Brian Urlacher has kick-started training camp with alleged remarks about Jay Cutler.
Well, that was quick: Jay Cutler's honeymoon phase with the Bears already could be over if it's true that Brian Urlacher made unflattering remarks about his team's new quarterback in a conversation with friend and former teammate Bobby Wade of the Vikings.
Michael Vick would bring a circus atmosphere to whatever team signed him.
Two of the NFL's most high-profile quarterbacks are in the news: Michael Vick is cleared to come back, while Brett Favre apparently is gone for good. What went down this week with both players could have a huge impact on the Bears.
Bears cornerback Charles Tillman will be out 4-to-10 weeks after having back surgery.
The Bears' defense, which figured to be the most worrisome side of the ball given what Jay Cutler will do for the offense, has taken a huge hit with the news that cornerback Charles Tillman is expected to miss 4-to-10 weeks after undergoing back surgery. The impact on the Bears' season could be significant.
The Reds' Edwin Encarnacion was called out despite beating the tag of Koyie Hill.
Is it just me, or has the quality of umpiring taken a decided downturn in the major leagues this season? After seeing yet another obviously safe baserunner called out at the plate Sunday in the Cubs-Reds game, I'm wondering if it might be time to expand the use of instant replay beyond its current restriction of being employed solely to rule on home runs.
Matt Holliday meets the media Friday after joining the Cardinals in Philadelphia.
The Cardinals made a bold move Friday that signals they are serious about winning the NL Central, acquiring slugger Matt Holliday for Oakland. Now the Cubs have to answer.
St. Louis, clinging to first place in the division but desperately in need of more offense, sacrificed top prospect Brett Wallace and two other minor-leaguers to land Holliday, a three-time All-Star with Colorado. He paid immediate dividends, going 4-for-5 with an RBI batting cleanup behind Albert Pujols in the Cardinals' 8-1 rout of the Phillies.
Mark Buehrle delivers during his perfect-game, 5-0 victory Thursday vs. Tampa Bay.
Mark Buehrle out-did himself Thursday, throwing the Sox' first perfect game since 1922 and the first in the majors in five years, shackling the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0. Buehrle, who pitched a no-hitter against Texas in April of 2007, threw 116 pitches and fanned six. The last Sox pitcher to throw a perfect game was Charlie Robertson in 1922.
Give a huge assist to Dewayne Wise, who was a somewhat controversial choice to remain on the roster over Brian Anderson when Carlos Quentin was activated this week. Wise climbed the center-field wall in the ninth inning to rob Gabe Kapler of a home run and preserve the perfecto.
Ex-Sox pitcher Jim Parque admits using HGH before joining Tampa Bay in 2003.
It's lengthy, but I hope you will read Jim Parque's first-person account of the circumstances that drove him to inject himself with human-growth hormone in a desperate attempt to make it back to the major leagues in 2003. The former Sox left-hander, who started Game 1 of the 2000 AL playoff series against the Seattle Mariners, describes how he injured his shoulder throwing a pitch in that game and never was the same again. After being cut loose by the Sox in 2002, he worried how he would support his family and turned to HGH in a last-ditch effort to stay in the big leagues.
Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was in a talkative mood with Bulls beat writers this week.
Jerry Reinsdorf did something this week that he should do more often. The Bulls chairman sat down with beat writers from the major Chicago-area newspapers and fielded questions on a wide variety of topics. As always, Reinsdorf was thoughtful and well-spoken, and he would reap a PR bonanza for his Bulls and White Sox if he made such media get-togethers a regular occurrence.
Some of what Reinsdorf addressed already has been discussed here, but his comments about Ben Gordon and Luol Deng are what I found most interesting. In discussing Gordon's free-agent departure to Detroit, Reinsdorf said Gordon was going to be out of the mix with the Bulls and, had he stayed, would have seen dramatically diminished playing time. As for Deng, who missed much of last season and the entire playoffs with a foot injury, Reinsdorf forecasts a bright future.
Alfonso Soriano drops a fly ball during a game vs. St. Louis earlier this month.
We've seen Alfonso Soriano at his best and at his worst in recent days. A notorious streak hitter, the Cubs' left fielder finally is emerging from a horrible slump and heating up at the plate. Soriano belted big home runs in the four-game sweep of the Nationals and had three of the Cubs' six hits in their 10-1 loss Monday at Philadelphia. But he also dropped an easy fly ball that set up a four-run fourth inning for the Phillies, and his often-lackadaisical, maddeningly unpredictable play prompts us to pose this bottom-line, yes-or-no question:
Do you think the Cubs ever can get to the World Series with Alfonso Soriano in their lineup?
Roy Halladay is congratulated Sunday by manager Cito Gaston after beating Boston.
Roy Halladay showed Sunday why he is the kind of pitcher who could bestow a World Series berth upon any team lucky enough to acquire the Blue Jays ace before the July 31 trade deadline. But is it asking too much to expect either Chicago team to make something that exciting actually happen?
A Chicago-based blogger basks in the Fenway sunshine as the Green Monster lurks.
It's one of those iconic ballparks I dreamed of visiting while growing up in the early 1970s, watching the Red Sox on NBC's Saturday afternoon "Game of the Week." Fenway Park always was a must-see, mandatory destination, but it wasn't until this past weekend that I finally found myself in its cramped but comforting confines. It did not disappoint.
Deposed GM Dale Tallon will remain with the Blackhawks as a senior advisor.
It's a move that only seems surprising on the surface: Dale Tallon is out as general manager of the Blackhawks, despite the fact his young team captivated the city last winter en route to a berth in the Western Conference finals. But behind-the-scenes rumblings made it clear that Tallon had fallen out of favor, and the recent snafu involving the Hawks' restricted free agents provided a convenient opportunity to bring down the ax.
Rasheed Wallace smiles at a news conference after joining the Celtics last week.
The Carlos Boozer-to-the-Bulls report last week generated a lot of buzz among fans on this blog, who seemingly were split down the middle on whether the Utah Jazz forward would be a good addition. Unfortunately, whatever trade talks that might have taken place don't seem to be going anywhere, leaving the Bulls with nothing to offset the free-agent departure of Ben Gordon.
So which NBA teams are having outstanding offseasons, in terms of personnel changes that will make them better next season? The Cavaliers made the splashiest move, bringing in Shaquille O'Neal to play alongside LeBron James. But according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, the team that has fared best in this offseason is the San Antonio Spurs.
Carlos Boozer reportedly could be dealt to the Bulls in a deal involving Tyrus Thomas.
If there's one thing the Bulls lack, it's someone who can give them consistent scoring down low. That is the most tantalizing aspect of the reported trade talks that could send Utah forward Carlos Boozer to the Bulls in a three-team deal that supposedly would involve Tyrus Thomas and Kirk Hinrich. I've never been a huge Boozer fan, but this still sounds like a good idea.
Sox GM Ken Williams cites poor attendance as a factor in his team's inability to deal.
UPDATE: Sox GM Ken Williams, asked Wednesday by the Sun-Times' Neil Hayes about his comments blaming the economy and low attendance for limiting his ability to swing a big deal: "I'm not going to b.s. anybody. When I tell you I think we can compete, it means I think we can compete. When I tell you I think we're in trouble, it means we're in trouble. When I tell you we have resources and are going down an aggressive road, I mean exactly that. What I mean now is that we have to take a step back and survey the landscape. It's not different than what you have to or anybody has to do in their own households to make ends meet."
Workers in St. Louis prepare for next week's All-Star Game at Busch Stadium.
Ted Lilly will be the only Cubs representative. Mark Buehrle was the only member of the White Sox to be invited. Since both are pitchers, it's possible neither of them will see action. So, for baseball fans in Chicago, it begs the question: Will you even bother watching next week's All-Star Game?
What a day in Chicago sports, huh? For those of us that like what happens off the field as much as what happens on it (guilty), yesterday was pretty crazy. When the dust settled, Ben Gordon was a Piston, Marian Hossa was a Blackhawk, Nikolai Khabibulin was an Oiler, and Marty Havlat was a Wild(?). Let's take a look at what all this means for the Bulls and the Blackhawks, after the jump....
By now, you probably know the deal with Ben Gordon. His strengths and his flaws are obvious. Gordon is an undersized shooting guard who can't really handle the ball or facilitate an offense. He is awful defensively, often forcing to the Bulls' other guard to defend the two's that Gordon can't check.
He's the Bulls' best scorer by a mile, though. When Gordon isn't on the court, every possession is an exercise in frustration. Nothing comes easy because no one on the Bulls can carry an offense like Gordon (at least not yet. I think we all agree that Derrick Rose should be there in no time, though). In a league where shooters are always at a premium, Gordon is one of the best around. He hit a bunch of three-pointers last year (over two per game) and did it efficiently (making 41 percent).
At midnight today, Ben Gordon became a free agent.
