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(10/24/09 6:02pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>EVANSTON, Ill. — Stefan Demos kicked a 19-yard field goal with 21 seconds left Saturday and Northwestern completed a comeback from a 25-point deficit to beat IU 29-28.The Wildcats (5-3, 2-2) trailed 28-3 in the second quarter after Indiana used a 70-yard TD run from Darius Willis on the game's first scrimmage play and a 93-yard kickoff return from Ray Fisher to build the big lead.But Mike Kafka shook off three second-half interceptions and helped the Wildcats stage their comeback.Kafka hit Andrew Brewer on a 51-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter to cap a 98-yard drive that started after Indiana failed to score on a fourth-and-goal from Northwestern's 1. That got Northwestern within 28-26.The Hoosiers gambled again on fourth-and-3 in the fourth quarter from the Northwestern 33, but a pass from Ben Chappell was tipped away.
(04/07/08 4:43am)
Derrek Lee found his power stroke quickly this year.\nLee hit a tie-breaking homer in the seventh, Carlos Zambrano struck out seven in seven innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros \n3-2 Sunday.\nLee connected against Oscar Villarreal (0-2) for his third homer of the season. The Cubs first baseman finished 2-for-3 with a walk, and his one out was a long fly to deep center. He didn’t hit his first homer last season until the 21st game and finished the season with only 22.\nThe Astros had tied it when Miguel Tejada hit his first homer with Houston leading off the seventh.\nSlumping Alfonso Soriano homered and made a great throw for the Cubs, and Zambrano (1-0) avoided the cramping that forced him out of the season opener. He allowed two runs and seven hits with \nno walks.\nKerry Wood pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in as many chances, striking out Tejada to end it.\nSoriano was 1-for-24 this season when he lifted a 1-1 pitch from Brandon Backe over the left-field wall in the fifth to put the Cubs ahead 2-1.\nHe also bailed Zambrano out of a first-inning predicament by catching Carlos Lee’s fly ball and throwing out speedy Michael Bourn at the plate for an inning-ending double play.\nZambrano was forced to leave his opening-day start in the seventh with a forearm cramp. Also bothered by cramping last season, he’d been advised by the team’s training staff to cut back on his pregame caffeine intake and drink more water. He threw 106 pitches against Houston.\nBourn led off with a single and made it to third on a double by Hunter Pence. Zambrano fanned Darin Erstad before Carlos Lee lifted a fly to left and Soriano made a perfect throw. Soriano had 19 outfield assists last season.\nBacke went six innings, giving up six hits and two runs with three walks and \nseven strikeouts.\nZambrano’s bases-loaded double-play grounder put the Cubs ahead 1-0 in the second. The Astros tied it when Erstad’s two-out single in the third scored Backe, who led off with a fly ball double to right that got behind \nKosuke Fukudome.\nThe Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Backe escaped by striking out Mark DeRosa and getting Ryan Theriot to ground to shortstop.
(09/11/07 5:44am)
CHICAGO – The Cubs made the most of a brief stopover at Wrigley Field.\nAramis Ramirez homered twice and had four hits to help Ted Lilly earn his 15th victory, leading Chicago over the St. Louis Cardinals 12-3 \non Monday.\nIt was just the third win in eight games for Chicago, which fell out of first place Sunday for the first time since Aug. 16 and began the Monday one game behind Milwaukee in the \nNL Central.\n“I didn’t even think about it. Whether you’re in first, second or third, you got to win baseball games,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said before watching his team get 17 hits.\nSt. Louis, which started the day three back of the Brewers, lost its fourth straight and dropped to 69-72.\nBoth teams made a quick detour to play the makeup, caused by an Aug. 19 rainout.\nThe Cardinals came to Chicago from Arizona and didn’t land until around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Next, the World Series champions have three games \nat Cincinnati.\nThe Cubs arrived home from Pittsburgh and head to the road for a critical swing that takes them to Houston for three games and St. Louis for four.\n“This little stretch here favors the Milwaukee situation because of the fact the two teams closest to them are playing each other,” Piniella said. “This week will tell a lot, starting today and ending Sunday. It will tell a whole lot about what is going to happen in this division and how close it will be.”\nLilly (15-7) matched his career high for victories, set last year with the Blue Jays. He allowed five hits, including homers to Jim Edmonds and So Taguchi, and struck out seven in seven innings.\nDerrek Lee and Ramirez homered in a five-run fourth and Ramirez added a second solo shot in a four-run eighth.\nJoel Pineiro (4-3) gave up two homers, three doubles and a single in a span of seven batters in the fourth. Lee led off with his 18th homer and, one out later, Ramirez followed with his 21st for a 3-1 lead.\nMark DeRosa singled and then Jacque Jones, Jason Kendall and Lilly all lined RBI doubles in succession to finish Pineiro, who had beaten the Cubs at Wrigley three weeks ago. Pineiro lasted 3 1-3 innings, his shortest outing in eight starts since the Cardinals acquired him July 31 from Boston, where he’d been a reliever.\nChicago loaded the bases in the fifth against Brian Falkenborg on a walk, double by Ramirez and hit batter, and Jones hit an RBI single to make it 7-1.\nOne pitch after Lilly knocked him down with a high-and-tight offering, Taguchi hit a two-run homer in the sixth. DeRosa had been drilled in the arm by Falkenborg the previous inning.\nKelvin Jimenez hit Kendall in the seventh, loading the bases, and Yadier Molina’s passed ball allowed Chicago’s eighth run \nto cross.\nCliff Floyd had a two-out RBI single in the first after a double by Lee. Edmonds’ 11th homer tied the game in the second.
(08/29/07 3:50am)
CHICAGO – Confetti fell and euphoria reigned as manager Ozzie Guillen and his team paraded through the streets of the city after the White Sox won the World Series for the first time in 88 years.\nThat day seems so long ago now, although it’s been less than two years.\nIn a stunning and swift collapse, the White Sox have plummeted to the bottom of their own division. And with five weeks left this season, the only team with a worse record in the AL is Tampa Bay.\nGuillen hasn’t lost his fondness for talking, but one word that has come tumbling out several times this season is “embarrassed,” often used to describe his team’s play.\n“This year is the hardest year I’ve ever had in my career, as a player and a coach,” Guillen said. “This is the hardest one, not because we’re losing. I feel like we let a lot of people down. We have a better ball club than what we’ve shown, and I take full responsibility.”\nIt’s one thing to lose, but another to be humbled as the White Sox were last weekend at U.S Cellular Field when the Boston Red Sox won four straight by a combined 46-7 score.\n“We’ve played horrible,” Guillen said, describing not just the four games against the first place Red Sox but most of the season.\nSome frustration surfaced in the series when catcher A.J. Pierzynski and hitting coach Greg Walker exchanged words in the dugout. Pierzynski said it’s happened before and will happen again, and it was no big deal. He insists he and Walker are fine.\n“It’s an issue that shouldn’t be brought up but is going to be because of the way we’re playing. If we were playing better, no one would care,” Pierzynski said.\nEveryone seems to be looking for signs that the White Sox are ready to go on vacation. Guillen told the team in a recent meeting to keep playing.\n“I haven’t seen a lack of effort by one person on this team,” Pierzynski said. “Every guy runs out balls and everyone hustles.”\nBut here’s how bad it’s gotten: The White Sox had lost 13 of 15 games to fall 18 games under .500 for the first time since 1989, before they won a makeup game Monday against Tampa Bay.\nThe current skid was preceded by an earlier one that was just as unfathomable. During one stretch starting in late May and running into late June, the White Sox went 5-22.\n“I don’t like to wish days away. But it will be nice when it’s over so we can start playing for next year,” chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in an interview with the team’s flagship radio station last week.\n“I’m certainly shocked and surprised, but so are most people in baseball. Most people thought we had a team that would contend and we never were in it.”\nThe reasons are numerous: An offense featuring Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye started slowly and has been erratic and unproductive. It figured to be among the best in the league, but has been anything but – and is at or near the bottom of the AL in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.\nThe bullpen has been unreliable and shaky, even though it was supposed to be one of the team’s strengths. Other than closer Bobby Jenks, who recently tied a major league record by retiring 41 straight batters, relievers like David Aardsma, Mike MacDougal, Matt Thornton, Ryan Bukvich, Dewon Day and Nick Masset struggled off and on. The bullpen has blown 18 saves and has an ERA over five runs per game.\nAnd then there is the rotation. Two years ago in the AL championship series, Chicago starters hurled four straight complete games to beat the Angels and advance to their first World Series since 1959.\nBut now those days are also long gone, as is one of those starters, Freddy Garcia, traded to the Phillies in the offseason.\nJose Contreras was 11-2 in the second half of 2005 and went 3-1 in the playoffs. He started last season by going 9-0 before the All-Star break but has not been the same pitcher since. Contreras had lost nine straight starts this season before beating the Devil Rays and owns a dubious mark: 16 losses, the most in the majors. He is 11-25 since the 2006 All-Star break.\nJon Garland, an 18-game winner in the each of the previous two seasons is 8-10. And Mark Buehrle, who got a four-year, $56 million contract extension last month and pitched a no-hitter in April, is 9-9. Rookie John Danks, acquired from Texas in the offseason, is 6-12 and winless in August.\nThen there were some untimely injuries: Slick-fielding, clutch-hitting third baseman Joe Crede was lost for the season to back surgery in June, outfielders Scott Podsednik and Darin Erstad have been on the DL twice each, top utility man Pablo Ozuna broke his leg and DH Jim Thome has been slowed by an assortment of physical problems.\nThe 33-year-old Dye, who like Buehrle could have been a free agent, got a two-year, $22 million contract extension. Right-hander Javier Vazquez was given a three-year, $35.5 million contract extension during the spring and leads the staff with 11 wins.\nBut the future doesn’t appear to be the bright one that general manager Ken Williams mapped out during the during the World Series when he said he wanted to build a team that would be a perennial contender.\nAnd look at what happened to the team the White Sox swept in the World Series: the Houston Astros fired both manager Phil Garner and general manager Tim Purpura after falling near the bottom of their division.\nGuillen, who has another year left on his contract with an option year in 2009, will use the remainder of the season to try to re-establish what he thought was going to be a constant – winning. Williams will have to remake or reshape in the offseason.\nGuillen promised the next White Sox team would be a good one.\n“I don’t know who’s going to be there,” he said. “But it can’t be worse than this.”
(06/19/07 2:55pm)
CHICAGO – Carlos Zambrano lost his no-hitter in the eighth. One inning later he lost the game.\nRussell Branyan homered with one out in the ninth Saturday and the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 on a feisty day at Wrigley Field that featured a bench-clearing skirmish and four ejections in the fourth inning.\nZambrano (7-6) held San Diego hitless for 7 1-3 innings, but San Diego’s bullpen was just as tough after starter Chris Young was ejected in the fourth. The Cubs managed only two hits, as well, off relievers Justin Hampson, Heath Bell (1-2) and Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 19th save in 21 chances.\nMarcus Giles hit a chopper that bounded high over the mound and went off Zambrano’s glove for an infield single with one out in the eighth, ending the no-hit bid. The Cubs then turned their third double play to end the inning.\nBranyan connected on a 3-2 pitch to left center in the ninth for his fifth homer.\nThree players and a coach were ejected after a fourth-inning altercation that began when Young hit Derrek Lee with a pitch and Lee threw a punch at Young.\nLee and Young were ejected, as were Padres pitcher Jake Peavy and Chicago hitting coach Gerald Perry.\nZambrano, who was involved in a fight with his own catcher, Michael Barrett, on June 1, made a great play in the seventh.\nWith one out, Hiram Bocachica hit a slow bouncer to the left of the mound. Zambrano, known for his athleticism at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds, bounded off the mound, grabbed the ball with his bare hand and while falling backwards threw to first for the out.\nPadres manager Bud Black argued on the play, apparently saying Mark DeRosa’s foot was not on the bag.\nGiles reached second leading off the sixth when his hard hopper got by DeRosa for an error. Giles moved to third on an infield out. After Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked, the Cubs turned a double play.\nZambrano also pitched out of bases loaded jam in the fifth after an error and two walks, getting a double play grounder.\nThe Cubs threatened in the fifth as Ryan Theriot doubled and stole third but was out trying to score on Zambrano’s fly ball as Padres center fielder Bocachica made a great throw to the plate.\nIn the fourth, Young hit Lee in what appeared to be the upper left arm with the pitch, knocking him to the ground. Lee got up, walked by Young on the way to first, then said something to the 6-foot-10 260-pound right-hander.\nAfter the pitcher apparently responded, Lee threw a punch that didn’t land. Young tried to throw a punch back that missed. Then he and Lee tried to connect at the same time.\nBy that time both benches had emptied, resulting in pushing, shoving and holding in a scrum as Lee and Young were held back. Several players fell to the ground before order was restored.\nLee said the pitch actually hit him in the wrist and caught more bat than him. He said he was angry because he thought Young was throwing at his head.\nThe Padres were not happy Friday after Alfonso Soriano homered off David Wells, stopped at the plate to admire the ball and then started his home run trot with a few steps backward.\nYoung did not allow a hit in his three innings-plus Saturday. After the fight, he went back to the mound for warmup pitches as boos grew loud at Wrigley Field. But minutes later the umpires conferred and then ejected the pitcher, as well.
(04/26/07 4:00am)
CHICAGO – Oft-injured Cubs pitcher Mark Prior will miss the entire 2007 season after surgery on his right shoulder, a setback that isn’t expected to finish his once-promising career.\nThe 26-year-old Prior had surgery Tuesday by noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Andrews also worked on Prior’s rotator cuff.\n“Obviously, Mark is done for the year,” Chicago general manager Jim Hendry said. “From my conversations with (trainer) Mark O’Neal and John Boggs, Mark’s agent who talked to Dr. Andrews last night, Dr. Andrews feels comfortable that he will still have a career. This is certainly not career-ending.”\n“He felt optimistic that he would be able to pitch next year. ... At his age, he should not have a problem responding and coming back after a strenuous rehab.”\nHendry said it was way too early to set a timetable for Prior’s return or discuss what it means for Prior’s future with the Cubs. Prior started his rehabilitation program Wednesday, and it will continue into the offseason.\nPrior has been beset by injuries since his first full season in the majors in 2003. He made just nine starts last year for the Cubs after three trips to the disabled list.\nPrior was not on the Cubs’ active roster to start this year and was optioned to Triple-A Iowa after a poor spring training. He instead went to extended spring training in Arizona, but pitched only two innings there April 12 before reporting discomfort in his shoulder.\n“Obviously he had some things wrong physically and he’s getting them corrected,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said before Wednesday’s game against Milwaukee. “So, this is a step in the right direction.”\nThe injury was the latest problem for the struggling team. The Cubs, who have not reached the World Series since 1945, made many major changes in the offseason yet began the day in last place in the NL Central with a 7-13 record.\nKerry Wood, who teamed with Prior to nearly pitch the Cubs to the NL pennant in 2003, is back on the disabled list with tendinitis in his shoulder. Like Prior, Wood has been sidetracked by injuries.\nHendry said Wood might resume throwing this week. Wood has not pitched since a spring training appearance on March 25 when his arm felt weak and then stiffened up the next day.\nHendry said he was encouraged by the type of surgery performed on Prior.\n“It stayed in the arthroscopic stage. But I think he had some touch up work in a lot of places,” Hendry said.\n“But at the same time there didn’t seem to be anything so significant that it would require more than the scope. It didn’t have to be opened up and have extensive surgery.”\nPrior went to Dr. Lewis Yocum in California before going to see Andrews, who told the right-hander last October he had genetic looseness in his shoulder joints.
(04/19/07 4:00am)
CHICAGO – Mark Buehrle pitched the first no-hitter of the season Wednesday night – and he was nearly perfect, too.\nThe Chicago White Sox left-hander faced the minimum 27 batters in a 6-0 victory over the Texas Rangers, picking off the only hitter he walked and throwing his team’s first no-hitter since 1991.\nWorking quickly and efficiently in a dominant performance, Buehrle allowed only one baserunner. He walked Sammy Sosa with one out in the fifth inning, then promptly picked him off first base.\n“I can’t believe I did it,” Buehrle said. “Perfect game would have been nice, too.”\nWith the crowd on its feet in the ninth, Buehrle struck out Matt Kata and Nelson Cruz, then got Gerald Laird to hit a slow grounder to third base that Joe Crede picked up and threw to first. As Paul Konerko caught the ball, he pumped his fist, setting off a wild celebration.\nBuehrle was mobbed by teammates at the side of the mound, including catcher A.J. Pierzynski, and then got a big hug from manager Ozzie Guillen as he came off the field.\nOn a chilly 40-degree night, Buehrle threw 105 pitches. His previous low-hit game was a one-hitter against Tampa Bay on Aug. 3, 2001. It was the 16th no-hitter in White Sox history and first since Wilson Alvarez threw one at Baltimore on Aug. 11, 1991.\n“I was part of one in high school,” Buehrle said. “To get through a big league lineup three times, I never thought it would happen.”\nIt was the first no-hitter pitched against the Rangers since June 17, 1995, when Toronto’s David Cone threw one in a 4-0 win.\nMore than two years passed without a no-hitter in major league baseball before rookie Anibal Sanchez threw one for Florida on Sept. 6, ending the longest stretch without a no-no in big league history. His gem against the Arizona Diamondbacks was the first in the majors since Arizona’s Randy Johnson threw a perfect game to beat Atlanta 2-0 on May 18, 2004.\nBuehrle, who retired 20 of the final 22 batters he faced in his previous start against Oakland, had some stellar defensive plays behind him before a crowd of 25,390 at U.S. Cellular Field.\nThree of the closest plays came on grounders. Jerry Hairston hit one to Crede at third in the third inning and was called out at first after a headlong slide. Replays showed Hairston was out, but he was ejected by first base umpire James Hoye for arguing and had to be restrained by first base coach Gary Pettis when he returned to the field.\nTadahito Iguchi made a diving stop of Hank Blalock’s grounder in the hole, got up and threw him out to end the fifth. That came one batter after Sosa spoiled the perfect game bid by drawing the walk.\nAnd in the seventh, Chicago shortstop Juan Uribe went into the hole to get Ian Kinsler’s grounder and got him at first, thanks to a nice scoop by Konerko.\nChicago right fielder Jermaine Dye also made a nice play in the second on Blalock, going back to the fence to catch his long drive.\n“Obviously, for a guy like me, I need my defense behind me,” Buehrle said.\nOnce the ace of the White Sox staff, Buehrle went 12-13 last season – his first losing record in six full major league seasons. After making the All-Star team, he struggled mightily after the break, going just 3-7.
(01/31/07 4:35am)
MIAMI -- Brian Urlacher was so at ease, he slept on the flight to the Super Bowl. And when Sunday arrives, he'll make sure he tunes into his favorite morning fishing show on TV.\nJust to sort of chill.\nOnce he hits the locker room to get ready for the biggest game of his life, Urlacher will eat a couple of cookies -- preferably chocolate chip. He'll cap his pregame routine by listening to some music. Then at game time, with millions watching, he'll step onto the finely manicured grass at Dolphin Stadium and stare across the line at one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks, Peyton Manning.\nBoth will be making hand signals, pointing and instructing their teammates where to go on every play. It'll be a showdown between the two marquee players -- the two central characters -- of the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears.\n"Brian Urlacher is a guy I will always know where he is. You just can't help it," Manning said of the Bears' six-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker. "There are certain guys like that."\nUrlacher, who was hurt in 2004 when the Colts beat the Bears 41-10 behind Manning's four TD passes, said the Bears will have to be ready for Manning's scrimmage-line antics and deal accordingly.\n"You are not going to fool Peyton Manning," Urlacher said. "He knows where to go with the football before it's even snapped."\nUrlacher has come far just to reach the point where he can defend and match wits with Manning as the Bears go for their second Super Bowl win in 21 years.\nUrlacher grew up in the small New Mexico town of Lovington, population around 9,000, and worked summer jobs in oil pipeline construction, toiling for 12-hour shifts in 100-degree heat for $7 an hour.\nHe went off to college at New Mexico when he got few other recruiting feelers. There, his speed, strength, versatility and athletic ability turned him into a star.\n"I was just happy to make it to college," he said.\nAs a safety and linebacker while also playing wide receiver and returning kicks for the Lobos, he was taken by the Bears in the first round of the 2000 draft. Urlacher's small-town roots served him well.\n"That was the number-one thing, the work ethic, I think," Urlacher said. "We played sports. We played street football and played basketball, ran track, played baseball, all that good stuff."\nAlways compared to past Bears greats at the same position -- Bill George, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary -- Urlacher's reputation as a game-changer has grown. It was never more evident than in a Monday night game this season. The Bears overcame a 20-point deficit to beat Arizona 24-23 as he forced a key fumble and finished with 25 tackles.\n"He's a special player," Colts tight end Dallas Clark said.\nClark could be on a collision course Sunday with Urlacher, who often runs down the field to cover receivers or make tackles after they catch the ball.\n"You have him in mind, but you can't be looking for him when you're running your routes, swiveling your head," Clark said. "You got to catch the ball. And then you got make sure once you catch it, you secure it, because these guys come fast"
(01/19/07 4:44am)
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Rex Grossman's team cap was pulled over his forehead and he was in the mood for only one thing: The Chicago Bears' quarterback just wanted to focus on football. There was no time for jokes or lighthearted banter with the Super Bowl just one win away.\nGrossman seemed puzzled, almost irritated, when questioned about how much he'd enjoyed the Bears' successful season. There have been plenty of wins, 14 of them, but also plenty of criticism directed his way for erratic play.\n"I think it's obvious. I'm not sure why I have to explain this is fun, being in the NFC championship game," Grossman said Wednesday. "This is what it's all about. It's not about patting yourself on the back and reading something saying you played great or you're the best or all that. ... I'm just excited about everything that has happened and all the scrutiny is just part of it. That's part of \nmy responsibility."\nGrossman drove some of the critics away last Sunday -- at least momentarily -- when he passed for 282 yards and a touchdown as the Bears beat Seattle 27-24 in overtime for the franchise's first playoff win since Jan. 1, 1995.\nHe did have a fumble and an interception -- on a catchable ball that bounced off Muhsin Muhammad's shoulder pad. But his performance was solid and he completed a big pass in overtime to set up the winning field goal.\nGrossman savored the victory Sunday night and Monday morning. By that afternoon he'd turned his sights toward the NFC title game this Sunday and the New Orleans Saints. \nTold that Grossman seemed a little testy, offensive coordinator Ron Turner was surprised. "Not with me. I didn't sense that at all. He seems focused and relaxed," Turner said.\nGrossman figures to get a big rush from the Saints, who have strong defensive ends in Will Smith and Charles Grant and are expected to blitz and try to rattle him. It's a tactic that has worked at times \nthis season.\nBut winning a playoff game last week, keeping his composure and managing the game all added up to a big psychological boost. Grossman's 30-yard pass to Rashied Davis on a third down set up Robbie Gould's winning field goal from 49 yards out in overtime.\n"You look at the first playoff game, he was pretty sharp all the way through and that was with quite a bit of pressure in his face," Saints linebacker Scott Fujita said.\nSaints coach Sean Payton, who was raised in the Chicago suburbs and played three games for the Bears' strike replacement team in 1987, understands the atmosphere and environment that surrounds the quarterback of the storied franchise -- especially when expectations are so high.\n"I thought in a media market such as Chicago, in a playoff game, he played extremely well. I thought he answered the bell in overtime," Payton said.
(01/11/07 8:52pm)
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Minnesota safety Darren Sharper remembers it clearly, though it's been more than two months since Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman threw a late touchdown pass to beat the Vikings at the Metrodome.\nWhat happened next seems un-Rex like. The Bears' young quarterback started to talk trash to the Vikings. Apparently big-time.\n"In 10 years in the league I haven't had a quarterback do that any time to me, so we definitely remember that, and the guys in the locker room remember that," Sharper said Wednesday as the teams got ready for a rematch Sunday at Soldier Field.\n"Will that decide the game on Sunday? I don't think so, but it gives us a little extra motivation," Sharper added.\nEarlier in the Sept. 24 game, Grossman was intercepted by Antoine Winfield, who went seven yards for a touchdown that put Minnesota ahead. Grossman brought the Bears back, hitting a 24-yard pass to Rashied Davis with less than two minutes left for a 19-16 win.\nThen he celebrated, spicing it up with some salty comments to the Vikings.\n"I probably said some things that I regret, but the whole game their defensive backs were talking to me, just really getting under my skin a little bit and probably more than I should have allowed it to," Grossman recalled Wednesday.\n"But they were just yapping the whole game. I threw the interception for the touchdown, and Dwight Smith came up and smacked me on my helmet and was in my face. ... When we finally got the touchdown pass I probably went overboard a little bit with some of my emotions, some of the things I said."\nAdmitting he was upset at the time, Grossman wouldn't be specific Wednesday about what he said but added that his comments were directed at Smith and not the three-time Pro Bowler Sharper.\n"I probably just should have gone to the sidelines and started celebrating," he said. "It's a situation that if I'm ever in again, I'll just stay calm and just go off to the sidelines and never say a word. (Sharper) is blowing it up a little bit. What can you say really?"\nSharper didn't reveal the exact wording of Grossman's comments, either, but said the Chicago quarterback crossed the line.\n"He was kind of beating his chest, talking trash, this and that," Sharper said. "'You guys are this!' Whatever, whatever. Some curse words, stuff like that. He might've been caught up in the moment, but the thing about it is you always get another chance to see him, and we get that this Sunday."\nBring it on, Bears center Olin Kreutz said, suggesting that the Vikings are trying to get into Grossman's head.\n"Rex can talk whenever he wants. Anybody on the field can talk when they want, and that's where you handle it, on the field," Kreutz said.\n"That's the problem with the NFL. Everybody always issues threats through the media. No one ever really does anything about it, so that's something I'm kind of tired of. I've been here nine years, and everybody's always talking tough in the media, but there's never any fights. If you're going to talk tough, I mean, go fight somebody."\nGrossman has enough problems already, coming off a three-interception, one-fumble performance in a 17-13 loss to the Patriots that has some questioning how far he can take the Bears in the playoffs. He's thrown 11 interceptions in the last six games, but despite his uneven performances, Chicago (9-2) can clinch the NFC North with a victory Sunday.\nIf the Bears are worried about Grossman, they're not saying, but coach Lovie Smith offered this much: The team is not concerned about trash-talking, real or imagined.\n"A lot of things go on during the game," Smith said. "If you are describing Rex Grossman, 'trash talker' is probably not one of the ways I would describe him. Are things said during the course of a football game from both sides? Every game. This game will be won on the field. That has no bearing really on the game"
(01/08/07 5:08am)
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Thomas Jones remembers walking off Soldier Field nearly a year ago, a cold reality slapping the Chicago Bears' top running back in the face.\n"Just the feeling that we had after that game was a sick feeling," Jones said. "Not necessarily because of Carolina but because of us, some things that we did during the game and things we didn't do that could have helped us win."\nDefensive coordinator Ron Rivera, who for a second straight year is interviewing for head-coaching vacancies, isn't sure what his future will hold. But he's also remembering the past, especially that matchup with the Panthers when the Bears couldn't contain Steve Smith during a 29-21 loss in Chicago's first playoff game.\n"I think it fuels us very well. It is a tool that we use, just talking about, 'Hey, we left some unfinished business out there,'" Rivera said.\n"It is kind of a mantra that we've had this year. We had it going into minicamps, training camp, and I think the guys do think about that."\nFor the Bears (13-3) to get past their first postseason game this time -- once again they had a first-round bye -- they'll need to tighten up the league's No. 5-ranked defense that has given up more than 300 yards in each of the final six regular-season games. Plug the gaps, get a banged-up secondary healthy and compensate for the loss of starting defensive tackle Tommie Harris to hamstring surgery\nThey'll need the early-season Rex Grossman at quarterback, not the erratic one whose consistency has bounced from game to game like a loose football the last couple of months.\nAnd one way to help Grossman is for the Bears' running game to take off. It's developed into a two-headed attack, with Cedric Benson spelling Jones.\nBenson got his first 100-yard game as a pro last week against the Green Bay Packers and says he's comfortable -- if not content -- with seeing more playing time.\nBenson carried 157 times for 647 yards and Jones gained 1,210 on 296 carries, both averaging 4.1 yards per carry.\n"Our trend, as it's been all along, is to play both running backs. The situation has allowed Cedric to play more lately," coach Lovie Smith said. "Of course he's taken advantage of the reps he's gotten. But as we go into the playoffs, Thomas Jones is our starter. He'll get the majority of the reps and Cedric will be next in line."\nJones featured more of a stutter-step darting style, while Benson has been more of a straight-ahead runner.\n"He's got his weight up and he's close to 230. He's a load, and most of the time he's falling forward, getting positive yards," Smith said of Benson, the Bears' top draft choice in 2005.\nIt's been a trying season at times for Benson. He'd been assigned the starter's role at the outset of training camp after Jones missed voluntary workouts in the off-season, but Benson got a shoulder injury in practice. Benson was later disciplined for leaving the sideline during an exhibition game.\nNow he could be a major factor for the Bears, who want to use Smith's favorite formula for winning -- play hawking defense (44 takeaways this season) and establish the run.\nChicago will play Seattle (10-7) next Sunday. The Bears routed Seattle 37-6 at Soldier Field during the regular season.\nBenson will be ready.
(12/08/06 4:40am)
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who made the Pro Bowl a year ago, could miss the remainder of the season with a severe hamstring injury.\nHarris left Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings in the third quarter with what was originally announced as a sprained left knee. Bears coach Lovie Smith said Monday the injury was not considered season-ending.\nBut on Thursday, Smith said the hamstring injury was more severe than the knee sprain and that Harris was slated to go to Dallas to see a specialist. He added that Harris could miss the remaining four regular season games and perhaps even the playoffs.\nThe Bears (10-2) clinched the NFC North on Sunday.\n"They're two separate injuries. The knee injury wasn't as severe as we thought, but the hamstring is more severe," Smith said. "When I talk about hamstrings, as you look at the play, he has a significant pull. With that in mind, it could be regular season or it could be farther than that. But again, you're asking me to play doctor right now and I do choose not to do that."\nHarris already was listed as out of Monday night's game against the St. Louis Rams when Smith made the announcement.\n"Normally we don't put a player out this early. That shows you how severe we think the injury is," Smith said.\nLosing Harris could be a major blow to the league's top-ranked defense. The Bears' first-round draft pick in 2004 out of Oklahoma, Harris has five sacks this season and 11.5 in his short career.\n"No one else in the league has a player like Tommie Harris," Smith said. "Now I see us being like everyone else. Everyone else has played without a dominant player like that. Does it change the dynamics of our team, the defensive line? Yes, for sure."\nThe Bears likely will turn to Ian Scott, with Alfonso Boone and Antonio Garay as backups. Tank Johnson has been the starter alongside Harris.\n"He's an irreplaceable player," Lance Briggs, a Pro Bowl linebacker, said of Harris.\n"You can go down the line, and offensive linemen all over the league say Tommie's the hardest guy to defend, he's so fast and his technique is really good. But we have guys who have been in it, who have been in the system for a while and will do a good job"
(11/29/06 5:45am)
CHICAGO -- Alfonso Soriano will be paid $18 million annually in the final five years of his $136 million, eight-year contract with the Chicago Cubs, the fifth-richest contract in baseball history.\nSoriano's deal gives him a complete no-trade provision and guarantees a suite on Cubs road trips, according to contract information obtained by The Associated Press. In addition, Soriano is guaranteed six premium tickets for each home game during spring training, regular season and the postseason -- and for the All-Star game if he is selected.\nSoriano receives an $8 million signing bonus and will get a $9 million salary next season. His salary increases to $13 million in 2008 and $16 million in 2009, then goes up to $18 million from 2010-2014. Soriano, who turns 31 in January, will be 38 in the final year of the deal.\nThere are also plenty of incentives for the five-time All-Star, who will be the Cubs leadoff hitter. He gets $250,000 for collecting the most All Star votes, $350,000 if he is selected the World Series MVP, $250,000 for the league championship series MVP, $300,000 for the MVP award and $75,000 for a Gold Glove.\nAs another provision, Soriano will donate $25,000 annually to United Way and $25,000 annually to Cubs Care foundation.\nSoriano said last week that he also plans to ask the Cubs for permission to play for his hometown team in the Dominican Republic winter team.\nSoriano is slotted to be one of the Cubs outfielders, although which spot has not been determined. But he also said during an interview in the Dominican Republic he would be willing to go back to second base, where he played most of his career before he was switched to the outfield last season with the Washington Nationals.\n"I know that Chicago already has Mark DeRosa at second base, but if they want me to play second, I will," he said.\nCubs general manager Jim Hendry said earlier this week he'd wait to talk to Soriano in person before commenting on his desire to play winter ball. Soriano is expected to have an introductory news conference this week at Wrigley Field.
(10/18/06 4:16am)
CHICAGO-- Lou Piniella vows to make a winner of the Chicago Cubs, whose last World Series appearance came in 1945.\n"Urgency is important," said Piniella, who was introduced Tuesday as the team's latest manager. "We're going to win here, and that's the end of the story."\nPiniella agreed Monday to a three-year contract, worth nearly $10 million, with an option for a fourth year.\n"I'm just a little piece of the puzzle. My job is to come in here and unite this team," he said at a news conference.\nPiniella said he was assured by general manager Jim Hendry that the Cubs would make moves necessary to improve the team. He brushed off a report that he wanted the Cubs to acquire embattled Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, saying there hadn't been "any discussions about A-Rod." Piniella was Rodriguez's first manager when he signed on with the Seattle Mariners in the mid-1990s.\nPiniella said he was hoping injured pitchers Kerry Wood and Mark Prior would be healthy and come to spring training. The team holds a $13.75 million option on Wood for next season, and the right-hander is rehabilitating a torn rotator cuff.\n"They're both talented individuals. Both have had physical problems," Piniella said.\nThe 63-year-old Piniella has 19 years of major league managerial experience, including a World Series title with the Reds in 1990.\n"We got the right man for the job," Hendry said.\nPiniella replaces Dusty Baker, another veteran manager who came to the Cubs with a strong resume. Baker departed after four years when his contract was not renewed following a 66-96 last-place finish in the NL Central.\nNow Piniella gets a chance where so many of his predecessors have come up short.\n"I managed in a lot of places where winning was what was strived for," Piniella said after modeling his Cubs' No. 41 jersey.
(10/03/06 2:32am)
CHICAGO -- Dusty Baker is out as the Chicago Cubs' manager following a last-place finish and a failure to take the team to the World Series in his four years.\nThe Cubs made the announcement Monday, a day after team president Andy MacPhail resigned and the club finished with a 66-96 record.\n"I wish we could have gotten it done, but we didn't," Baker said. "You see four years come to pass very quickly."\nBaker was in the last season of his $14 million to $15 million deal and had hoped to resurrect the franchise that hadn't been in the World Series since 1945 and hadn't won one since 1908. The Cubs got within five outs of the Series in 2003 but never came close after that.\nHe compiled a 322-326 record during his time in Chicago.\nBaker said he talked to the players Sunday.\n"I just urged them yesterday just to learn from some of the things that they might have understood, and some of the things that they didn't understand," he said. "Just retain it, and perhaps some day they can use it on being better ballplayers, and being, you know, better family men and just being better people, period."\nGeneral manager Jim Hendry said it was a tough day for the team but that it was time for a change.\n"History was almost changed for good in 2003 ... although we've been down this slippery slope the last two years," Hendry said.\nHe also said finding a new manager will be his first priority, but he offered no timetable.\nKnown for his toothpicks and wristbands while managing from the dugout, Baker was popular with his players and in his 14th season as manager.\nBaker left the San Francisco Giants after leading them to the 2002 World Series and almost guided the Cubs there in 2003.\nWith Mark Prior on the mound in Game 6 of the NL championship series, the Cubs blew a three-run lead in the eighth inning against Florida.\nThe Marlins scored eight times, helped when Cubs fan Steve Bartman touched a foul fly ball before Chicago left fielder Moises Alou had a chance to catch it. It will easily be the most-remembered inning in Baker's tenure in Chicago.\nThe next night, the Cubs lost Game 7 with Kerry Wood pitching.\nThey came back the next season, led the NL wild card by 1 1/2 games, only to stumble again on a final homestand and not make the postseason.\nThe 2004 season also marked the end of Sammy Sosa in Chicago. Sosa left the clubhouse before the end of the season finale, and the fading slugger later accused Baker of blaming him for the club's failures. Sosa was subsequently traded to Baltimore.\nInjuries to Prior and Wood dogged the Cubs the last three seasons. Nomar Garciaparra tore a groin muscle and missed much of the 2005 season as the Cubs fell to 79-83, Baker's first losing season since 1996.\nThe swoon continued this year as Prior and Wood started the season on the disabled list again. NL batting champion Derrek Lee later broke his wrist and from there, the collapse was staggering.\nBaker was the latest victim in the Cub's history of losing.\nMacPhail offered no excuses Sunday, but acknowledged the Cubs hadn't developed position players as well as pitchers and pointed to the team's uncanny stretch of injuries and poor health.\nBaker has said he does not regret coming to the Cubs but wished he'd been the one to turn the longtime losers around. That's what he expected upon his arrival following 10 seasons as skipper of the Giants, where he was a three-time manager of the year.
(09/07/06 3:55am)
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Rex Grossman's two previous treks to Lambeau Field have been successful. He's 2-0 on the home turf of the Green Bay Packers, which is not bad considering he's made only seven regular-season starts in his career.\nWhen Grossman leads the Chicago Bears into Sunday's season opener, he'll be doing more than trying to keep his perfect record intact on the historic field of his team's greatest rival.\nGrossman, the 1998 Indiana high school Mr. Football from Bloomington South, wants to shut down the doubters, stay healthy and show he is capable of moving the Bears' offense.\n"It's an unbelievable time in my life really to have this opportunity to be a starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears and go up to Lambeau Field and play the Packers. It's a special thing, a beautiful thing. You know what I mean?" Grossman said Wednesday.\nGrossman is relieved the preseason is finally over. He was the target of numerous critics, even some boos, when the Bears' first team offense failed to score a touchdown until the exhibition finale. There were calls for veteran Brian Griese, signed as a backup and insurance, to step in as the starter.\nEntering his fourth season, Grossman's young career has been sidetracked by injuries. He had a torn knee ligament in 2004 and a broken ankle in the preseason a year ago. All that while he's trying to show he can be the player the Bears drafted in the first round in 2003 after a stellar career at Florida.\nHe understands why no one is sure which direction his career might turn, adding he's not worried about the perceptions, even if he is very aware of them.\n"I mean I played eight games, so there is not a lot to go on," he said.\n"I'm going to make a good pass, I'm a good quarterback. I make a bad pass, I'm a bad quarterback. That's just how it is when you are not really established. And that's definitely one of my goals this year ... to get established as a quarterback for this franchise and the league."\nThe Bears' passing offense was rated 31st last season, when Grossman spent most of the year rehabbing his ankle and Kyle Orton, a rookie, started 15 games. Grossman returned late in the season and got into two regular-season games -- one as a starter -- and also was under center for a playoff loss to Carolina.\nGriese, 5-1 as a starter until he was sidelined with a knee injury last season for Tampa Bay, has pushed Grossman, and the Bears hope the competition has made him better.\n"I think we have depth at the quarterback position, obviously, and I think that will make us good. I think Rex will step up to that challenge," receiver Muhsin Muhammad said.\nGriese played well in the preseason -- mostly against second-team defenses -- and his play and poise did not go unnoticed.\n"I think it has pushed Rex, no doubt about it," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "(Griese) is sharp, and he's accurate, and he can move this team and direct this offense, so I think Rex sees that and says, `Hey, I better be on top of my game.'"\nGrossman will watch a player he's always admired Sunday when the Packers have the ball. Brett Favre near the end of his career, is out to show under a new coach that he still can play at the level that made him one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks.\nGrossman, meanwhile, wants to prove he belongs.\n"Obviously we're at the complete opposite of the spectrum. I'm out for respect, trying to get established. He's about the most established guy in the league, everyone knows what he can do," Grossman said.\n"We're pretty different in that aspect. But, you know, I think people are doubting me and that's a motivating factor for me. And I'm sure it's the same way for him right now"
(04/20/06 3:54am)
CHICAGO -- Javier Vazquez watched the ball roll down the third-base line, his bid for a no-hitter riding on where it ended up. Third baseman Joe Crede had no play, either. He was too far back.\nAs they both looked on helplessly Wednesday, Doug Mientkiewicz's slow roller off a checked swing didn't stray into foul territory. Instead, the ball seemed to have a mind of its own and stayed fair. And after 6 1/3 innings, Vazquez's chance to pitch a no-hitter was over.\n"I mean, what can you do?' Vazquez said. "It kind of stinks that was the first hit ... That's part of the game."\nVazquez, Crede and the White Sox did get a victory. Vazquez pitched into the ninth, allowing just two hits, and \nChicago beat Kansas City \n4-0, the reeling Royals' 10th straight defeat.\n"I was positioned way off the line and back with Mientkiewicz up there," Crede said. "I tried to dig a ditch to get the ball to go foul, but it didn't work. It's just something where any time you see a ball like that or a bunt down the line, you know it's going to stay fair because there's kind of a lip on the line right there."\nThe Royals, who had a 19-game losing streak late last season, managed one run and 11 hits in the three-game series against Chicago. Kansas City's 2-12 start is its second-slowest behind 1992, when the Royals lost 16 of their first 17, and Royals starting pitchers are 0-9 this season.\nMientkiewicz said the pitch was running in on him.\n"A hit is a hit," he said. "It was a slider, and I'm definitely not going to apologize for a base hit."\nAfter the hit, Vazquez got an ovation from the crowd of 26,327.\nHe got an even louder one in the ninth after he gave up a leadoff single to Esteban German and was replaced by Neal Cotts, who immediately gave up another single, to pinch-hitter John Buck. Bobby Jenks got two outs for his sixth save, sealing Chicago's ninth win in 10 games.\nVazquez (1-1), Chicago's No. 5 starter, struck out seven and walked one in eight-plus innings.\nHe'd been hit hard in his previous outing against Toronto, giving up seven runs and nine hits in six innings. In one inning alone, he surrendered seven hits, and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said before Wednesday's game that Vazquez had been tipping his pitches.\n"I just felt better overall. My body, my arm felt better," Vazquez said. "It was special hearing the home crowd and throwing my first good game here. The last time, I stunk a little bit."\nVazquez pitched a one-hitter in 1999 for Montreal against the Dodgers, and the only hit he surrendered that game was in the fourth inning to Mark Grudzielanek, now with the Royals.\nGrudzielanek wasn't in the lineup Wednesday because of a sore Achilles' tendon. Neither was David DeJesus, who left Tuesday night's game with tightness in his left hamstring, or Mike Sweeney and Reggie Sanders, who were out of the starting lineup to rest. Sweeney pinch hit in the ninth.\n"Vazquez was really good. I don't want to take anything away from him, but I think he caught us at a pretty good time," Royals manager Buddy Bell said.\n"Right now, because we haven't won in a while, guys are trying to swing for the fences."\nScott Elarton (0-4) gave \nup four runs -- three earned -- five hits and five walked in 4 1-3 innings.\nRoyals leadoff batter Shane Costa had one of his team's hardest-hit balls when he sent center fielder Rob Mackowiak to the warning track in the first for his long drive. Vazquez retired his first 12 batters before walking Matt Stairs on 3-2 pitch leading off the fifth. Costa hit a solid liner in the sixth that was grabbed by leaping shortstop Juan Uribe to end the inning.\nElarton walked three in the first inning and threw a run scoring wild pitch, and Juan Uribe homered hit Elarton's first pitch of the fifth inning for his first homer and a 2-0 lead.\nElarton plunked Jermaine Dye with a pitch later in the inning, forcing in a run, and was replaced by Luke Hudson. With A.J. Pierzynski at the plate, Chicago got a run on Paul Bako's passed ball.\nWith the win, the Sox \nimproved to 10-5 overall and are battling Cleveland for first place.
(04/12/06 5:35am)
CHICAGO -- Here's what Bronson Arroyo has shown the Cincinnati Reds since joining them less than a month ago: He can beat the Chicago Cubs and he can hit home runs off Glendon Rusch.\nArroyo, with no homers in his first six major league seasons, hit his second off Rusch in six days Tuesday, one of six long balls by the Reds as they routed the Cubs 9-2 on a windy day at Wrigley Field.\n"I got lucky again. Just keep hacking," Arroyo said after throwing seven shutout innings and hitting a ball over the left-field bleachers that landed on Waveland Avenue.\n"I really just couldn't believe where the pitch was because it was almost identical to last time. ... I was a little surprised," he added. "I knew the wind was going out, I got it good like I did last time. I figured that it wasn't going to land anywhere in the park."\nAdam Dunn hit a pair of solo shots and Ken Griffey Jr. and Arroyo had one each off Rusch in the first four innings. Edwin Encarnacion hit his first career grand slam and Austin Kearns followed with another homer, both off Will Ohman in the sixth.\n"He's got more homers than Wily Mo already," Dunn said of Arroyo, who was traded from the Red Sox on March 20 for Wily Mo Pena.\n"He's got a good swing. That's impressive. He's shown me two tools so far."\nArroyo, who hit his first homer since high school off Rusch on April 5 at Great American Ball Park, connected for the Reds' third of the game leading off the third. Arroyo's homer last week was his first hit since 2001.\n"I don't have anything for you," Rusch said, unable to explain how he could give up two homers to the same previously light-hitting pitcher in less than a week. "He took two pitches and hit them good. Other than that there is nothing I can say."\nArroyo (2-0) also pitched well in beating Chicago for the second time in two starts, an outing made easier by all the run support. He shut down the Cubs and ended their three-game winning streak, allowing six hits.\n"Luckily for us we just got more balls in the air than they did," Arroyo said. "These guys can do enough damage on their own but I guess if I can help out the cause, I'll keep doing it. If the wind is blowing out, we have a team that can put up some runs. That gives confidence to the starting pitching."\nDerrek Lee, who just signed a $65 million, five-year contract, doubled in Chicago's first run in the eighth off reliever Chris Hammond. Michael Barrett homered in the ninth.\nWith the wind blowing out at 17 mph, Griffey connected on a long solo shot off Rusch in the first, his second of the season and 538th of his career. Dunn hit an even longer one in the second, a drive to center. He connected again in the fourth.\n"It's the first time I've seen four solo homers in the first four innings," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.
(02/27/06 5:40am)
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Angry and disgusted with the latest comments from former slugger Frank Thomas, Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams fired back Sunday, calling the two-time MVP "an idiot."\n"He's an idiot. He's selfish. That's why we don't miss him," Williams said, responding to a Thomas interview that appeared in the Daily Southtown, a newspaper in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park, Ill.\nSince signing with the Oakland A's last month, Thomas has made it clear that he didn't appreciate the way his 16-year run with the White Sox ended, saying that chairman Jerry Reinsdorf didn't call him to tell him he wasn't coming back.\nThe greatest hitter in White Sox history reiterated that point in his latest interview, touching on several subjects and adding that he and Williams didn't see eye-to-eye after Williams became GM following the 2000 season.\nAt the time, Thomas was unhappy that his next-to-last deal with the White Sox contained a "diminished skills" clause. He said the White Sox should have traded him after the playoffs that season.\nHe also repeated that had he known last fall the team wasn't going to bring him back -- they later gave him a $3.5 million buyout -- he wouldn't have participated in a couple of ceremonial functions during the postseason. Unable to play because of an injury, he threw out a first pitch during the playoffs. Later he was given the opportunity to address the crowd at the end of the White Sox's victory parade.\nWilliams said he was most irate over Thomas' comments about Reinsdorf.\n"I've got a lot of respect for Jerry Reinsdorf, I do. But I really thought, the relationship we had over the last 16 years, he would have picked up the phone to say, 'Big guy, we're moving forward. We're going somewhere different. We don't know your situation or what's going to happen.' I can live with that, I really can," Thomas said.\n"But treating me like some passing-by-player. I've got no respect for that."\nThomas said he wasn't bitter or angry and had joined the A's with an open mind.\nBut Williams was fed up that Thomas was still making remarks about his former team and the way he was treated.\n"Jerry has done everything over the course of 16 years to protect that man, to make accommodations for him, concessions for him. He loaned him money, at times, when he needed money," Williams said. "If he was any kind of a man, he would quit talking about things in the paper and return a phone call or come knock on someone's door. If I had the kind of problems evidently he had with me, I would go knock on his door"
(01/17/06 6:30am)
CHICAGO -- On Carolina's second snap of the game, Steve Smith gave the Chicago Bears a preview of the long night ahead at Soldier Field.\nThe Panthers receiver maneuvered around Charles Tillman as the defensive back stumbled on the sideline, gathered in a pass after a nice double pump by Jake Delhomme and then used a nifty move to sidestep Mike Brown.\nJust 55 seconds into the game, Smith was in the end zone.\nChicago's defense, which carried the Bears to a division title and playoff berth for the first time in four years, was left grabbing all day -- especially at Smith. And now the Panthers are headed to Seattle for the NFC Championship game after beating Chicago 29-21 Sunday.\n"When they needed a play, he made it," Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "He's the best offensive player in the league."\nNearly two months ago, when the teams met at Soldier Field, Chicago had eight sacks and two interceptions against Delhomme, sparking a 13-3 victory.\nSmith was hard to stop that day with 14 catches, but couldn't get in the end zone. On Sunday, he caught 12 balls for a for a career-high 218 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He also set up a field goal with a leaping catch in which he took the ball away from Tillman.\n"I'm just really utilizing my talents," he said. "They throw me the ball, my job is to catch it. If I don't catch the ball, they will get somebody in here who will. I've got four people at home depending on me to do my job, so I can't come home with excuses."\nThe Bears had no excuses, either. They were beaten by a better team this time.\nRex Grossman, who played just six quarters all season after breaking his ankle in the preseason, started slowly. He completed only four of his first 14 passes. He regrouped, led the Bears on three touchdown drives that kept them in the game and finished 17-of-41 for 192 yards with one interception.\n"It's crazy. It's been a crazy year. Nothing that I would have expected," Grossman said. "This year is over and it's disappointing because we had such a great opportunity."\nDelhomme finished 24-of-33 for 319 yards while cutting down the mistakes from the first meeting. He threw one interception and was only sacked once.\n"When we came a couple months ago, basically I lost the game," Delhomme said. "It was nice to come back and get on top this time. They're a good defense, but we stepped up to the challenge."\nDelhomme and the Panthers went to the Super Bowl two years ago, showing the ability to win on the road as they have already done twice this season with victories against the New York Giants and Bears.\n"We go on the road, it's just us," Delhomme said. "You have to believe. It's going to be loud, but we concentrate on our job. Coach (John) Fox does a good job with that."\nCarolina will have to win now short-handed. Running back DeShaun Foster broke his ankle in the third quarter Sunday. Foster rushed for 151 yards last week to lead the Panthers over the Giants, and had 54 yards on 16 carries Sunday before the injury.\nThe Panthers were already without three-time Pro Bowl running back Stephen Davis, who was placed on season-ending injured reserve in December with a swollen right knee.\nSo now Smith's presence is bigger than ever. He's almost impossible to cover one-on-one. That's why he led the NFL with 1,563 receiving yards.\n"I know I didn't have a good day," Tillman said. "Steve Smith made a couple of big plays, and we came up short on defense."\nAfter the Bears cut it to 16-14 late in the third quarter, Smith delivered again. He flew past \nbackup corner back Chris Thompson for a 39-yard TD play.\n"I saw (Thompson) was covering him, when I saw that I gave him a signal that I wanted to go there," Delhomme said. "Steve put on the burners and took off."\nAnd who covers Smith -- or tries to cover him -- doesn't really matter.\n"If you lined up my mama out there, I've got to catch it over her, too," he said.