Preseason Week 4: Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns

Browns 19 Bears 9

The Good:

• Bears QB Chris Leak was impressive. Leak was 11-16 for 88 yards and one touchdown. Too bad there is no room for him on this Bears team.
• Bears RB Garrett Wolfe was outstanding. He only average 1.8 yards per carry rushing the ball, but he caught 6 passes for 53 yards and he made a couple defensive players completely miss him when trying to tackle Wolfe.
• Bears WR Mike Hass made only one catch but it was a great touchdown grab that is being called the Bears' catch of the preseason.
• Bears WR David Ball is unlikely to make the cut but he had a solid game. Ball had 4 catches for 40 yards including an amazing one-handed catch in the end zone, but unfortunately Ball landed out of bounds and the catch was ruled incomplete. Hass scored on the next play.
• After being down 19-3 at halftime, the defense prevented the Browns from scoring any more points.
• Bears rookie CB Trumaine McBride led the Bears with 8 tackles.

The Bad:

• Bears QB Brian Griese was only 1-3 for 12 yards in limited action, but what disappointed me the most was that he had WR Mark Bradley open twice and he overthrew him both times.
• The Bears special teams allowed 9 points. Bears safety and kick returner Danieal Manning fumbled a kick-off out of bounds in the Bears end zone for a safety. Browns' punt returner Josh Cribbs returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown.

Why the Bears lost:

The Browns made fewer mistakes than the Bears and that is one of the big reasons the Browns won. The Bears can't be allowing safeties and punt returns for touchdowns. Plays like that lose games. The Bears also hurt themselves by making 3 mistakes on offense that cost them at least a field goal:

1. Bears QB Kyle Orton had the Bears at the Browns' 44 yard line when he threw an interception on 1st down. 14 more yards and they would have been in Bears kicker Robbie Gould's field goal range.
2. Leak had the Bears at the Browns' 23 yard line and was then sacked for -12 yards. Gould's 53 yard field goal attempt on the next play was no good.
3. Leak had the Bears at the Browns' 36 yard line and it was 1st down. Leak's next pass was intercepted.

What hurt the Bears was special teams mistakes and drive killing plays on offense. Also, Browns punter Dave Zastudil did a great job at punting the ball inside the Bears' 10 yard line making it hard to score.

Kobe to the Bulls?

Many News sites have said that L.A. Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is demanding a trade and the Chicago Bulls are a possible destination.

Excerpt from Msnbc.com's article about Kobe:

Just weeks after announcing on a sports radio show of being "frustrated" and expressing a desire to be traded from the Lakers only to later back off after talking to coach Phil Jackson, Bryant met with Lakers owner Jerry Buss on Friday in Barcelona and reiterated his trade demand, the Los Angeles Times and Press Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.) reported.

Bryant is the only NBA player with a no-trade clause in his contract. He had said he would waive that clause. But he could make a trade more difficult because he has a three-team wish list, the Press Enterprise reported Friday. Two of the teams are the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks.

One report had the Lakers hoping to acquire Bulls center Ben Wallace, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and Chicago's No. 1 draft pick (9) for Bryant.

But the sources said every team, including the Bulls, knows the Lakers will try to "gut" a team in order to get as much value as possible for Bryant.

Bryant could also veto a trade if he thinks the team has to give up too many players, which, the sources said, could also make a trade more difficult.

For a team to acquire Bryant, it cannot swap one or more players exceeding 125 percent of his $19,490,625 million salary he'll earn this season.

Chicago Cubs Week-in-Review: April 9-15

Cubs weekly record: 1-4
4/9 vs. Houston Astros L 3-5
4/10 vs. Houston Astros L 2-4
4/11 vs. Houston Astros Postponed (expected to be made up on July 12)
4/13 vs. Cincinnati Reds L 5-6
4/14 vs. Cincinnati Reds W 7-0
4/15 vs. Cincinnati Reds L 0-1

Cubs overall record: 4-7 (6th in NL Central)

Notable Season Stats (as of Monday April 16):

Derrek Lee: .372 AVG 6 R 5 2B 8 RBI
Aramis Ramirez: .406 AVG 5 R 1 2B 1 HR 5 RBI
Alfonso Soriano: .234 AVG 5 R 6 2B 1 RBI
Cliff Floyd: .276 AVG 29 AB 4 R 2 2B 2 RBI

Rich Hill: 2 GS 2-0 0.64 ERA 14 IP 4 BB 11 K
Ted Lilly: 3 GS 1-1 2.37 ERA 19 IP 3 BB 24 K
Carlos Zambrano: 3 GS 1-2 7.88 ERA 16 IP 11 BB 10 K
Ryan Dempster: 5 GP 0-0 0.00 ERA 2 SV 5.0 IP 1 BB 8 K

Player of the Week: Rich Hill
1 GS 7 IP 3 H 0 ER 4 BB 5 K

Important Fact of the Week: Cubs are 1-4 at home this season.

Lou Piniella

It was only the 2nd week of the season and Lou is already losing his temper.

Postgame comments by Cubs manager Lou Piniella after the Cubs blew a five run lead and ended up losing 6-5 to the Cincinnati Reds on Friday April 13:

-"This guy (Zambrano) is your ace, you got a 5-0 lead with the eighth and ninth hitters coming up, you feel pretty good about that inning and all of a sudden it turns into a six-run inning."

- "What do I do? I pitch him when it's his turn again. What else can I do?"

-"And then I bring in the reliever (Will Ohman) who's throwing 30-to-40-foot curveballs to boot. I can see. I can start to see some of the ways this team has lost ballgames. I can see it. We've got to correct it obviously. ... This game here is one that got away from us that really shouldn't."

-When asked what's not working:
"What the hell do you think isn't working? You see the damn game."

If Lou is going to be this upset in April, how will he act in July?

Carlos Zambrano

Carlos Zambrano has been struggling. Zambrano has allowed 17 hits and 14 earned runs in 16 innings. Zambrano's WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) is 1.75, which higher than the Cubs' WHIP average of 1.14. Zambrano struggled in April last season.

Zambrano in April 2006:
6 GS 0-2 5.35 ERA 33.2 IP 33 H 20 ER 25 BB 38 K 1.72 WHIP

Hopefully he will improve later in the season.

Rich Hill

Zambrano is still the ace of the Cubs, but not by much. Rich Hill has been pitching great and has a 0.64 ERA after two starts. Hill has a chance at making the NL All-Star team and I predict that he will win at least 16 games this season.

Cubs Lack of Offense

So far the offense has been disappointing. This is an offense that could potentially have three players hitting 40+ home runs this year. The Cubs have scored three runs or less in 5 of their 11 games and have scored four runs or less in 7 of their 11 games. The Cubs lack of hitting is one of the main reasons the Cubs are 4-7.

Chicago Cubs week-in-review: April 2-8

Cubs weekly record:
4/2 L 1-5 @ Cincinnati Reds Box Score
4/4 W 4-1 @ Cincinnati Reds Box Score
4/5 L 2-5 @ Cincinnati Reds Box Score
4/6 W 9-3 @ Milwaukee Brewers Box Score
4/7 W 6-3 @ Milwaukee Brewers Box Score
4/8 L 4-9 @ Milwaukee Brewers Box Score

Cubs overal record: 3-3 (tied for 3rd in the NL central)

Notable Season Stats at the end of the week:

Derrek Lee: .440 AVG 4 R 3 2B 3 RBI
Aramis Ramirez: .440 AVG 4 R 1 HR 4 RBI
Mark DeRosa: .333 AVG 7 R 2 HR 6 RBI
Alfonso Soriano: .214 AVG 2 R 4 2B
Michael Barrett: .158 AVG 1 R 3 RBI

Carlos Zambrano: 1-1 6.00 ERA 12 IP 8 K
Ted Lilly: 1-0 1.29 ERA 7 IP 9 K
Jason Marquis: 0-0 1.50 ERA 6 IP 1 K
Rich Hill: 1-0 1.29 ERA 7 IP 6 K
Wade Miller: 0-1 13.50 ERA 4 IP 0 K
Scott Eyre: 0-0 22.50 ERA 2 GP 2 IP 3 K
Ryan Dempster: 0-0 0.00 ERA 2 GP 2 IP 3 K

Player of the Week: Aramis Ramirez

Important Fact of the Week: Cubs are 3-1 when scoring 4 or more runs

The Cubs started the season with a record of 1-2 after the Cubs' offense only scored seven runs in the first three games. The Cubs had a good shot at winning two out of three against the Reds in the final game of the series, but Bob Howry blew a 2-1 lead in the 7th and Reds eventually won 5-2. Against the Brewers, the Cubs' offense did better and averaged 6.33 runs per game during the three game series. After winning the first two games, Wade Miller had a bad game in the final game of the series allowing six runs in only four innings and the Brewers won 9-4 on Easter Sunday.

Player Notes:

Carlos Zambrano

Zambrano has shown that he can't pitch well on opening day:

Opening Day 2007: 5 IP 6 H 5 ER 5 BB 2 SO 2 HR
Opening Day 2006: 4.2 IP 7 H 5 ER 5 BB 5 SO 2 HR
Opening Day 2005: 4.2 IP 7 H 3 ER 4 BB 8 SO 1 HR

Could it be a fluke that Zambrano pitches bad on opening day? Maybe. However, I think he gets too excited on opening day. It is probably hard to be the first pitcher of the first game of the season. If Zambrano struggles during opening day, how will he do in the playoffs?

Zambrano in the 2003 playoffs:

2 GS 0-1 5.40 ERA 16.7 IP 5 BB 12 SO

Those aren't great stats. If the Cubs reach game 7 of the world series, they might have to consider maybe having someone other than Zambrano start.

Ted Lilly

Great game for Lilly during the Cubs 4-1 win over the Reds on April 4th:

(W) 7 IP 3 H 1 ER 1 BB 9 SO

This is why the Cubs got him and I hope he can be a 15 game winner with a sub-4 ERA.

Rich Hill

In the first five innings of Hill's first start on April 6th, Hill allowed no hits and no walks. Hill pitched seven innings, allowed just one hit which was a home run ending his bid for a perfect game and a shutout, and walked zero batters. If Hill can keep it up, he has a chance at being a NL All-Star this year.

Mark DeRosa

I was hoping he would be good but I didn't expect him to be leading the Cubs in home runs after the first week of the season. So far, he is hitting better than Alfonso Soriano. DeRosa ranks 1st on the Cubs in home runs and RBIs and rank 3rd on the Cubs in batting average. I don't expect him to hit 40 home runs, but he is off to a great start.

What will the Bulls' seed be when the playoffs start?

The Bulls are currently the 5th seed, but I think they could be higher than that once the playoffs start. I decided to predict the records of the teams who the Bulls are either going to have to pass or have to stay in front of.

NOTE: I have not included the Toronto Raptors, who are currently the #4 seed. After looking at their remaining schedule, I don't think they will win as many games as the Bulls so it would be meaningless to try to predict their record. The reason the Raptors are #4 even though the Bulls are better is because they are leading their division and the Bulls are not. Division leaders are guaranteed a top 4 seed. I think the Raptors will win their division, so if the Bulls can not finish better than the Detroit Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers the Bulls will have a lower seed than the Raptors.

Detriot Pistons: Currently 41-22

Mar 16 at Phoenix- L
Mar 18 vs Dallas- L
Mar 20 vs Philadelphia- W (42)
Mar 22 at Houston- L
Mar 23 at San Antonio- L
Mar 25 at Milwaukee- W (43)
Mar 26 vs Denver- W (44)
Mar 29 at Chicago- L
Mar 30 vs New Jersey- W (45)
Apr 1 vs Miami- W (46)
Apr 3 at Indiana- W (47)
Apr 4 vs Chicago- L
Apr 8 vs Cleveland- W (48)
Apr 9 at New York- W (49)
Apr 11 vs Orlando- W (50)
Apr 13 at Toronto- W (51)
Apr 15 vs Philadelphia- W (52)
Apr 17 vs Toronto- W (53)
Apr 18 at Boston- W (54)

Predicted Record: 54-28

Cleveland Cavaliers: Currently 40-25

Mar 17 vs Utah- L
Mar 20 at Charlotte- W (41)
Mar 21 vs Dallas- L
Mar 23 vs New York- W (42)
Mar 25 vs Denver- W (43)
Mar 27 at Indiana- W (44)
Mar 28 at New York- W (45)
Mar 31 at Chicago- L
Apr 1 at Boston- W (46)
Apr 3 at Minnesota- W (47)
Apr 5 vs Miami- W (48)
Apr 6 at Washington- L
Apr 8 at Detroit- L
Apr 12 vs New Jersey- W (49)
Apr 14 vs Atlanta- W (50)
Apr 17 at Philadelphia- W (51)
Apr 18 vs Milwaukee- W (52)

Predicted Record: 52-30

Washington Wizards: Currently 35-28

Mar 17 vs New Orl/OKC- W (36)
Mar 20 at Portland- W (37)
Mar 21 at Seattle- W (38)
Mar 23 at Golden State- W (39)
Mar 24 at LA Clippers- W (40)
Mar 26 at Utah- L
Mar 28 vs Philadelphia- W (41)
Mar 30 vs Toronto- L
Apr 1 at Milwaukee- W (42)
Apr 3 at Charlotte- W (43)
Apr 4 vs Charlotte- W (44)
Apr 6 vs Cleveland- W (45)
Apr 7 at New Jersey- W (46)
Apr 10 vs New Jersey- W (47)
Apr 11 at Miami- L
Apr 13 at Atlanta- W (48)
Apr 15 vs Chicago- W (49)
Apr 17 vs Orlando- W (50)
Apr 18 at Indiana- W (51)

Predicted Record: 51-31

Chicago Bulls: Currently 39-28

Mar 17 at Memphis- W (40)
Mar 20 vs LA Clippers- W (41)
Mar 22 vs Denver- W (42)
Mar 25 at Indiana- W (43)
Mar 26 vs Portland- W (44)
Mar 29 vs Detroit- W (45)
Mar 31 vs Cleveland- W (46)
Apr 1 at Atlanta- W (47)
Apr 4 at Detroit- W (48)
Apr 6 vs New Jersey- W (49)
Apr 8 at Toronto- W (50)
Apr 10 vs New York- W (51)
Apr 13 vs Charlotte- W (52)
Apr 15 at Washington- L
Apr 18 at New Jersey- W (53)

Predicted Record: 53-29

Miami Heat: Currently 34-29

Mar 15 at New Jersey- W (35)
Mar 16 vs Sacramento- W (36)
Mar 18 vs Orlando- W (37)
Mar 21 at Atlanta- W (38)
Mar 23 at Indiana- W (39)
Mar 24 vs Philadelphia- W (40)
Mar 26 vs Atlanta- W (41)
Mar 28 at Toronto- L
Mar 30 at Minnesota- W (42)
Apr 1 at Detroit- L
Apr 3 vs Toronto- W (43)
Apr 5 at Cleveland- L
Apr 6 at Boston- W (44)
Apr 8 vs Charlotte- W (45)
Apr 10 at Charlotte- W (46)
Apr 11 vs Washington- W (47)
Apr 13 vs Indiana- W (48)
Apr 16 vs Boston- W (49)
Apr 18 at Orlando- W (50)

Predicted Record: 50-32

Here is my predicted playoff seeding:

1. Pistons 54-28
2. Bulls 53-27
3. Wizards 51-31
4. Raptors
5. Cavaliers 52-30
6. Heat 50-32

I have the Bulls getting the 2nd seed in the playoffs. I offer no guaranttees. It is very likely that each team will have 1-2 less wins than my predictions. There are many games each team could very easily lose, but I have picked the wins based on games they should win. For example, it can be argued that the Cleveland Cavaliers could beat the Washington Wizards on April 6. However, because the game is in Washington, I said that the Wizards would win. Now, you may notice that I have the Bulls beating the Pistons in Detroit. I picked the Bulls to win because the Bulls beat the Pistons by 17 points in their 1st meeting and then lost by 2 in Detroit after leading by as many as 16 points. I think the Bulls should beat the Pistons, because I don't think Detroit is better than the Bulls and I don't see any reason for me to believe that the Bulls will lose. I hate making predictions because I'm not always right. We'll see how close (or far away) I was at the end of the season.

Is 50 wins still realistic for the Bulls?

A while ago, I made my predictions on how many more games the Bulls would win. The Bulls have 39 wins, so they are still 11 wins short of 50 wins.

Here is how I did so far with my prediction (actual result in parentheses):

Feb 20 vs Atlanta- W (W)
Feb 22 at Cleveland- L (W)
Feb 23 vs Washington- W (W)
Feb 25 at Detroit- L (L)
Feb 26 vs Orlando- W (L)
Feb 28 vs Golden State- W (W)
Mar 2 vs New Orl/OKC- W (W)
Mar 4 at Milwaukee- W (W)
Mar 7 at Miami- L (L)
Mar 8 at Orlando- W (W)
Mar 11 at Boston- W (W)
Mar 13 vs Boston- W (W)
Mar 14 at Philadelphia- W (W)
Mar 17 at Memphis- W (?) (40)
Mar 20 vs LA Clippers- W (?) (41)
Mar 22 vs Denver- L (?)
Mar 25 at Indiana- W (?) (42)
Mar 26 vs Portland- W (?) (43)
Mar 29 vs Detroit- W (?) (44)
Mar 31 vs Cleveland- W (?) (45)
Apr 1 at Atlanta- W (?) (46)
Apr 4 at Detroit- L (?)
Apr 6 vs New Jersey- W (?) (47)
Apr 8 at Toronto- L (?)
Apr 10 vs New York- W (?) (48)
Apr 13 vs Charlotte- W (?) (49)
Apr 15 at Washington- L (?)
Apr 18 at New Jersey- W (?)(50)

I still have the Bulls winning 50 games. I want to make changes to my current predictions. I have decided to change my predicted losses to Denver, Detroit away, and Toronto away into wins. That would have the Bulls finishing the season with 53 wins.

Chicago Cubs questions (and possible answers) entering the season

If the Cubs want to be playoff contenders, they have many questions that need to be answered:

Pitching Questions:

#1. Will Mark Prior/Wade Miller be and stay healthy?
#2. Will Rich Hill avoid the sophomore slump and pitch as well as he did last year?
#3. Will pitching in different league turn Ted Lilly into an all-star pitcher (or at least a productive middle of the rotation pitcher)?
#4. Can Jason Marquis bounce back after having the worst season in his career?
#5. Will Ryan Dempster be the closer this year and have a ERA below four?
#6. Can Kerry Wood be effective again and stay healthy?

Hitting Questions:

#1. Can Cesar Izturis provide offense (like he did in 2004) as well as defense?
#2. Can Derrek Lee hit 45+ home runs (like he did in 2005) after he missed 100+ games last year?
#3. Will Alfonso Soriano provide great numbers again, or will the pressure of being the top player on a playoff contender cause him to have a disappointing year?

The Big Question:

Can the Cubs make it to the playoffs?

While I can't answer the questions now, here are the positive and negative answers to my questions:

I'll start with the negative answers:

Pitching answers (negative):

#1. Prior and Miller miss a lot of the season. Prior makes 12 starts and Miller has to pitch out of the bullpen after a long stay on the disabled list.
#2. The batters adjust to Hill after seeing him more and Hill has a disappointing year: 9-16, 4.87 ERA
#3. A new league doesn't produce new results for Lilly: 10-14, 4.45 ERA
#4. Marquis doesn't fix his problems and has another bad season: 8-17, 5.98 ERA
#5. Dempster loses his job as closer after failing to record saves early in the season: 4+ blown saves, 4.67 ERA
#6. Wood is unable to pitch frequently due to arm problems. Wood makes 13 appearances out of the bullpen.

Hitting answers (negative):

#1. Izturis struggles to produce offensively: .205 batting average, .245 on-base percentage
#2. Lee stats are not as good as they were in 2005: 28 home runs, .275 AVG
#3. Soriano has a good season but not as great as everyone was hoping for: 31 HR, 73 RBI, .262 AVG, .323 OBP

Negative answer to The Big Question:

Cubs finish 82-80, 3rd place in the NL central. No playoffs appearance for the Cubs in 2007.

And here are the positive answers:

Pitching questions (positive):

#1. Prior and Miller are healthy most of the season: Prior 15-8, 3.35 ERA; Miller 11-13, 4.12 ERA.
#2. Hill has an even better season than last year: 16-9, 3.34 ERA
#3. Lilly has the best season of his career because he no longer has to face good hitting AL teams: 17-11, 3.41 ERA
#4. Marquis rebounds nicely from his horrible 2006 season: 15-9, 3.81 ERA
#5. Dempster improves from last year's bad season: 35 saves, 3.12 ERA
#6. Wood is healthy and ends up being a key member of the Cubs bullpen: 73 GP, 3.24 ERA

Hitting answers (positive):

#1 Izturis hits pretty good for a #8 hitter: .282 AVG, .325 OBP
#2. Lee proves that he is 100% healthy: 41 HR, 113 RBI, .321 AVG
#3. Soriano shows that his 2006 season was no fluke: 48 HR, 102 RBI, 43 SB, .287 AVG

Positive answer to The Big Question:

Cubs win 95 games and finish 1st in the NL Central. Cubs make it to the playoffs.

My answers are just guesses and it is too early for my questions to be answer. I am hoping for the positive answers to happen, but I am worried that some or most of the negative answers will happen. The only way to find out is to watch the entire 2007 baseball season.