LeBron fiasco just another chapter in Chicago's free-agent book

There are many losers in the LeBron-didn't-pick-my-town melodrama. Let's save their plights for another day.

Why? Because no group warrants more compassion than the gritty, gutty feature writers assigned to compare LeBron's impending impact in their fair city to that of fabled free agents who came before.

For goodness sake, why do these heartless superstars NEVER THINK OF THE FEATURE WRITERS?

LeBron stabbed us right in the heart on national TV. Good luck having a ticker-tape parade in a city with fewer newspapers.

Moreover, he didn't have the guts to share his decision in advance, which could have cut us a break with our assignment editors.

Perhaps most important, he didn't donate a dime to the Boys & Girls Feature Writers Clubs of America. We were counting on the proceeds in order to upgrade from typewriters to laptops.

Yes, our LeBron cottage industry curdles without his cooling presence.

Or does it?

Maybe, just maybe, we can compensate for LeBron's absence by providing, I don't know, riveting facts and intriguing anecdotes that delight readers and encourage them to enjoy the entire story, and we're not talking about Ben Wallace.

Seeing green in RedFor example, let's be gentlemanly and admit it might've been fun had LBJ elected to join the Bulls.But it's not like his arrival at the United Center was necessary to save Jerry Reinsdorf's franchise - not to mention the NBA.Yet that's essentially what Wheaton native Red Grange accomplished 85 years ago when he signed on as a free agent with the Bears.One day (Nov. 21, 1925, to be precise), Grange led Illinois to a 14-9 season-ending victory before more than 72,000 fans at Ohio State.The next day, Grange sealed a deal with Bears owner/coach/starting end George Halas to join his band of frequently-do-wells.Depending on which report you believe, Grange either received $100,000 or 100 large plus a percentage of the gate in exchange for his services.Considering home run king Babe Ruth made $52K with the New York Yankees that year, Halas counted on Grange's presence to be like royalty.Sure enough, Grange brought out the gasping commoners as Halas happily lined up 16 games over two months to recoup his investment and then some.On Thanksgiving Day, five days after his Illinois finale, Grange and the Bears played the Chicago Cardinals to a scoreless tie at Wrigley Field before a reported 39,000 - a crowd six times the norm.Less than two weeks later, Grange and the Bears went to New York and attracted 70,000 to the Polo Grounds. Not long after that, he drew 75,000 at the Los Angeles Coliseum and rewarded them with 2 touchdowns.According to the Bears' company history, "It is not an overstatement to say that Red Grange saved professional football."Beat that in Miami, LeBron.'Bron the next Belle?Not long after James announced his plan to leave Cleveland, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert lashed out with a remarkably hate-filled missive that somehow stole the low road away from LeBron.In the midst of that letter, though, Gilbert took an interesting tack. He declared James will be "taking the (Cleveland) curse" with him and will "unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma."Perhaps Gilbert hath mistaken LeBron for Albert Belle, who left the Indians after several fabulous seasons to sign with the White Sox as a free agent before the 1997 season.Belle received a five-year, $55 million deal that set the MLB standard at the time. The deal made sense as Belle gave the Sox a third power hitter to go with Frank Thomas and Robin Ventura.Moreover, because the Sox took away the top hitter from the team that finished 14#189; games ahead of them the year before, they figured to benefit doubly in their pursuit of the AL Central title.But Belle's curse and bad karma hit home in record time. Ventura suffered a gruesome ankle injury in spring training that knocked him out for half the season.Belle, meanwhile, suffered through a 1-for-27 spell in early April that knocked his average into the .160s.The Sox starting pitching was horrid from the jump, too.Just when the Sox rallied to become a .500 team and pulled within 3#189; games of the Indians, the front office pulled off the "White Flag" trade that ensured Belle's time on the South Side would be postseason-less.At least Belle's story had a happy ending for Chicago.He had a clause in his contract that promised he'd receive one of baseball's top three salaries or he could become a free agent.After Belle's spectacular 1998 season (.328 average, 49 homers, 48 doubles, 152 RBI), he asked the Sox to fulfill the rules of the contract.The Sox declined. Belle signed a long-term deal with Baltimore and was done with baseball two years later with a degenerative hip condition.We're not suggesting this will be your fate, LeBron, but it's difficult to get the Cleveland curse out of the man.And if Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh ruptures an Achilles' tendon in the preseason, we'll know the curse remains real.'Best available' routeIn 2006, Alfonso Soriano was the scourge of fantasy baseball.Playing for a rotten Washington Nationals team, Soriano crushed a career-high 46 homers and stole 41 bases.Meanwhile, in the wake of the Cubs' horrid 2006 campaign, general manager Jim Hendry set his sights on the best free agent available.Hendry lured Soriano to Chicago with an eight-year, $136 million deal - the biggest in franchise history - that included a full no-trade clause.How has this worked out? During his 3#189; seasons on the North Side, Soriano has averaged 125 games, 27.4 homers and 14.5 steals per full year.Meanwhile, the Cubs have no playoff wins to show for it and they owe Soriano another $81 million before his contract runs out after the 2014 season. When he will be 38.The Bears and the Blackhawks also have gone down this path within the last 12 months.On July 1, 2009, the Hawks felt they found their missing piece when they signed Marian Hossa to a 12-year, $62.8 million contract that runs out when he's 42.While the Hawks monkeyed with the deal's terms to provide a reasonable salary-cap hit, they satisfied Hossa's status as the best free agent available by giving him $7.9 million for each of the first seven years.The Hawks signed a guy whose resume showed an average of 0.92 points per game in his 775 regular-season appearances.Did they get what they paid for? After missing the Hawks' first 22 games last season to allow his surgically repaired shoulder to heal, Hossa delivered 51 points in 57 regular-season games (0.89 points per game) and then added 3 goals, 12 assists and a plus-7 rating during the Hawks' run to their first Stanley Cup in 49 years.So, yeah, Hossa was worth the prodigious dollars.The price of PeppersThe Bears hope they found their Hossa - and not their Soriano - in five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers.Four months ago, the Bears gave the treasured free agent a front-loaded $84 million deal that nets him $20 million for the upcoming season - and that doesn't include his incentives for sacks and Pro Bowl appearances.What might Bears fans expect from the 30-year-old Peppers during the guaranteed portion of his contract?Considering Peppers and Jason Taylor posted comparable numbers over the last eight years - Peppers produced 81 sacks and 30 forced fumbles to Taylor's league-high 87 sacks and 36 forced fumbles - Taylor looks like a fair measuring stick.Taylor, who'll be 36 in September, averaged 13.8 sacks and 4 forced fumbles per season in the final four years of his 20s. He then averaged 111/2 sacks and 41/2 forced fumbles in the first four years of his 30s.Peppers averaged 10.1 sacks and 4 forced fumbles in the final four years of his 20s. If he can limit his expected slide the same way Taylor did, the Bears will enjoy their best pass rush since their Super Bowl trip to, yes, Miami.If Peppers improves the defense and the Bears are in the playoff chase in November and December, Chicagoans might not even notice LeBron didn't select our cosmopolitan burg.And gritty, gutty feature writers will have more than enough subject matter and won't miss LeBron, either.False20001333Chicago Blackhawks right wing Marian HossaAssociated PressFalse