Mattie T’s 2007 Chicago Sports Recap

I hope everyone had a great New Year’s eve!! I decided to stay in this year due to a combanation of my girlfriend being in Indiana (she’s back in IL now) & all that damn snow outside! Still have to shovel it up which i always do not look forward to doin!! Oh well, that’s Chicago winters for ya!!!

Now that a new year is upon us, let’s recap each month of 2007 for every major Chicago sports team:

January 2007:

The Chicago Bears entered the NFC Playoffs with a #1 seed & a 13-3 record. Their Divisional Playoff opponent was Seattle, who gave them fits all throughout the game. After scoring 21 first half points, the Bears’ offense stalled in the second half which allowed the Seahawks to come back into the game & eventually force overtime.

But in overtime, Rex Grossman made the biggest play of the game with a key 30 yard pass on 3rd & 10 from Chicago’s own 34 to wide receiver Rashied Davis, which set up Robbie Gould’s game-winning 49 yard field goal. It set off a crazy celebration at Soldier Field & put the Bears in the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1989.

Next up was the NFC Championship Game on January 23rd against the high-powered New Orleans Saints. It was a homecoming of sorts for Saints head coach Sean Payton, who attended college at Eastern Illinois University & even spent some time as a Chicago Bear. Several Bears players were miffed at a ESPN column that had every single analyst picking the Saints to win.

Chicago built a 16-0 lead that stood up for most of the 1st half before New Orleans scored on a 13 yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees to Marques Colston.

The Saints would make their biggest threat in the 3rd quarter when Reggie Bush made the biggest play (and also the dumbest) of his professional career.

Bush caught a screen pass from Brees, faked out several Bears defenders & ran upfield 88 yards for a touchdown. This would’ve normally given New Orleans great momentum, except for 1 mistake Bush made on his way to the end zone.

Bush was pointing his finger to a particular player on the Bears defense, which just so happened to be Brian Urlacher. Several Bears defenders were not happy with Bush’s antics & Bush later apologized for the taunt.

After that, New Orleans would not score another point for the rest of the game. It started with a safety after sacking Drew Brees in the end zone & Chicago finished up scoring 23 unanswered points to put the game away & send the Bears to their 1st Super Bowl apperance in 22 years. Lovie Smith became the first African-American head coach to take his team to the Super Bowl, with Tony Dungy doing so just hours later when Indianapolis beat New England in the AFC Championship Game.

February 2007:

With everyone watching on millions of TV sets (hopefully flat screen ones!) around the country, it was time for Super Bowl XLI on February 3rd from Dolphin Stadium in Miami, FL. The field was wet & soggy from a day filled of rain in the Miami area, so both teams were prepared to play some sloppy football.

The phemoneal Devin Hester immediately got the party started as he took the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI & returned it 92 yards for a touchdown which set off a wild celebration among the Bears fans who were lucky enough to attend the big game. Hester also made Super Bowl history by becoming the 1st player to take the opening kickoff back for a touchdown.

The Colts answered with a 53 yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne to give the Bears a 7-6 lead after their 2 point conversion failed with 6:50 to play in the 1st quarter.

The Bears struck right back on Rex Grossman’s 4 yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad for their only offensive touchdown of the game.

The Colts took their 1st lead of the game on Dominic Rhodes’ 1 yard touchdown run with 6:09 remaining in the 1st half.

In the 2nd half, Chicago struggled to move the ball downfield & only got a 44 yard field goal from Robbie Gould as their only points, however the Bears were trailing 22-17 when Gould connected.

The game was put out of reach when Kelvin Hayden intercepted Grossman & returned it 56 yards for the final touchdown of Super Bowl XLI. The Colts won 29-17 & Tony Dungy became the first African American head coach to win a Super Bowl.

Peyton Manning was named MVP of Super Bowl XLI after completing 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards, 1 touchdown & 1 interception.

Thomas Jones played a great game despite the loss as he rushed 15 times for 112 yards & became the main feature back after Cedric Benson was forced to leave the game early with a knee injury.

In a non-sports related event, Chicago’s very own Jennifer Hudson won her 1st Academy Award on February 25th for her outstanding role in the movie Dreamgirls (which i sadly have STILL not seen yet).

March 2007:

The Chicago Bears struck on a $23.4 million, 5 year deal with head coach Lovie Smith on March 1st to keep him in Chicago through 2012.

Smith became the first Bears head coach to win back-to-back division titles & take his team to the Super Bowl since Mike Ditka did it in the mid 80’s.

Bob Babich was also named the Bears’ new defensive coordinator, replacing Ron Rivera who took the linebackers coaching position with the San Diego Chargers.

On March 5th, the Bears dealt Thomas Jones to the New York Jets in exchange for a 2nd round draft pick (37th overall), which actually wound up going to San Diego.

The Chargers selected safety Eric Weddle from Utah while the Bears would get the 62nd pick in the 2nd round & the 93rd pick in the 3rd round which would end up being Dan Bazuin & Garrett Wolfe.

Lance Briggs then demanded a trade & stated that “he would never play another down for the Bears”. Briggs would later rescind those remarks, but i’ll get to that later.

Two former University of Illinois football players were arrested & kicked off the team as Jody Ellis & Derrick McPhearson were charged with stealing personal equipment from campus residents which included wallets, cell phones & laptop computers.

I’m sure the two are deeply regretting their actions as the Illini are in Pasadena today to take on USC in the Rose Bowl.

The Southern Illinois Salukis stormed their way into the Sweet 16 for just the 2nd time in school history before losing to Kansas. SIU is 1 of just 12 teams in the nation that have appeared in each of the last 6 NCAA Tournaments.

April 2007:

Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle had an historic evening on April 18th, as the lefty threw a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers at U.S. Cellular Field on the South Side. Buehrle became the 1st White Sox pitcher to toss a no-no since Wilson Alvarez did it in 1991 against the Baltimore Orioles.

The Chicago Bulls finished off their 1st playoff sweep in 9 years as they swept the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in 4 games during the 1st round. The Bulls dominated the Heat all season by winning 7 of the 8 matchups, which included the 4 game playoff sweep.

Scott Skiles now becomes the first head coach to engineer the last two knockouts of a defending champion (San Antonio in 2000 & Miami in 2007) in the playoffs.

May 2007:

The Chicago Bulls endured a truly heartbreaking loss on May 11th against the Detroit Pistons in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, as they blew a 19 point second half lead & wound up losing 81-74 to put themselvs in a 0-3 series deficit.

The loss was very critical because Chicago would end up winning the next 2 games before being eliminated in Game 6 by a final score of 95-85. The Game 3 meltdown could’ve put Chicago in position to either clinch the series in 6, or play in a winner-take-all Game 7 at the Palace in Auburn Hills.

The Cubs & White Sox hooked up for Round 1 of their 10th annual Crosstown Classic from Wrigley Field on the North Side. After the Cubs won Friday’s opener 6-3, the White Sox were looking to split the series heading into Sunday’s finale.

May 19th’s afternoon game was quite indeed a slugfest, which was aired on FOX. But in a decisively close game, Derrek Lee entered the game as a pinch hitter in the 8th inning and hit a grand slam to lift the Cubs to a 11-6 win & give them the edge in Round 1 of the ‘07 Crosstown Classic.

Utah Jazz guard & former Illini star Deron Williams had his breakout series during the Western Conference Finals, as Williams averaged close to 26 points & 8 assists per game despite his team losing to San Antonio in 5 games. Williams is in his 3rd season with the Jazz & ranks 5th in the NBA with 8.7 assists per game.

June 2007:

Anyone ready for a little base-brawl?

That was the scene at Wrigley Field on June 1st, as Cubs teammates Carlos Zambrano & Michael Barrett got into it in the dugout, with coaches & players having to seperate the twosome during Chicago’s 8-5 loss to Atlanta.

Barrett was later traded on June 20th to the San Diego Padres, where he hit just .226 in 44 games.

Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano had a game to remember on June 8th, as he connected for home runs in each of his first 3 at bats during Chicago’s 9-1 win over Atlanta.

Braves skipper Bobby Cox on Soriano’s performance:

“Number one, he’s a great hitter. Number two, you have to make good pitches to a good hitter. We didn’t even come close to doing that.”

The San Antonio Spurs won the NBA title on June 14th in 4 games over the Cleveland Cavaliers, which gave Chicago native Michael Finley his first championship in his 12th NBA season.

Finley was given the game ball after San Antonio’s 4 game sweep over Cleveland & became the 1st player out of Dallas’ former “Big 3″ trio of himself, Dirk Nowitzki & Steve Nash to win an NBA title.

There was once again more base-brawl at Wrigley Field on June 18th as Cubs 1st baseman Derrek Lee & Padres pitcher Chris Young went at it after Young hit Derrek Lee with a pitch. As Lee was walking to first base, Young said something to him which prompted Lee to head towards Young & throw a punch which misconnected. Young immediately threw a punch back at Lee which misconnected, causing both benches to empty as players & managers tried frantically to break the rucus up.

The two would end up each receiving 5 game suspensions by Major League Baseball for their actions.

In a span of just 8 days, two former Chicago baseball icons reached some historic milestones.

On June 20th, “Slammin” Sammy Sosa made some baseball history against his former team. Sosa connected for career home run #600 off Cubs’ pitcher Jason Marquis (who just so happens to wear Sosa’s old #21) during Texas’ 7-3 win.

Sosa after the game on his historic homer:

“It was something that cannot be explained. Getting my 600th against the Chicago Cubs and my first team was the Texas Rangers. It’s like everything clicked. My emotions, i don’t know what they are.”

Just 8 days later on June 28th, current Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter & former White Sox slugger Frank “Big Hurt” Thomas connected for career home run #500 during Toronto’s 8-5 loss to Minnesota.

Thomas on the meaning of his historic feat despite steroid talk “damaging” the game of baseball:

“This means a lot to me because I did it the right way and I’ve busted my butt since college. I always worked hard in that weight room to be strong. I’m a big guy and I’ve been blessed with this talent.”

In Round 2 of the 2007 Crosstown Classic, the Cubs were able to record their 1st ever 3 game sweep over the White Sox on the South Side thanks to some great pitching (allowed 2 runs over 3 games) & some timely late-game hitting (6 of the Cubs’ 10 runs during the series were scored during the 7th inning or later).

On June 28th, the Chicago Bulls selected Joakim Noah from the University of Florida with the 9th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Noah helped Florida become just the 7th collegiate team in 68 years to repeat as National Champions when the Gators knocked off the Ohio State Buckeyes 84-75 to capture the school’s 2nd ever national championship win.

The Bulls also selected Aaron Gray in the 2nd round (49th overall) & Jameson Curry (51st overall pick.)

Curry has yet to make his NBA debut with the Bulls, while Noah & Gray have combined for roughly 23 minutes per game, 8.3 PPG & 5.6 RPG between them.

On June 29th, the Cubs played their best game of the season during a 6-5 come-from-behind win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Before Chicago even took their first at-bat, they were already facing a 5-0 deficit as the Brewers roughed up Rich Hill, who only lasted 3 innings on a rather chilly day (Game time temp was only 67 degrees.)

But the Cubs would start to chip away at their deficit while getting some great pitching from their bullpen (Billy Petrick, Michael Wuertz, Carlos Marmol & Bob Howry combined to pitch 6 innings of shutout ball) before Derrek Lee tied the game on his sacrifice fly to score Alfonso Soriano.

Third baseman Aramis Ramirez (struck out in the 7th inning with 2 men on & 2 outs) then stepped to the plate & on the very 1st pitch he saw from Brewers’ All-Star closer Francisco Cordero, he belted it into left field for a game-winning walkoff 2-run homer that lifted the Cubs to a huge 6-5 win over Milwaukee.

Alfonso Soriano & Derrek Lee were also named to the National League All-Star team. Both men played key roles in providing a late comeback which fell short as the American League won 5-4 & earned homefield advantage for the World Series.

July 2007:

Chicago Bears tight end Greg Olsen became the 1st rookie to reach agreement on a long-term deal on July 3rd. Olsen finished 5th on the team with 39 receptions for 391 yards & 2 touchdowns during his rookie season.

The Chicago Bulls re-signed forward Andres Nocioni on July 6th to a 5 year deal that is worth $38 million. Nocioni has struggled this season, shooting just 41.9% from the field, 31.5% from three-point range & a career-low 74.8% from the free throw line.

The Chicago’s Rush bid for a 2nd straight Arena Bowl apperance fell short on July 14th as they lost 61-49 to the San Jose Sabercats.

Rush quarterback Matt D’Orazio was severly affected by a back injury during the game, as he completed just 6 of 18 passes for 64 yards, 1 touchdown & 3 interceptions before being replace by Russ Michna, who kept the Rush in the game by completing 22 of 30 passes for 247 yards, 5 touchdowns & 1 interception.

D’Orazio was released from the Rush over the offseason & will be replaced by former Arizona Rattlers quarterback Sherdrick Bonner.

The Cubs dealt for 3-time All-Star & 12 year veteran catcher Jason Kendall on July 17th from the Oakland Athletics in hopes of bringing some more offensive power to the position after trading Michael Barrett to the Padres.

Kendall’s batting average did improve (.270 with the Cubs) after the trade, but he did a terrible job of throwing out opposing base stealers, allowing 111 steals which led the majors.

Kendall signed with the Milwaukee Brewers over the off-season on a 1 year deal.

Barry Bonds came a little closer to making baseball history during a July 19th day game at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.

Bonds belted career homers #752 & 753 in heavy winds off Cubs pitchers Ted Lilly & Michael Wuertz, but it wasn’t enough as Chicago held on for a 9-8 win.

Bonds eventually hit #756 against the Washington Nationals on August 7th at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The Giants’ 4 game series at Wrigley Field drew a record crowd of 161,374 fans in attendance.

Lance Briggs came to terms with the Chicago Bears on July 25th on a 1 year deal after previously stating that he “would never play another down for the Bears” after the team slapped the franchise tag on him following the Super Bowl.

Briggs had a somewhat down season for the Bears with 103 tackles (134 tackles in 2006), but was recently selected to his 3rd Pro Bowl apperance.

The Boston Celtics acquired 10-time All-Star & former Chicago high school standout Kevin Garnett on July 31st, which immediately turned the Celtics into a title contender.

The move has worked out great so far, as Boston sports the NBA’s best record at 26-3 & could be a very serious threat to join the ‘95-96 Chicago Bulls as the only two teams in league history to win 70 games or more during a season.

January will be a big month in determining whether Boston will indeed have a shot at 70 wins. The ‘95-96 Bulls finished 2005 at 25-3 before going 14-0 in January of ‘06 to post a 39-3 record. The pressure will definitely be on the Celtics with upcoming games against Detroit, Orlando & Dallas. (Pistons & Magic have handed Boston 2 of their 3 losses)

August 2007:

Tom Glavine made baseball history at Wrigley Field on August 5th, as he became possibly the last pitcher ever to win his 300th game with family & friends in attendance as the Mets beat the Cubs 8-3. Glavine became the 23rd pitcher in major league history to reach the 300 win mark, but only the 5th lefty to do so.

In that same game, Alfonso Soriano suffered a right quad injury & was sidelined for roughly 3 weeks with the Cubs in the middle of a pennant race.

Cubs outfielder Cliff Floyd lost his father Cornelius after a 2 month battle of kidney & heart problems. Floyd left the team & missed 9 games to be with his family.

Floyd returned on August 21st during the Cubs’ west coast trip in San Francisco & came up with the game-winning two run single in the 9thh inning to give Chicago the lead & propel the Cubs to a 5-1 win.

Floyd on his big hit:

“I can’t really explain, except it felt like he was inside me. I’ve never felt that before. Coming back and helping the team my first game is a great feeling. Usually I get a little anxious. For some reason today I felt really calm.”

The White Sox agreed to a 2 year, $22 million deal on August 18th with outfielder Jermaine Dye, which will keep Dye on the South Side through 2009.

The 2005 World Series MVP batted just .254 in 138 games last season, which was his lowest batting average since hitting .265 in 137 games with the Oakland Athletics in 2004.

The Chicago Cubs agreed to a 5 year, $91.5 million deal with pitcher Carlos Zambrano on August 18th that will keep him on the North Side through 2012.

Zambrano set a new career-high with 18 wins, but also set career-highs in losses (13), runs allowed (100) & home runs allowed (23).

Zambrano definitely had some bad moments in 2007, which included his previously mentioned dugout brawl with ex-teammate Michael Barrett & some controversial comments after getting booed by Cubs fans during a Labor Day home game (which i attended in person) against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Zambrano on the boos from the Wrigley Field fans:

“I thought these were the greatest fans in baseball, but they showed me today that they only care about themselves. That’s not fair, when you are struggling, you want to feel like you have their support. I don’t accept their reaction.”

Zambrano later apologized for his comments.

The Cubs acquired 36 year old veteran Steve Trachsel on August 31st from the Baltimore Orioles in hopes of landing some key veteran pitching for the playoffs.

The move backfired, as Trachsel was lit up for a career-high 8.31 ERA & allowed opponents to hit .368 off him in just 4 apperances for the Cubs.

September 2007:

White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome put himself into the 500 homer club in the best way any player could imagine: with a walk-off home run.

Thome blasted a 2 run homer to deep center field off Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim reliever Dustin Moseley to give the White Sox a 9-7 win. Ironically, Thome’s 500th homer came on his bobblehead day, as he pointed up to the sky while rounding the bases in tribute to his late mother, who passed away from breast cancer in 2005.

The Rex Grossman era (for now) officially ended for the Bears on September 19th, as head coach Lovie Smith named Brian Griese the starter after Grossman’s struggles over Chicago’s first 3 games of the season.

At the time of Grossman’s benching, his 45.2 passer rating was ranked 33rd out of 34 qualified quarterbacks in the NFL.

On September 28th, the Chicago Cubs ended a 5 year playoff drought by clinching the National League Central title after beating Cincinnati 6-0 & combined with Milwaukee’s 6-3 loss to San Diego.

They accomplished the feat despite trailing Milwaukee in the division by as much as 8.5 games on June 23rd.

The Fighting Illini got their first ranked win in 6 years when they upset former #21 Penn State 27-20 on September 29th.

Illinois rushed for 216 yards on the ground & was led by Rashard Mendenhall, who ran 18 times for 76 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

October 2007:

The Chicago Cubs suffered yet another heartbreaking postseason defeat as they were swept in 3 games by the Arizona Diamondbacks during the National League Division Series.

The Cubs’ big 3 of Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee & Aramis Ramirez struggled mightly as Chicago scored a grand total of 6 runs during the 3 game series.

Cubs skipper Lou Piniella made a controversial move during Game 1 by pulling ace Carlos Zambrano in a tied game (Arizona eventually won 3-1), hoping to save him for a Game 4 that never materialized.

The Fighting Illini did it again on October 6th, as they upset former #5 Wisconsin 31-26 for their first 3-0 Big 10 start since 1990. Rashard Mendenhall had a big day with 19 rushes for 160 yards & 2 touchdowns. Mendenhall also added 4 receptions for 33 yards & a touchdown, later adding: “”With a team like us, we haven’t had too much success like this. … (Now) we know we can play with anybody.”

Brian Griese provided some late game magic in just his 2nd start of the season on October 7th, as he hit tight end Desmond Clark for the go-ahead 34 yard touchdown & gave Chicago a 27-20 win over archrival Green Bay.

Griese on the comeback win:
“This was as much as a must-win as you can get for us. We needed the momentum. We needed the confidence. I thought our guys on both sides of the ball came out and played with heart and character and that’s what I’m most excited about.”

Minnesota Vikings rookie phenom Adrian Peterson had his coming out party at the expense of the Chicago Bears defense on October 14th at Soldier Field.

Peterson erupted for 224 yards on 20 attempts & scored 3 touchdowns to lift Minnesota to a 34-31 win over Chicago. The 224 rushing yards are the most that the Bears have ever given up in their 88 year old history.

Bears defensive end Alex Brown summed Peterson’s great performance up short, but to the point:

“We stunk. We played horrible. He’s a good player, but … he shouldn’t get that many yards.”

Brian Griese once again provided some late-game magic on October 21st with a game-winning 15 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad to lift Chicago to a 19-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Here’s how Muhammad basically summed up the game:

“When we came out in the second half we pretty much knew that our season was on the line.”

November 2007:

The Fighting Illini came up with their biggest upset in school history on November 11th, as they stunned previously top-ranked Ohio State with a 28-21 win. It was the school’s first win over a top-ranked opponent since 1956.

The loss snapped a 20 game win streak over Big 10 opponents by Ohio State & prompted this quote from senior offensive tackle Kirk Barton:

“It’s (my) last time in the Horseshoe and it’s the last game I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Has Sexy Rexy returned in Chicago? Grossman replaced an injured Brian Griese on November 11th & threw the go-ahead 59 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bernard Berrian to lift the Bears to a 17-6 win over the Oakland Raiders.

Bears center Olin Kreutz on Grossman’s weekly preparation despite being benched earlier in the season:

“I hope people appreciate that Rex hasn’t shut it down. He hasn’t moped around our building. He’s kept himself prepared and ready to play. I hope it shows a lot of people what everybody on this team already knew about Rex. He’s still a professional, and he’s still going to be ready to win.”

Devin Hester showed once again on November 25th why opposing NFL teams cannot afford to kick him the football. Hester twice tied the game with an 75 yard punt return & an 88 yard kickoff return for touchdowns, as Chicago erased a 14 point fourth quarter deficit to rally themselves to a wild 37-34 overtime win over the Denver Broncos.

Broncos cornerback Dre Bly summed it up very simply:

“I feel like we single-handedly got beat by one guy.”

December 2007:

Rex Grossman’s season came to an disappointing end on December 7th after suffering a left knee injury in the 2nd quarter during Chicago’s 24-16 loss to Washington.

The current free agent quarterback’s 5 year tenure with the Bears has been decimated by injuries, as Grossman has only appeared in 10 games or more just once, which was in 2006 when Chicago went to the Super Bowl.

The Chicago Cubs agreed to a 4 year deal with Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome on December 11th, luring him away from Japan to play in the major leagues. Fukudome has competed twice in Olympic competition (’96 in Atlanta & ‘04 in Athens) and also participated in last summer’s World Baseball Classic.

Fukudome is expected to play right field next season for the Cubs.

The Bears were officially eliminated from the playoffs on December 18th after their 20-13 loss to the Vikings while failing to score any points during the 2nd half.

Chicago was looking to make back-to-back conference championship game apperances for the 1st time since 1984-85, when Mike Ditka was the team’s head coach.

Now that the Bears were officially eliminated from postseason play, they decided to wreck the Packers’ plans of hosting the NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field.

Chicago came out with their best effort of the season on December 23rd during a 35-7 rout over Green Bay in a game that featured wind gusts of 35-40 miles per hour.

The Bears defense forced Packers quarterback Brett Favre into his worst game of the season, as Favre completed 17 of 32 passes for 153 yards, no touchdowns & 2 interceptions.

One of Favre’s two picks was returned for an 85 yard score, courtesy of Brian Urlacher.

The Packers’ loss set up the Dallas Cowboys & local quarterback Tony Romo with homefield advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs.

On December 24th, the Chicago Bulls decided that it was time for a change. Scott Skiles was fired after 3+ seasons as head coach & his team sporting a 9-16 record.

Skiles led the Bulls to the playoffs in 3 consecutive seasons, sweeping the defending champion Miami Heat in the 1st round of the 2007 Playoffs before losing to 6 games to the Detroit Pistons.

Skiles was replaced by Pete Myers for 1 game (Bulls lost 95-84 to San Antonio) & then eventually replaced again by Jim Boylan, who is currently 2-1 since taking over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

One great move that Boylan has made so far is bringing guard Ben Gordon off the bench. Gordon has responded with 56 points in 2 games on 64.2% shooting.

One possible candidate that the Bulls could look at next summer is Larry Brown.

Brown is currently the executive vice president for the Philadelphia 76ers, but he could be talked into coming in Chicago since the Bulls do have Ben Wallace.

The twosome helped Detroit defeat the heavily-favored L.A. Lakers in 2004 for the NBA Championship.

Finally, it’s time to pay homage to some current & former sports figures that left us in 2007. Let’s remember each individual in loving memory for the positive things that they accomplished in life.

Darrent Williams (1982-2007)

Damien Nash (1982-2007)

Dennis Johnson (1954-2007)

Bill Walsh (1931-2007)

Eddie Robinson (1919-2007)

Josh Hancock (1978-2007)

Marquise Hill (1982-2007)

Rod Beck (1968-2007)

Skip Prosser (1950-2007)

Phil Rizzuto (1917-2007)

Eddie Griffin (1982-2007)

Bill Wirtz (1929-2007)

Joe Kennedy (1978-2007)

Sean Taylor (1984-2007)

Dick Nolan (1932-2007)

Bill France Jr. (1933-2007)

Darryl Stingley (1951-2007)

Herb Carneal (1923-2007)

Terry Armour (1961-2007)

John Vukovich (1947-2007)

Steve Barber (1938-2007)

Jim Karvellas (1935-2007)

May each & every last one of you rest in peace.

Mattie T

Sports Writer for BMS Radio Chicago

www.BMSRadio.com

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