Recovery

Steve takes us through his first week of recovery as he works his way back into the ring.

Welp, this is interesting.

Weekend Roundup

The Blackhawks are off to the best start in franchise history – Nick Leddy scored an OT goal to push the Blackhawks to 6-0-0 with the 10-0-0 Maple Leafs firmly in sight. 

Bulls lose to the Wizards – The Bulls front court got eaten up in an ugly loss to the Wizards, who are suddenly hot after an atrocious start. They were of course Wall-less for the first half of the season, but the Wiz have managed to beat the Heat, the Bulls, and the Thunder. 

Oh, and everyone is still waiting for Derrick Rose.

Paul Konerko shaved his goatee – Please note that all beards are to be flown at half mast until the start of the season in remembrance of PK’s tremendous goatee. He looks so wrong without one.

I just can’t.

Dave Sappelt made some unfortunate comments on twitter – They’ve been deleted, but here’s the recap.

The Pro Bowl was on? – Some stuff happened and here’s a happy fun time article about it.

Go forth and attack the day:

Random Hits

Soon

Rooftop owners present their case, poorly – iBlogged about it, basically the “roofies” are crying that they should be able to maintain a business because they keep Wrigley popular. Poor case.

Focused Konerko promises no distractions – Doug Padilla did a nice little Konerko piece. Basically  PK is looking to be productive and is focused on not getting caught up in any of the peripheral stuff.

Blackhawks, kinda good? – Yeah, kinda good.

Hard to not feel good for Noah – Here’s his All Star nod acceptance speech.

And hey, since we’re on the subject, let’s remember where the legend of Noah planted it’s seeds.

Soon

The Derrick Rose recovery saga is becoming a daily drama, which is both tantalizing and agonizing.

On the one hand the increase in updates means that a return is soon, on the other it means that we’ll be watching for the white smoke every day for a few weeks now.

I’m excited about Derrick Rose making a return, not only for the entertainment value, but also because Rose feels like one of us.

He seems like a Chicagoan.

There’s one player about which I cannot be objective about, and that’s Poohdini.

Soon my friends.

Soon.

RIP Stan

Bless old baseball players.

Steve 1.0

I’ve known Steve for a long time now. We haven’t always spoken and there have been some rough periods, but I think all of that is a misunderstanding more than anything. I was wrong about Steve a lot because I didn’t really understand who he was as a person. When we were in grade school together I thought Steve was just an arrogant prick hell-bent on showing off. That’s not the case. Steve is a confident guy that is hell-bent on being the best. Steve has his layers, and it’s been great finding those layers and understanding who Steve is better.

This is Steve.

We love transformations as a culture. Our most recent obsession with weight loss and transforming ourselves underlies what I think is a universal insecurity about what we’ve become and how we can become better people.

Steve has shown me a mirror that is being held up across the nation.

Steven Villarreal is a Chicago based boxer that is trying to make it in multiple worlds. He had a job he wasn’t happy with so he got another one. He had a life he wasn’t happy with so he’s trying to change it. He’s got a dream that he wants to chase down so he’s going to chase it.

He wants to be a Golden Gloves champ. Steve is chasing Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson.

He’s willing to go through a lot to get there too.

Boxing isn’t a sport you play. Boxing is a sport you dedicate your life and body to. Boxing is about personal sacrifice and the determination to break through your own personal barriers to chase a dream.

That’s what Steve is doing, he’s becoming a boxer.

I remember what it looked like when Steve started, and he looks like a completely different person now. He was slower before, he had more bad bulk on him. Now he looks like a lean athlete, his training has intensified to a level that I couldn’t imagine before. He’s willingly getting his ass kicked to better himself.

And really, that’s what it’s all about.

Steve recently had a surgical procedure to help someone out that needed it. He doesn’t want to talk too much about it, but it’s delayed his clock by a year.

I know Steve now. This won’t keep him from it.

Steve’s going to compete, and he’s got me believing that he’ll win.

“God gives the toughest battles to his strongest warriors.”

Steve has a day job that can demand up to 60 hrs. of his week. He finds time to train on lunch breaks and his days off.

Steve started his training at LA Boxing. He’s moved to another facility.

At a certain point Steve’s training intensified to another level.

Steve had a procedure that helped someone out in need. It pushed his Golden Gloves clock back a year but he doesn’t regret it.

The day after surgery Steve entertained some guests at his house. They brought him a teddy bear, an Animaniacs DVD, and vitamin water.

Steve reads a get well card.

Been waiting for this. Big time for you fantasy peeps. (optional)

The Dynasty Guru

Today is Day One. Over the next 31 days, this site will be dedicated almost solely to the task at hand – the 2013 Dynasty League Rankings. If you’re looking for background on both the content you should expect and the dates you should expect them, check out this post from December. And we’re going to kick off the month-long project with the list that I’ve gotten the most questions about since the off-season started. The only difference between the original schedule and what you’ll see this week is that I’ve broken the Top 150 out into five parts, not three. Each day of the week, you’ll get thirty more guys until we culminate Friday with #1.

First, I have a couple of disclaimers specific to the prospect list before we jump in. These rankings are for fantasy purposes only, and do not directly take into account things like an…

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Steve

Quick update on Steve, he had a kidney procedure and he is in recovery. He’s doing well but is in some pain. Story on Monday.