Hello, sports fans! Welcome to your daily dose of sports news and commentary from Clarks Street Sports!
Baseball
Air Soriano
Despite the alarming lack of enthusiasm coming from the world of baseball, there sure is a lot of news coming out of the North Side. First, and most pressing, is that the City Council will decide on the final approval for the renovations scheduled for Wrigley Field. If this passes, and it looks like it will, a planned five year reconstruction of Wrigley will begin this fall. Only the two outfield signs, the jumbotron scoreboard in left field and the see-through sign in right field, are approved so as not to obstruct the view from the rooftops as there is another decade left on the rooftop contract. Rahm Emanuel’s proposed pedestrian footbridge over Clark Street has been “deferred indefinitely” and any other renovations will be discussed within the Wrigleyville community between residents, the Cubs owners, and the rooftop businesses, Emanuel hopes. This is indeed a sad day for those pushing to keep the historic landmark preserved.
On the heels of Matt Garza’s trade comes word that Alfonso Soriano will also be traded. Soriano is currently in discussion with Theo Epstein about his trade destinations and waiving his no-trade rights. Soriano has name-dropped the New York Yankees as his desired destination, but Epstein says there is nothing solid coming from New York as of yet. Soriano said, “[The Yankees] always make the playoffs no matter what team they have, no matter what pitching they got. They find a way.” Clearly Soriano wants to be on a team that will showcase him and Epstein is itching to restructure the entire team, disregarding fan favoritism of players and the class of players that were brought on in the 2006-2007 spending spree.
Junior Lake is killing it, y’all
Junior Lake represents the new class of Cubs being molded to focus on becoming a team worthy of playing in an expensive renovated ballpark that is irritating half of the city of Chicago. He went 3-for-5 with a homerun against the Diamondbacks. Tuesday night’s game against the Diamondbacks found the Cubs reacting with flared tempers and childish outbursts that resulted in a 4-10 loss. Sveum was ejected in the third inning after being vocal about believing that the umpire was baiting a conflict with Cody Ransom after he flung his bat after being struckout. This was Sveum’s fourth ejection this season. Ransom also threw his helmet after lining out with bases loaded. Anthony Rizzo tossed his bat after a painful strikeout as well. As the Cubs rebuild the stadium, it is clear that they are incredibly busy rebuilding the team and the team dynamic.
Basketball
The Bulls are hoping that waiving Malcolm Thomas will give their roster the flexibility necessary to acquire Marcus Camby. Though the Rockets are the likely frontrunner in the Camby acquisition, the Bulls are hoping that this 6’11” center will add another rebounding presence on the court with skills comparable to Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson.
Hockey
We are the champions, my friend!
This weekend is the great Chicago Blackhawks convention where Blackhawks fans can meet and mingle with Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, Corey Crawford, and Bryan Bickell. Niklas Hjmarsson is getting married this weekend and Brent Seabrook is at home in Canada awaiting the arrival of his child, so though they will be missed, we wish them both heart-felt congratulations!
Football
Roar
Bears training camp begins tomorrow and we are so excited for football season we will be announcing a Bears contest next week on our Facebook page. Head over to http://www.facebook.com/clarkstreetsports, like our page, and keep your eyes peeled for our big contest to kick off football season!
Get styling
In the meantime, check out our Blackhawks championship shirts (http://tinyurl.com/ltf7n5c) and get yourself prepared for the Blackhawks convention. Sports is good, Chicago, so let’s party with the Blackhawks!
Clark Street Sports 