Riddle me this, in-state students: Has the hometown sports scene ever held this much promise? Virginia bracketologists understandably are bummed about a 'Hoo-less March Madness, but as the spring sports season begins in earnest, Cavalier fans have plenty of reason for optimism. Virginia's men's lacrosse and baseball teams - both numero uno nationally - are primed for NCAA Championship runs, and an undeniable excitement surrounds the start of spring football practices with the new Mike London regime.
A brief hiatus north of 'Hooville yields equally green sporting pastures. As the Stanley Cup race looms large, the Washington Capitals continue to set a blistering pace for the rest of the NHL. With 106 points and a division title already in hand, the Caps have all but clinched the top playoff seed and the President's Trophy as the league's regular season points leader, and Alex Ovechkin again appears destined to dominate the year-end awards ceremony like "Titanic" at the '97 Oscars.
With stud pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg in their back pocket, the Washington Nationals should field a squad that is markedly better than last year's MLB-worst 59-103 showing. Strasburg will begin the season in the minor leagues at AA Harrisburg, but his expected mid-June arrival in the big leagues - coupled with other offseason additions - should help ex-Cavalier Ryan Zimmerman and Co. avoid a third straight 100-loss season.
Despite playing in what should be a loaded NFC East, the Washington Redskins - armed with the No. 4 overall draft pick and wily new coach Mike Shanahan - have the talent and experience to steal wins from the highly touted Cowboys and Eagles. Even the Washington Wizards - mired in an 12-game losing streak and 21-48 record - can hold their heads up high after cutting ties with the Gilbert Arenas "gun show" and playing bullet-free basketball again.
Given all this D.C. dominance, even Georgetown's March Madness meltdown against the mighty Bobcats of Ohio becomes a distant memory. But you never forget your first, and as much as I want to relish these local spring successes, I could never put the sports teams of U.Va. and the nation's capital before those of my hometown Chicago, Ill. Your NCAA Tourney pool hopes may be deader than Dick Vitale's vocal chords, but I'm here to tell you that, yes, it could be so much worse. You could be a Chicago sports fan.
Forget Kanye West at last year's VMAs. Forget the renaming of iconic Sears - er, Willis - Tower. Forget Rod Blagojevich and his Lego hairdo. The real crimes against Chi-town, as my Windy City brethren will attest, have come from a source more tightly woven into the city's fabric than the meatpacking industry or political corruption: Chicago's sports teams. For an out-of-state sports fan at U.Va., Spring Break provides the perfect opportunity to reconnect with these sporting roots. With apologies to Bob Seger, "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then."
Chicago is first and foremost a baseball city, passionately united in love for America's pastime yet polarized by allegiance to either the Cubs or the White Sox. Despite MLB's third-highest payroll, the 2009 Cubs finished a disappointing 83-78, missed the playoffs and extended the club's World Series drought to a record 102nd year. Even worse, the team's recent and highly anticipated ownership change has been overshadowed by clubhouse cancer Milton Bradley. During his disastrous 2009 debut with the Cubs, Bradley failed to justify his hefty contract and was victimized regularly by the Wrigley boo-birds for his poor attitude and even poorer play. Bradley further damaged the team when he called himself a "prisoner" of Chicago's impossible fans, unsupportive management and racist hate mail. In the offseason, the Cubs strengthened team chemistry by shipping Bradley to Seattle and acquiring Texas outfielder Marlon Byrd, but manager "Sweet Lou" Piniella still will have his work cut out for him. For the North Siders to unseat the favored St. Louis Cardinals as NL Central champions, catcher Geovany Soto, outfielder Alfonso Soriano and pitcher Carlos Zambrano all must recover from severe dips in production, especially after being criticized for poor conditioning and work ethic.
On the South Side, the 2009 White Sox - like the Cubs - failed to validate preseason predictions of a divisional crown. The immense midseason buzz generated by Mark Buehrle's perfect game and the team's surprise acquisition of ace pitcher Jake Peavy produced only a mediocre 79-83 record. This season, the AL Central is wide open, especially after the defending divisional champion Minnesota Twins lost All-Star closer Joe Nathan to a season-ending injury, but with a brand new Twitter account at his disposal, controversial manager Ozzie Guillen certainly is capable of distracting his team. Last year, the Sox struggled to generate runs without the home run, and they will look to play more of the small-ball that carried the squad to the 2005 World Series title. If the offseason additions of outfielders Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones don't pay dividends, however, expect plenty of profanity-laced post-game rants from Guillen to follow.
In basketball, the Chicago Bulls recently suffered a 10-game losing streak which dropped them out of NBA playoff position with less than a dozen games remaining. At 33-37, the Bulls desperately need All-Star guard and Chicago native Derrick Rose to compensate for injured forwards Joakim Noah and Luol Deng to make a successful playoff push. And while the Chicago Blackhawks are in no danger of missing the NHL playoffs - courtesy of their Western Conference-leading 99 points - the past two tumultuous weeks have certainly unnerved the United Center faithful. In losing five of their last seven games, the Blackhawks have blown several third-period leads as neither Cristobal Huet nor Antii Niemi has done enough in net to settle what has been a season-long goalie controversy. Add that to losing top-tier defensemen Brian Campbell to injuries from a vicious Alex Ovechkin hit, and the Blackhawks are no sure bet to even sniff the Stanley Cup.
Finally, my beloved Chicago Bears entered their first NFL season in the Jay Cutler era with preseason expectations of a playoff berth. Sixteen games and 26 interceptions later, Cutler and the Monsters of the Midway were quickly brought down to earth to the tune of a 7-9 record. At $91.5 million, the Bears' offseason acquisition of premier free agent defensive end Julius Peppers certainly wasn't cheap, but combined with Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher's return from a broken wrist, the Bears will have no excuses on defense after the unit was thoroughly abused by opposing offenses last season. The Bears have plenty of holes at wide receiver and offensive line, and with no first-round draft picks to fill them, Cutler must morph from pariah to messiah in his second season at Soldier Field if Chicago hopes to challenge the division rival Packers and Vikings.
D.C.'s gain is truly Chicago's pain, and the fall of Chi-town's once-proud sports scene is guaranteed to torture U.Va.'s Chicagoans in the days to come. So when the next big upset strikes March Madness - and shreds all hope for your bracket in the process - by all means shed a tear, but save a second tear for the Second City, and remember - it could be worse.
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