hope from within.

(As I'm listening to the Cubs play the Cardinals right now, the former team is displaying horrendous defensive fundamentals and bad pitching against a talented team)

It's pointless, to me, to try and second guess Rick Renteria on anything.  I could start doing that, but I'll just save that for another post on another day.

As exciting as it is to watch the Cubs produce runs, I think it's fair to remember that upper-management is still building for the future, and if that means they have to flip guys for (most likely more pitching) prospects, it's probably for the best.

Maybe I should blame all this new found "Hope" on the Bears desire to embrace the LETS WIN NOW mode.