Chris Tabor Returns to Chicago Bears

In 1992, the Benedictine College Raven football squad was loaded with talent. Senior quarterback and co-captain Chris Tabor led the team to a 9-1 regular season. Tabor went on after graduation to become a coach. 

Tabor is returning to the Bears after having served under Dave Toub on Lovie Smith's staff from 2008-10. Smith was "high" on Tabor's performance and said he "did a super job" at the time. Tabor then spent seven seasons as the Browns Special Teams Coordinator. 

The Bears had success on special teams during Tabor's tenure with the team. Tabor plans on creating an aggressive unit that plays with good judgment. 

In his inaugural interview at the Halas Hall, the Bears Headquarters in Lake Forest, mention was made that the Bears' three specialists—punter Pat O'Donnell, kicker Mike Nugent and long-snapper Andrew DePaola—are all due to become free agents. How is Tabor prepared to deal with that challenge. His response:

"My last stint I worked for four head coaches, five general managers and two owners, there was a lot of turnover. And with that the rosters always changed, so I think that as a coach you have to be able to adapt. One thing that we say is adapt or die. The dinosaurs couldn't figure it out and they became extinct. Coaches, they don't figure it out, they get fired. So we'll adapt, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of it."

Special Teams Coordinators work with every player on a team to carve out the best use of players. They have one of the best overall understanding of a team's weaknesses and strength and some believe in time they may be more popular head coaching candidates. 

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As the football season winds down and fans are settling down to watch the Super Bowl, we like to remind them about the top ten NFL coaching heavyweights who are expertly covered in author Patrick McCaskey's Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships. 

You Can Be Disciplined, but You Still Must Take Risks

Teddy, One of History's Tough Guys

We've been publishing books at Sporting Chance Press on sports, and sports and faith.  In many ways, our book attempt to bring out lessons from sports--they discuss sports as a metaphor for life.  In sports there are plenty of life lessons.  

For me, one of life's lessons from sports is being competitive, combative, having an edge, taking it on, and just being "all in."  Life is a battle. 

In sports, you have to take the bat off your shoulder, you have to go for the bomb at times, you have to crush the serve, you have to take the header in front of the net, you have to pace yourself in the long race--then you have to sprint at the end.  Yes, in sports there are times when you have to let it go and just attack--you have to put it in gear and let it fly. Yes, you have to play with almost reckless abandon. 

Coming from the publishing business, in my career I often found the best managers were often the most discplined and thoughtful.  We took the long road. We recognized when people were acting out of some personal bias and not thinking about achieving our goals.  We got our bearings and only when we saw the whole field and all the players did we execute. And then, well then things changed. 

The pace of the game excellerated in sports and modern life.  Things change quickly today and you had to make adjustments.
We took seminars on change. Change was the new name of the game. 

A game plan may only be good for half the game. Players get injured more often today so the team makeup can change instantly. The wind changes and you can't kick the long field goal or you have to forget about the long ball. The field surface changes and you grind out the yards on the ground. The heat creeps up and you can't possible maintain a super fast pace. The weather cools and the serves seem to take a lifeless bounce once over the net. Sometimes you have to play small ball again. 

In life, sometimes the unimaginable happens and the rules are changed--you have to adjust. People you counted on one day get laid off the next. Your competition doubles in size via a merger. Your office moves to the cheap space. Hours are increased, pay is decreased. One year you can express your opinions, the next you keep your opinions to yourself. But the big problem is that regardless of what goes on, you still have to take some risks. You  still have to go to battle. You have to take it all on and be all in.  You may be able to lay low for a while, but you can never win without risking everything. 

Copyright Sporting Chance Press

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As the football season winds down and fans are settling down to watch the Super Bowl, we like to remind them about the top ten NFL coaching heavyweights who are expertly covered in author Patrick McCaskey's Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships. 

Pillars of the NFL for Playoff Time

As the football season winds down and fans are settling down to watch the playoffs and finish to the season, we like to remind them about the top ten NFL coaching heavyweights who are expertly covered in author Patrick McCaskey's Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships.  This is an important project because it entertains and informs--plus it helps keep the memory of many great coaches alive. 

ESPN offered a great service to fans with their Greatest Coaches in NFL History series in which some of the best and the brightest in sports writing and analysis selected their 20 top coaches.  In Pillars of the NFL our selection of the top ten was made strictly by NFL championships won. We took out the hype media coverage. 

Our book covers the football lives of:

1. George Halas

2. Guy Chamberlin

3. Curly Lambeau

4. Paul Brown

5. Weeb Ewbank

6. Vince Lombardi

7. Chuck Noll

8. Bill Walsh

9. Joe Gibbs

10. Bill Belichick

Weeb Ewbank

Guy Chamberlin

We've gone to bat recently to try to call attention in particular to two great coaches who get much less attention these days than the others: Guy Chamberlin and Weeb Ewbank.  Chamberlin played for teams that have gone out of existence and he won his championships in the first decade of the NFL.  Ewbank was a team builder who started out with teams that needed complete overhauls.  He also had two great quarterbacks playing for him and most give credit for the championships his teams won to those two individuals:  Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath. 

Pillars introduces readers to each coach first with a "your are there" present tense feature that takes the reader to the coach's surroundings.  Each coach's early life is examined and then his school days and playing career is described.  The coaching life focuses on the professional venue, the key players, and the seasons.  A highlights and contribution to the game section ends each coach's individual coverage.  At the end of the book, championship tables are provided and a thorough index helps make the book most useful.  Readers have a book that distills the character and achievements of each man.

Tate and Lyle, Food and Science, and Football

You may have heard of Tate and Lyle.  Their business is one of many today that has to with food and the scientific means that are applied to food creation. They are a food and science company. Much of what the food industry does today is about creating products better and cheaper. Often companies like Tate and Lyle are behind the scenes of many of the companies with which consumers are familiar. Employees of Tate and Lyle include many scientists, engineers and others who have an appreciaton of scientific subjects and complexities. 

In some ways, science has been part of food production for many years. If you look at many of the agricultural schools at universities you a history of work in testing and researching various types of fruits and vegetables.  Soil science and insect control, weather studies, animal studies and more has been part and parcel of what our universities do.  Companies have grown around much of the same work and many companies have grown and evolved into new service areas and across borders.

Tate and Lyle owns what was once the Staley Manufacturing Company, a company with a considerable accomplishment in sports. Staley devloped a myriad of products--some that were sold by Staley directly to consumers and some that were sold to other companies for their manufacturing.  Company founder,  August Staley was a competitive man.  He built a tremendous agricultural company from corn and later soybean processing that would exert its presence globally. Staley did not want a mediocre anything. As he was developing his company, like other men of his era, he developed company sports teams that gave employees and townspeople from Decatur, Illinois, much to cheer about. His employees coached, managed and played for his teams.  

In 1920, Staley's general superintendent George Chamberlin met with George Halas in Chicago and offered him a position with the Staley Manufacturing Company.  A company that many have called the Staley Starch Company because of it's early emphasis on starch products. Halas's new job involved duties at the Decatur Staley Plant and management of its football team.  Halas could also play baseball with the Staley baseball team.  Halas accepted.

Halas aggressively recruited players. The players were hired employees working in the plant and playing football for the Staley team.  Halas had insisted on practice time "on the clock" and very quickly he recruited a team of excellent players that looked like a college all-star team. Things came together for Halas as a group of like-minded men with teams met in Canton, Ohio, in Ralph Hayes Hupmobile Showroom and organized what we would be called a few years later the National Football League. 

The 1920 Decatur Staleys went 10-2-1 and finished second in the American Professional Football Association (soon to be renamed the National Football League). The Akron Pros took first.

After just a year, team expenses were high and the economy dipped. A. E. Staley had a problem. He could hardly afford to keep the team in Decatur at the Staley's small stadium and continue to pay the players and share the gate receipts with them.  The Staley's had shown however that when playing in Chicago, ample crowds were present. Both Staley and Halas realized a change in venue could save the team.  Staley arranged a generous one year sponsorship for Halas to take the team to the Windy City in 1921.  And Halas did just that and the Decatur Staley's became the Chicago Staley's in 1921 and then the Chicago Bears in 1922.  They played for many years at what became Wrigley Field and then moved to Soldier Field. Halas financial struggles with the Bears went on for many decades before the team was consistently stable financially, but he always appreciated the start he got from A. E. Staley.

The A. E. Staley Company, Decatur, and what long-time St. Louis Dispatch Reporter Bob Boerg called the  Decatur  Starchwork Terriers are part of Bears and NFL history. The Staley Manufacturing Company lasted as an independent entity for over 75 years and was acquired by Tate and Lyle for the price of what financial newspapers say a good NFL team is worth today. The Staley family made out fine in agribusiness. 

Pillars of the NFL

For history fans, and there are plenty of those in the Land of Lincoln, the Staley Mansion has been transformed onto a museum. The story of the Staleys team and Papa Bear George Halas is covered in our book by Patrick McCaskey's Pillars of the NFL.

In England

Henry Tate started a sugar refining business way back in 1859 in Liverpool, England. The company evolved  through mergers and in 1939, Tate and Lyle's facility on the Thames became the largest sugar refinery in the world. Further growth occured when Tate and Lyle acquired United Molasses. Later, Sucralose was discovered by Tate & Lyle in partnership with researchers at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London. Tate & Lyle created SPLENDA® Sucralose in partnership with McNeil Nutritionals LLC (a Johnson & Johnson company). In 1988, Tate and Lyle bought a 90% stake in A. E. Staley and over a period of time bought a large stake in Amylum, a European starch-based manufacturing business. In 2000, it purchased the remining minority interests of Staley and Amylum. Tate and Lyle acquired Haarmann & Reimer, a subsidiary of Bayer AG. Tate & Lyle became the world's leading producer of citric acid.  Sugars, starches, and other products were the driving forces behind Tate and Lyle. 

Stock market analysts say that Tate and Lyle segments are Specialty Food Ingredients and Bulk Ingredients. Specialty Food Ingredients is becoming more competitive and companies have been expanding internationally. In addition to Tate and Lyle, companies such a Cargill and DuPont compete in this market. The Bulk Food Ingredients market has many of the same players, including Tate and Lyle, Cargill and DuPont. The Bulk Food Group market is said to be $169-172 billion for the next several years. The Specialty Food Ingredients markets is said to be smaller, $51.5 billion but growing faster.

In the 21st century, Tate and Lyle has made many aggressive moves on its food and nuitrition business. A new joint venture with DuPont produces Bio-PDO™, a textile polymer ingredient made from renewable resources (replaces petrochemicals) for use in their fabric, DuPont™ Sorona®.  Tate and Lyle acquired Italian company, Cesalpinia, a producer of natural flavours, natural gums and stabilisers. Tate & Lyle acquired US speciality food ingredients company Continental Custom Ingredients (CCI) a recognised leader in dairy stabilisers and emulsifier systems. A wholly-owned venture fund, Tate & Lyle Ventures was set up to invest in start-ups and expansion-stage companies. Tate & Lyle acquired an 80% holding in German speciality food ingredients group G. C. Hahn & Co (Hahn). 

Tate & Lyle sold its sugar business (EU operations), including the Lyle’s Golden Syrup brand, to American Sugar Refining, Inc (ASR) and ended its long association with refined sugar production. It also sold five European starch plants. Several new plants and facilties were built. Tate & Lyle bought Biovelop, a Swedish manufacturer of oat beta glucan.  With Gemacom Tech in Brazil, formed a joint venture called Tate & Lyle Gemacom Tech. The company acquired Winway Biotechnology Co Ltd, China its third polydextrose facility globally.

Skating Book for the Holidays: Maddie Takes the Ice

Maddie Takes the Ice

Madison Albright is one of the most confident skaters at the Arctic Circle Figure Skating Club, but the pressure builds as she prepares for the regional championship. A jealous skater is prepared to do whatever it takes to knock Madison from the competition and an old friend turns against her just when she needs her the most. Strangers and classmates alike suddenly make her the center of attention. Her coach seems incapable of understanding her worries. Her best friend is preoccupied with boy problems. At home, her family expects a big win. In the final days before the event, her confidence begins to unravel and she struggles to succeed in spite of the stress and strain that is competitive figure skating. Come along for an unforgettable journey as Maddie Takes the Ice.

Curly Lambeau of Notre Dame Football

Pillars of the NFL, Sporting Chance  Press Publisher

Chicago Bears Senior Director Patrick McCaskey's Pillars of the NFL, examines the football lives of the 10 greatest coaches in NFL history--those who won three or more championships.  One of the most interesting "Pillar" is Curly Lambeau.  Many football fans do not realize that Lambeau had interesting connections to some of the Notre Dame legends although he only attended the school for one year. 

In 1918, Lambeau shared the backfield with George “Gipper” Gipp, the storied back who would lead the team in both rushing and passing from 1918-1920.  Lambeau played under new head coach, Knute Rockne.  During Lambeau’s stay in South Bend, World War I was raging, but it was a flu epidemic that shortened the football season.  Notre Dame posted a 3–1–2 record.  In one tough game against the Great Lakes Naval Station, Lambeau faced future rival and Chicago Bears founder, George Halas, who played end.  The teams tied.  

As a freshman, Lambeau had a supporting role in the Notre Dame backfield.  He was no threat to superstar Gipp who among other astonishing feats, held the ND rushing career mark of 2,341 yards for more than 50 years. 

The Fighting Irish player roster described Lambeau as flamboyant, an excellent blocker, and a good short-yardage runner. After the football season, Lambeau had a bout of tonsillitis.  Recuperating at home, he decided not to return to South Bend, and subsequently quit school for good.  Although Lambeau had a brief career at Notre Dame, he would be called an “ex Notre Dame Football star.”  He was proud of the connection.  Lambeau did not forget Rockne.  

Lambeau’s practice of recommending Green Bay players to his old coach created yet another Notre Dame legend.  One player who would go to Notre Dame on Lambeau’s recommendations was Jim Crowley.  Crowley would become one of the fabled Four Horsemen of Notre Dame—christened and made famous by Grantland Rice, a poetic sportswriter for the New York Herald-Tribune in an era when such craft was appreciated.   

Crowley “recovered” from the notoriety and later coached at Fordham University.  At Fordham, Lambeau’s work would come full circle.  One of Crowley’s players by the name of Vince Lombardi would go on to coach the Packers in one remarkable decade.  

Copyright, Sporting Chance Press

LAMBEAU, NOTRE DAME AND THE PACKERS IN PILLARS OF THE NFL

PILLARS OF THE NFL

In Patrick McCaskey's  Pillars of the NFL, the lives and careers of the top ten NFL coaches and their teams are examined.  The material below is reprinted from Pillars, Copyright Sporting Chance Press.

In 1918, Lambeau attended Notre Dame where he rubbed shoulders with future college football legends.  At Notre Dame, Lambeau shared the backfield, albeit for a single season, with George “Gipper” Gipp, the storied back who would lead the team in both rushing and passing from 1918-1920.  Lambeau played under new head coach, Knute Rockne.  Like Lambeau, Rockne was a fan of the pass and in South Bend, Lambeau learned the Notre Dame box, a formation based on the commonly used single wing. ...

During Lambeau’s stay in South Bend, World War I was raging, but it was a flu epidemic that shortened the football season.  Notre Dame posted a 3–1–2 record.  In one tough game against the Great Lakes Naval Station, Lambeau faced future rival and Chicago Bears founder, George Halas, who played end.  The teams tied.  

As a freshman, Lambeau had a supporting role in the Notre Dame backfield.  He was no threat to superstar Gipp who among other astonishing feats, held the ND rushing career mark of 2,341 yards for more than 50 years.  Tragically, after his senior season, Gipp developed a strep infection and died.  On his deathbed, Gipp’s last conversation to Rockne was quoted as:

I've got to go, Rock.  It's all right.  I'm not afraid.  Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper.  I don't know where I'll be then, Rock.  But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy.

Rockne would famously use the deathbed story to motivate his underdog Notre Dame team against Army in 1928.  The quote would also make its way into movies and politics. 

The Fighting Irish player roster described Lambeau as flamboyant, an excellent blocker, and a good short-yardage runner. After the football season, Lambeau had a bout of tonsillitis.  Recuperating at home, he decided not to return to South Bend, and subsequently quit school for good.  Although Lambeau had a brief career at Notre Dame, he would be called an “ex Notre Dame Football star.”  He was proud of the connection.  Lambeau did not forget Rockne.  The two corresponded and Lambeau occasionally recommended a high school player to the Notre Dame coach and he encouraged the student to head to South Bend.  

Lambeau’s practice of recommending Green Bay players to his old coach created yet another Notre Dame legend.  One player who would go to Notre Dame on Lambeau’s recommendations was Jim Crowley.  Crowley would become one of the fabled Four Horsemen of Notre Dame—christened and made famous by Grantland Rice, a poetic sportswriter for the New York Herald-Tribune in an era when such craft was appreciated.   

Four Horsemen of Football, Library of Congress Photo

After Notre Dame's 13–7 victory over Army on October 18, 1924, Rice penned one of sports journalism’s favorite passages:

Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. 

In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death.  These are only aliases.  Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden.  They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.

Notre Dame student-publicity aid, George Strickler, who would become the sports editor of the Chicago Tribune, had a photo shot of the four ND players on horseback, which was picked up by newspapers across the country.  The photo memorialized the passage, the players, and the team.  

Crowley “recovered” from the notoriety and later coached at Fordham University.  At Fordham, Lambeau’s work would come full circle.  One of Crowley’s players by the name of Vince Lombardi would go on to coach the Packers in one remarkable decade.