First the GOOD: Major League baseball players were polled about their favorite road cities, and Chicago was the clear favorite! Of 95 players asked, 35 responded that Chicago was their top city. While at first, one may think Chicago benefited from having teams in each lague, New York was second with 15 votes, while the Bay Area and L.A. were even farther down the list.

Now the BAD: While the Bulls players are enjoying their off-seasons and the Bulls execs are looking forward to Wednesday's Draft Lottery, a number of former Bulls have made significant contributions to their teams' playoff runs, including Trenton Hassell. Cut by the Bulls before the season, he has been a starter for the Minnesota Timberwolves for most of the season because of his tough defense. Minnesota is currently playing the L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Hassell isn't the only defensive specialist the Bulls have sent packing in recent years, however. They traded away Bruce Bowen before he even played a game for them. He was second in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year. And the Bulls also traded away Ron Artest, this year's winner of the Defensive Player of the Year. And one of the Bulls' biggest problems in recent seasons has been defense, and we wonder why they continue to flounder 6 years after the post-dynasty rebuilding process began...

There is a major league pitcher who is currently 7-0. His ERA is 1.99. His 52 strikeouts place him second in the National League. Oh, and this pitcher was supposed to be retired!

Clemens claimed in November that there was "no scenario" in which he'd return as a player. He wanted to spend time with his family in Houston.

But then best friend Andy Pettitte signs with Roger's hometown Houston Astros. Clemens get talked out of retirement. And now he's running away with the NL Cy Young Award (it'd be his 7th). Amazing!

ESPN gives an interesting look inside the process of creating the brand identity for the Charlotte Bobcats, an expansion NBA team which begins play next season. The article lookes at how they selected the team's nickname from a long list of submissions and then selected a color palette and logo design.

When the team's name and logo were initially unveiled last summer, I had discussions with a number of people about the choices. My view, and that of some others I talked with, were a thumbs up with the name. Despite being almost a cliche name in high school and college sports, there are no professional teams in any league with the name.

I think the team also made a good selection with the color palette for the new team by selecting orange and blue. Orange is an under-used color in pro sports, despite its wide use on the college level (Miami, Illinois, Syracuse, Texas, Princeton).

I wasn't so thrilled when I saw the actual logo, however. I was really hoping that with the retro fashion trends -- both in terms of the retro 50's style t-shirts at Abercrombie & Fitch, etc. as well as the 70's and 80's retro jerseys -- that they'd go in that direction for the logo. One of the logo designs in the article shows they at least thought about going in that direction.

Instead they decided to follow most redesigned logos, and go with the overused profile view tapering to a point -- already used by http://www.panthers.com/, St. Louis Rams, New England Patriots, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, etc.

The disparity between the haves and have-nots in baseball is getting ridiculous. When the Brewers are spending $30 million to field a team and the Yankees are spending $270 million ($200mm payroll + $70mm in luxury tax) to field theirs, they are no longer playing the same game.

Something needs to be done to reset the economics of baseball. What Milwaukee, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Oakland, etc. need to do is simply refuse to play for a season. Announce they are forfeiting every one of their 162 games. Until drastic steps are taken, the Yankees and Red Sox are going to be able to buy their way into the playoffs every year and other teams will never get a chance to compete. Sure, sometimes a particularly astute exec or some great young talent can keep a team in contention for a year or two despite a lower payroll. But those teams cannot sustain the level of play and feel compelled to trade off their higher paid and soon-to-be free agent players. This revolving door further deminishes any fan base, decreasing attendance, cutting revenue and continuing the vicious cycle.

Other sports have demonstrated how salary caps and better revenue sharing let all markets field competative teams. The Green Bay Packers hold their own against the NY Giants and Chicago Bears annually. The Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwoves are among the best teams in the NBA. And fan bases for sports only grow when everybody truely believe that their team can win it all, if not this year then maybe next. But when they see it'll never happen then they lose interest in the sports and all teams will suffer in the end.

Chicago's favorite punky QB, Jim McMahon, was pulled over for DUI this past weekend.

Guess he should do a better job of taking his own advice.

As a diehard White Sox fan, I loved it when this fan reached for a foul ball, preventing Moises Alou from making the catch! Marlins then went on to score 8 runs that inning. Go Marlins!

Can we elect this guy mayor?

Update: The Smoking Gun has identified the fan.

Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot. The conservative talk show host resigned from ESPN's NFL pregame show following controversial comments about Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb. The most offensive comments Limbaugh made were:

I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well... There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team.

While Donovan may get more success for his team's success then he deserves, he is still an exciting player who puts up good numbers, had made the Pro Bowl and played in the NFC Championship game twice. But Rush is free to state his opinion on that matter...

However, blaming for the media for hyping him up in their quest to have a great black QB in the league is rediculous! First off, Donovan is good, regardless of color. Second, there are many star black QBs in the NFL today. Rush, have you ever heard of Dante Culpepper, Michael Vick, Steve McNair, Aaron Brooks? While the QB position may have been the exclusive realm of white players in the pat this is clearly no longer the case. Everybody else noticed that long ago. Guess Rush is a little slow.

With the Bears opening game only 5 days away, the city of Chicago continues to instead shower its collective attention to not one, but two possible pennant races in baseball! We're now past Labor Day, and both the White Sox and Cubs are hanging tough in the playoff race. The Sox currently lead the AL Central by one game, while the Cubs are in 3rd place but only 1 1/2 game out of first place. The last time both teams entered September in contention for the playoffs? Try 1908. We could be in for one hell of an October!

I'd meant to post about this when it first made news last week. The Chicago Bears, my beloved Bears are now the Bears presented by Bank One. It's only a matter of time before it's shortened to the BOB's, just as BankOne Ballpark in Phoenix is now "lovingly" referred to as the BOB.

Is this just the first of many additional sponsorship opportunities to pollute the sporting landscape? Practically every stadium has already seen its name sold. So now team owners have to scrounge up other sources of revenue. While it's not the "Bears presented by BankOne" is it just a matter of time before it becomes the Atlanta Fantas or the St. Louis Ram Crew Cab Heavy Duty Pickups? Will the Cavs sell the rights to rename King James Chrysler LeBaron James?

Roger Clemens, a longtime favorite of mine since seeing him pitch live at Fenway in 1986, won his 300th game, a feat matched by only 20 other pitchers. Clemens also recorded his 4000th strikeout in the game, making him only the 3rd pitcher to achieve that milestone. This will probably be the Rocket's last season -- Cooperstown awaits your arrival, although his place was already reserved. Congrats, Roger.

Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa was ejected for using a corked bat last night.

Sosa claimed in the post game press conference, "I just picked the wrong bat and went up there. I use that bat for batting practice. I take the blame. It's a mistake. My team picked me up tonight by winning the game.''

I'm thinking he's been making the same mistake since 1998.

Reebok, spurned by LeBron James, has signed up 3 1/2 year old basketball "prodigy" Mark Walker. According to the USA Today article, "Reebok is paying the family with a college trust fund for Mark, which might threaten his amateur standing to be a high school or college hoops star down the road."

I'm not sure who's more to blame -- the parents who sent the tape of their son to Reebok or Reebok itself for stooping to this -- but it's sick the way this child is being exploited when he has no idea of the possible ramifications down the road. For some fame and cash, his family sold out his possible high school and college career! How's the kid going to feel when he can't play on the junior high and high school teams with his friends? How is he supposed to develop his skills and become the NBA "gravy train" they hope he is when he is probably already locked out of competitive basketball?

So what's next in the world of sports endorsements? Could Stefi Graf and Andre Agassi line up a pre-natal shoe deal for their future arrival?

If we go to war right before, or during, the NCAA Tournament CBS may move coverage over to MTV. Other possible channels for the basketball broadcasts include VH1 and TNN. These three stations are owned by Viacom, parent company of CBS.

Does this mean seedings will be voted on by viewers of TRL?

ESPN article quotes basketball phenom LeBron James saying he "didn't know I was violating rules," in regards to his accepting $845 worth of jerseys from an Akron store.

Now, this was well after the Ohio High School Athletic Association launched its investigation into his Hummer H2, and every sports fan in America knew that "capitalizing on athletic fame by receiving money or gifts of monetary value" would result in forfeiture of amateur status according to Ohio High School Athletic Association bylaws.

My favorite quote from the article:
"'When I went in (the store), you know, I was just going in there as being, you know, another player, and they was trying to reward me for my good grades,' added James, who has said he has a 3.5 grade-point average."

Good One LeBron! It was a reward for good grades! A free Big Mac, maybe. A free ice cream cone, OK. But how many members of your school's Honor Roll were given $845 worth of free jerseys? How about those with perfect attendance? Was this good grades=free jerseys contest announced to the entire student body? I'm thinking probably not!

Having conviced that Ohio High School Athletic Association that his acquisition of a $50k+ Hummer H2 was proper, LeBron James sees his high school career end because a local store gives LeBron retro Gale Sayers and Wes Unseld jerseys worth $845.

BronBron's team must forfeit its previous game, which means losing it's #1 national ranking. As he's no longer on the team his school loses it's lottery ticket, as it's game probably will no longer be a hot Pay-Per-View ticket.

But LeBron probably ins't harmed. He already knows he's the first pick in the NBA draft, and now he can sign up his agent and start negotiating some endorsement deals.

I'm placing bets that LeBron drops out of school within the month so he can concentrate on creating his Kingdom... Long live King James!

Chicago White Sox announce that Comiskey Park will be renamed U.S. Cellular Field. Yet another classic stadium name bites the dust in the name of the almighty dollar. One Hundred years of history replaced for $68 million over 20 years.

Hasn't U.S. Cellular heard about the stadium curse? Should the company get its Chapter 11 papers in line now, in anticipation of joining the likes of United, Conseco, Enron, PSINet, Adelphia, U.S. Air, TWA, etc.?

And now that Ted Turner has announced his departure from AOL Time Warner, how much longer will his name remain atop the stadium of the AOLTW-owned Atlanta Braves?

After two failed attempts to bolster the White Sox starting rotation, GM Ken Williams finally seems to have made a good trade! The Sox picked up Bartolo Colon from the Expos as part of a 3 way trade also involving the Yankees.

Let's hope this one works out and they Sox can find a way to sign Colon to a long term deal. Williams has already unloaded three promising young starting pitchers (Mike Sirotka, Josh Fogg, and Kip Wells) to land veterans who haven't panned out (David Wells and Todd Ritchie), and to give up yet another young starter (Rocky Biddle) for 1 year's work by Colon would leave the Sox's rotation under-staffed in future years.

High School hoops star LeBron James recently turned 18, and to celebrate the occastion his mother, Gloria, presented him with a Hummer H2. Pretty nice b-day gift, especially considering they've relied on food stamps and currently reside in subsidized housing. Mom's boyfriend is currently serving time for bank fraud and mail fraud.

Ohio athletic association bylaws state that an athlete forfeits his amateur status by "capitalizing on athletic fame by receiving money or gifts of monetary value.''

Which begs to question whether most mothers living in government housing could just walk into a bank and be approved for a loan to buy their teenager a $50,000 truck. LeBron had better hope that is the case, but I have a feeling it probably isn't.

National Council of Women's Organization's Hall of Hypocrisy lists companies who are run by/have employees that are members of Augusta National Golf Club, claiming these companies support discrimination of women.

The question I've wondered for a while is, are there women who have tried to gain admittance to Augusta and meet the qualitification (other than gender)? Seeing as the membership is pretty is mostly Fortune 500 CEOs and the like, I can think of only a handful of women who could meet the criteria -- Martha Stewart, Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina -- and are any of them golfers?

Augusta needs to remove all gender/race/relagion biases but I see nothing wrong with wanting to uphold a high standard of desire to belong to Augusta for the world-class golf and comraderie, rather then wanting to join as a political statement.

Following an 11-1 season, the Iowa Hawkeyes are Orange Bowl bound, facing off against USC. While it's bittersweet seeing the Hawkeyes goes to someplace other then Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, in a way it's almost like an East Coast Rose Bowl, with USC coming from the Pac-10.

And on a related note, Emory once again finished the football season undefeated.

What's a father to do when he thinks his son should win the MVP award for his hockey league, but doesn't? Well if you're Michael Croteau, you sue the league!

As the boy's father explained, "I'm doing this because all the years I played and coached hockey I saw what good it could bring to your life. I'm doing this for my son. He feels very bad. He did his best. . . . I didn't want to go this far but hopefully it will be an example to others."

Well, OK then! So we're now able to sue on the basis of being disappointed? When are parents going to realize that 1. it's just a game and 2. that teaching your children that you sue others and seek money everytime things don't go as you wish they would is bad.

A column in this week's Sports Illustrated addresses this issue as well. Seems like it's becomming an epidemic in youth sports, with parents filing suits because their child doesn't get enough playing time, isn't named captain, gets demoted to the JV team, etc. These suits tie up the courts, cost the coaches and leagues lots of time and money, and ultimately cause many great coaches to quit coaching.

I usually don't think of athletes as heroes just because they can dunk a ball, hit a home run, or run through a defensive line.

But the Bears' Anthony Thomas proves that at least some athletes can be role models, as he pulled man from burning car.

Maybe we can get him to mentor the Bulls' Marcus Fizer?

I've always thought the NFL blackout rule was among the worst things in sports. Chris Isidore agrees, writing about the archaic broadcast rule in his "SportsBiz" column at CNN Money.

While I can understand how some might think that threatening to blackout a game may entice some to purchase tickets, is this really the case? I mean there is a BIG difference between wanting to watch a game on TV and in person. To attend the game live means shelling out $50 or more per seat (plus parking, food, etc.) and braving the cold and snow, etc. I'd have to be a pretty hard core fan to do that just because of the threat of a blackout, and if I were such a big fan chances are I'd already have my ticket.

But the casual fan, who wants to see their team play without breaking the bank or catching pnumonia, is out of luck.

I remember when I lived in Atlanta how the Falcons were almost always blacked out. I also remember how the city was so apathetic towards the team, in part because they never got to watch them play. Even the year they went 14-2 and played in the Super Bowl, it was nearly the end of the season before people got behind the team because it was only then that the games were televised.

The NFL really needs to change this rule. I just don't see the benefit. It's like making somebody buy a product, and then giving them a free sample when in the real world it works the other way. Lure them in with the free product (TV broadcast of the game) and then maybe they'll like it enough to pay for the game tickets.

Idiot father and son attack KC Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa during the 9th inning of the White Sox - Royals game at Comiskey Park last night.

I have to agree with Paul Konerko's comments wishing that "they had left the players out there to beat on them for an hour."

Two people's actions embarrass a team and a city.

After going 58-0 in international competition since they began using NBA players, Team USA lost their second straight game and are now out of the World Basketball Championships. Best they can do is finish 5th.

And Team USA has the home court advantage -- the Championships are being played in Indianapolis! How could this happen?

Well, when one scans the team's roster one fails to find the names of most of the NBA's biggest stars. No Shaq, no Kobe, no Iverson, no Kevin Garnett, no MJ, no Tracy McGrady, no Tim Duncan, no Rasheed Wallace, no Chris Webber, no Alonzo Mourning, no Jason Kidd...

I guess I would have thought that after September 11, maybe the NBA players could show a little patriotism and get up for playing on their nation's team, like NBA players from other nations do.

ESPN's Joe Morgan responds to the increased criticism today's major league baseball players face. I realize he's probably biased being a former player himself, but his arguments do not add up!

He basically defends the players' high salaries by saying that we don't criticize entertainers for making big bucks like we do athletes, that athletes need to make what they can when they can because their careers are so short, and that they big money is the reward for years of dedication to practice and training.

Actors, however often have their final pay directly tied to the box office returns for the movie. Tom Hanks may make $50 from a film, but a huge part of that is a percent of receipts. When do you think we'll see A-Rod take $5 million plus a cut of gate receipts? Plus, Hanks is also pulling double duty as producer often times, putting his own money on the line to finance the film. Invest your cash, take more risk, and you're intitled to a bigger payoff if successful!

Athletes take no risk with their big guaranteed contracts. Only the team owners take the risk in the deal. The player could get injured and not play, you might not draw enough fans to make money. So the owners, who invest the money and take all the risk are the ones losing while the players who take no risk reap in more and more cash!

And the players look greedy when somebody like Jason Giambi has a great, young team full of potential to play for but jumps ship because the Yankees offer $120 million rather than the $91 million the A's offer. Guess he's no longer forced to feed his family Kraft Mac & Cheese anymore! Really, what can one do with that additional $29 million that one couldn't do with the first $91 mil?

The players who I do have some sympathy for are the 36% of players, journeymen and young players, who are making less than $300,000. That doesn't go that far if you only play a couple of seasons, and yet the major sticking points in the labor talks greatly benefit those already making more than entire 3rd world countries.

As for the whole payoff for their hard work through the years, I'd bet than anyone with a college degree has spent more time in school and studying than any baseball player has spent playing and training. So do all college grads deserve those big contracts, too?

If the players do end up striking, they're really going to be in for a big surprise! Teams will go bust, fans won't return, and the players are going to make a whole lot less than today! They may get more of the pie, but it's going to be a tiny little pie! Oh, the folly of ego!

According to this ESPN article, Major League baseball players finally agreed to steroid testing, as part of the ongoing labor negotiations. Sammy Sosa, in an interview with Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly, said he'd be the first in line if they required testing. I'm very curious to see whether there's any way that the same scrawny guy who hit 15 homers when with the White Sox could turn into the only slugger to hit 60+ homers three times.

Baseball lost another of its great legends today, as Ted Williams passed away at 83. Williams was probably the best all around hitter the game ever saw. And his career accomplishments are even more amazing when one realizes that the Splendid Splinter game up nearly 5 years in his prime ('43-'45 and '52-'53) to fly combat missions in World War II and Korea.