Windy City Flying to the Top

I had this debate with a friend earlier this week: Which young Chicago player is more fun to watch: number 23 Devin Hester of the Bears or Bulls forward number 24 Tyrus Thomas? Both arguments are valid ones. Hester, playing on about ten percent of the Bears snaps last season, still set an NFL record for return touchdowns with seven. Thomas, coming off the bench all year for the Bulls, was the team’s spark plug at the end of the year and definitely led the league in highlight plays per 48 minutes. (Shouldn’t that be a stat? I would love to hear Marv Albert telling me how its an outrage that the Cavs play Eric Snow during crunch time when he only averages .002 highlights a game.) Both players will have expanded roles this year and should breakout into full-fledged stardom.

Yet after today, I have to give the edge to the Windy City Flyer. (That’s actually one of the reasons Hester’s ahead in that matchup. Ty needs a good nickname.) Hester returned one punt 55 yards for a touchdown, another punt 31 yards to give the Bears great field position, and a kickoff 96 yards for an apparent TD, but that one was called back on a holding penalty. He is a threat to score EVERY time he touches the ball and is an absolute blast to watch returning kicks. Plus he scored a touchdown to open up the Super Bowl. Until Thomas does something that can match that, the edge goes with Hester.

Here are more random thoughts from the weekend…

2- Remember last week when I said I would be happy if the Cubs took three of five from the Cardinals and two of three from the Astros. Well, they ended up winning four of five against St. Louis, two of three against Houston and I am indeed quite happy. Great pitching performances this week by Rich Hill (Wednesday), Carlos Zambrano (Friday), Ted Lilly (Saturday afternoon) and Jason Marquis (Sunday) made for a successful road trip, along with some newfound power and an impressive week by the bullpen. There’s still two weeks left in the season, so I don’t want to speak too soon, but I get the feeling that the Cubs are going to get on a nice roll and end up winning the division. The Cubs have nobody even decent left on their schedule (Six games left with the Reds, three each with the Pirates and Marlins), have two off days still to go and are starting to play great baseball. Milwaukee, who is two back in the win column, still has games left with San Diego and Atlanta, both of which are still battling for the wild card, and have no days off. My guess today is that the Cubs win the division on Friday, September 28 at Cincinnati. (And if I just jinxed us, which is a great possibility, I am so sorry. I’m going to go hang myself now.)

3-Back to the Bears, and I got a question for Lovie Smith and Ron Turner. Should I be worried that through two games, the only touchdowns we’ve scored have been by Devin Hester and John St. Clair? I already covered Hester’s score and I have no problem with him trying to make plays on special teams. But John St. Clair? I read all summer long that we were going to try to open up the offense, but I didn’t realize that meant going to third string left tackles on the goal line. How about next week we try and get Roberto Garza involved on a double reverse? Speaking of next week, the Bears are going to have their hands full. Dallas’ offense has looked tremendous the first two weeks of the season. Good thing for us that so has our defense. And Dallas’ defense has looked bad so far. So maybe the game will come down to special teams. If it does, I love our chances.

4-Of all the teams I have a heart-felt passion for, by far the most impressive this weekend were the Florida Gators. I knew they would be good on offense this season, with talent everywhere on that side of the ball. What I wasn’t sure of was their defense, which had to replace nine guys from the National Championship squad a year ago. But if Sunday’s game with Tennessee was any indication, the Gators won’t need a defense anywhere close to last year’s talent, because the offense is about 400 percent better. If it’s possible, the 59-20 score wasn’t a good indication on how much Florida beat the Vols up. Tim Tebow was a monster, Brandon James is electrifying on kick returns and Percy Harvin is the closest thing to Reggie Bush that college football has today. Harvin is so fast, so graceful with the football in his hand, and just looks so happy when playing the game. Don’t be shocked if the winner of the October 6 Florida versus LSU game ends up playing for the National Title.

5-Finally, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am now also writing a weekly college football column for the Chicago Sports Review, which can be seen at chicagosportsreview.com. I hope it won’t cut down on the number of posts I make on this site, but I can’t make any promises. I do know though that due to homework and Cubs games this week, I won’t be posting again until my Thursday NFL picks (Unless there is big breaking news that must be covered). So enjoy the week and Go Cubbies!