Diary of A Chicago Sports Fan



Photo courtesy of Bing images

Hawks lose third in a row, Cubs add arms and assorted NBA stuff.

The Blackhawks lost their third consecutive game Monday night, losing to the San Jose Sharks, 3-1.  The Hawks went into the third period tied, but gave up a late goal to Tomas Hertl.  Joe Pavelski added an empty net goal.  The Blackhawks have been outscored 9-0 in the third period of their last three games.

Earlier this season the Hawks were winning the close games with late goals.  Recent events seem to be a regression to the mean.  I’ve been calling for the Hawks to move a big salary for some time.  Now would seem to be a good time to shuffle the deck.  Somebody, Marcus Kruger, Brent Seabrook, or Corey Crawford needs to be moved at some point.  I say this, not because the guys mentioned aren’t useful, it’s just that, with the Hawks cap situation something more than fringe assets needs to go.

Keep em coming

The Cubs continue to invest in baseball’s equivalent penny stocks.  After signing lefthander, Brett Anderson, they traded for former Colorado Rockies first round pick, Eddie Butler.  Anderson is like a consolation prize after missing out on Tyson Ross. Anderson is a good bet to fit into the Cubs rotation if they go to six starters for part of the season.  Another possibility is Anderson replaces Mike Montgomery when the Cubs go to a five man rotation and Montgomery goes back to the pen, where he’s been most effective.  Butler is a former high velocity guy with a history of shoulder problems. Butler is a good low risk, high reward type of transaction.

NBA stuff

In NBA news, LeBron James went after Charles Barkley for calling him “whiny”.  James went after a lot of personal aspects of Barkley’s life, which makes LeBron sound whiny.  James also called Barkley a, “hater”.  LeBron is currently the greatest player in the NBA and probably one of the best five of all time, but he does chirp a lot.  LeBron would probably be better served if he addressed the message instead of the messenger.  (And Charles is far from a perfect messenger.)

The Sacramento Kings Matt Barnes turned himself into New York City police in response to an assault charge.  The charge alleges that Barnes choked a woman, an ex-girl friend, and then her boyfriend.  At some point in the ensuing melee, Kings center/wingman, DeMarcus Cousins came to Barnes assistance.  It was a rare assist for Cousins.  And no, the boyfriend wasn’t Derek Fisher.

More next time.