By Roger Wallenstein

Meeting the person sitting next to you and enjoying a three-hour ball game together makes each trip to the ball park a unique outing.
Occasionally you have some dope in the next seat who 1) knows nothing about the game, 2) talks incessantly about matters other than baseball, or 3) simply grates on your nerves.
But far more often – at least in my experience – I meet someone who shares a passion for the Sox, actually knows that Gordon Beckham is good field-no hit, and realizes when Ozzie needs to replace Humber with Crain.
Furthermore, this random guy in the next seat could be a CEO, a teacher, or a traveling salesman. He might live on the North Side (not very likely) or in Bridgeport. One thing is certain: He (or she) won’t be a carbon copy of me.

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Posted on August 15, 2011

By Marty Gangler

Carlos Zambrano just did what the rest of us wish we could: He ditched this team.
What Cub fan wouldn’t like to just clean out his locker and forget about it?
I sometimes wish I could. But we Cub fans are afflicted with the burden of growing up with this team; the games our dads took us to, the stories our aunts tell us about, the emotional investment of enduring season after pathetic season. It’s the backdrop of our existence. We can’t just walk away.
Zambrano could. And did.

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Posted on August 15, 2011

By The TrackNotes Aggregation Desk

“Horses racing in this weekend’s Arlington Million went out on the track to practice Thursday morning,” Michelle Stoffel reports for TribLocal Arlington Heights.
“European and American horses will battle for the $1 million purse in the Arlington Million, the Beverly D. Stakes, and the Secretariat Stakes race. The three races together make up the Arlington International Festival. Experts are predicting a showdown between the Irish-bred Cape Blanco and the Kentucky-bred Gio Ponti, who won in 2009 and would challenge the famed John Henry’s status as a two-time winner of the Arlington Million if he takes first place this year.”

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Posted on August 12, 2011

By Carl Mohrbacher

I tuned into the WGN internet broadcast on Saturday and Keith Moreland was talking about getting tested for hepatitis C. Long season, huh?
-Inna, Tuba City AZ
The season has effectively been over for awhile, so it isn’t the first time the WGN radio team has offered up conversational filler to pass the endless minutes.
Highlights include:

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Posted on August 11, 2011

By Dan O’Shea

The Great NFL Lockout of 2011 put the free agent market on hold for a while, so what we’ve seen in recent days is a frenzied, condensed version of what usually happens over many weeks or months.
That particularly has been the case at the running back position. The Bears were not the only team to shake up the backfield with the surprise addition of a free agent – in their case Marion Barber. The most recent surprise signing was Baltimore’s pick-up of Ricky Williams, just days after cutting ties with Willis McGahee.
Veteran RBs getting signed to back-up roles can have an effect on fantasy expectations for starters. For example, I ranked the Bears’ Matt Forte in my preseason overall top 20, but I’m already a bit concerned that if Forte sits out some preseason action over his contract issues, Barber could earn some important carries in the first few games of the regular season. Likewise, Baltimore’s Ray Rice is a no-doubt Top 5 RB, but Williams could cut into his scoring and red zone carries.
Meanwhile, my preseason expectations also are being rocked by star Tennessee RB Chris Johnson’s ongoing holdout. Most of the fantasy football universe expected Johnson to be in camp by now, but it sounds from many reports like he is not anywhere near ready to end his holdout. This is a guy many of us – or at least me – ranked second overall.
Assuming his holdout persists, I’ve got to rethink my top 20 RBs. Here goes:

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Posted on August 10, 2011

Uploaded to YouTube by soukup85

“Hey, I’m mini-Ditka. Can you bench press me?”

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Posted on August 9, 2011

By Jim Coffman

Come on, Bears. Acknowledge the obvious! The local media’s Bears coverage on Sunday zeroed in on the status of the team’s wide receivers. There was some chatter about Johnny Knox no longer being a starting wide receiver; that Roy Williams had so far taken his spot in the starting lineup during practices. Say it ain’t so! (and stop forcing me to use so many exclamation points.)
“The obvious” is that Knox, who has the speed (and the receiving skills) the Bears absolutely have to utilize on the outside, must start at wide receiver opposite Williams.
And this means the Bears are required to suck it up and acknowledge once and for all what a decent number of commentators who are paying at least a little bit of attention have stated numerous times in the past year:

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Posted on August 8, 2011

By Roger Wallenstein

The train wreck of a homestand that ended mercifully last Thursday was no surprise to anyone following the White Sox this season. Maybe it’s arrival came later than one might have figured, but sooner or later our beloved athletes were destined to plummet in a strikingly similar fashion to the stock market last week.
It wasn’t complicated by unemployment, the debt ceiling, or trouble with the European economy. This crisis is plain and simple: The boys have an offense that’s broken. For months the sublime message to the starting pitchers has been, “Okay, guys, there’s your one or two runs. Now go out there and try to be perfect.”

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Posted on August 8, 2011

By Marty Gangler

I wrote last week that the Cubs were the worst team in baseball. And they out and proved it all over again.
Sure, they went 6-1 for the week but they didn’t get any better in the process. They actually got worse.
You may ask yourself, how is that possible? Well, it’s possible because when a team is completely out of it for the season they need to make changes that will get them better for next season.This means you shouldn’t play the guys that you know, you should play the guys that you don’t know. You should play the guys that will help you next season. Unfortunately no one has explained this to Cubs management.

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Posted on August 8, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

Each Cub, in his own way, turned out to be indispensable.
* Geo Soto’s connections too important to Mike Quade’s well-being to trade away.
* Koyie Hill bonded with Rahm over loss of finger; could come in handy.
* Tony Pena the left-handed .227 hitter Hendry always wanted.
* Darwin Barney Bobblehead Day already on next year’s schedule.
* Starlin Castro’s Uncle Raul nixed deal to send his talents to South Beach.

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Posted on August 5, 2011