Do you love Matt Eberflus? Do you love him not? Are you still deciding?
In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on the site formerly known as Twitter, question No. 1 was if you’ve already made up your mind on what the Bears should do with their second-year coach after this season.
Keep him? Dump him? You get the gist.
“The decisions he’s made on hiring of assistant coaches alone are enough reason to say bye-bye,” @ChiTownSports commented.
“I thought I’d decided,” @WarthogWilson wrote, “but then the defense got a lot better and they won two in a row.”
And from @Dexpectations12: “Can we have votes like this on which Sun-Times writers to get rid of?”
Wait a minute. Do we have to include the author of these brilliant poll questions?
Next, we asked about your confidence that Cubs boss Jed Hoyer will come through with a big offseason. Last, we asked about Connor Bedard: Is the Blackhawks rookie meeting your expectations? Exceeding them?
On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: Have you made up your mind on what the Bears should do with Matt Eberflus after this season?
a. Yes — keep him (14.2%)
b. Yes — get rid of him (43.9%)
c. No — still 4 games to see (41.9%)
Upshot: The Bears are 8-22 under Eberflus. We’d probably all agree the team appears to be getting better, but all it’ll take is one bad Sunday — the type when Bears coaching missteps are on the tips of all our tongues — to crank the heat under Eberflus’ seat all the way back up again. At this point, few are convinced he’s the right guy.
Poll No. 2: What’s your confidence level in Cubs president Jed Hoyer to come through with a winning offseason?
a. It’s still high (25.8%)
b. It’s slipping (44.2%)
c. It’s pretty low (30%)
Upshot: Any chance Hoyer remembers a tall, slender, left-handed hitter by the name of Cody Bellinger? It might be rather nice to see him roaming around Wrigley Field in home whites again. About that: Don’t bet on it. But @JeffreyCanalia commented, “Two months until pitchers and catchers report, hope should still be high.”
Poll No. 3: How is Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard performing relative to your expectations?
a. He’s meeting them (50.6%)
b. He’s exceeding them (43.7%)
c. Neither (5.7%)
Upshot: On the one hand, Bedard leads the Hawks in goals (12) and assists (12) through 29 games and tops all NHL rookies in points scored. On the other hand, the 18-year-old isn’t performing literal magic tricks on the ice and has yet to pull anyone out of a burning zamboni in between periods. So the jury remains out.
