Results tagged “football”

Northwestern's ongoing efforts to land a game at Wrigley Field aren't the only major college football efforts going on for the city. Notre Dame is apparently looking into using Soldier Field for a 2012 game, the Tribune is reporting. With a game this upcoming season slated for Yankee Stadium (against Army), one in 2011 at Washington D.C.'s FedEx Field (against Maryland), and future games against Syracuse slated for the new Meadowlands stadium, a game at Soldier Field makes sense for the school's plans to play on some of the biggest stages available. more ›

The NFL's free agency period began on Thursday, and the Bears are stalking a number of top defensive players available. Will the historically stingy McCaskey clan open the purse strings and let GM Jerry Angelo sign the players needed to help his club? Perhaps they will, as Coach Lovie Smith headed to Charlotte Thursday night to chaperon Julius Peppers back to Chicago on Friday. The most coveted free agent this off-season, defensive end Peppers has recorded 81 sacks during his first eight seasons, all with the Carolina Panthers. He's previously expressed interest in joining the likes of Urlacher, Briggs and Harris on the Bears defense, and while a number of teams are expected to pursue him, the Bears were the first to get him on a plane. When he departs town, will it be with a new contract in hand? Some, including the NFL Network's Mike Lombardi, think so. more ›

After one disappointing season, the Bears released offensive tackle Orlando Pace on Monday. The future Hall of Famer was signed as a free agent last off-season to a fill a gap on the left created by the retirement of John Tait. The 13-year veteran started 11 games for the Bears, but ended the season on the bench. And while the Bears didn't expect Pace to perform to the level that'll help enshrine him in Canton, they were expecting more when they signed him to a 3-year, $15 million deal last April. Even the Bears hiring of offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who was Pace's offensive coordinator and head coach with the St. Louis Rams, wasn't enough to save his job. The Bears would prefer to use his cap space to chase other free agents. Teams can begin signing free agents on Thursday. Meanwhile, Pace is apparently mulling retirement. more ›

Given Chicago's (perhaps unhealthy) continued infatuation with the 1985 Bears team, it's certainly shrewd marketing to keep getting more members of that squad involved with the Chicago Slaughter of the Indoor Football League. Already coached by Steve "Mongo" McMichael, the Slaughter recently signed the late Walter Payton's son Jarrett to play running back for them. Now, the Punky QB himself, Jim McMahon has signed on as team owner. McMichael said during the Friday press conference, "Chicago football fans have another opportunity to see a McMahon, McMichael and Payton triple-threat in action." But just how visible an owner with McMahon be? He said on Friday, "I am excited to be a part of this team and it gives me a chance to keep my ties here in Chicago since I moved out (to Florida)." more ›

Fans will have to shell out a little more to see their beloved Bears play this season. The football team announced a ticket price hike in certain sections of Soldier Stadium on Friday, Chicago Breaking News reports. more ›

Richard Dent will have to wait at least one more year before being granted entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after the list of latest inductees were announced on Saturday and his name remained off the list. The former Bears defensive lineman was a finalist for the sixth time in the last seven years, but once again failed to reach the threshold necessary for enshrinement in Canton. more ›

Sunday's Super Bowl is fast approaching, but for most Chicago football fans the game will once again be mostly about the food, drink and commercials -- Super Bowl Shuffle reunion! -- as our Bears will also be watching the game from home. So how does one from these parts choose which team to cheer for -- the Indianapolis Colts or the New Orleans Saints? Some may choose to cheer against the Colts because the beat our Bears when the two teams met in Miami for Super Bowl XLI in 2006. Others may pick the Colts because they're our neighbor to the southeast. more ›

In the wake of Gaines Adams' death last week of an enlarged heart, the NFL is considering echocardiogram tests for all players. The NFL's Cardiovascular Committee began discussing the possibility of mandatory heart tests last week to help detect issues like the enlarged heart that ultimately led to Adams' death. Testing could begin as soon as next month's draft combine. more ›

There were a pair of great football games and now Super Bowl XLIV is all set: Saints versus Colts. But no matter how you feel about football, we know of a least one football game you all can get behind, especially on a gloomy Monday afternoon. Part 2 is after the jump. [via] more ›

The Bears were dealt some tragic news on Sunday with the death of Gaines Adam, a 26 year old defensive end. Adams apparently died of cardiac arrest that resulted from an enlarged heart. Rushed to an emergency room near his home in South Carolina, he was pronounced dead shortly before 8:30am. more ›

• Authorities believe the trucker who was stabbed to death today was stabbed by another trucker after an "altercation."
• A soldier from Galesburg, Illinois serving in Afghanistan is currently being held on misguided child pornography charges stemming from a family photo.
• Block 37's insurance issue may soon be cleared up.

The idea has been bounced around for a while but with a major hurdle cleared, a Northwestern football game at Wrigley Field could become a reality as soon as this fall. The hurdle? The size of the field's "footprint" has been ruled big enough to safely accommodate the field plus the two sidelines. It'll be a tight fit, but there's room. What other obstacles remain? According to the Tribune: more ›

With vacancies at both offensive and defensive coordinator, the Bears' brass has a lot of work to do to retool coach Lovie Smith's staff. Unfortunately for Lovie and his long term job prospects in Chicago, many of the top candidates have been taken out of consideration. USC's offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates had been considered the leading candidate of late, but he opted to follow boss Pete Carroll to the Seattle Seahawks and canceled an interview scheduled for Tuesday. What about Green Bay QB coach Tom Clements? Nope, he won't be interviewing for the job either after the Packers refused the Bears' request. While lobbying for the Bears job before it was even available, former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, became the Kansas City Chief's offensive coordinator last week before even meeting with Chicago. more ›

The Chicago Slaughter, 2009 CIFL champs who will play in the newly formed IFL in 2010, bolstered their roster with a high profile signing yesterday... well, high profile for an indoor football league. The Slaughter announced that Jarrett Payton, son of former Bears great Walter Payton, will join the team as their running back and will wear his father's #34. more ›

We're not sure what it costs to run a full-page ad in the Trib or Sun-Times, but apparently it's less than the $11 million balance on Lovie Smith's contract because Bears management decided to retain their beleaguered head coach as they officially announced during a press conference at Halas Hall on Tuesday afternoon. The same coach who led the team to a season poor enough that management felt compelled to apologize to fans in print this week. While Lovie remains as head coach, most of his offensive staff got their walking papers on Tuesday. As widely expected, offensive coordinator Ron Turner was the primary fall guy for the Bears' season. Offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton, tight ends coach Rob Boras, assistant o-line coach Luke Butkus and assistant wide receivers coach Charles London also got the ax. Given that the Bears have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons after appearing in Super Bowl XLI, David Haugh was correct to in his assessment that "[t]his wasn't a housecleaning at Halas Hall. This was light dusting." more ›

When this season began, we figured we'd be spending this evening looking forward to the Bears' playoff opponent. Instead, the Bears prevailed over the Detroit Lions 37-23 in a meaningless game to wrap up a disappointing 7-9 campaign before heading home for the winter. more ›

Today, the Chicago Bears' season will end is over. There will be no post-season. Instead, there will be a lot of second-guessing and maybe some firings. We'll let Benjy tackle that tomorrow. For now, here's a video of Bears highlights from their magical run to Super Bowl XX. It's not the same as a Super Bowl this year, but it'll have to do for another 12 months. more ›

Don't look now but the Bulls have won four in a row after dusting Orland 101-93 last night. Derrick Rose led the Bulls with a solid 30-6-7, three other Bulls starters - Deng (14), Noah (10), and Hinrich (11) - scored in double figures and John Salmons scored 15 off the bench. The Bulls found themselves down by eight halfway through the second but went on a 15-2 run to the end the half up by four and started the second half on an 11-2 run to extend the lead. A 10-0 Orlando run in the fourth cut the lead to 5 and the Magic found themselves within 3 with less than 30 seconds to go but the Bulls hit 5 of 6 free throws to put the game away. Also put away - for now? Talk of Coach Vinny being canned. But, rest assured, we'll hear something at the next rough patch for the team. But the Bulls hope to avoid that when they welcome the OKC Thunder tomorrow night (7 p.m., CSN). more ›

There's a big storm headed towards the East Coast that's going to cause a lot of travel delays for folks headed that way. The D.C./Baltimore area is getting special attention as they could receive anywhere between 10 to 20 inches. As a result, a lot of stuff is getting shuffled around, including Sunday's Bears-Ravens game. Originally scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. kickoff, the game has been pushed back to a 3:15 p.m. kickoff at the request of the City of Baltimore to allow more time for things to be clear and to give fans more time to arrive for the game. more ›

With the release of a statement on Tuesday, the Big Ten conference declared expansion to add a twelfth team a "front burner" issue, although Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez tipped the league's hand the other day. As college football has become increasingly about the money, the Big Ten sees the attention and revenue they are leaving on the table. Other BCS conferences, like the ACC, Big 12 and SEC, by nature of at least 12 teams, are able to split into two divisions and play a championship game to determine their automatic BCS bid recipient. These championship games mean big money to the conference and an additional high profile game on TV at the end of the season. It also cuts the down time between the regular season and the bowls. more ›

With the bowls set, buzz has been building over the past few days that the Big Ten is looking to expand to a 12th team for football, the first such expansion since Penn State was added to the conference in 1993. While there's no timetable for the expansion, Wisconsin A.D. Barry Alvarez said last week that the conference is starting to explore some possibilities: "I just think everybody feels [expansion] is the direction to go, coaches and administrators." Alvarez also pointed out a 12th team would lead to a conference split into two six-team divisions and a conference championship game (a la the SEC and Big 12). Conference commissioner Jim Delany was noncommittal about such a move earlier this year, telling ESPN it wasn't, "an obvious move." Delany hasn't responded yet to Alvarez's recent comments. Speculation is already centering on Rutgers to be poached from the Big East as the potential 12th team. Other candidates being bandied about include Syracuse, Pitt, and even the University of Cincinnati as the pipe dream of luring seems to remain just that. more ›

According to multiple media outlets late this afternoon, University of Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly will be the next football coach at Notre Dame. Kelly led the Bearcats to a 12-0 season in which they were the Big East champs and are headed to the Sugar Bowl to take on Florida. Notre Dame fired coach Charlie Weis last week after a 6-6 season; Weis was 35-27 in five seasons at Notre Dame. more ›

Continuing their domination of one-win teams, the Bears beat the lowly St. Louis Rams 17-9 at Soldier Field on Sunday. Given the line-up shifts on the offensive line, at linebacker and in the secondary, the Bears hoped to benefit from playing a weak opponent, and they don't come any weaker than a 1-10 team. Even so, the Bears had to overcome a less than stellar performance on Sunday to improve their record to 5-7. Is one win enough to quiet those calling for Lovie Smith's head? Probably not. more ›

Blackhawks Nip Pens more ›

It was a historic night at the United Center with the Blackhawks making their triumphant return home after the Circus Trip and winning in dramatic fashion over the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in an 11-round shootout. Kris Versteeg scored a short-handed goal to give the 'Hawks a 1-0 first period lead. The Jackets answered with a pair of second period goals, but Patrick Sharp netted a power play goal to tie the game at 2-2 after the second. A Columbus goal in the opening minute of the third was followed a few minutes later by a Jonathan Toews power play goal that tied the game at 3-3, where it would end up even after the overtime period. Marian Hossa scored the first 'Hawks goal in the shootout's second round only to have Columbus answer in the next. The teams then were at a stalemate until Brent Seabrook found the back of the net in the 11th round of the shootout to give the 'Hawks the win in the longest shootout in the team's history. The win, as noted, was also the 500th victory of Coach Quenneville's career. In goal, Cristobal Huet had 20 saves through the overtime period but also had an incredible nine more saves in the shootout (the Jackets scored once and missed once). The 'Hawks, who have 8 of their first 10 games of the month at home, host Nashville on Friday (7:30 p.m., CSN). more ›

Multiple media outlets are reporting this afternoon that Charlie Weis is no longer the head football coach at Notre Dame following a disappointing 6-6 season at the school. The first two seasons under Weis were successes as Notre Dame went 9-3 in 2005 and 10-3 in 2006 and landed in BCS bowls both years but the team has been 16-21 over the last three years and is winless against ranked opponents in that same time period. Overall, Notre Dame was 35-27 under Weis, 1-2 in bowl games (those two BCS bowls were losses). Players are slated to vote at a team meeting today whether or not to accept an expected bowl game invitation after which any decision about an interim coach will be made. more ›

We don't even know why we continue to watch this train wreck. The Bears keep looking worse and worse as their season progresses, dropping to 4-7 after losing to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings 36-10 on Sunday. The Vikings' offense obliterated the Bears bumbling defense, with the ageless Favre completing 32 of 48 passes for 392 yards and three touchdowns; the Vikings racked up 537 yards of total offense. Five different receivers caught at least five passes from Favre, led by rookie Percy Harvin's first 100 yard game on six receptions. With the defensive game plan focused on Adrian Peterson, the Bears "held" the star running back to 85 yards rushing, and the Vikings still managed 159 yards on the ground. more ›

Conventional wisdom was that Bears head coach Lovie Smith's job is secure, at least through next season, for no other reason than that the McCaskey clan wouldn't want to pay Smith and his staff while also paying a new coach and his staff. Smith has two years and $11 million remaining on his current deal. Never mind that the Bears now hold a 4-6 record in spite of adding supposed franchise QB Jay Cutler, who Ron Turner has managed to turn into the second coming of Rex Grossman, and in spite of Lovie personally taking over the defensive play calling. The media and fans alike have been imploring the Bears ownership to eat those contracts and make a coaching change. Turner is also the subject of speculation as a source has told the Sun-Times that Mike Martz has been targeted to take over the offense. more ›

Playing in prime time for the fourth time this season, the Bears crumbled under the lights yet again -- this time losing 24-20 to the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field. In spite of a few extra days to prepare after playing on Thursday last week, the Bears were unable to pull out a win in a game where the Bears had their chances against a team missing a number of key players. more ›

The calls for Lovie Smith's head are only going to escalate following the Bears' 10-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night. Fans don't care about the added cost of firing a head coach with years left on his contract, we just want to see our team win. Especially the winnable games. Thurday night's game, against a team that entered the game with a 3-5 record, was one of those games the Bears had to win if they had any dreams of making the playoffs. more ›