At the time Derrick Rose debuted for the Bulls, 46.6% of households in his native Englewood lived below the poverty line. When Tommy Edwards would say, “From Chicago,” Englewood was that Chicago. Rose came from the worst the city could do. For four glorious years, he became its best.
I was disappointed this morning, after Rose’s retirement announcement yesterday, to not find any good writing about the NBA’s youngest-ever MVP. There was plenty of appreciation expressed—plenty of individual tributes—but I was hoping for something grand and beautiful, and I was disappointed not to find it. A strange amount of Derrick Rose retirement coverage focused on his Hall of Fame worthiness. A perturbing amount focused on Rose’s damaged petals rather than his tenacity, the comfortable and jaded proving 2pac’s words anything but prophetic. Derrick Rose was a kid from Chicago, a kid from the epitome of the wrong neighborhood. He became, for a season, the greatest basketball player in the world. His rise ended in devastating tragedy. But then he rose again. Derrick Rose grew back from the concrete even after he was chopped down at the stem.
In April 2018, I saw Rose score 17 off the bench in a Timberwolves playoff victory over Houston, the top seed in the West. The Wolves would lose the series, four games to one. I was lucky I went to that game and not another. But for a night, there was Rose, six years after his torn ACL. Rose was still there, still playing basketball and playing basketball well. It would not be the last time.
Rose kept popping up like that, his hair longer and his burst long gone. He kept appearing on SportsCenter, dropping 50 points on Halloween, scoring 30 in the playoffs, earning Sixth Man of the Year votes. He didn’t go away. He lasted. He played halfway through his 30’s. For eight long years after the Bulls traded him, a length of time matching his tenure with his hometown franchise, Derrick Rose refused to go away.
We saw two Derrick Rose careers. The first inspired awe, a triumphant expression of human greatness in every dunk. But both inspired reverence. Rose overcame so much. He then overcame so much again. He kept that ember of his greatness alive.
We’ve long mourned the ending of Rose’s first career. We’d do well to celebrate what was so inspiring about Rose in the first place. We’d do well to celebrate Derrick Rose.
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Training camp opens early next week, and we’ll learn more about this Bulls team then. For now, a big round of Darnell Mayberry reporting holds that Zach LaVine is willingly playing and that Patrick Williams isn’t fully ready coming off his February foot surgery. Yesterday, the Bulls picked up Dalen Terry’s rookie option, extending him through the spring of 2026.
What if the White Sox Keep Winning?
With their sweep of the Angels this week, the White Sox ensured a final record better than that of the 1916 Philadelphia A’s, the worst team of baseball’s modern era. That team won 36 games and lost 117, good for a .235 win percentage. Even if the Sox get swept this weekend in Detroit, they’ll finish 39–123, good for a .241 mark. The only thing they’re chasing, then, is sole possession of the modern era’s loss record, that evasive 121st defeat the 1962 Mets could not quite catch.
It’s possible for the Sox to win out. It’s not particularly likely, but this is baseball, and they start Garrett Crochet tonight. By tomorrow, the Tigers may have clinched a playoff spot, something which would likely keep Tarik Skubal off the mound all weekend. The White Sox could conceivably head into the season on a six-game win streak. It is unlikely. But it would be a funny twist. Even winning two of three would leave them with a better record than those ’62 Mets, who tied once and had another game canceled.
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Speaking of Crochet: How’s he been pitching? It depends what you look at. The White Sox have shut him down to such an extent that he’s only thrown 40 innings since the beginning of July. He’s got a 5.31 ERA over that stretch, but his FIP’s 3.63, and 40 innings is really not a lot. So? The jury’s out. His strikeout numbers have only risen, but he’s also in a more relief-adjacent role. I don’t know what to think about a long of things involving Garrett Crochet.
News/injuries/moves/speculation:
- Chris Getz indicated this week that Grady Sizemore will at least be considered for the full-time managerial job.
- Michael Soroka’s back on the active roster, and after the corresponding Chad Kuhl DFA, the Sox picked up Ron Marinaccio off waivers from the Yankees. Marinaccio went to Birmingham, where the Barons won the Southern League championship on Tuesday.
- Edgar Quero, a 21-year-old catcher and one of the Sox’ top prospects, came up to the taxi squad on Sunday. He might debut this weekend.
Games:
- Friday, 5:40 PM CDT: White Sox at Detroit (NBC Sports Chicago)
- Saturday, 12:10 PM CDT: White Sox at Detroit (NBC Sports Chicago/MLB Network)
- Sunday, 2:10 PM CDT: White Sox at Detroit (NBC Sports Chicago)
Sean Burke makes his third career start tomorrow. Jonathan Cannon gets the finale on Sunday.
Incompetence vs. Competence
The Bears are dealing with one (1) injury on their offensive line, plus a few bumps and bruises. The Rams have five linemen on IR. Keenan Allen, the Bears’ second-highest paid player, acquired in exchange for a fourth-round pick, might play. Puka Nacua, the fifth-round pick whom Sean McVay turned into the league’s fourth-place receiver his rookie year, will not play. Neither will Cooper Kupp.
Sunday’s game would, in a reasonable Bears world, be something of a look in the mirror. Despite all those injuries, the Rams upset the 49ers last week. Despite average health, the Bears didn’t score a touchdown last week until the fourth quarter against the Colts. The difference? One organization is well-run. One organization has a focused, logical approach. One organization knows what its strengths are.
The Bears will probably win this weekend. They’re the favorites, and the market’s smarter than me. Even so, it’s hard not to look at the Rams and see what NFL franchises are capable of being. Things went wrong for the Rams, and they’ve found a way to win. Things have not gone wrong for the Bears, and they’re already lost at sea, dependent on a weak early schedule to keep the illusion of hope alive.
News/injuries/moves/speculation:
- Kevin Byard, Zacch Pickens, Terell Smith, Darrell Taylor, and Andrew Billings all didn’t practice yesterday, potentially leaving the Bears’ defensive line and secondary both thin on Sunday.
- The Bears made some minor roster moves, adding Stephen Carlson to the active roster while cutting Ro Torrence from the practice squad, moving Sam Roberts to the practice squad injured list, and signing a tight end, defensive back, and defensive lineman to the practice squad to fill those voids.
Game:
- Sunday, 12:00 PM CDT: Bears vs. Los Angeles Rams (FOX)
I’m not sure enough’s being made of those defensive injuries for the Bears. It’ll be informative, though, to see the Bears’ offense at so close to full strength. Maybe Allen really will open some things up.
How Disappointing Were the Cubs?
The ultimate issue for the Cubs is not that they underperformed reasonable expectations. It’s that reasonable expectations were so low. The Cubs entered this season with a roster capable of winning 82 games, per the FanGraphs Playoff Odds. They will most likely end the year with 83 wins, probably favored in at least two of these three games against the Reds.
There are two explanations for what went wrong for the Cubs this year:
The first is that the Cubs dramatically underestimated what the Brewers would do. The Brewers were projected to win 80 games, and they’ve already won 91. Milwaukee wasn’t particularly lucky, either. Their Pythagorean win–loss record is actually two games better than their real results.
The second is that the Cubs dramatically overestimated what their own roster was capable of doing. With most MLB rosters, the fair assumption is that they have a more accurate internal projection than that FanGraphs number. Did the Cubs expect to do more? To be fair, they were one of the unluckiest teams in baseball this year, with run differential suggesting they should only have been eliminated from playoff contention on Wednesday. To also be fair, some of this “bad luck” may actually be the mediocre bullpen.
The second explanation is more concerning than the first. If the Cubs were hoping to start the year a little better than .500, upgrade the roster at the trade deadline, and reach the postseason through the rest of the NL Central stinking, that’s not the craziest approach in the world. If the Cubs thought they had a 90-win team, though…that’s worse. The Cubs are supposed to be strong analytically. That’s supposed to be their strength.
News/injuries/moves/speculation:
- Kevin Alcántara debuted on Wednesday. Acquired in the Anthony Rizzo trade, Alcántara might be the best prospect in the Cubs’ system. The hope would be that he’s ready enough to insulate against the risk of Cody Bellinger opting out this offseason, or that he’s an attractive enough prospect to be flipped for a bona fide ace, with outfield not a weakness at the moment and Owen Caissie also waiting in the wings. We won’t learn a lot this weekend, but it’s a big debut.
- Patrick Mooney reported the Cubs plan to add an “established” starting pitcher this offseason. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss who that might be, and how good that person might be, but it’d be nice to see the biggest need addressed, rather than papered over with the questionably sustainable successes of individual starters. That papering-over approach has been the move these last two seasons.
- Seiya Suzuki sprained his ankle on Tuesday. He hasn’t gone on the IL, but it’d be weird to see him play any more this year unless he’s entirely fine or he’s close to some bonus threshold on his contract.
- The Cubs claimed Enoli Paredes off waivers. He’s up in the big-league bullpen, as is Caleb Kilian. Trey Wingenter is down, and Jorge López is back on the IL.
Games:
- Friday, 1:20 PM CDT: Cubs vs. Cincinnati (Marquee/MLB Network)
- Saturday, 1:20 PM CDT: Cubs vs. Cincinnati (Marquee)
- Sunday, 2:20 PM CDT: Cubs vs. Cincinnati (Marquee)
Jameson Taillon starts today. Kyle Hendricks makes what might be his last Cubs start tomorrow. Shōta Imanaga is in line to start Sunday but isn’t listed as the starter. Pregame today, Craig Counsell only offered that it’s possible Imanaga will go.
AJ Spellacy’s Preseason Moment
There isn’t much big news out of Blackhawks camp just yet, but third-rounder AJ Spellacy’s been a lot of fun so far. The guy’s an athlete. File him somewhere in the depth chart of names to remember as the next young wave starts materializing.
(Preseason) Games:
- Friday, 6:00 PM CDT: Blackhawks at Detroit
- Saturday, 6:00 PM CDT: Blackhawks at St. Louis
Teresa Witherspoon Fired
The Sky fired first-year coach Teresa Weatherspoon last night, with the Sun-Times reporting the decision came because of an inconsistent approach throughout the year. Angel Reese described herself as “heartbroken” over the news. That and the fact Weatherspoon was a first-year coach have prompted some backlash, but this early in a rebuild, you want the right head coach. Maybe that was Weatherspoon and this is a bad decision. But with how binary the good/bad split is in the WNBA right now and how many great coaches there are in the college game, it’s possible there’s an A-grade coach out there and the Sky decided they didn’t want to stick with someone they believed was only a B. We’ll never know for certain, but there’s a good chance the move works out.
