I encourage all our listeners to listen/watch some of the interviews done by Epstein recently. He really has laid out a solid plan for the Cubs. It's hard not to come away impressed.
Press Conference at Wrigley (audio)
Theo Epstein Press Conference - WGN Radio
NBC Chicago's Paula Faris: One-on-One with Epstein
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Epstein Officially Cubs President
In a move that everyone knew was coming Theo Epstein, former Red Sox general manger, has taken the position of "President of baseball operations" with the Chicago Cubs. It has been reported that a deal is in place with San Diego that will bring Jed Hoyer as general manager, and Jason McLeod as assistant general manager.
Both teams released a joint statement last night:
CHICAGO - The Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs jointly announce this evening that, effective immediately, Theo Epstein has resigned from the Red Sox in order to become the new President of Baseball Operations for the Cubs. The Clubs also have reached an agreement regarding a process by which appropriate compensation will be determined for the Red Sox and that issue will be resolved in the near term.
Both the Red Sox and the Cubs intend to hold press events on Tuesday, October 25 during which the Cubs intend to announce Mr. Epstein, and the Red Sox intend to announce his successor as General Manager.
Out of respect for the World Series, both clubs have agreed to forego further comment until Tuesday, the next scheduled non-game day. Further information on each club's media availability for Tuesday will be distributed on Monday.
Join Ryan and I as we talk about this huge news this Tuesday on Sports Town Chicago!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Are you ready for some football?!?!
Tomorrow night begins the 2011 regular season with an epic tilt, as the New Orleans Saints square off with the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. I'm personally hoping that the Saints blow the doors off the defending champion Packers. Championship teams rarely come to play in the first game after winning a championship, so let's hope that's the case tomorrow. Some of my spite for Green Bay has to do with just my pure disgust for the Packers (beating my Bears in the NFC championship game, ending the Bears season on their home turf didn't help) but has more to do with my love of Drew Brees and his incredible journey in the NFL. I should also mention that half of my fantasy team's success rests on Saints players and my arise to the top of the standings purely hinges or their success. With all that trepidation comes a ton of excitement for what takes place tomorrow. Simply said, the beginning of the NFL season, which looked so bleak just a few short weeks ago.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
NFL kicks off this week
Well ladies and gentlemen the day we so worried about not happening is finally here, the NFL kicks off this Thursday. With a great match up, as the Saints visit the Packers in Green Bay to kick off the season in style. What a relief, the season did not get canceled but the Bears are still looking to answer some questions. Is Roy Williams a legit Number 1? Will Lance Briggs ever be happy? And can Jay Cutler bounce back from the wave of criticism he faced at the end of last season? All things that have not really been answered so far at training camp. So not the best start to this season coming off a NFC championship loss last season to your division rival. So a lot to talk about in regards to the NFL so tune in. We pretty much can bury the baseball teams. After getting swept by the Tigers over the weekend, the Sox have started making winter vacation plans. And the Cubs don't even have a GM, so they have some work to do this off season as well. So to hear all our opinions on everything Chicago, tune in to Withers & Finnerty tonight starting at 5:00 on www.sportstownchicago.com.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tune in today at 5:00
The Withers & Finnerty show will be resuming at it's normal time today from 5:00-7:00pm. So tune in to hear us recap the Bears win over the Bills 10-3, on Saturday night at Solider Field. There were some good things that happened and so not so good things. So tune in to hear us break down the game and discuss what we thought of the Bears 1st preseason game. Also the most up to date news on the Cubs and the Carlos Zambrano feud, it will be interesting to see how the Cubs handle that. Plus the White Sox are finally back to .500 on the season, let's see if they can finally break through on to the winning side for once against Ubaldo Jimenez and the Cleveland Indians tonight. Lots of good stuff so tune in on www.sportstownchicago.com to The Withers & Finnerty Show tonight.
Monday, August 15, 2011
NFL Rule Changes & Points of Emphasis
Every season there are various NFL rule changes and points of emphasis. We've already seen one change this pre-season. The kickoff has been moved from the 30 to the 35 to increase touchbacks for player safety. We even had our very own Bears ignore this rule in their first pre-season game. Sadly defensive end Corey Wootton, who was having a great camp, suffered a knee injury on the game's opening kickoff. He's expect to miss about 4 weeks.
Anytime there are rule changes the NFL needs a quick and easy way to explain this to player, coaches, and officials. So they produce a video every year and all teams watch this. Well this year's video is on NFL.com and I urge NFL fans to watch this.
The NFL doesn't allow you to embed video so you will have to go to their site to watch it:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/09000d5d8216a10b/2011-NFL-rule-changes-and-points-of-emphasis
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Quarterback Footwork
Early in training camp Mike Martz praised the footwork of Jay Cutler
When Cutler was later asked about his progress, he replied
It is very true that footwork is huge for this system. The reason I'm bringing this up is because any Bears' fan should watch this video. Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer break down the Bears QB's footwork. There's a lot of great footage. Link to it at the website: http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/multimediapopup.asp?mm_file_id=2433&play_clip=Y&rn=8
Or just watch is below
Martz described it as "amazing" on Tuesday.
"I was kind of stunned," Martz said. "He has done an awful lot of work on his own in the offseason.
"I was kind of giddy to be honest with you because watching him drop right now is textbook, and I didn't know how we were going to get him there, but he got there himself before he came to work and we couldn't be more happy with that."
When Cutler was later asked about his progress, he replied
"It's hard, but this system kind of requires it. If you can't do that, if you can't do what he wants, it's hard to be effective in this system. You just have to think about and look at yourself, and kind of break it down step by step. We threw a lot this offseason, with the guys, and they did a great job. And I came back in pretty good shape, and it's paying off for me."
It is very true that footwork is huge for this system. The reason I'm bringing this up is because any Bears' fan should watch this video. Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer break down the Bears QB's footwork. There's a lot of great footage. Link to it at the website: http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/multimediapopup.asp?mm_file_id=2433&play_clip=Y&rn=8
Or just watch is below
Monday, August 8, 2011
Back from Bourbonnais
We had a great time covering the Bears in Bourbonnais on Saturday. As always the people who work for the Bears are easy and pleasant to work with, and can't thank them enough for the opportunity to attend.
I'm going to cut right to the chase on my thoughts about the offensive line. It still looks iffy. I like the potential of Webb and Carimi being our tackles of the future. Chris Williams continues to struggle in camp. It's mind boggling considering he's big and athletic, but can't seem to put it all together. The depth on the defensive line really showed during drills. When the 2nd team offensive line was on the field. Every defensive linemen went through them like butter.
The rest of the offense looks to be on the right track. Even with Martz in Canton, OH for Marshall Faulk's hall of fame induction. Both Cutler and Hanie seemed comfortable running the offense. At one point Cutler even stood where a defensive linemen would to observe plays unfold while Hanie ran the offense. Even without his offensive coordinator he still seemed really engaged in practice.
Forte looks even more explosive than last season. Probably a result of his off-season conditioning which saw him bulk up. Barber is very physical even in practice. Taylor doesn't look bad, but he doesn't stick out. Considering his lack of special teams ability I'm not sure if he'll make the team. So I'd imagine Kahlil Bell will remain the 3rd string running back. As a group I'm very pleased with the running backs.
I didn't get to see Knox (back) practice at all. Roy Williams was on a bike for part of practice. It let Dane Sanzenbacher undrafted rookie from Ohio State get a chance with the 1st string unit. He continues to impress catching everything in sight. I also liked what I saw from undrafted rookie receiver Onrea Jones from Hampton. He runs solid routes and has shown good hands. I have a feeling even if the Bears keep 6 wide receiver Andy Fantuz won't be one of them. The CFL star doesn't look bad, but he doesn't show big play making ability like Sanzenbacher. Plus Sanzenbacher was also returning kickoffs in practice, and special teams depth only helps his case.
The tight ends all looked solid. Clark has the occasional drop, but he hasn't been back in camp very long. It's very obvious we don't have a play making tight end akin to Greg Olsen. It's also not what the system calls for, and it seems like Martz now has a group that can do what he ask of them.
I have much less to say about the defensive side because there's not a lot of question marks. I think Tim Jennings could have played better. Charles Tillman almost had a couple picks, and did some push ups as a result. I really like the move of Chris Harris back to strong safety and Major Wright at free safety. This defense looks better than they did last camp. There's so much depth. Amobi Okoye looks like he could a free agency steal. Keep in mind he's only 24 after entering the NFL at 19. I have a lot of faith in Marinelli. I think it goes without saying Peppers, Urlacher, and Briggs all looked great.
After practice ended we were afforded the opportunity to conduct interviews with the players. These were the results:
Bears Training Camp 8-6-11 by zachwithers
At the end of the day this season rest in the hands of Mike Martz, Mike Tice, and the offensive line. This team is going to be able to run the ball. Will Martz try to pass too much like early last year? Tice needs to continue to have positive development with our young linemen. If the offensive line can perform as a unit the Bears will be in the thick of things all year.
Don't forget to tune in for Withers & Finnerty on Tuesday where we'll go more in depth about camp, and talk with Mike Young from EA Sports about Madden NFL 12.
Weekend in Bourbonnais
Well Bears camp was great, we got tons of great interviews from several players. The Bears looked good in practice. Stand outs were Matt Forte and most of the defensive line which has been beefed up through the draft and free agency with many new faces. But a solid rotation on the D-Line is not a bad problem to have. Look for some of our interviews tomorrow from 9:00-11:00am on www.sportstownchicago.com which include Roberto Garza, Kahlil Bell, the always funny Anthony Adams, new addition Roy Williams, first round pick Gabe Carimi, and 5th round pick QB Nathan Enderle. And not to mention, we're having, Creative Director of Madden NFL 12, Mike Young calling in to discuss the upcoming release of the newest Madden on August 30th. So get ready for some serious football talk with some local baseball sprinkled in, on Withers & Finnerty tomorrow!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Upcoming Madden Interview
The August 9th show of Withers and Finnerty is going to be jam packed. Not only will we be telling you about our adventures and Bears training camp. We'll also be visiting with Madden NFL 12 Creative Director Mike Young. Ryan and I are huge Madden fans, and will be sure to ask the questions you care about. We're really excited to do this interview, and we hope you tune in!
Bourbonnais Bound
The Withers and Finnerty show is going to Bourbonnais! August 6th Ryan and I will be on the field during practice. We'll be taking pictures and interviewing the players after practice. We're going to try to avoid getting stuck in a porta-potty with Gabe Carimi. Be sure to check back soon!
You can follow us on Twitter for live updates from camp:
@ZachWithers
@RyanPFinnerty
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Returning to Sports Town Chicago!
We welcome all of our old listeners, but hope to gain plenty of new ones. So don't miss our first show back this Thursday!
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