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Imrem: What Chicago athletes should, shouldn't be like

Andrew Shaw and Derrick Rose are reminders of what Chicago athletes should and shouldn't be like.

Should: Sacrifice your body to win championships. Shouldn't: Resist when doctors say you can play.

It's as simple as that.

Rose became less and less popular during his turbulent career as he hurt Bulls title hopes more than he helped them.

Shaw became more and more popular as a key element in two Blackhawks title runs.

Now they're both gone, Rose to the New York Knicks and Shaw to the Montreal Canadiens.

"Where have you gone, D-Rose, a city turns its lonely eyes to you."

Wait, no, not to you.

To the other guy.

"Where have you gone, A-Shaw, a city turns its lonely eyes to you."

At Bulls draft choice Denzel Valentine's introductory news conference Monday, Tom Izzo's quote came up that Valentine would "play dead" if he could muster the strength to suit up.

Unintentionally, the Michigan State coach's remark condemned Rose, who wasn't known for playing hurt.

That's as good a reason as any for local sentiment being relief that Rose is gone and disappointment that Shaw couldn't stay.

Shaw was a condo when he came to the Hawks, Rose a castle when he came to the Bulls. Shaw was a dockside diner, Rose a French bistro. Shaw was a kazoo band, Rose the Chicago Symphony.

Yet they depart in bizarro fashion.

Rose, the Chicago native blessed with a world of talent, fell short of expectations. Shaw, the Canadian import blessed with a world of grit, exceeded expectations.

Pretty much all an athlete has to do to earn Chicago's respect is play and play hard. If he plays well, all the better, but he has to play if he can breathe.

Rose declined to do so late in the 2012-13 season, when the Bulls' medical staff cleared him to return from knee surgery.

Bulls fans trust was squandered.

The way Shaw played, Hawks fans never had to doubt his commitment.

Some might shade Rose-Shaw in terms of basketball-hockey.

Basketball players play a noncontact sport … relatively speaking; hockey players play a collision sport … relatively speaking.

But the truth is that many basketball players would compete with a collapsed lung and some hockey players won't plant themselves in front of the net.

Shaw is beloved because he did all the dirty-duty stuff that etched his name into the Stanley Cup a couple of times.

Rose? He sat out with "general soreness" last season.

For a while, Rose was a more gifted version of Shaw: Drive the lane, be slammed down by NBA giants and jump back into the fray.

But then Rose took his time returning from his first knee surgery and appeared to be more concerned with finances and the future than with scores and the standings.

Bumped and bruised as Shaw was in the violent sport of hockey, he missed nine of 246 games the past three seasons.

During that same span in the kinder, gentler sport of basketball, Rose missed 119 of 246 games.

Maybe Rose is misunderstood, but visions of him sitting on the bench in street clothes stalk him as he heads to New York.

Meanwhile, as the Shaw heads to Montreal, he's remembered for sticking his head into cement mixers in search of the puck.

No wonder Derrick Rose departs under a cloud while Andrew Shaw rides off on a rainbow.

mimrem@dailyherald.com

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