RedEye staff members share their favorite underrated stories of 2015, from the uplifting to the anger-inducing.
Ramble-rousers
For a city starving for a winner in college basketball and/or football, Loyola’s men’s volleyball team has quietly risen above the sport’s traditional powerhouses to win two straight national championships. And although reigning national player of the year Thomas Jaeschke has moved on, the Ramblers are loaded for next year.
–Chris Sosa
Welcome aboard, Joe
Disclaimer: Players are the primary reason any team wins championships, period. That said, there’s no question Joe Maddon’s leadership lifted the Cubs another level in 2015. More important, it’s difficult to win a World Series with a bad manager; good thing the Cubs have nothing to worry about on that front.
–Chris Sosa
Stop mocking Jay
Jay Cutler is finally the quarterback the Bears need him to be: one who doesn’t lose games for them. Well, at the very least he’s proved to be more asset than liability. Although his numbers this season are similar to years past (with the notable exception of his interceptions), his decision-making has improved and he’s turned the ball over only 13 times; he had a mind-boggling 24 giveaways in 2014.
–Chris Sosa
All about Steve
After like 500 consecutive wins and Steph Curry making basketball seem roughly as challenging as checking your email, the phrase “NBA-dominating Golden State Warriors” has begun to feel natural. But it wasn’t that long ago that the defending champs were a hot-shooting team destined to be a No. 6 seed in the playoffs, maybe upset a team or two but hit a wall after that. In his first season as coach, former Bull Steve Kerr elevated something good to greatness—and, like Curry, just because he made it look easy doesn’t mean it is.
–Matt Pais
Pain in the grass
Before the U.S. women’s soccer team won the World Cup, they were a plaintiff in a lawsuit that sought to hold the tournament on grass fields as opposed to artificial turf. That never happened, but the American team did force the cancellation of a friendly in December because of poor conditions–in Hawaii of all places. Bottom line, the men’s World Cup would never, ever be played on anything but grass, so why should the women’s tournament be any different?
–Chris Sosa
Here you go, Kimmo
Buried in all the Blackhawks hoopla (and there was a lot of it, deservedly) was the “Oh yeah, he’s retired now” story of Kimmo Timonen. So great to see a nice guy go out on top, even if he was with the Hawks for only a few months. Look for him in the team’s newly released movie, “Hat Trick.”
–Chris Sosa
Starting over
If even some of the things said about former Illinois football coach Tim Beckman are true, a change should have taken place years ago. Unfortunately, allegations of coaching abuse in other sports at the university have been prevalent as well, and Illinois fired its athletic director in one of its house-cleaning moves. Winning is what gets fans excited, but (finally) doing the right thing should never be overlooked. Now, let’s hope the improvements don’t end there.
–Chris Sosa
Chris Sosa is RedEye’s sports editor. @redeyesportschi
Matt Pais is RedEye’s music and movies editor. @mattpais
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