Jeff Graham

The goalie's best friend betrayed Hinsdale Central's John Shakon. A shot off the post led to the deciding goal in Central's 2-1, triple-overtime loss to Rockford Boylan in the third-place game of the Class AA boys soccer tournament Saturday night at North...

For any Illinois state troopers looking to fill a quota on speeding tickets Thursday afternoon, the southbound lanes of I-294 from Lake Forest to O'Hare were the place to hide. The Bears raced out of Halas Hall after their final practice before a three-...

The AFC West is having trouble getting jump-started. The Oakland Raiders, who won it last year, staged a walkout during a preseason rules session with NFL officials in protest of the infamous "tuck rule" that knocked them from the playoffs in New...

Do you think it's a coincidence that the Bears' running game is not as good with Stanley Pritchett at FB as it is with Daimon Shelton? I think good FBs are totally under-hyped. Good fullbacks (Griffith in Denver when Davis was awesome, Moose in Dallas...

It fluttered toward the uprights in an elapsed time of about 10 minutes, more than enough time for an entire football team's throats to close up, its coaches' hearts to constrict and a beleaguered kicker to watch his life and maybe a few others pass...

BIG SAVAGE MOUNTAIN -- Derrick Horrey snaps to attention in the gymnasium of the Savage Leadership Challenge, just as he plans to snap to attention a few days later in the Marines. In razor-creased fatigues, he and 13 other teen-agers stand shoulder to...

The Bears have demonstrated over the last three weeks just how well they respond to adversity. Now, after a bye next weekend, the football world will see how they respond to success. Since starting the season 1-2 and being counted out by many as serious...

The Bears looked like a mistake waiting to happen Sunday. Make that several mistakes. They transformed an eminently winnable game on the road into a 21-16 loss to the Detroit Lions in the Silverdome. Three early scoring opportunities dissipated into...

The Bears consistently reduce the size of a football field to a window ledge. This tendency to microwave their games is dangerous. Fans should beware not of radiation, but of the danger of being hit by falling Bears. An entire team is tossing itself...

After 76 years, time for a nickname change. How does the Chicago Chameleons sound? These Bears are a different kind of animal. They are harder to pin down than a greased pig. Ferocious as Bears? Not really. Frustrating and fickle? Most definitely. A...

This was a test. Had Saturday night's Bears-Cardinals contest been a regular-season game, Chicago fans would have been advised to become deeply concerned about the health and adequacy of the team's receiving corps. Without the services of injured wide...

Something's up in Chicago, for once, besides crime, pollution and the Sears Tower. The football was in the air Sunday at the lakefront and flying through unusually friendly skies. That is a big change from the Bears' chances being the only thing up in...