Chicago Sports Then and Now

Max Zaslofsky was a leader of the Chicago Stags and was selected as one of the top players of the first 25 years of the NBA.

Max Zaslofsky was the best Jewish professional basketball player in Chicago. He played for the Stags from 1946-1950. During the first three years of his career, the Stags played in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), a rival league founded to compete with the already established National Basketball League in 1946. The two leagues merged at the end of the 1948-49, and became the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Chicago Stags played one year as an NBA team, folding the franchise after the 1949-50 season, and letting its players be picked up in a dispersal draft.

A guard, Zaslofsky had a great two-handed set shot. He played one collegiate year at St. John’s in his hometown of New York, and then signed on with the new Stag franchise, who had Arthur Wirtz in its ownership group. The team played at Wirtz’s Chicago Stadium.

Zaslofsky had four outstanding seasons with he Stags. He led them in the BAA Finals in his rookie year, but the team lost the title to the Philadelphia Warriors. Zaslofsky’s 877 points that year was the fourth highest total in the League. One of his fellow backcourt players for the Stags was another Jewish player, Chicago’s Mickey Rottner, who played played high school hoops at Tuley and collegiate basketball at Loyola.

Zaslofsky was a prolific scorer, by the professional standards of the time, scoring over 1,000 points per season for the Stags for the next three years. He was picked up by the New York Knicks in the dispersal draft, and he had three productive years for the Knicks. He played for three other teams in the NBA before ending his career in 1956. Read the rest of this entry →

It was 27 years ago this week when the Chicago Blitz and the United State Football League (USFL) made a successful debut as a spring professional football league.

Under the guidance of future Hall of Fame Coach George Allen, the Chicago Blitz opened the 1983 season playing in RFK Stadium in Washington against the Washington Federals. It marked a homecoming for Allen, who had been the head coach of the Redskins from 1971 through 1977.

Allen also had ties to Chicago having served as a defensive coach with the Bears from 1958-1965. He was the defensive coordinator on the 1963 NFL Championship squad.

Allen’s Blitz included veteran quarterback Greg Landry as well as a number of other former or future NFL stars including cornerback Frank Minnifield, cornerback Virgil Livers, safety Luther Bradley, running back Tim Spencer, and defensive tackle Joe Ehrmann.

The Blitz dominated the Federals 28-7 and went on to post a 12-6 record. However, attendance at Soldiers Field declined throughout the season.

The team reached the playoffs, but blew a 21-point lead in losing 44-38 to the Philadelphia Stars in overtime.

Following the season, the entire Blitz franchise was swapped with the Arizona Wranglers. Meaning the players on the 1984 Blitz were those from the 1983 Wranglers.

The revamped Blitz went 5-13 and the team disbanded following the 1984 season.

But, for one shining moment in 1983, George Allen and the Chicago Blitz were the talk of Chicago. Below are some YouTube clips from the glory days of the Blitz.

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Reports say that the Bears have landed the first big free agent of 2010 in Julius Peppers.

According to a number of reports, the Chicago Bears have landed the first huge fish of the NFL free agent period with the signing of former Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers to a six year contract.

Considered by many to be the brightest star in a less than stellar free agent year, Peppers should provide an immediate boost to a Bears defense that has been in decline in recent years.

The second overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, Peppers is a five-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time first team All-Pro.

In 2009 he registered 10.5 sacks and two interceptions for the Panthers. He has reached double figures in sacks in six of his eight seasons in the NFL and has 81 for his career.

A year ago the Bears lost their leading defensive player, linebacker Brian Urlacher, to injury in the opening game of the season and never fully recovered. Read the rest of this entry →

The Bears opened the free agent period by signing Brandon Manumaleuna from the San Diego Chargers.

The Bears added a tight end today with the signing of Brandon Manumaleuna.  He signed a five-year deal almost immediately after walking through the doors of Halas Hall. Manumaleuna spent the last four years in San Diego and before that was with Mike Martz and Lovie Smith in St. Louis. The 30 year old tight end was the best available tight end and Martz values the tight end as a blocker more than a receiver.

With the addition of  Manumaleuna he can now team up Greg Olsen, Dez Clark and Kellen Davis. Clark or Davis is the odd man out. Davis is still a project and not a very good blocker, Clark is a crafty veteran who for the first time in his Bears career was injured last season. Clark is owed a $475,000 today and will see if the addition of Manumaleuna spells the end of Clark. I think the Bears should keep Clark around at least for this season because he has been the most consistent player receiving and blocking. Read the rest of this entry →

Will Brian Westbrook be running for the Bears in 2010?

We all know Brian Westbrook has been one of the most versatile running backs in the NFL in his time with the Philadelphia Eagles, but now his time with them is over and he is looking for a new team.

The eight year back missed eight games last season with an ankle injury and multiple concussions. The Eagles owed him $7.25 million this season and they simply didn’t want to give him that kind of money because of durability issues. LeSean McCoy is going to take over the number one running back position.

So here’s the question should the Bears go after a once NFL star, who has serious durability issues or should they stay put with what they have.

I think they should consider going after him because when healthy he is one of the best runners/receivers out of the backfield in this league. The current backs behind Matt Forte aren’t that great. Garrett Wolfe was a third round pick and hasn’t done anything like his college days showed. Kevin Jones got injured again and he may not be back next season. Kahlil Bell is a surprising young kid who is similar to Matt Forte and Adrian Peterson will not be resigned. A combination of Matt Forte, Kahlil Bell and Kevin Jones isn’t too bad, but I think if they added Westbrook to the backfield they would be solid. Forte, Westbrook and Bell could be the best trio in the league.

New offensive coordinator Mike Martz doesn’t use the running game very much, but Matt Forte and Brian Westbrook could be a lethal tandem out of the backfield.

So, if the Bears could get Brian Westbrook for a cheap deal and he proves to stay healthy their offense could be set. When Brian Westbrook is right he is one of the best and don’t forget he is only 30 years old.

The Bears should at least consider the signing of Westbrook because it can only strengthen their team.

Jake Perper covers the Chicago Bears for Sports Then and Now. You can also check out his popular blog Bears Backer.

Online gambling has become an alternative to sportsbooks.

Over the last decade, online gambling has become a booming business with it estimated that billions of dollars are wagered online every year.

Much like the Internet in general, what has made online gambling such an alluring option is the convenience. Instead of having to travel to casinos or legal gambling establishments scattered across the globe, players now can reap the same benefits while playing at home in front of their own computers.

While some sites provide non-gambling options, in most cases online gambling sites provide an opportunity for players to win, or lose, real money.

Players have a wide variety of choices in both gambling websites and in their choice of games.

Once upon a time to wager on a sporting event someone had to either travel to a legal casino sportsbook or place bets through bookies with names like “Lucky”, “Shifty”, “Biff” or some other moniker that did not exude confidence or a feeling of trust in the system.

Now, through online sportsbooks, many are wagering on games from the comfort (and safety) of their own home with no fear that their kneecaps would be broken following a bad loss.

This has, of course, provided a dilemma for professional and college sports as there is no question that gambling is a part of their public allure, but there have also been a number of incidents over time when players have been accused of fixing the outcome of games.

The most famous was the 1919 Chicago “Black Sox” Scandal involving the World Series. Baseball also received a black eye in the 1980s when all-time great Pete Rose received a lifetime suspension from the game for betting on baseball games.

College basketball has also been the subject of many cases and in recent years the NBA had to deal with a game official that was involved in illegal gambling.

There are also many traditional casino games available for online gambling including online poker, online video poker, roulette, craps and keno.