Biography
Dan McNeil has been a Chicago sportsradio mainstay for more than 25 years. His show, "The McNeil and Spiegel Show," airs on WSCR, the Score ...
Dan McNeil
The truth about Urlacher
May 23, 2013
Those of us in the opinion-making business are guilty of wanting it both ways.
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Blackhawks-Red Wings rivalry fades
May 16, 2013
So this is the dreamy, second-round match up that was to titillate the senses? The type of grudge match that was to rekindle all the deep-seeded ill feelings Chicagoans and Detroiters had for each other in the days of the old Norris Division?
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Reasons to enjoy Chicago baseball
May 2, 2013
Chicago now has digested a month of uninspiring baseball on both sides of town. The reaction has me puzzled.
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Presidents' Trophy can be a curse
April 25, 2013
Another Presidents' Trophy banner will be raised to the rafters of the United Center next fall. With their victory Wednesday night in Edmonton, the Blackhawks ensured home ice throughout the playoffs, a distinction that can be dubious.
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Foley deserves accolades Hawks bestowing on him
April 18, 2013
Pat Foley wasn't behind a microphone when Patrick Kane's overtime goal in Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup finals lifted the Blackhawks to their first championship in 49 years.
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Te'o will be solid draft pick
April 11, 2013
Two weeks from today, the water cooler is going to be enormously popular in work places all over the Chicago area. That's where Bears fans will convene to debate general manager Phil Emery's second crack at the first round of the NFL draft.
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Hawks didn't need to make moves
April 5, 2013
If Stan Bowman spent Wednesday on the golf course instead of on the telephone, all I can say is I hope he broke 90.
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Emery needs to strengthen Bears offensive line
March 28, 2013
Greed is unattractive, but what kind of poker player walks away from the table when the dealer keeps throwing him hot cards?
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Bears best move is the one they didn't make
March 14, 2013
Even the most pessimistic types have to tip the cap to the Bears for the big splash they made as free-agency season opened this week.
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Time for Hawks to lighten up
March 7, 2013
There's no point assigning letter grades to the Blackhawks now that they've reached the halfway point in the truncated 48-game season.
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Time for NU and Carmody to part ways
February 28, 2013
Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips is bunkered down and buttoned up regarding the NU men's basketball program.
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Blackhawks create great expectations
February 21, 2013
If the Blackhawks earn a point against San Jose on Friday night, setting an NHL standard for best start to a season, expect the United Center ice to be littered with a variety of items from admiring patrons.
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Super Bowl Sunday is time to take chances
January 31, 2013
How many times have you returned from Las Vegas with more money than when you left?
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It's far too soon for Cup talk, but Hawks look good
January 25, 2013
I'm going to leave it to Joel Quenneville and his players to remind you "it's still early" in this NHL season.
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Words won't win it for Bears
January 17, 2013
Marc Trestman was a smash at his introductory news conference Thursday in Lake Forest. The Bears new head coach definitively answered "yes" to the qualities Phil Emery suggested were requisite for the job when the Bears general manager outlined his blueprint on New Year's Day.
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Show Emery some patience
January 10, 2013
Be it positive or negative — and I expect more of the latter — there will be a handful of over-the-top reactions to Phil Emery's choice as the Bears new head coach once the GM finally pulls the trigger.
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Smith's dismissal renews hope
January 4, 2013
With each New Year there arrives the chance to clear the slate and begin anew.
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Bears have earned 2nd-half spiral
December 21, 2012
The big-picture stuff going on in Lake Forest is juicier than it has been in years. To my delight, that's not going to change for many weeks.
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Smith future remains mystery
December 13, 2012
In less than three weeks, there will be answers to all the questions being debated around water coolers from Milwaukee to Merrillville.
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Urlacher party is over
December 7, 2012
In the early 1970s, the older kids in my neighborhood wore Dick Butkus "51" jerseys. I had to go to NFL Films to learn what all the fuss was about. The only Butkus I saw was the broken-down linebacker in his final two years.
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'Slap Shot' screening cures hockey blues
November 29, 2012
The prospect of a winter without pucks draws closer to reality as each day concludes without movement in the NHL's labor dispute.
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Bears season comes down surviving against Vikings
November 22, 2012
When the ribbon was cut on this NFL season in early September, nobody gave a second thought to the Bears' Week 12 assignment, Leslie Frazier's Vikings.
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49ers game isn't worth playing Cutler
November 15, 2012
I've heard it suggested that Jason Campbell is the best backup quarterback in this year's NFL — and that maybe the former Raider and Redskin is better than any No. 2 the Bears have ever had.
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Next 2 games watershed for Cutler
November 8, 2012
I'm relieved the Bears have concluded the junior varsity portion of their schedule and finally have a worthy opponent Sunday night at Soldier Field. The comedy of errors in Nashville was entertaining, but it's time for a 15-round bout between two legitimate heavyweight contenders.
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Bears' vanishing act
November 1, 2012
Though nobody requested one, coach Lovie Smith said he wasn't about to offer an apology after his Bears rallied to stave off the Panthers for their fifth straight victory.
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It's time for NU to produce
October 25, 2012
Beginning today, I'm resolving to give Northwestern football what those responsible for it say they desire — reviews that are honest and, if necessary, unmerciful.
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Brenly-Kasper duo will be missed
October 18, 2012
I don't blame any Cubs fan for being as disappointed in Bob Brenly's departure as in the 101-loss season the team just suffered. The latter was expected.
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This no time to extend Smith's contract
October 11, 2012
Of course Phil Emery and Lovie Smith denied they have been knocking knees over a fresh contract for the coach. There's no upside for either of them if they indicate otherwise.
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Jaguars give Bears defense chance to shine
October 4, 2012
It doesn't look like a fair fight. The Bears, fresh off an explosive blowout victory over the Cowboys on the national stage, against the Jaguars, who've been outscored 54-17 at EverBank Field and are 1-3.
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Sox MVP: Williams
September 27, 2012
Barring some miraculous turn of events this weekend, these are our final chances to reflect on the improbable 2012 White Sox.
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Pessimism not rush to judgment
September 20, 2012
It would be snobbish — not to mention cowardly — if I suggested we all park our opinions of the Bears and the NFL until there's more evidence to evaluate in a few weeks.
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Bears honeymoon over
September 15, 2012
We have nine days to debate if the Bears offense can be as bad as Thursday night's debacle in Green Bay would lead one to believe.
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Season has earmarks of Urlacher's swan song
September 7, 2012
Pardon me if I'm a smidge disjointed with this one. I have had no experience writing about a Bears offense with players at the skilled positions who are capable of taking a team to a Super Bowl.
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Pinkett was wrong about 'criminals'
August 30, 2012
Allen Pinkett didn't get into any trouble when he was wearing that fabled gold helmet in South Bend, Ind., in the mid-1980s. He waited until he was 48 to take a seat in the Dean of Discipline's office.
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3 reasons game 3 is a must-watch
August 24, 2012
If you're passing on Friday night's Bears-Giants game, I don't blame you. Summer is evaporating and it makes sense to enjoy these final weekends before the leaves change colors.
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Not time to panic about Reed — yet
August 2, 2012
If Addison Reed now appears on your list of White Sox concerns as the division leaders brace themselves for the dog days of August, I understand why.
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The 10 most important Bears for 2012
July 12, 2012
As we continue to peel away the calendar pages — only 12 days left — until the Bears arrive in Bourbonnais, the assignment is determining the 10 most important players in 2012.
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An exhilarating walleye hunt
May 31, 2012
EAGLE LAKE, ONTARIO — I didn't gain much fishing knowledge from my father, Roy McNeil, who used to wake up his chubby son before sunrise to drown minnows and insects.
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Ricketts to blame for Wood
May 9, 2012
It became obvious several years ago that when the final chapter of the Kerry Wood story was written, it wasn't going to have a happy ending. An ugly last act, however, could have been avoided.
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No help for Cutler is just offensive
April 26, 2012
There's no reason to barbecue Phil Emery after the new GM's first few hours in the Bears' war room. I have no interest, however, in standing in line with anybody desirous of tossing rose petals at his feet.
