By Marty Gangler

Ahhh. Isn’t it great to be back? And now nice to pick up close to where we left off!
And I was worried that The Cub Factor would be totally different this season. Nope.
Sure, it’s only been one series, but damn, I still have the Cubby taste in my mouth.
And sure, even though the Cubs blew a couple games already this season I will admit it does feel different. Unfortunately the outcomes have kinda been the same.
With all this being said, we here at The Cub Factor would like to kick off this season with a list of Cubs slogans for 2012:

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Posted on April 9, 2012

By Jim Coffman

The baseball season is upon us. In fact, in honor of first weekend foes Robin Ventura and Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan, let’s say that the baseball season has us in a headlock and is giving us noogies. Shockingly enough, I have some thoughts.
Namely, that Gordon Beckham’s inconsistent hitting and inability to make good baseball plays must be infuriating to White Sox fans.

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Posted on April 9, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

The immensely wealthy family patriarch will spend the day licking his chops.
He bought a baseball team for his son and wants his return from the fans and taxpayers. How joyous!
Let’s take a look.
1. They sell every ticket, every game, win or lose! Now you’ve got a business!

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Posted on April 5, 2012

By Dan O’Shea

What did we learn from spring training this year that you can apply to management of your fantasy teams? That you should draft every Detroit Tiger available, since they won 20 spring games, and had two players – Brennan Boesch and Ryan Raburn – with six home runs? That you should definitely pick Chris Sale, SP, WHITE SOX, who had a 1.08 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 24 innings?
At every turn, the fantasy experts well tell you not to see spring training as indicative of future returns, but those same fantasy experts will keep mentioning that rookie Zack Cozart, SS, CIN, is having a remarkable spring.
If you want to take the part of the schedule that doesn’t count as gospel, here’s the team you should aim to draft:

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Posted on April 4, 2012

By Roger Wallenstein

I can’t get the image out of my mind. Almost like a stupid song or jingle that finds a place somewhere in one’s gray matter and refuses to be expunged.
That’s where the March 1979 Sports Illustrated cover featuring Harry Chappas has resided for the past few days. Harry, you see, was the center of attention as the White Sox broke camp for the ’79 campaign. The year before the team had lost 90 games, and the prospects didn’t look much better for the upcoming season.
But Harry was unique, and the team needed a hook to create some buzz as Opening Day approached. He was listed anywhere from 5-foot-5 to a maximum of 5-foot-7, and the 21-year-old was going to be the Sox’ new shortstop. Harry Caray, who was in the booth for the South Siders that season, publicly measured Chappas and found him to be a mere 63 inches!

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Posted on April 3, 2012

By Dan O’Shea

There are plenty of players worth drafting in fantasy baseball leagues, but sometimes real gold can be mined from among those who don’t get drafted, at least not in every league. They may not even be late-round sleeper material, but they could be worth watching as possible pick-ups, particularly in the opening weeks of the season.
Let’s reach deep into our rankings for some players that might be off the radar:

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Posted on March 28, 2012

Dads In Bloom, Year Of No Excuses

“San Siro has a capacity of over 80,000,” J.J. Stankevitz writes for CSNChicago.com. “The home of Serie A giant Internazionale is one of the most intimidating venues in professional soccer. While Paolo Tornaghi never appeared in a match with Inter, he had an up close and personal look at world-class soccer in a world-class environment.
“And yet, the 23-year-old Italian was impressed by the atmosphere at Toyota Park for the Fire’s home opener, which was played in front of 18,075 [on Saturday].
“‘It was very emotional,’ Tornaghi said. ‘It was amazing coming into the field with all these people all for us, the fireworks, that was a great environment.’
“Thanks to the efforts of Tornaghi, though, that environment stayed great for 90 minutes as the Fire defeated Philadelphia 1-0. With the Union going with an all-out attack in the final 15 minutes, Tornaghi made a handful of outstanding saves, preserving the Fire’s first victory of the season.”
Let’s take a look at the season ahead for the Fire, beginning with a video directed by defenseman Dan Gargan.

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Posted on March 27, 2012

By Jim Coffman

I was worried about the Bulls but then I watched the Thunder blow out the Heat on Sunday evening and I felt better.
The Bulls have struggled of late (they are still winning of course but the competition has been weak) and in particular, the play of Luol Deng is a problem. He is trying to fight through a torn ligament in his left wrist but it is clearly having a negative impact on his game. And it is an injury that will almost certainly plague him until he gets it surgically repaired. The problem there is if he goes for surgery, he is out for the year.
On the bright side, Deng executed a glorious, last-millisecond tip-in in overtime to win Saturday’s game 102-101 against the Raptors. But on shots longer than lay-ups, he is struggling mightily. He missed all six of his three-point attempts on Saturday and barely drew iron on four of them.

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Posted on March 26, 2012

By Roger Wallenstein

This is a true story. I was there. I saw it with my own eyes.
It was last Thursday in Glendale, Arizona. The Royals were visiting Camelback Ranch, and Adam Dunn played first base for half the afternoon. He stepped to the plate three times, all against left-hander Bruce Chen.
Although most of us have short memories, and, as baseball fans, we tend to be very forgiving – especially with a winter’s passage – we remain aware that the big left-handed slugger went 6 for 94 against lefties in 2011. Don’t bother with the math. I already did it: .064 en route to a .159 mark for the season.
However, last week Dunn hit a towering opposite field two-run shot off Chen in the first inning. With a 3-2 count, no less. After flying out in the third inning, the big man strolled to the plate in the fifth with the bases loaded, and produced a long, high fly ball that settled on the hill behind the right-field fence. Grand slam! Joy! Life is good!

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Posted on March 26, 2012

By Thomas Chambers

It was one of those that broke badly and then broke worse. And it ultimately cast a pall over two separate entertainment industries.
But as the sickening details filtered out, it became clear that there are just about enough villains to fill the Kentucky Derby starting gate. From the California Horse Racing Board down through Santa Anita and its horsemen and squarely on the heads of executive producers and alleged taskmasters David Milch and Michael Mann.
The decision to cancel the Thoroughbred horse racing-themed Luck came one day after a horse used in the filming of the Dustin Hoffman-Nick Nolte vehicle’s second season was being led back to her barn. She reared up, her legs slipped out from under her, and she fell and hit her head hard enough to require euthanization.
We soon learned that two other horses had broken down during filming of racing scenes in episodes of the first season.

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Posted on March 23, 2012