TUESDAY TIDBITS: Banner days for Hawks fans
BY ELLIOTT HARRIS Sun-Times Columnist
Elliott Harris, Sun-Times columnist
Article Extras
The banners just keep coming for the Blackhawks. Or keep being auctioned off. A Stanley Cup banner that was in a silent auction Friday at the Chicago Country Music Festival sold for $1,700. The City of Chicago's annual banner auction will have similar Blackhawks banners, as well as a variety of others, on Nov. 17 at noon in the East Lobby of the Daley Center. Beginning on Friday, at 9 a.m., www.explorechicago.org/ specialevents will have two player banners in an online auction. The auction lasts one week and will feature a Patrick Sharp or a Kris Versteeg banner.
*For those who follow the NFL rankings of Peter King of Sports Illustrated, he has the Bears at No. 11 among his Fine 15. Not to say King doesn't believe in the Bears, but the only teams with records as good as the Bears' 4-1 on his list are No. 1 Baltimore and No. 4 Atlanta.
*For those who follow the Lingerie Football League Bliss (hey, and among the readers of this page, who doesn't- ), the Bliss (2-0) won its first road game with a 41-12 decision against the Seattle Mist. Details are filtering in. Something says that even though there were reports of a fight in the stands among fans, the hardest hitting still was on the field.
Mike Singletary talks a good game.
Certainly better than the results this season of the 0-5 San Francisco 49ers team that he coaches.
The Hall of Fame former Bears linebacker is one of five football coaches featured in a five-DVD set of motivational speakers soon to be on the market.
The others: former Bears coach Mike Ditka, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.
The ''Get Coached'' set, which will be available on Nov. 9 at www.victor1dvd.com and at retail outlets, has Ditka on ''Total Commitment,'' Payton on ''Aim High,'' Bowden on ''God, Family and Football,'' Ryan on ''Give It All You Got'' and Singletary on ''A Vision of Faith.''
Each DVD has two-minute pep talks and 30-second axioms designed to motivate.
''There is greatness in all of us,'' Singletary said. ''You just need to find it.''
''I know what it takes to win,'' Ditka said. ''And believe me when I tell you success is a result of concrete behavior paired with a winning attitude. I'm going to share some of the most important secrets to success I've learned in my lifetime as a fierce competitor and a winner.''
Maybe he could share a secret or two with Singletary about winning a game or two.
Perhaps there will be a bad vibe surrounding the Miami Heat.
Well, if you believe Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard in the October/November issue of Vibe magazine that's on newsstands today.
And it all has a Chicago connection other than the Bulls.
Asked to name the teams to beat in the East this season, Howard said, ''Boston, Orlando, Atlanta, Cleveland and Milwaukee. And Charlotte.''
Upon prompting, he included the Heat.
''I hate talking about Miami,'' he said.
Asked if he didn't believe ''Team Dillinger'' (the nickname LeBron James gave the Heat in a July tweet) is the team to beat, Howard said, ''That's the name of their team- What happened to John Dillinger- ''
Well, the Depression Era criminal was shot and killed outside the Biograph Theater (told you there was a Chicago connection) in 1934.
''Ohhh, by who- '' Howard said.
By the Feds.
''I guess I'm going to call my team the Feds,'' he said. ''That's our new name.''
That still leaves ''The Untouchables'' available for the Bulls -- in case they ever need it.










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