Mitch, I'm Just Not Happy

By Vince Alexander

When it comes to Chicago Bears' quarterback Mitch Trubisky, I feel like I'm talking about an old girlfriend.

"Mitch, it's not you," I would say. "You are great. It's me! I'm just not happy. You are free to go your own way; I'm free to go my own way.

"I admit it. I have eyes for another."

Deshaun Watson. Patrick Mahomes. I just keep thinking: What if . . . ?
When I'm with you--I think of them. When I watch you--even when you are relatively good--I think of what I could of had with either of them. Every week, I hear of Watson of the Houston Texans and Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs putting up awesome statistical passing and rushing numbers. 

Listen, Trubisky, you are OK. It's that Watson is better. In his first 58 games, Watson has thrown 56 touchdown passes and only 18 interceptions. As of this writing, this season he has thrown 11 touchdown passes and only one interception.
In Watson's career, he averaged 258 yards passing per game.

The Bears did not need to move from fourth in the 2017 draft to second to draft Trubisky. Watson was picked 10th by the Texans and Mahomes 12 by the Chiefs.

I've fan-lusted for Mahomes, too. In his NFL career, he has thrown 61 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions. He averaged 327 yards passing a game.
Mitch, baby, you're OK, but my Chicago Bears could have done better.
Trubisky has thrown 34 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in his career. He has averaged 200 yards passing a game.
Mitch, that's not bad.
You're OK. Really, you are a nice QB. You could be a decent back-up QB.
So, it's not you. It's me.
I want more. Let's part ways, so that my Chicago Bears can finally get it right and find the next Watson or Mahomes.
Again, it's not your fault.
It's me--not you! 

You go--we go; they're gone!

By Vince Alexander

Good pitching. Good defense. Good power. All those things are needed to be a World Series baseball champion.

In my opinion, a good lead-off man should be added to that category--especially if you are a Chicago Cubs fan.

I'm a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan.

Nobody was happier when the Chicago Cubs broke their 100-year World Series championship drought by winning the 2016 World Series. The Cubs did it thanks to their good lead-off man Dexter Fowler.

Fowler is now with the rival St. Louis Cardinals, who have a four-game lead over the Cubs in the National League's North Division. As for the Cubs, they are dangling like a baby tooth for the final Wild Card Playoff spot with a 79-68 record.

Not bad, but without a legitimate lead-off man you have a better chance of winning a scratch-off lottery ticket.

Since Fowler left the Cubs, they have played a lot of losing numbers: Albert Almora, Jr., Anthony Rizzo, Jason Heyward, Ian Happ, and Ben Zobrist all trying to replace Fowler in the lead-off spot. Great players but not lead-off men.

The Cubs are one of the most powerful teams in the Major Leagues. Six players have more than 20 home runs heading into October. Kyle Schwarber (35), Javier Baez (29), Kris Bryant (28), Rizzo (26),  Willson Contreras (23), and Heyward (21) make for a potent lineup.

The problem is the Cubs are slow, turtle slow. Baez (11) is the only Cubs player with more than 10 stolen bases.

Speed is important for the lead-off man. First you have to get on base. Next, you have to be a threat to steal second base. Last, you have to be able to score on a single from second base, or tag up and score on a fly ball from third base. A lead-off man has to be fast.

In 2016, Fowler did these things. He was on base 39 percent of the time. In only 125 games, he scored 84 runs. Translation: he scored a run in about 75 percent of the games he played.

That's a problem for the Cubs. When the Cubs go into a power-hitting slump, they struggle to score runs. They don't have the ability to manufacture runs with sacrifice-fly balls, taking walks, and advancing to the next base without a long ball.

When Fowler played for the Cubs, Manager Joe Madden told Fowler, "You go--we go!" This meant, if Fowler got on base, the Cubs had a good chance of scoring runs and winning the game.

But with Fowler playing for the "Red Turds" (Cardinals), it means "You go--they go--and we watch them win the division championship."
And that's not cool!