Chip Shots: Yay Sports!

These two words popped into my mind during a weekly phone call Sunday morning with my uncle/godfather where we cover topics including business, politics, entertainment, and sports (of course).

Two venues, Soldier Field in Chicago and Waraw’s Tiger Den, were the sites whose action triggered my reaction, “yay sports!”

For those who watched the Chicago Bears host and defeat their archrival, the Green Bay Packers in Wildcard Weekend NFL action, sitting through the uncomfortable (but not brutal) weather ended as time well spent.

The Bears trailed the Packers 21-6 late in the game to capture a 31-27 playoff victory at Soldier Field.

Late as it was - the comeback – the Bears’ defensive adjustments and improved overall play where it counted will not likely get as much Monday morning chat as quarterback Caleb William’s heroics.

If you’re playing the long game, manage your expectations. Caleb Williams will be nothing better than good, but he might be the Bears’ first 4,000-passing-yards quarterback.

Caleb Willliams is still erratic, missing several easy throws (and he is certainly not finished doing this), but, Heavens, he is really something with the long ball. Something like this is similar to dating a strikingly attractive person with fundamental flaws.

Yay sports! Why?

The Bears won, and Bears fans will see that more than they’ve experienced in recent seasons.

The winning team’s quarterback was not the most valuable player (MVP) Saturday night. It’s nice to see someone other than a signal caller earn MVP honors.

The Bears did not play a great full 60 minutes of football, but they seized the win, and – as I mentioned in last week’s column – rarely do wide margins stay wide, and these outcomes are not scripted.

Warsaw’s Tiger Den, closer to home, hosted a girls’ varsity basketball game featuring the Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) opponent most capable of ending what was at the time a 32-game winning streak: the Northridge Raiders.

The trappings of observing and savoring recent Lady Tiger hoops contests resulting in dominant wins (that description sounds so vanilla) resulted in a logical expectation: Warsaw would convincingly beat Northridge. Look at what they did to (then) top-ranked Norwell, and to Columbia City during prior weeks.

The girls’ basketball polling deity slapped a number one state ranking on the Lady Tigers.

The polling news reminded me of the Far Side comic where a deer, standing upright on its hind legs, stares gloomily at the target imprinted on its body with a concerned look from his friend, and the caption reads, “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal!”

More trappings, maybe, but the IHSAA Class 4A State runners-up know the polls do not matter, and there are no seeds in the entire state tournament.

I told you three weeks ago it was “time to watch other stuff.”

Here we go – watching other stuff: yay sports edition.

Last Saturday’s contest was like gathering with family, the familiarity and its inherent rivalries deeply established whether it is (in the case of my extended family) how you played pinochle, euchre, or even volleyball.

It didn’t matter how well you were doing against outsiders in these matters because what anyone of us might have lacked in mechanics and ability, we leaned on what we knew about each other’s tics and psyche to close the gap.

When the final buzzer sounded, the sides joined hand in hand or arm in arm for a prayer at midcourt, and each Lady Raider hugged former teammate Reagan Huss… like family.

Basketball fans, and there were at least 3,000 of them in the Tiger Den, were treated to a great defensive game.

There were extraordinary team efforts contributing to the win:

• Each team contested almost every single shot.
• Ball security (Warsaw’s 10 turnovers vs. Northridge’s 18) made the difference.
• Full measure/opportunistic mindset (13-4 Warsaw edge on points off turnovers).

A special yay sports to Reagan Huss, a familiar name for both sides last Saturday night.

The 5’11” junior Northridge transfer played like she blocked out her former side’s cheer block. Unfettered, Huss finished the evening with a successful quieting any noise the rest of us Tiger fans heard from the ‘Ridge.

Huss’s tangible production report:

• She hit 3-6 from the field including two makes beyond the 3-point arc. She was the only Lady Tiger to hit more than one trey last Saturday.
• Northridge’s leading scorer, Lilly Scholl (16 points per game), was held to six points – all coming in the second half – thanks in large part to Huss’s defensive play.
• One more thing, she was playing while battling what appeared to be shin splints throughout the contest.

You can look at this contest in one or two ways:

Oh my gosh, we should have won by more points, so what are we going to do when Homestead visits the Tiger Den?

Or, gee, our defense is ready for the rest of their regular season opponents. Hey, they just held Northridge to about half of their offensive average.

Looking forward to another yay sports weekend very soon.