👋 Good morning!
For the first time maybe ever, I was jealous of YouTube TV subscribers who weren’t subjected to last night’s Monday Night Football yuck fest.
The good news? The Bears and Lions leapfrogged the Packers for a tie atop the NFC North.
The better news? The Packers and Eagles, who the Bears will face a total of three times in the next six weeks, look … beatable.
The best quarterback at Lambeau Field last night? Troy Aikman in the broadcast booth.
Wakey, Wakey, Hall of Fame-y
Former Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith was officially inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night. Keith was among an eight-person class that included Zdeno Chara and Joe Thornton.
The Résumé: Keith, 42, played 16 seasons with the Blackhawks from 2005 until 2021 before retiring after one season with the Edmonton Oilers. With the Blackhawks, Keith won the Norris Trophy, given to the league’s best defenseman, twice: first in 2010 and again in 2014.
In 2015, Keith won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs en route to the Blackhawks’ third Cup in six seasons. Keith scored the eventual game-winning goal of the championship-clinching Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In 135 career playoff games with the Blackhawks, he averaged a whopping 28 minutes of ice time per game. Keith’s career high came in Game 2 of the 2015 Western Conference Finals against the Anaheim Ducks, in which he played 49:51 of the game’s 116 minutes.
That postseason, Keith averaged 31:06 in time on ice over 23 games.
The Speech: Keith spoke for nearly 11 minutes, paying homage to his mom, his family, the Blackhawks and his former teammates. Ex-Blackhawks Bryan Bickell, Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook and Patrick Sharp were in attendance.
Keith on what it meant to play in Chicago: “Playing for the Blackhawks and wearing that jersey makes you think about the guys who wore it before you. Bobby Hull, Tony Esposito, Stan Mikita, Jeremy Roenick, Denny Savard, Eddie Olczyk, and of course, the O.G. of Blackhawk defensemen, Chris Chelios. But you realize it’s never about you; it’s about the crest, the team and the legacy.
“Chicago became my second home. The fans, the anthem, there was nothing like playing in that building, especially during our Cup runs. We never would’ve had those Cup runs without great leadership, and that started with our owners: Bill (Wirtz), and then Rocky, and now Danny. I’m proud to have played 16 seasons and spent 20 years in the organization as a Blackhawk.”
Keith on his former Blackhawks teammates: “Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Marian Hossa — too many to mention: we battled together. We battled forever, too. We trusted each other and we won together. It was always the team first.
“People often ask me what my favorite moment was playing in the NHL. The Cup wins are definitely the highlights, but getting the opportunity to suit up alongside Brent Seabrook and become the first defensive pairing in the NHL to play 1,000 games together as teammates is right there, too.
“I’m not sure we get that distinction without Brent honking his horn outside my house, calling my phone, making sure I was up and ready to catch the plane. That’s the kind of teammate Brent is, and I was fortunate to ride shotgun alongside him.
“My absolute favorite moments might have been after games on the road, just sitting around in either Seabs’ room or Sharpie’s room. We’d order chicken fingers, fries, Diet Cokes, and we’d be talking about hockey until two or three in the morning, sometimes later. I said I liked to train; I didn’t say I had a diet or needed much sleep.”
I was 10 years old when the Blackhawks won in 2010. The first real memory I have of watching Blackhawks hockey was the 2009 Winter Classic. Hell of a time to get into it, huh?
My first real jersey was a white sweater with No. 2 on the back. I wore it to countless games, school, baseball tryouts one year for some reason, and just about everywhere else.
To me, Keith was the Blackhawks. The ultimate warrior. A machine.
I’ll always be jealous that my parents got to watch Walter Payton and Michael Jordan in person back in the day. I’ll have to settle for highlights. I imagine one day, it’ll be Keith and the rest of the 2010s Blackhawks that I’ll show to my kids through highlight reels and documentaries.
So cheers to No. 2 on an unbelievable career and a legacy that’s immortalized forever in the game of hockey.
Jahns' Five Takeaways: Getting the ball more to Luther Burden, more viral blocks from the Bears' line and more
Spurs 121, Bulls 117: So close. So close. Ayo Dosunmu’s three-pointer extended the Bulls’ lead to five with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter.
Then, Victor Wembanyama happened. Wembanyama hit a game-tying three with 1:00 left to draw the Spurs even for the first time in nearly 19 minutes of game time. He drained a three for the lead 32 seconds later.
All things considered, it was a strong performance for the Bulls without Josh Giddey, who sat out with an ankle injury. Kevin Huerter led the Bulls with 23 points, and Jalen Smith picked up his second double-double of the year with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Since their scalding hot 5-0 start to the season, the Bulls have dropped four of their last five, including their last three.
Earlier in the day, the Bulls sent Coby White to the G-League’s Windy City Bulls to continue rehabilitation for his calf. White could make his season debut as early as Sunday in Utah.
Class Dismissed: Former Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks is retiring from baseball.
“The Professor” spent parts of 11 seasons with the Cubs from 2014 until leaving in free agency last offseason. Over 281 regular-season and postseason starts with the Cubs, Hendricks owned a 3.66 ERA, striking out 1,310 batters.
In 2016, Hendricks finished third in NL Cy Young voting behind teammate and runner-up Jon Lester and the award winner, Clayton Kershaw. That season, Hendricks also started the pennant-clinching Game 6 of the NLCS and the championship-clinching Game 7 of the World Series.
Snubbed: Cubs RHP Cade Horton finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting, losing out to Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin. Horton received nine first-place votes to Baldwin’s 21.
Horton made his big-league debut in May and stayed with the club for the remainder of the year, starting 22 games while compiling a 2.67 ERA over 118.0 innings. Post All-Star break, Horton sported a 1.03 ERA in 61.1 innings (12 starts).
Against Horton, Baldwin went 0-for-5 with one strikeout.
Cubs 3B Matt Shaw received one third-place vote.
Rising Star: White Sox SS Colson Montgomery finished fifth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Athletics 1B Nick Kurtz won the award unanimously.
Montgomery established himself as a major piece of the White Sox’s future after the All-Star break, clubbing 21 home runs in the second half of the season.
His story is also incredible. With a .149 batting average and 43 strikeouts in 103 Triple-A plate appearances to begin the season, the Sox elected to send Montgomery out to Arizona at the end of April for a mental recalibration and a rework of his plate mechanics.
It worked.
On July 4th, Montgomery made his debut with the White Sox. Over the following three months, Montgomery slashed .239/.311/.529 and accumulated 2.7 fWAR.
White Sox RHP Shane Smith received one fourth-place vote.
More Than Just ‘In The Hunt’
📺 CHGO Bears
1:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Cubs
2:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Blackhawks
2:30 on YouTube
📺 CHGO White Sox
4:30 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bulls
4:30 on YouTube
Something on your mind? Rate this issue and leave a comment, question or topic to discuss!
Talk to you tomorrow!
– P.N.
