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Midweek musings: The Chicago Bears agreed to deals with a tight end — Martellus Bennett, formerly of the New York Giants — and an offensive left tackle — Jermon Bushrod, formerly of the New Orleans Saints — as the NFL’s 2013 free agency began Tuesday (March 12). It would appear to be about as much positive offensive action in one day as the Bears demonstrated last season.
Speaking of tight ends … Karen Kennedy is fitness personality.
* Speaking of offensive upgrades, the Green Bay Packers reportedly are the leading team to land running back Steven Jackson, an unrestricted free agent with the St. Louis Rams. As if the Packers need an offensive upgrade to remain the best in the NFC North.
* Speaking of free agents, Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher is an unrestricted one for the first time in his 13-year career. If he is to return to the Bears, he will take a pay cut. Which he probably can deal with. The tougher part for him likely will be dealing with diminished skill level and diminished playing time.
* Speaking of Bears linebackers (or former ones), the inaugural Otis Wilson Salute to Service Gala will be April 18 at 6 p.m. at Galleria Marchetti (825 W. Erie St., Chicago). Among those to be honored are state representative Kwame Raoul, Don Thompson of McDonald’s and John Coli of the Teamsters. The event will feature the Clearwater Entertainment band, food and drink. Tickets are $155 and available by clicking here. Information is available regarding the event, registration or sponsorship is available through the Otis Wilson Charitable Association throgh executive director Chlyla Wilson (312) 905-3988 or chlyla@theowca.org.
* The Miami Heat won its 19th consecutive contest Tuesday by downing the Atlanta Hawks 98-81. Meaning it’s quite possible Miami will have a 27-game winning streak when it visits Chicago to play the Bulls on March 27. The Bulls’ best hope for winning that encounter would be for the Heat to be looking past them to a March 31 Heat-San Antonio Spurs matchup Derrick Rose to be back in the lineup and playing at an MVP level (highly unlikely — at the very least the MVP part).
* Speaking of Rose, he spent some quality time with Chicago beat writers Tuesday in Los Angeles. He didn’t have much to say, but at least he took his time not saying it. Which is about all the local media can hope for these days.
Hawthorne Race Course is holding a promotion for a chance to own a racehorse with Chicago Blackhawks television analyst Eddie Olczyk, a well-documented horse racing aficionado. Online registration is available at www.ChicagoBlackhawks.com through April 7. Four semifinalists will be chosen at random each week with four more selected at Hawthorne on April 13. The horse, named Cub’s Thunder, will be managed by Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc. with a portion of the horse’s winnings from the “Own a Horse with Eddie O.” promotion going to charity. Olczyk also will co-host a live one-hour broadcast of Hawthorne’s Illinois Derby on WGN-TV on April 20.
“Chicago is a sports town first and foremost,” Hawthorne president and general manager Tim Carey said. “Whether hockey or horses, fans of both sports want to be as close to the action as they can.”
“Hockey and horse fans have a lot of similarity in my opinion,” Olczyk said. “There is a lot of passion for their sport. I’ve been a fan of horse racing and an owner in the sport for most of my adult life. When your horse or team wins, that’s a great feeling; but to own that winner, well, that’s a whole different level of excitement.”
Tara will be part of TNA Impact Wrestling’s card Thursday at the Sears Centre.
If this is Wednesday (which some of us believe it is because yesterday was Tuesday — provided that you are reading this on March 13, 2013, or a subsequent Wednesday), then we are closing in on another edition of “Sports & Torts” co-hosted by David Spada and Elliott Harris on Thursdays at noon Chicago time on talkzone.com.
The highly acclaimed interview show (well, it reaches such exalted status in the Spada and Harris households, as well as a few other places) has wrestling’s Lisa Marie Varon (TNA Tara — also formerly WWE’s Victoria) as the featured female on this week’s episode. Tara will be part of the March 14 TNA Impact Wrestling Live televised event at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. March 14 also marks the opening of Lisa Marie’s restaurant The Squared Circle (2418 N. Ashland, Chicago).
Chances are she will be able to be in only one place at a time, so making it to the restaurant might not happen Thursday evening. But the restaurant, which will feature gourmet burgers and pizzas on the menu and wrestling memorabilia on the walls, would seem a hot spot to watch the 7 p.m. show on Spike TV. The establishment also will televise pay-per-view wrestling events among its other offerings.
This is the place where you can go for non-gratuitous video (mainly because the visual-arts department at elliottharris.com has an extremely broad definition of “non-gratuitous”):
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