Chicago's All-Decade All-Stars

- Orchestrated some of the most beautiful team basketball I've ever seen this side of the Jordan Dynasty

College Football

This one's tough. Ohio State's too far east to claim Troy Smith's Heisman. Fat Ron Dayne's happened in 1999. So really, even though we have a large stable of teams, the decade provided no Heisman winners (damn you, SEC and Big 12!).

There were some great individual seasons (Shonn Greene, Javon Ringer), some great longevity and accumulation (Chad Henne comes to mind but he, you know, kinda sucked), and some pretty solid teams. But honestly, there is not a clear cut choice.

That's why my selection pains me so much.


His teams were overrated, he might not ever be good in the NFL, and Charlie Weis is unfahtomably fat, but Brady Quinn absolutely killed it in college. Multiple BCS bowl births, four year starter, fat stats. He had it all. And I am sorry.

NFL: Bears

Gotta go with the boring choice in Brian Urlacher.

Yes, you're white, bitter, and hate everyone. Congratulations.


Well, it's the Bears, so all offensive skill positions are automatically eliminated. From there, you've got Olin Kretuz as your only offensive candidate before you look at the other side of the ball. It sort of stops and ends with No. 54.

Urlacher has been the anchor of a regularly above-average to excellent defense since 2000 -- the start of the decade. He's accumulated massive amounts of accolades, which include...

- 2000 Rookie of the Year
- 2005 Defensive Player of the Year
- 4 All Pros
- 6 Pro Bowls
- Vitamin water contract
- Led the Bears to the Super Bowl... where Rex Grossman ate them

So yeah. Meh.

Players I like much, much more and wish I could have given this to? Lance Briggs (who I probably would have had no qualms with except he played on the team three less years), Devin Hester (too boom/bust), Kyle Orton (too drunk).

This is where it gets a little. bit. interesting.

NBA: Bulls

Choosing to ignore Bulls basketball from 2000-2003 (trust me, it's for the best), it's still too short-sighted to say Rose. It just is. As weird as it may sound, this honor probably has to go to Ben Gordon. Between him, Deng, and Hinrich (the phantom core of the future that really ended up being a long flash in the pan) no one got it done like BG. He came to a team that had a different leading scorer every year and actually provided some stability... and half the time he was coming off the bench. We could sing his praises all day, but he's gone, that's pretty damn depressing.

MLB: White Sox

It's really a four horse race between Jermaine Dye, Mark Buehrle, Paul Konerko, and Gordon Beckham (just kidding... but seriously).

My love for Jermaine Dye really can't be qualified (I love him more than my family). Well, I guess it can. So it's really impossible for me to write about him with any semblance of objectivity. While I'll resist giving him this award, it's important to remember that his 2006 season was probably the most impressive non-Esteban Loaiza season for any Chicago White Sox. Seriously, Dye mashed children. Longevity is what kills him, though. He's only been on the team since '05, which just isn't enough.

Beckham's pace so far -- and hair so far -- has been beyond stellar, so we'll check back with him for the 2010-2019 stretch. Everybody thought naming the 'aughts' was hard, but good luck naming that decade. Seriously, what the hell do we call that? The tens? The teens? The sucks? Headache waiting to happen.

Paulie vs. MB56

Without either of these two guys, there is no World Series, division title, White Sox baseball, really. You talk about heart and soul? I mean, which one's which? Paul's been on the team since '99. Buehrle, 2000. So they've both covered longevity.

Paul probably loses points in the consistency department. He also loses points in the speed department. To say that Paul is even in the speed department is an insult to the speed department. With Paul, there is no speed department... only ashes.

Buehrle takes it because of four all-star selections to Paul's three. The incredible post-season stretch in 2005 where he started Game 2 of the world Series and went on to close Game 3. You've also go the complete game in the ALCS, leading the AL in innings pitched twice in the decade, and -- not to get too caught up in instant history or over-focused on singular accomplishments -- the no-hitter and the perfect game. Plus, Paul still likes Metallica.

Offensively, Paul Konerko has carried the Sox on his back for a long, long time, but no one on the White Sox brings his 'A' game more often than Mark Buehrle.