Bears.....Down

I still can't fathom it. It was seemingly just yesterday when our beloved Bears were beating up on cream-puff teams with a vengeance not seen since 2006. Primed for a playoff push deep into January, anything less would be unforgivable. What has happened in the last 8 weeks or so is nothing short of pathetic. Inconceivable is the collapse of these 2012 Bears, outdone by just a few in the history of the NFL. Historical indeed, not Adrian Peterson, although he'd come close, but the complete and epic failure of this team to do just enough to say they could but not nearly enough to say they did. Not many things could make me sicker in the stomach than watching this Bears- dare I say offense, waffle through this season, game after game with not a clue of how to make things work. Every sack, every false start, every fumble, every 3rd and long, every 3rd and short not completed, every 4th and inches not completed! The list goes on. Dr. Phil has his work cut out for him, hopefully he has his A-game on this off-season. So, grab a scalpel and start cutting, or better yet get out the chainsaw, cuz this mess needs to be torn up!

Go Crazy Folks!

I have to give the Blackhawks one thing, their national anthem. No matter who you're a fan of and whether you enjoy sports or not, this is something that can get anyone excited. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check this out:

Simply mind-blowing (there's an even better version on NHL.com.) I love the part where it just gets earsplitting by the "Rockets Red Glare," introducing us to new degrees of loudness. In my opinion, the crowd has just as much to do with the great atmospheres in sports, as anything, if not more. The atmosphere at the United Center has been second to none throughout the playoffs, and the anthem before game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals (the one you just saw) was epic, and quite possibly the loudest moment ever in the short but great history of the building. So many great moments in sports have been enhanced, if not created by the fans present and their reaction to the heroics witnessed. Yes, the moments could never take place without the athletes great performances, but equally as important to the moment is the pandemonium that follows, without it, it wouldn't be nearly as exciting and maybe, dare I say even forgettable, of course, that would never happen. Relive Brandon Roy's game winning buzzer beater against the Rockets last season, and the instantaneous raucous celebration that ensued, this play takes place after Yao Ming gave Houston the lead on a three point play with 0.8 seconds left on the clock:

I love experiencing big moments from the "fan reaction cam" or aerial angle, (whichever you prefer,) and watching the sea of arms seemingly punching the sky when that second arrives and insanity takes over, yes truly insane indeed. I love when the crowd gives a unified gasp in anticipation of what's about to happen, followed by a collective sigh or a chaotic explosion in unison (see: possible big three pointers, potential homeruns, promising shots on goal and hailmary touchdown attempts.) I also love when the crowd is already going ballistic and then something happens that requires an even bigger eruption. Decibel level knows no bounds in those situations which usually end up producing some of the loudest, most memorable moments in sports. Check out this classic footage of Michael Jordan and his record setting barrage on the Blazers in the '92 Finals, as he leaves Chicago Stadium in an absolute frenzy, you'll see (and hear) just what I'm talking about:

There's just one more word I have for you: Goosebumps.

The Second Coming

Hey Spinning Tomato back at it, is it really true? I have a follower? I was beginning to think this thing didn't work and it was all one big hoax, thanks for the kind words Abrash, you get to be in this next post and not only that, but I'm going to dedicate it to the World Cup (and your new baby,) just because you asked about it. Truth be told, I'm not going to lie, I don't have the smallest interest in soccer (or football, depending on who you ask)or in the World Cup for that matter, probably because I live and grew up in the U.S., where soccer has always been more of a Saturday morning kids game, rather than a professional major league sport to the likes of the big four (baseball, basketball, football and hockey.) I of course understand the excitement of it, just like any other sport and am well aware of what goes on in just about every other country in the world when it comes to this game, but when you don't grow up rooting for a team that plays the sport, chances are you will never have much of an interest in it. This has touched on another interesting point about my personal "fandom." I live in Chicago, born here, raised here. Growing up it was always about the Bulls obviously, with Jordan here and all the championships etc. The Cubs for me was like a religion, are you in or out, or are you a Whitesox fan?, so you had to pick a side, I picked the Cubs, silly me. The Bears were a popular team, obviously winning the Super Bowl in '86, so that was a shoe-in. The only tricky one was the Blackhawks, they went to the Stanley Cup in '92, but lost, shortly after that, the team was broken up and they got really bad for a really long time, in fact they hit the ultimate low-point when ESPN magazine named them the worst franchise in all of sports about six years back. They went like fifteen years without even making a peep, sitting in the NHL cellar, seemingly rotting away as their fanbase got smaller by the season. They are now the favorites to win the Stanley Cup and their fanbase is finally alive and quite well again, but I'm having issues caring about it. For the majority of my childhood they were non relevant and an embarrassment to follow, I can't just turn it on, now that they are finally good again and anyone who says they can, is lying. You can only be a true die-hard fan if you grew up rooting for that team, if for whatever reason you didn't and you want to now, it's going to be a bit artificial and deep down inside you will not get the same enjoyment you'd get from one of your "real" teams. There's nothing wrong with cheering for them, but don't fool yourself, you're only jumping up and down and hugging the guy next to you, because everyone else is, and chances are they are just like you. So to be perfectly honest about this, when the Hawks hoist that trophy in about a week or so, only half the arena will be truly feeling the joy that only a die-hard can feel, if even that, now that's embarrassing.

Seeds are Planted

Hey, Spinning Tomato here, I've never done this before and I'm clueless as to how this is going to turn out. Nevertheless, I am willing to find out and not just willing , but excited, because I finally get to do what I was told to do by a handwriting analyst several years ago: Write about sports. I never knew how to go about it and everyone I asked said it probably would be a long, tough road that very possibly would lead me nowhere, so that was it, I dropped it. Nowadays, everyone has a blog and gets to write about whatever their heart desires and it doesn't really matter what happens from there, the key is you're writing and if that makes you happy, then so be it. If you like sports, then this is the blog for you, I live and love sports, and very few things bring me the enjoyment that sports brings me. Those few things of course being: my wonderful wife, my three, thank g-d, glorious children and maybe some other things speckled here and there. I am a sports fanatic without cable TV, crazy right? It is possible, for example: You don't need to be watching every game, every day, all the time, every time to be a sports fanatic. You simply have to enjoy it, like almost nothing else. It needs to take you places where nothing else can take you, make you feel things that nothing else can make you feel. I've always had a certain problem, anytime I miss a big play or a big story in sports, I feel a certain emptiness inside, like it was there for me to enjoy and to feel and now it's gone. Obviously you can always go back and see a replay or catch up on it somehow, but it's never the same. I know what you're saying: "Maybe it's time for that cable TV thing." Maybe you're right, but I don't think even with cable TV can you always catch everything when it happens and be in the moment for when it all goes down all the time. I should correct myself, going back and watching a replay is almost as good as the real thing, in fact that's another one of my problems: I need to see that replay, it's like a shadow haunting me until I go see it. It never leaves me until I've obliged to watching it. I don't mind this problem, I enjoy it in fact, it could get a little crazy though, we won't get into that now. Anyways, that's all for now, I don't want these things to be too long, I do want them to be readable and I do want to have time for the other things in life, the important stuff, this stuff, well this is just fun, pure fun and sheer enjoyment. Please comment if you read, I'd love feedback.