SPORTS From the Bleachers

COLUMN BY KURT MARGGRAF IN CHICAGO

Later this month the NFL draft will take place and months of speculation will come to an end. For the Chicago Bears, it’s been a wild ride. By virtue of having the worst record in the league last year, they “earned” the first selection in the draft. They traded that to Carolina for the 9th selection, Carolinas first selection next year, and a great receiver, D.J. Moore. Since then, a series of odd things have happened.

The man the Bears might have drafted with the first pick, Jalen Carter, might be available to them with the ninth pick. Of course, the reason he may be available is that he was involved in some shenanigans and some teams may be afraid to draft him, but I think the Bears wouldn’t hesitate. In essence, they can have their cake and eat it too. Next season, the Bears could be relevant once again.

The Bulls need to beat Toronto on Wednesday and then win another game to move forward to the playoffs. Only playing winning basketball in the next couple of weeks can save their season. I like the Bulls players and they are highly skilled, but something just isn’t clicking. Hopefully they’ll eventually put it all together.

This season has been an extremely difficult one for the Blackhawks. Besides having the worst record in the league, they traded Patrick Kane. Jonathan Toews may retire after the season, or may be traded. Toews has battled an illness for a few years and I hope he gets better or or retires. One thing for sure,

Kane and Toews were champions and Blackhawk fans everywhere wish them the best wherever they end up.

The baseball season is only a week old, so no conclusions can be reached. The Sox are starting slowly, with a record of four wins and six losses, because of bad pitching. Sox fans shouldn’t be worried because the Sox pitching staff is really good. The team seems to be modeling themselves after their new manager, Pedro Grifol. They are hustling and seem to have more determination than last year.

On the other side of town, the Cubs are off to a decent start. Their biggest offseason acquisition, Dansby Swanson, hit terribly in spring training, but as soon as the regular season began, he caught on fire. So far in this small sample size, he’s hitting .429. He, along with Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ, and the entire pitching staff have led the team to a .500 record with four wins and four losses. The best thing about the team’s record so far is that they are a game and a half ahead of the Cardinals. The small sample size hasn’t deterred me from being overly optimistic about the season.

Jack Layton said, “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”

Be kind. Talk to you next week. Peace, love, and happiness.

The New Buffalo High School baseball team lost a competitive game at River Valley Tuesday, April 11.

The Bison trailed by just one run going into the fifth inning but their offense was shut down by Aiden Coy, who pitched three scoreless innings in relief for the save.

The final score was seven to four.

Vaugh Nikkel started the scoring for the Bison after he hit a first inning double down the right field line.

Ethan Lijewski was then hit by a pitch.

Nikkel was on third base