Phil Unlikely to Defend Title

Phil Mickelson looks like he's totally losing it. Recently at the CA Championship he had a opening round 77, followed by rounds of 72, 70, and 69. He has only been a factor in one tournament this season where he should have won with the Sunday lead, but then melted down to lose in the end. Mickelson has said that he had no energy left at the Ryder Cup last year so he took several months off and worked soley on his conditioning, losing 25 pounds and gaining back 10 of muscle. Despite this offseason work, it looks like the meltdown from the US Open is still dogging him. He was a total non-factor in defending the PGA Championship against Woods last year and going into this year's Masters, it looks like more of the same. Any way you slice it, it's over for Phil. Breakfast Ball's prediction: Phil misses the cut next week.

Wallace Shoe Deal Worthy of Note

The Bulls Ben Wallace recently endorsed Stephon Marbury's "Starbury II" shoes. Normally a basketball shoe endoresment would not be of interest except that these shoes and Wallace's stated reasons for endorsing them are different. The Wallace shoes will go for $14.99 a pair which is a striking reduction from other brand name basketball shoes which can go from $150-$350 and up. At a press conference the other day, Wallace stated that "You either feel it in your heart or you don't. I know the stress my mom felt buying shoes for eight boys and three girls." Wallace will wear the shoes in games, even though they will be available at Target. A classy move by a class act.

The King is Back!

We here at DCS usually leave the TV pimping to Deadspin, but this one is too important and rare not to pass on. Next week will receive plenty of Bristol airplay with MLB and the Masters, but the return of the King tops them all-Arnold Palmer in his prime.

On Masters Sunday at 12:30 pm, CBS will air the 1960 Masters. This was originally aired in b &w, but has now been remastered in color. The very first for a sporting event. This televised Masters was to golf what the '58 Giants/Colts championship was to the NFL. With vivid commentary by a pre wide world of sports Jim Mackay, we see a 30 year old Arnie in his prime.

This was a bridging of past and present at that point in golf history and a chain smoking Arnie proved he was King of them all. We see a 19yr old Jack, Sam Snead, and Ben Hogan. But it is the everyman that is Arnold Palmer and his army that show why Arnie is still one of the most enduring sports legends ever.

Say it Ain't So Joe?

ESPN has thankfully fired Joe Theisman from the Monday Night Football booth. Officially, he is looking at other opportunities at the network. Let me just say it, I really hate Theisman, he is a self-righteous, utterly incapable of intelligent analysis and a long-winded blow hard. Concise is not in his dictionary.

What I find more interesting, is that his replacement, Ron Jaworski, is a good friend of Tony Kornheiser. While Kornheiser is tolerable on PTI, he is pretty poor in the booth. He doesn't have enough confidence to speak about the x's and o's, so he makes silly human interest comments. I remember him rambling on and on about how tough Rex Grossman was to take the criticism and how much he liked him. That's great Tony, what about his play on the field? Shouldn't you be speaking about that? Jaws addition and Joe's termination means that Kornheiser has growing influence at Monday Night. I was hoping that he would be fired as well.

Bottom line, if Theisman is on the ESPN less, that is a net gain. I suppose we will have live with Kornheiser for at least another year.

The One Year Rule-Aftereffects.

As we approach the end of the first year of the "mandatory" one year rule, it is having varying effects on both the NBA and the NCAA. We have a NBA that is less diluted and a NCAA that gets a glimpse of future stars.

I have to give Stern credit for addressing what had become an increasingly uncomfortable situation. At first, letting a few very talented high schools such as Garnett and Kobe enter the draft brought even more allure to the league. When people complained about allowing youngsters to enter the NBA at 18, Stern retorted with "its their right to earn a living." Soon AAU agents were telling many of the very talented kids that they could go pro hoping to catch a piece of them if they made it. As the high school entrants peaked at over 40, Stern and the league were forced to make a major move out of embarrassment. Clearly most of the high school stars weren't even close to having NBA talent and were learning on the job.

When the high schoolers began bypassing college, NCAA officials didn't worry because the numbers were so small. As the numbers swelled, the college game became division II like in its appeal. Most frustrating to the pharaoh like coaches was that their "hard" work recruiting and then exploiting kids had competition. A kid could first sign a letter of intent to a college, and then opt for the draft without any repercussions.

Ideally a professional athlete should be ready to play at that elite level, not need three years to "develop" his game. This is what the NBA was becoming. Stern wanted the age to be 20 years, but the players union fought hard for 19. Is the college game better for having a kid for only one year? This years tournament is interesting in that respect. Oden was on every one's radar and could easily been drafted number 1 out of high school. But this college season gave Kevin Durant a chance to standout when he wasn't even on the pro radar out of high school.

In my opinion the NBA should put more emphasis on developing a solid "minor" league like baseball, hockey etc. I've always felt that the NCAA exploits athletes in countless ways. You give a poor kid a scholarship, but don't even allow him a stipend or the ability to work so he can get a burger late at night when he's hungry. Most kids out of high school or college need to hone their game for the NBA, an efficient minor league system could accomplish this.

DCS Goes over 4000!

We recently surpassed the 4000 page views threshold and wanted to take a moment and thank our readers. Over our brief few months of existence, we have reached viewers all over the US, many parts of Europe and Asia. With the exciting Chicago baseball season about to start, our readers can look forward to even more coverage of our favorite sports stories in the future.

Thanks again!

16 divided by two

So now officialy the Love Jones part of the NCAA's has ended. On Thursday SIU lost to Kansas and on friday Butler lost to Florida. With the demise of these teams tourney's in the round of 16, my strong roting interest has ended. This tournement has been wild in a way I haven't appreciated: three of the regional finals feature #1 -v- #2, and the other one features #1 -v- #3. Jeeze! Could throw the romantics a fricking bone, could ya?

SIU looked good. They looked better than Kansas, I thought. Whatever that magic that makes up the chemistry in a team, SIU just didn't have enough of it Thursday to put it over the edge. It was a winnable game for sure, and I was hugely dissapointed. I actually turned off basketball I was so struck, but relented and put on a thrilling Bulls win over Denver. Rebraced, I returned to the NCAA's.

On Friday, it was another time to be dissapointed. Butler played well, but the whole game was an exercise in containing Florida. This was true even in the first half where butler led for long streches. The champs were obviously the better team,with great players all ove the court.

Butler did exactly what they had to do: keep the gameclose so that in the last minute anything can happen . With about four minutes left, I thought that Butler mite be able to grab the momentum: Florida had finally missed two shots in a row and Butler got a key score. That tide change was an illusion, and Florida took what they deserved. Florida is good.

I had invested in both games a lot in spirit and time. I watched both games intently. A lot of disapointment in being a sports fan.

I'm now down with Ohio State and Georgetown. Despite the prevelence of high seeds left(seven of the eight teams left are #1 or #2)to my personal enjoyment of the tournement, it has been great so far. So many well played close games, despite the dearth of miricle finishes. Plus, i admidt that the remaining excellent teams being pitted against each otherthe next few games will be an outstanding specticle to witness.

Quote of the Week!

This week brought to you by our most quotable manager Ozzie(Secundi)Guillen. Let's start with last week when he told reporters that 'I own Chicago' in reference to Lou managing the Cubs. In the Ozzie zone, that one was not enough to print on its own. But truth be told, by mid May this will be Lou's town. All media attention will gravitate towards regardless of record.

This weeks contribution by Secundi is amazingly on target and quite honest, just not p.c. In reference to the 1983 Sox reunion, Ozz was asked what a 2005 twenty year reunion might be like.

"Those ceremonies...Oh, Let's bring back those guys from 2005, we're all crippled and fucked up, pushing wheelchairs, kids crying because his dad was on the ballclub- fuck that!' "I don't need that bull. A bunch of fat guys, another one is broke. Hey, where's your ring, I don't know, I sold that son of a bitch two years ago."

Baseball must be very near and with both Lou and Ozzie, we are in for our most interesting season in years.

The possibility of the thing

There is a rumination on ‘the possibility of the thing’ in the movie Love Jones. When someone brand new is met, there is the crazy possibility of where the thing mite go. I have sort of the same relationship with the NCAA tournament. Those breathtaking first two days, when everything is all happening at once and at furious fast pace of speed, are always a blur. Friday nite @ 2300h, with both the last game and the crowd petering out, is always a sad goodbye to that initial stage of the tournament. The second round is different. No matter what, each year a few interesting teams escape into the second round. Something miraculous mite happen. However, a lot of the compelling stories have vanished by the end of the second round. For the most part, there is no more ‘possibility’; just a collection of superior teams and ‘make vanish’ for the lower teams. The fairy tale is over, and the grind out portion of the tournament begi.....

.....unless you have a team to root for. This tournament, like all before it, had many teams with as many different reasoning’s for me to root for. Remember my system posted last week about who I root for in the NCAA’s - former, local, catholic, and lower ranked schools are my favourites). First round sucked in many cases. There were very few upsets. One of two of the big upsets sucked: Notre Dame lost to Winthrop. However, using my logic, the #11 Winthrop team suddenly became a favourite. The biggest shock was Duke’s loss to #11 Virginia Commonwealth. Both teams were to lose in the second round- Virginia Commonwealth in 2 OT’s. Too bad.

Creighton was out in the first round. Marquette, another local and Catholic school, looked horrible in their loss. #9 Xavier, (low seed, local, Catholic) had #1 Ohio State beaten in the second round, but lost in OT by two. Local school disappointed as well; #12 Illinois was the single heartbreak after having a huge lead against #5 Virginia Tech and losing by two. Indiana lost in the second round. Ditto Wisconsin.

But there are some teams that have given me a rooting interest. Top of the Pops is Southern Illinois. They looked solid in their first two games, and I think they have a fair shot @ beating Kansas. Indiana’s Butler looks like cannon fodder v. reigning champs Florida. I bet Butler averages six inches smaller than Florida. Georgetown (Catholic) looks like they have a chance to win the East. And I think the Big Ten’s Ohio state can win the South. There: that’s my dream Final four @ this point.

But one can see. That possibility thing is over. There will be no magic @ 12.20 on a Thursday afternoon or as the sweeper wait to move in @ the end of the night session. Despite the rare Laetner shot in the quarterfinals, miracles have ceased. But what has developed in me is something different. It’s, well, a more mature appreciation of the teams that are left. I’ve watched a lot of the sixteen teams remaining. I can appreciate these teams better now than I could last week, and judge them on their strengths and weaknesses during the game. This mature outlook has me very excited about the big matches ahead. Interesting basketball remains to be played starting on Thursday, even though the possibility of the thing is over. Unless Southern can somehow beat Kansas. And Butler can……….

Down the Stretch

The NHL Season is now winding down with less than 10 games remaining for each team. This is the second season after the season-long shutdown of 2004-5.

I like these four teams going into the playoffs, New Jersey, Anaheim, Detroit, and Ottawa. I rate them in three key playoff categories-special teams, goaltending, and intangibles of leadership and coaching.

New Jersey-27 (Special teams-8, Goaltending-10, Intangibles-9)

Anaheim-26 (Special teams-9, Goaltending-9, Intangibles-8)

Detroit-25 (Special teams-7, Goaltending-9, Intangibles-8)

Ottawa-23 (Special teams-8, Goaltending-7, Intangibles-8)

Teams of merit to warrant a possible upset include Buffalo and Vancouver.

I am looking forward to this postseason.

DA BOOKEND

Sweet Sixteen

The tournament has not had many surprises to date.




Here are my quick takes:

1. Big Ten is better than advertised
2. ACC is overrated big time
3. Georgetown and Oregon will play for the title

My picks to round out the tournament will show up prior to the next round's first tip.

DA BOOKEND

PS- I tried to warn you all about Wisconsin. I hope not too many brackets were busted.

Does the NBA Scare White People?

Jay Busbee, in Chicago Sports Review wrote a thought provoking article about the cultures and demographics the NBA uniquely intersects. There is also some pretty good reporting on the different perspectives of NBA All Star Weekend. I personally think there is no problem with the NBA, its as popular as ever, it has higher and higher TV contracts and higher revenue teams. Attendence is higher than ever as well as salaries. There is labor peace, no performance enhancement scandals. Let's be real, the NBA is a business, and the only way to measure a business is profit and revenue. By that account, the NBA is doing great. If there is a problem, it's that suburban dads get scared when they see black men with tattoos. Furthermore, they get envious that these very wealthy tattooed men, can have anything they want. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that seems more like a problem with the suburban dad than the NBA. Anyway, check the article out, it's definitely worth reading.

dAYoNE

All of that waiting, and we finally got an upset that we could blog home about. This Thursday has always been my favourite day of the year. Sfter waiting for so long, it was tipoff time on a ritual that I've kept since the 1970's. Now, my faithful readers know that I just want to talk about that Depaul loss and us sneaking into that lutheren school so we could shoot hoops until the early A.M. I also wanna talk about that great Loyola team in 1985, the I.U. team in 1987, the Fab 5, Laettner's shot--wait, lets stop while we're still in the early '90's. Lets talk about that shit next time.

Day one yesterday was a ripe bit sad. So we got one upset. Everyone seems to really like that Duke lost to Virginia Commonwealth. Same here. I look @ it as a #11 going to the next round. I didn't bet, so I can root for whoever I want, unfettered by predictions. My criteria is as follows:

Alma Matars= None made it
Local Teams= Illinois, Southern, Marquette, Wisconsin, Indiana, etc
Catholic teams=Xavier, Notre Dame (both'd be more or less local), Georgetown, etc...
Any low seed=Weber State, Penn, New mexico State
Someone I like= Coach Knight

So, yesterday sucked. I got some stuff I liked, sorta= Butler, the one and only team I saw play live this year and is 'local', beat Old Dominion-but if they had lost, then good for #12 O.D. Indiana beat #10 Gonzaga. Xavier, #9, beat #8 BYU. B.C. won, but beat Texas Tech- too bad. And the Duke result.

Otherwise, it was pretty bad. No other stunning upsets. No close finishes. There have been opendays I've have less love for, but this one was pretty tepid. Marquette was just out of it. Eastern kentucky gave us the 2d biggest thrill, closing on big bad #1 seed North Carolina after losing by 27 points. As soon as they cut it to four points, CBS turned us to that game--and THEN North Carolina showed up. Sheesh- we missed the huge comeback, but just got tuned to it for the rout. But for a second there- actually, five seconds, since Eastern had just cut it to four when some N.C. monster just sprinted to the basket untouched on the next play-we though we had a game. Nope.

Saw the later games with The Angry Pacifist. It's funny, how this tournement works on people. We started to get excited about the NC-Eastern K. game when they were updating the scores, and we found ourselves for the first and last time huge Eastern K. fans. Now, of course, our reaction is "What school?" But for a second there-or, five seconds- we looked into the possibility of the thing. Not this Thursday.

But today is Friday, the second day. Lets discover the possibilities..................

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Still the suffering addict in denial, Pete Rose continues to dig a hole with no end in sight. Now stating on D.P's show that he bet on "every" Reds game as manager, he continues to distort, deflect and deviate from his own story.

His purpose for now using the every game technique is a poor attempt to strengthen his position. By going with the every game model, he can say that he didn't manipulate the rotation, batting order etc. So Rose has now gone the distance from denying any gambling with baseball to wagering on every game. Why does he continue to bother you ask, because he is still displaying the classic signs of an addict=lying and manipulating.

Remember Pete Rose was Mr. Baseball in the 70's and 80's. Ripkin's adulation was only a fraction of that for Rose as a player. Rose embodied the hustle, determination, and unselfish play fans ate up. I still believe that Rose should be in the hall of fame for his numbers as a player. His activities as a manager should be held separately from those of his playing days.

As I've said before in a few posts, timing is often very important in life. Pete Rose had very poor luck in the timing department following his unseemly disclosure. He faced an obtuse Bart Giammati who would not bend. Then with Bart's death, the bottom fell out with the Dowd report.

For Rose its been a fool's play from the beginning. In America its forgive and forget. The best move for Rose from the start of this mess would have been to admit his mistake, entering gambling rehab and beg for forgiveness. One and done-end of story. But this Rose by any other name is a Fool.

Bad News Bears: Tank Sentenced to Prison

Instead of this Bears offseason being focussed on returning to the Super Bowl, the bad news hit parade continues. The latest bad news is Tank being sent to the tank. He has been sentenced to 4 months in jail for a probation violation. Actually, this seems a wee bit ridiculous to me. I think he is being forced to the big house because of the other shady stuff he has been involved in, which doesn't seem fair. Then again, he shouldn't be given special treatment just because Lovie Smith showed up at his sentencing.

The firing of Rivera, the loss of their best offensive player, Lovie's contract foibles, Briggs threats and now this, the Bears are looking like a 9-7 team next year. On second thought, maybe that's not fair, after all they do still have the Sex Cannon. Better make that 7-9.

No Doubting Thomas

The Bulls are now a season high 10 games over .500 after their victory over the Celtics last night. The Celtics certainly are a sorry team and Doc will be gone at the end of the year. Truthfully, Danny Ainge is the one who should be fired there, but that is another post.

I've been frustrated with the Bulls this season, impatient with their perceived lack of progress and zero low post game. Last night that all changed. Tyrus Thomas had a team high 23 points and was aided by Wallace's 19. That's over 40 points for our bigs! True to form for a Skiles team, the '06-'07 Bulls are improving as the season goes on and are 9-3 since the All-Star Break. What has been even more impressive is that this has all occurred with Nocioni sidelined. Nocioni's absence has allowed Tyrus Thomas to get some real playing time. I was very excited about his draft pick last June, but had been disappointed with him. Again, credit my impatience. After waiting for Eddie and Tyson for all those years, I had grown weary of waiting again. Thomas, however, might really be worth the wait.

No Doubt, Johnny 'Redd' Kerr belongs, along with Ron Santo, in the Chicago Sportscasting Retirement Home, but he did manage a coherent thought last night. He mentioned how the Bulls haven't figured out how to utilize Tyrus Thomas' athleticism yet. And I agree. Watching him last night, I was struck with how athletically challenged the Bulls have been for so long. Thomas can sky! Ben Wallace was throwing up assists all over the basket. It really was a pleasure to see someone in a Bulls uniform with some athletic ability.

If Thomas can build on this, we can get Nocioni back, this Bulls team has a real chance to go farther than the first round of the playoffs. After that, who knows?

Finally, those green unis have to go. They are horribly ugly. Please retire them.

Atwal Under Investigation

PGA up and comer Arjun Atwal, who was mentioned in my season preview as a golfer to watch in '07, is under investigation in an alleged high speed race that resulted in the death of the driver of the other car near Orlando over the weekend. Atwal, who is the first Indian golfer to play on the PGA tour, wouldn't comment citing an ongoing investigation, but his father back in New Delhi stated that the other car came up super-fast behind Atwal and he had to speed up in order to avoid being run off the road. No word on what kind of cars either one was driving, but Florida State Police have the incident under investigation.

Sammy !!

Sammy's getting lots of press these days, and not just for the freakscene usually surrouding him. After being out of baseball last year following the 2005 season where he mite as well have been out of baseball, Sammy has been garnering lots of press this preseason. The former White Sox outfielder has been batting like his arms are stuffed with cork. Word is is that he'd hammering the fastball while still learning to let on o the breaking stuff.

I for one welcome him back. My fellow staffers have rather the opposite opinion when it comes to this divisive slugger, but I've always enjoyed the circus. The silly little jibbers that he makes @ bat, his running onto the field @ the start of a game, his homage to the great White Sox announcer Harry Carey after a home run- even the batter in front of him being walked to load the bases by Jerry Manuel in a deeply important game situation- Great!! In some ways that same air that followed Ricky Henderson or that other divisive former Sox player Jose Canseco. Hate them or love them, they created interest.

Sammy's greatest moment was as a Chicago Cub, although its been tainted by the Juice issue. During the 1998 season and its famous home run chase, with Big Mac getting all the attention, Sammy caught up to him on a weekend game @ Wrigley Field with his 61st and 62HR . Although Cub fans are ridiculed in this city for the attention they pay to the game, that afternoon they forced a halt to the game when Sammy hit his 62d. It was nice to actually see some life out of that type. Sammy later hit his 66th HR later that week and was, for 45m ahead of Mac and the major league player with the most hr's in one MLB season. It was good to see, even for this White Sox fan. Welcome back Sammy, and lots of luck except when yr playing the Gangsters in Black.

Black Sox Faction

Early Look '07Early Look '07
So, of all the people on the staff, it's Javier Vasquez that gets the extended contract. There has been a tonne of talk, especially from me, that the Sox's offseason moves smacked of another "White Flags" disaster. To get other opinions on this matter, I convened The Black Sox Convention. This is a group of Sox fans that can make the connexions between Bart Johnson to Lamar Johnson to Lance Johnson to............um.............uh, John Garland? They remember Sox announcer Harry Carey shouting "SOX WIN SOX WIN SOX WIN...HOLY COW!!!"@ Old Comisky(Deep shame that Harry never lived long enough to see the 2005 team), worshipped the '77,'83,'90, and 2000 Sox teams, and let out that large exhale in October 2005. They know and care what they're talking about.

First subject: Kenny Williams. It may seem strange to many outside Soxdom, but Kenny Williams is generally well liked and trusted by sox fans. Donny Idol said he "...earned a lot of rope with the 2005 Championship squad, and I have full confidence he can pull it off again." Ditto Adam Killforme, who has "...learned to trust Kenny Williams and I believe even if some of these moves backfire, i.e. Garcia wins 20 for someone else, he is always moving and shaking which is the rule of baseball business in the off-seasons these days." Moho said he "...won’t diss Williams unless another GM wins us a WS." Bad trades in the past? Idol said "...his aggressiveness has been wonderful compared with his way-too-conservative predecessor. With the luxury of hindsight, some of his worst deals weren't really that bad when filtering in the players were gave up- I just don't see Hall of Fame plaques bearing the names Kip Wells, Josh Fogg or Mike Sirotka." We will now have to wait to see if Brando McCarthy, another young pitcher, can be added to the list. My opinion? He's great. With the well known financial restrictions of the Sox management, he maybe the best GM in baseball.

Most of Williams off season moves dealt with pitching. To most, it seemed the team totally denuded the starting staff to bolster the pitching in 2009. However, most felt that the team will still be strong this year. Idol said that the starting pitching "...is not without its questions, but I think it will be decent. I don't look at any of the top four starters as a solid #1, but as a unit I think they provide pretty good depth through those spots in the rotation." I tend to agree, maily. True, they lost workhorse Garcia, which to me is the major loss. Mcarthy may be a loss, but we'd have to see him over a full year to fully judge that. Garland is baseballs winningest pitcher over the last two years and Jose Contrearas has shown that he can be one of the dominatant pitchers for a half year. Mark Buerle to me is a special case. To me, he's one of the faces of the team and one of my favourite players. However, he's up and down every other year. Since this is his 'good year' and its also a contract year, I'm betting that Buerle will really try to impress St. Louis into a huge contract. It'll be sad to see him go, but maybe we can do without his projected 14-16 record for 2008. That's four starters: Idol adds ...i'm just hoping the youth experiment with that fifth slot doesn't degenerate into another Danny Wright situation." The Sox have about 7-8 names for the fifth spot, but there seems a good bit of confidence in the choices. We'll have to see on that.

The bullpen seems in strong hands as well. Moho was concerned about middle relief, but Idol liked the bullpen and felt that the "...back end already was strong with Jenks, Thornton and MacDougal. Seems like we have a lot of options to fill those middle relief innings, and a lot of those options seem to be able to hit mid-90s and above on the radar gun. Hopefully at least a couple of them know how to pitch, too.

Catching seems one of the unquestioned strenghts of this years Sox. A.J., an All Star last year, has turned out to be one of Williams greatest catches. He has hit well, caught well, and not turned into a distraction that many feared. Idol said "I'm a big fan of shit-disturbers...", and A.J. has taunted other teams players into getting thrown out of games and suspended and won World Series games by keeping his head in the game. And he bats lefty.

The infield has some questions. Well, ok, maybe just one question: Juan Uribe. He turned in a terrible year last year and followed it up by..........what the fuck happened in the Carribbean? Killforme said that "...compared to the rest of the AL shortstops, his '06 performance was near the bottom. Short leash for Juan this season." Idol added that Uribe "...is the key. As long as he has his head out of his ass and hungers for another title rather than some comida criolla, he'll be alright." Moho had confidence that he will rebound. The rest of the infield looks excellent. Ozzies '05 Sox MVP, Tadahito Iguchi, is one of the best things about the Sox. His Fieldwork is outstanding, and whether he bats 1st, 2d, 6th, or 7th, he will produce for the whole team. Every team would be lucky to have a player of his caliber on it. Joe Crede is also a solid bet @ 3d. 30HR, 94RBI,and a .283 avg.) and Gold Glove type fielding makes Ozzie and Sox fans happy. The only concern is his back, which held him up a bit last year. Killforme thinks that "...Crede has his self therapy down and knows how to manage his back condition--I have same problem--you can stay ahead of it with proper care. I look for him to repeat '06 greatness." And if not, the Sox can try to start the "Replace the Loved Longterm Third Baseman of the Sox" experiment early with Josh Fields. Pencil in- no, make that ink- another key year for Paul Konerko (35,113,.313). The infield is deep as well. Alex Cintron, Pablo Ozuna, and Fields provide a lot of confidence if any injuries happen.

The Sox have a tonne of strenght in the D.H. position as well. Jim Thome's exploits are well known (42,109,.288,.416 OBA,.598 slugging). However, a recurring back injury limited him @ the end of the year. The loss of reliable 1b/of "awesome" backup Ross Gload via trade means that if Konerko or Thome go down, the Sox will have to scramble for a backup.

Outfield is another matter. First the good news: Jermaine Dye!! He is another of those incredible pickups Williams is famous for. Going into the last year of his contract, Dye has only hit 75HR and driven in 206 runs as well as being the 2005 World Series MVP. Depend on him. However, The Black Sox Convention has rather differing thoughts on Dyes mates in the outfield (Idol said "...the other spots are a mess"). Scott Podsednik gets the most stick. Killforme called him a "...sissy who hurt our team all season. He never dove to catch a flyball, hit below average, and got caught stealing regularly. Cut him." Moho echoed those thoughts: "Pods is done and I would cut him in a second." Idol doesn't want him cut : "Podsednik is a huge key to the season- he needs to get healthy and keep his mental game in line so he can put up that .350+ OBP number, as he did in 2005." I agree. When he's healthy, he can really be a force (remember those 17 RBI in the 2005 regular season? O.K., that's not his game, I know.). Hopefully the hernia will heal nicely. Pods running amuck can really take an opposing picthers attention away from the sluggers after him. Opinions differ on Brian Anderson as well. Ozzie wanted him to play solid defense last year and ease into the team. However, his offensive stats (8, 33, .225) were so bad to make him a target of fans all year. Moho simply said "e gone". Killforme had a different and suprising take : "I believe this is year for Brian Anderson to turn into Andy Van Slyke-remember him? Great hitter-great fielder." We had to wait a long time for AAron rowand, Crede, and garland to turn into excellent players. I'm willing to give him another extended look this year. Idol's take? "Only God knows who will end up with the center field job- just as long as it's not Mackowiak (defensively, nice memories of the Jose Valentin experiment in center)." A wild card is Darin Erstad. He's had a wicked injury run the last few years, but Idol "...likes Erstad's rep (he fits the "grinder" mentality of 2005) but not the injury history." So, and All Star in right, and All Questions in the other two positions. Left and right are the main areas of concern for the Sox this year.

Another thing to look closely for this year is three key players (Dye, Iguchi, and Buerhle) in their contract years. I prompted the Convention with the question "If you could keep only one of these three next year, who would it be?" Moho said spend the money on Buehrle. Killfor me wasn't so sure, saying "If we see '05 Buerhle not '06 Buerhle in '07 we should keep him at all costs. If not, I believe Dye has several more productive years ahead. If Iguchi wants a lot of yen, he's gone." Idol agreed with me in several regards: "...gotta like it that three key guys are playing for a contract. See 'Adrian Beltre 2004' or 'Alfonso Soriano 2006.' Only one? Idol picks Iguchi: "I think our depth is better suited to make up for the losses of the other two than it is for the secondbaseman". Me? Wildly tough call. My thoughts on all three Sox players are above. Buerhle, Dye, or Iguchi? Dye indicated that he will give the Sox a hometown break on his contract. Beurhle, although somewhat inconsistent, has been a fixture on the team since the playoff team of 2000.However, it would have to be Iguchi. I've been deeply impressed with his play for the Sox, and agree with Ozzie that he is a team MVP type. Great fielder, and bats wherever Ozzie wants. Hopefully, the contract year of these excellent Sox players will provide fire for the team, and not a distraction.

But THIS YEAR : 2007. How will this team do in a division where 90 wins puts you in third place? Moho has it this way:Sox, Indians, Tigers, and Twins. He points out that the team needs "...Needs speed and small ball to compensate slugger slump. If we won 6 more games with speed and sacrifices, he would have won the division in 2006." So, what type of team will Ozzie try to create? Killforme has the Sox possibly going south: "Sox have talent and experience to get back to top--can Ozzie get the attitude back in the clubhouse and keep it there all year? That's the question. I say no--starters won't be stellar and couple of key injuries doom Sox to 85-77 year-just missing wildcard. Hope I'm wrong. Idol split the difference: "I think the AL Central will again be the toughest division in baseball. The Tigers are built around pitching, most of which is young and should only improve. The Indians should be greatly improved with a revamped bullpen (despite the retirement of Keith Foulke) and the return of their potent offense. I'm looking for a 4th place finish out of the Twins- their starting rotation is decimated, and I just don't see 3rd baseman Nick Punto hitting .290 with a .352 OBP again. Early Prediction: Sox finish 2nd behind Detroit. The wildcard is ours for the taking. I'm somewhat scattered all over the board. I can see the starters gelling into the best staff in baseball again. Garland, Buerhle, Contrareas with 18w, Vasquez with 15. Pods and Thome healthy and hitting. Crede, Iguchi, Konerko, Dye and A.J. all having their regular years. With the team and coaching staff that they have, I can see them very easily finishing first and winning another ring. However, @ the same time, "with the team and coaching staff that they have" I can also see this team disintigrating like the Imperial Guard @ Waterloo. Five weeks to opening day @ Comisky. Lets get some runs!!!

Big Ten Tournament

Back on December 30th, I gave you all a preview of the upcoming season in the Big Ten. I chose 6 teams that I felt were worthy of the Big Dance. I am happy to report that my investigative and intuitive skills were pretty damn good. I thought these six teams were gonna do well enough to get an invite:

Wisconsin
Ohio State
Michigan State
Indiana
Illinois
Purdue

When the selections go out this weekend, look for all six to make the dance. The only other teams on life support to get an at-large bid are Michigan and Iowa. I give Michigan 10% and Iowa less than that.

I now handicap the tourney starting tomorrow at the United Center.

Thursday
Michigan over Minnesota
MSU over NW
Fightin Illini over Penn State

Friday
Ohio St over UM by 3
Purdue over Iowa by 10
Wisconsin over Mich St by 5
Indiana over Illinois by 1

Saturday
Ohio St over Purdue by 7
Wisconsin over Indiana by 2

Sunday
Ohio St over Wisconsin by 15


The full disclosure

2007 NCAA Backgrounder -- Sports Wagering

Sports wagering has become a serious problem that threatens the well-being of the student-athlete and the integrity of college sports.

The explosive growth of gambling has caused a noticeable increase in the number of sports wagering-related cases processed by the Association.
The Internet has made it easier than ever for student-athletes to place bets, providing easy access, virtual anonymity, and essentially no supervision.
Student-athletes are viewed by organized crime and organized gambling as easy marks.
When student-athletes gamble, they break the law and jeopardize their eligibility.
When student-athletes become indebted to bookies and can’t pay off their debts, alternative methods of payment are introduced that threaten the well-being of the student-athlete or undermine an athletic contest - such as point-shaving.
(Source:www.ncaa.org)



With that out of the way, a look ahead to the studs, dreamers and sleepers of March Madness:

Studs:
North Carolina
Ohio St
G'Town
Xavier

Dreamers:
UCLA
Wisconsin
Memphis
Kansas

Sleepers:
Creighton
Nevada
Virginia Tech
Winthrop

I will update the night before the tourney. Look for the First Annual DaChicagoSports Blog Contest with scoring and all maybe Paypal cash to the high finishers.

Da BookEnd

Prior Last Produced in a Prior Life

After missing most of the 2006 season, and large parts of the last 3 years with injuries, Mark Prior pitched for only one and a third of a scheduled two innings against the Mariners before Piniella had to pull him. The Mariners got three runs on three consecutive hits before Piniella sat him down, later saying "Obviously he has to throw the ball better. Let's be honest." Yes, let's be honest, even though he is not throwing the ball well, his shoulder may get better with time. The real question is his confidence which shows through in his lazy-faire attitude. Prior proclaimed that his best pitch was a homer he pitched. Prior mumbled to the media after the game that he was just glad to be playing. Let's face it, this bum should be canned.

Its Ced's World Now!

Thomas Jones finally calls Phillips bluff and bolts for NYC. He's expected to get 12mill guaranteed. Good for him- the Jets will love his work ethic. The Bears have clearly had issues with Jones for the last two years. Why? It certainly wasn't his numbers, durability, cohesiveness, or work ethic. Again, it always comes down to money with the Bears.

Cedric Benson gets all of the spotlight now. He's got enough foot-mouth disease from the bench, wait till he gets all of the camera's. But the bottom line with the Ced will be numbers. He hasn't been durable even on a part time basis to put of Jones like numbers. Obviously, Adrian Peterson will be back and spell Benson as soon as he goes down. Though low profile, Jones was the Bears MVP last year- they wouldn't have made the big game without him.

This trade brings to mind the Edge leaving the Colts last year. Adai came in and the Colts didn't skip a beat. The difference with the Bears, is that their O line is aging and we've already seen that the Ced is no Adai.

Ced is the man of excuses who now has none. The two back system worked like Franco and Rocky last year. The most disturbing part of Jones leaving is we have to see more of Rex. Laughing already?

Give Em A Dose Lou Part Deux!

After today's thrashing by the White Sox, Sweet Lou let loose the following comment.

"I'm glad it was only Spring Training," Piniella said after his first Cubs-White Sox game Sunday, in which the Sox romped, 13-2, at HoHoKam Park. "That's the only good, saving grace out of this thing. Our pitchers aren't pitching well, and our hitters aren't hitting very well. Outside of that, we're OK."

Our pitchers aren't pitching well, our hitters aren't hitting well. Outside of that we're ok. That's priceless. I have to say, I was one of the last Dusty supporters, long after other members of the DCS staff had lampooned him as a no good nice guy. I had known Dusty in San Francisco as well, so I guess I was used to him. But he sucked! Lou is definitely a breath of fresh air.

Things weren't all bad for the Cubbies, $136 Million Dollar Man Soriano did go 3-for-3 and Derrick Lee did hit a home run. Tomorrow will be important as both Prior and Woody will take the mound. Let's hope for some better play tomorrow, or our new manager will definitely let them know it.

'Invincible' Reminder of the Old Days

In "Invincible" Mark Wahlberg is at his best as a bad ass walk-on from a tough South Philly hood to the Eagles in the mid-70's. This is a Rocky-like movie for anyone who enjoys sports that does a good job of reminding us of the importance of grit and guts as opposed to the business side of sports that too often dominates today. Greg Kinnear is good as the first year Dick Vermeil, but Wahlberg stands out as a bulked-up bartender who plays most of his ball in the street and brings that attitude to the NFL. A true story that is a must see for any sports fan.

Give em a dose Lou!

Its only a few games into spring training, but the Lou factor is making its presence felt in every which way. He's cleaned the Dust out of the clubhouse and Lou's rules are the only ones that matter.

How refreshing to see a manager who at least acts as though he cares how the team is playing. Screw the players manager- I want a managers manager. When a player can't hang, call him out or hang him out- period. The money quote, "Those are just facts, there's talent here, and we have to get it to mesh... If not, its a struggle."

In the first week of spring training, Lou has implied that Ramirez can play another position if he can't find the way to first with the ball. He then told Prior to start pitching-not towels- immediately. And most importantly Lou said the second team can't play fundamental defense. Histrionics you say-wrong! This is exactly what this talented team needs. They were coddled by the Dust for three years and each year yielded deteriorating results.

Lou calls it like he sees it. He is starting both Prior and Wood on the same day in different cacuts league games, " I told the pitching coach we'd answer all the same question in on day. It won't take two or three." This is so refreshing to the fans who at least want professionals called out when they play like St. Rita. Win or lose, Lou has guaranteed not only a exciting season, but one in which we will get the most out of our team-not excuses full of Dust.

Thank god they killed the chief

It was a political hit of course, and frankly one that was long overdue. I concede absolute shaudenfraude at all the drunks lamenting the death of "tradition"; and I couldn't help but notice how they were all of similar skin tone.

As I understand the "civil rights" argument put forth by traditionalists; first they got rid of blackface now this, how is a white man ever to show his love of minority culture and bridge the gap.

Well lets be clear then. Calling the football team of the nation's capital the Redskins has the same flavor as say the Hamburg Hebes, or the Ankara Armenians. Those cultures were decimated by cruel acts of state. To name teams after them would be to celebrate those acts.

So fuck the chief and good riddance.