Dorfman: A Look At This Week's Biggest Night Ever In Chicago Sports
By Daniel I. Dorfman--
CHICAGO (WSCR) It was the latest version of the biggest day in Chicago sports. The questions heading into Tuesday night were: Can the Bulls get rid of the Pacers? Can the 'Hawks stage a miraculous comeback? Can the Sox and Cubs pull out of their mediocrity? Can we ever have some decent weather?
6:00 - I'm searching for the White Sox. It is not on the channel where the Comcast website said it would be. Not a promising start for what is going to be a long night.
6:03 - I find the Sox. I never thought I would need an advanced degree to figure which game is on which channel. Maybe not, but it just seems that way.
6:30 – Robinson Cano hits one deep. Hawk Harrelson screams for it to go foul. It doesn't. 1-0 Yankees.
7:13 – Bulls have started. Joakim Noah takes a pass from Luol Deng and knocks down the free throw. 10-2 Bulls. I sense this series is over.
7:14 – Showing no apparent side effects from the ankle injury, Derrick Rose drives down the lane, cradling the ball like a loaf of bread, and scores. Indiana coach Frank Vogel calls timeout, and this series IS over.
7:15 – Cano drops the ball on an attempted steal of second by Alex Rios. Gordon Beckham then drives in Rios on a single to right with the help of a bad throw to the plate by Nick Swisher. Takes me back to the 2008 Swisher when he played for the Sox.
7:19 – Morel and Pierre fly out with Beckham on second and one out. The motto for the White Sox offense should be, "You have to crawl before you can walk!"
7:20 – Rose drives the lane and we get our first "Too fast, too strong, too good" from Stacey King.
7:25 – I take a quick look at the Sox and Yankees, and Brett Gardner must know I have just tuned in because he hits a solo homer. 2-0 Yankees
7:27 – Carlos Boozer gets his second foul, and King and Pippen rip him. Boozer is about to enter the mix of really unpopular Chicago athletes that includes Jim Harbaugh, Todd Hundley and Rex Grossman.
7:31 – I check in and see what the Cubs are doing, and the camera is out of focus. I know Trib. Co. is in bankruptcy, but are things that bad at WGN?
7:50 – Omar Asik dunks. Stacey King says, "Asik and destroy!" I like that.
7:54 – I flip back to the Sox and Yankees, and they are showing a shot of someone eating a helmetful of chocolate ice cream. At Yankee Stadium, the over/under on the price of that snack is $20.
7:57 – Cano misplays a sharp ground ball from Mark Teahen. You don't see two screwups from Cano all that often. Two on, two out, with the Sox down 2-1. Can Pierre come through? No. He grounds to Derek Jeter. Why am I not surprised?
8:02 – It still looks strange to see empty seats at Wrigley. A vendor gets hit with a foul ball as his back is turned to the action. Hope the poor guy is OK.
8:06 – Floyd makes A-Rod look silly on a curve ball. If he could do that on a consistent basis, he'd be great. If any pitcher could do that on a consistent basis, he'd be great.
8:09 – On Comcast, King reads a promo for an NBC show. Corporate synergy, you have to love it!
8:20 – Bulls are up eight at halftime, and at the same moment, Konerko goes deep to left to give the Sox a 3-2 lead in the 8th. Wow. There is a reason he is the captain.
8:31 – The technical gremlins are spreading. I tune in to Comcast ++ (as the 'Hawks pregame is now on CLTV or CSN+) to keep track of the Sox and Yankees and find no sound.
8:33 – Floyd cruises through the 8th. But the sound remains lousy.
8:38 – Cano just screws up another play on a grounder by Pierre in the 9th. Third bad play by Cano tonight. Strange.
8:44 - Bulls are back, and immediately Rose picks up his fourth foul at halftime. All of Chicago is feeling uneasy. No one wants to see any more of the Pacers.
8:46 – Off we go to the bottom of the 9th. Can the Sox hold on?
8:48 – Boozer picks up his fourth foul against Tyler Hansbrough, and all of a sudden Bulls are only up four. Boozer is about to be as popular in Chicago as the parking meters.
8:49 – Floyd is still in there, and Comcast++ loses the signal. This is really embarrassing. Perhaps before Comcast sends out another self-congratulatory press release about its ratings, it could get its tech issues resolved.
8:55 – Rose blocks a shot and then buries a three. Damn, he's good. In related news, water is wet and it is hot in July.
8:56 – Tech issues resolved on Comcast ++. White Sox bullpen issues not resolved. After Derek Jeter got on with an infield single, Ozzie Guillen brings in Matt Thornton who promptly walks Texeira and Guillen summons Sergio Santos to face A-Rod. Why do I not have a good feeling about this?
9:01 – Brett Lillibridge somehow catches an A-Rod liner against the wall by stabbing at the ball. A-Rod puts both of his hands on his head.
9:02 – Cano comes up, trying to redeem himself after his bad defensive night. Lillibridge makes another great catch to save the game. Lillibridge slams his hand against the grass. Jeter looks stunned and the Sox have actually won two in a row.
9:05 – Keith Bogans knocks down a three, and King is going crazy. Bogans hits another one, and the Bulls are up by 17. All is right with the world. Well, maybe not, but at least this series is about to conclude.
9:19 – Alex Burrows scores on a nice pass from Ryan Kesler. Ed Olczyk breaks it down beautifully. It would have been better if the 'Hawks had scored first. Then the Canucks would be scared.
9:43 – As the teams are shaking hands, Danny Granger seems to be saying something less than pleasant to Deng. Two words for Granger: Go away!
9:52 – After killing off a penalty late in the period, the 'Hawks go into the dressing room down 1-0. They still have a chance.
9:55 – Alfonso Soriano tosses his bat in the 9th after hitting a homer to make it 4-3 Rockies. It would be nice to see such actions when his team isn't losing.
9:59 – Starlin Castro grounds out to second. The Rockies have won the first two, and I only have one game to watch now.
10:38 – Corey Crawford is standing on his head tonight. I love hockey terms!
10:45 - 'Hawks are out-shot 15-6 in the second period but are still only down 1-0.
11:02 – Early in the third period, Burrows draws a penalty shot when Keith knocks him down from behind. Can Crawford pull another rabbit out of his hat? Yes! Still 1-0.
11:30 – Not to be repetitive (well, actually, I don't care if I am repetitive), but Crawford is amazing tonight.
11:34 – Hawks are about to be shorthanded with 3:17 left, and Kane is injured. So they are down a goal late in a critical game and they are shorthanded. Yes, we are all thinking about Kane against Nashville last year in Game 5 of the first round. But that can't possibly happen again. They just have to fight off the penalty and hope to score when Joel Quenneville pulls Crawford.
11:36 - I'm wrong. The 'Hawks pull off another miracle. Jonathan Toews scores a shorthanded goal with his stomach on the ice. I was thinking earlier how he did not seem to be that much of a presence tonight. That is why he is the captain! The Canucks are actually going to choke this away and lose to the Hawks for a third straight year.
11:41 – Overtime! I think I am going to corner the market on Diet Pepsi.
11:57 – 'Hawks get a power play in the first minute of the extra period. Who will be the hero? And will Roberto Luongo give up a bad goal? Those are the only questions right now.
12:00 – Patrick Sharp has a good chance, but can not score.
12:04 - Chris Campoli turns the puck over, and Burrows buries a laser beam by Crawford. That's a shame. I guess we now know how the Pistons felt 20 years ago when the Bulls finally knocked them out.
So a big night in Chicago sports comes to an end six hours after it started. Nice to see the Bulls finally play the way should. Now they can get some rest before either Atlanta or Orlando come to town. Sox still have offensive questions, and the bullpen is a question mark. Cubs are not playing well.
Brett Lillibridge and Corey Crawford have the night of their short careers. Rough night for Robinson Cano, Carlos Boozer and Comcast ++.
And so now we wait for the next the biggest night in Chicago sports. That should be sometime next week.
Do you agree with Daniel? Post your comments below.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a local freelance writer who has written and reported for the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and the Boston Globe among many other nationally prominent broadcast, online and print media organizations. He is also a researcher for 670 The Score. You can follow him on Twitter @DanDorfman To read more of Daniel's blogs click here.
