Lou Piniella said he's looking forward to hanging out with Ozzie while they shoot some sort of commercial Thursday.

Derrek Lee said he's sure it'll be exciting when the Cubs and Sox face off today at Wrigley.

But really?

Usually there's something on the line for at least one team -- when you're playing in June, somebody's still playing for something.

But now? It's hard to imagine anything even worth bragging about, win or lose -- anything worth getting worked up about.

``Seems kind of strange, doesn't it?'' Piniella said. ``It really does. Playing them in September.

``I'll get a chance to hear a little bit of [Ozzie's] chatter. I enjoy talking to him about baseball, and about life in general. He's a philosopher.''

Piniella was in an upbeat mood after Wednesday's game, but he wasn't joking about Ozzie.

``Really, I enjoy talking to Ozzie,'' he said.

Maybe that's it. Maybe that's what today's one-day circus with the sagging tents is all about.

Talk. Chatter. Crosstown banter between two ships passing in the night during seasons adrift.

Maybe in all that talk, somebody will have sense enough to ask for directions.