The Month of August

Wow! It's been a while since my last post. I went away on vacation and I apologize for the delay. I'm back, I'm re-energized, and I've decided to incorporate a fresh, new style for this blog. More links, more reader interaction, less unneeded length. I'll focus on one topic per day, followed by brief headlines.

This time I have chosen Team USA and their play in the FIBA World Championships:

While it still counts as a win, game one against Puerto Rico was not exactly easy on the eyes. Trailing early, Team USA stormed back in the second quarter, led by Carmelo Anthony, and grabbed a slim 57-51 lead at halftime. Carlos Arroyo, who hit on 8-of-16 from the floor, led all scorers with 23 points for Puerto Rico. Kirk Hinrich added 15 points of his own. Team USA ended up winning by a score of 111-100, and while it was a great offensive performance, there was a lot to be desired defensively. One hundred points is way too much to give up to a team with only two NBA players on its roster.

Game two was against Yao Ming and China, and while it was a better defensive effort (they gave up 90 points), it still wasn't good enough. In contrast to game one, Team USA wasted no time finding its rhythm, building a 15 point first quarter lead, and handing the Chinese a 63-38 halftime deficit. Dwyane Wade led the way with 26 points, while Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard chipped in with 16 a piece. Final score: USA 121, China 90. Next on the menu would be Slovenia.

Game three featured what seems to be Team USA's philosophy in this year's tournament: pressure defense and unselfish, fast-breaking offense. After trailing early once again, this time by five points, Team USA went on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good. USA Basketball outscored Slovenia 36-22 in the second quarter to take a 66-49 halftime lead and firmly take control of the game. Dwyane Wade scored 20 points and LeBron James had 19 for USA Basketball, which forced 25 turnovers and handed out 21 assists. Team USA would go on to win the game 114-95.

What worries me the most thus far is the amount of points that are being given up. In three games, Team USA has allowed 100, 90, and 95 points to teams which are not considered to be in the top-tier. If the Americans are to have success in the next couple of rounds, the defense must be turned up a notch. Ninety points for China equates to 110 for Argentina or Spain. This problem must be addressed or Team USA will not win the gold, and the tournament will be considered another step backwards for USA Basketball.


Since my last article was on August 1st, and it's now the 22nd, let's go back and review everything that has transpired thus far. So without further adieu, on to the headlines...


Cubs

• Todd Walker blames day games for years of losing on the North Side. David Haugh, of Chicagosports.com, says that these days "I had a bad day" isn't good enough for an athlete to explain his failures. Neifi Perez offers a more reasonable explanation, at least for this year: three rookies in the rotation and injuries.


• The Cubs won an 18-inning marathon in Houston which might accelerate Wade Miller's climb to the big leagues. Dusty Baker used all 25 players on his roster and Phil Rogers ponders whether rookie pitcher Juan Mateo was pulled from the game to avoid retaliation from Roger Clemens.


• Desperate and depleted from the night before, the Cubs were forced to call up a surprised Ryan O'Malley to make an emergency start. He pitched 8 innings of shutout baseball.


• Phil Rogers thinks that the Cubs' good play of late, they actually have the third-best second half record in the league, is Baker's ticket to stay in Chicago. Dusty is pushing as if the Cubs are in a playoff race and the team is responding.


• Juan Pierre robbed Albert Pujols of what would have been at least a bases clearing double, in the bottom of the ninth inning. His heroics set up Phil Nevin's game-winning single in the 10th. The Cardinals took two out of three in the series, ending what once used to be a long losing streak at Wrigley. Meanwhile, Ryan Dempster was booed off the field, as his struggles on the mound continue.


• With a 19-16 record in the second half, Derek Lee wonders why the Cubs didn't play the same way at the beginning of the year. It frustrates Lee that the Cubs are not in the thick of a mediocre NL wild card race.


• Aaron Rowand broke his ankle last night against the Cubs in a nasty collision with second baseman Chase Utley. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. The Phillies won the game 6-5.


• USA Today reported that Dusty Baker, Jacques Jones, and former Cub LaTroy Hawkins, have all gone on record, saying they received hate mail and racist phone calls from Cubs fans. Melissa Baker, Dusty's wife, no longer attends home games with her 7-year-old son because of the hostile environment. Baker says that the opinions of a few people will not affect his feelings of wanting to stay. It's one thing to dislike the man because you feel he is a bad manager, I would include myself in that group, but it's a whole different ballgame when you are atacking him as a human being. These racist, close-minded scumbags should be ashamed of themselves.

Bears

• Despite Rex Grossman's lackluster performances in the preseason thus far, Lovie Smith has made it clear that Grossman is ahead of Griese on the depth chart. Griese, on the other hand, has looked so good and smooth that K.C. Johnson, of Chicagosports.com, wonders if he has even broken a sweat. To this point, Griese has led three touchdown-scoring drives to Grossman's zero.


• Rookie Devin Hester continues to impress, displaying what K.C. Johnson calls, "wow power." He is already averaging 21.7 yards per punt return. Mark my words, Hester will be the best return man in the NFL since Dante Hall.


• Thomas Jones returned from a "mystery" hamstring injury and practiced half-speed with the team. Ironically, Jones saved his best sprint for last, when he attempted to catch a golf cart in order to get back into camp. With every passing year, it seems the trend among NFL players is to either fake or embellish an injury for all it's worth in order to sit out the preseason. (see Terrell Owens)


• John Mullin reports that Bears fans should keep an eye on WR Rashied Davis, who, with his solid play, is steadily climbing the depth chart. Davis returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the Bears' preseason victory over San Diego.


• Despite giving up no touchdowns, and scoring as many points as opposing offenses, Tommie Harris says that the Bears' defense has yet to find its rhythm. It'll be scary when they do. The defense looks even better than last year, if that's even possible.


• Justin Gage has emerged as Brian Griese's favorite target.


• It has been rumored that Cedric Benson left the sidelines of Friday's preseason game against the Chargers and then missed the postgame meeting. The Sun-Times quoted two Bears players who said they felt that he did leave early. Benson says that it's hard to let his guard down even when he is among his own teammates. The consensus is that Thomas Jones should be the starting running back, and it has become evident that certain veterans plan to make Benson's career harder than it has to be. You don't squeal on a fellow teammate and you sure don't go to injure him in practice when there's not supposed to be full-force tackling. If the veterans want Jones as the starter, they should be going about it with more class than this. The fact of the matter is, Benson has friends in the lockeroon and all this is doing is causing a split within in the team before the season has even started.

White Sox

• The Sox split a four game series against the lowly Royals. Ozzie Guillen hopes that his team's poor performance will serve as a wake-up call. Fans are calling for Javier Vazquez to get the heck out of town.


• Minnesota took two out of three from Chicago and narrowed the White Sox's lead in the wild card standings to just one game. Freddie Garcia was roughed up once again.


• Apparantely, Sandy Alomar Jr. was only kidding when he told ESPN the Magazine that he would "knock out" A.J. Pierzynski.


• Brandon McCarthy has a unique explanation for why Brian Anderson's struggles at the plate did not cause him to be down in the dumps: Anderson was too dumb to know what was going on.


• Mark Gonzales says that if Alex Cintron can keep producing, Juan Uribe is expendable this offseason.


• The Tigers won 7-1 last night. The White Sox now find themselves 6 1/2 games out of first place. In his last two starts, Jose Contreras has given up 14 runs, the most he has allowed in consecutive starts since he surrendered 15 on Sept. 2 and 7, 2004.