Rose, Toews survive scares on crazy night

Forget Halloween. Last night was the scariest night in a while for many sports fans in this area.

Days after losing Patrick Sharp for what may be a month, the Blackhawks had a potential doomsday scenario on their hands in the first period of a game against Columbus. A hard Duncan Keith shot from the blue line was deflected ... right into the head of captain Jonathan Toews. After falling and hitting a goalpost, Toews got up and staggered to the bench, then down the tunnel. In a world where the NHL's biggest star, Sidney Crosby, is still not playing due to a concussion from last winter, things looked awful for the Hawks.

Around the same time, I was getting tweets that Derrick Rose had left the Bulls game and gone into the locker room after having an opposing player fall on his foot. As much trouble as the Hawks would be in without Toews for an extended period, the Bulls would be worse off with no Rose. No Toews means the Hawks would be lucky to tread water and sneak into the playoffs, where they'd have a minimal, but probably nonzero, chance of winning it all. No Rose means the Bulls may not make the playoffs, and even if they did, I'd put their championship chances at zero.

Fortunately, neither injury was serious. Toews missed a few shifts but returned to play what seemed to be normal workloads in the second and third periods of a 5-2 win over the inept Blue Jackets. Rose likewise got back on the court quickly, playing nearly 42 minutes (!!!) in the Bulls' second of three games in three nights. He had 31 points and 11 assists in a 111-100 Bulls win over the Timberwolves.

Making what had seemed like a disastrous night for people who share my rooting interests instead a great one was Illinois' 79-74 upset of No. 5 Ohio State. Unlike the Blackhawks and the Bulls, there was no heart-stopping injury for the Illini, but things didn't look great for them when they trailed 39-34 at halftime. Brandon Paul's remarkable 43-point, 8-rebound effort gave the 15-4 but unranked (for now) Illini a key signature win. They'd really have to struggle the next 2 months to not be a tournament team.