J.J. Putz Declines Arbitration, Konerko Too?

The White Sox offered arbitration to both J.J. Putz and Paul Konerko in hopes that it would keep both players in Chicago.  Well, at least that's the way they'd probably spin it if you ask them.  In reality, the likely reason for it was should either player leave via free agency, the Sox would get draft picks in return.

Not to mention the fact that giving up draft picks may cause other teams to think twice about signing them.

Well, the deadline to accept arbitration is tonight, and according to Joe Cowley, Putz has officially declined his.  Cowley also tweeted that, while it isn't official, a source has told him that Konerko has declined arbitration as well, and I trust Cowley's sources.

Channel Surfing: Home Sweet Home

Boynton eyes his next teammate

Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues - 7pm - Versus

It's nice to be back at home again after a successful Circus Trip, but of course Marian Hossa won't be playing because Nick Boynton is Nick Boynton.  Still, it's worth tuning in just to see Nick Boynton "accidentally" cut Patrick Sharp's head off with his skate blade in the second quarter while reaching for the Gatorade bottle on the bench.  He's just that good.

Pierzynski Is Talking To 'Some Other Teams'

A.J. Pierzynski is quickly running out of options on the free agent market this winter, as the Texas Rangers are the latest possible destination to be crossed off his list, but Tuesday morning on Waddle and Silvy the White Sox free agent said that he's talking to the White Sox and "some other teams" at the moment.

Though he also made sure to point out that the White Sox are still his top choice, and that he'd love to return to Chicago, which isn't exactly a surprise considering the circumstances.

Nick Boynton's Crusade To Destroy The Chicago Blackhawks Rolls On Undeterred

Is there nothing that Nick Boynton can't destroy?  Seriously, when he isn't making dumb turnovers in his own end, letting opponents skate past him, or getting his girlfriend fired, he needs to find new and exciting ways to stick it up the Blackhawks ass.

His latest attempt?

Boynton got into a collision with Marian Hossa at practice on Monday -- AT PRACTICE -- and now Hossa is going to miss tonight's game against against St. Louis.  They've recalled Jeremy Morin from Rockford.

Cubs Show Interest In Carlos Pena

What do you know, another day, another Cubs rumor that I don't hate.  Yesterday word leaked out that the Cubs were kicking the tires on former Cy Young winner Brandon Webb, and now today I read that they're looking at a power-hitting first baseman who strikes out a lot, draws a lot of walks, and hits a lot of home runs.

Oh, and it's not Adam Dunn.

According to Jon Paul Morosi over at Fox Sports, the Cubs are looking at former Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Carlos Pena.

What The Hell Did Italy Do To You?

And A.J. Has One Less Option

Well, if you're one of the many White Sox fans hoping that A.J. Pierzynski will be back in a White Sox uniform next season, that tweet up there is good news.  The Rangers have signed Yorvit Torrealba to a two-year $6.25 million deal, taking one more possible destination for Pierzynski off the table.

The Rangers tried to make a trade for Pierzynski last May before making a deal for Bengie Molina.

Of course, this also takes one more option away for the White Sox to replace him with as well, so as of now, I'd say the odds that A.J. is back next year are at about 80%.

Tracy McGrady Thinks LeBron Should Have Come To Chicago

Over the summer Tracy McGrady didn't really hide the fact that he wanted to come to Chicago and join the Bulls this season.  The Bulls even worked him out, but in the end, decided not to sign the oft-injured former superstar.  McGrady ended up with the Pistons instead.

Of course, McGrady wasn't exactly the primo free agent selection over the summer.  No, that title belonged to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, all three of whom ended up in Miami.  Now, as you may have heard, things aren't going all that well in South Beach through the first month of the season.  The Heat are 9-8 on the season, and there are rumblings that Erik Spoelstra is going to lose his job as head coach since the Heat aren't already 40-0.

So what's the problem in Miami?  Well, according to McGrady, it's that LeBron chose the wrong team.  McGrady says King James would have been a lot better off in Chicago.

The Bears Are Super Popular Now

Last week, following the Bears win over Miami on a nationally televised game, the NFL decided to move the Bears game against Philadelphia from a noon to a 3:15 start.  Which only seemed natural since both teams are near the top of the NFC and it gave Fox a nice national broadcast as part of their double header.

Well, the greatest network in the world, CBS, has the double header on December 12, and is looking for the game that would surely draw in the most viewers from around the country.  You know, that one game that just screams "Super Bowl preview."

Guess what game they chose.

Notre Dame Could Be Headed To Florida

Strictly looking at life on the football field, it's pretty good to be a Notre Dame fan these days.  The Irish have won their last three games, including wins over Utah and USC, and are 7-5 and bowl bound once again.

Of course, where that bowl will be we don't know yet, but it seems that the Champs Sports Bowl has noticed how freaking terrible that the Big East is, and is considering inviting the Irish instead.

Read about it over at CBSSports.

Blogpoll Ballot: Week 14

Obviously, there are some changes in the top 15 this week, though most of 16-25 stay relatively intact.  This is the type of thing that happens when a school I've included on my ballot for most of the season, a school largely ignored by the two major polls, knocks off the Little Smurf That Could in Boise State.

It also vindicates my love for Nevada's quarterback, The Ostrich, Colin Kaepernick.  Nothing can stop this large, flightless quarterback from taking over the college football world.

Not even Boise State.

Fan Dies At Soldier Field In 50 Foot Fall

Well, so much for the feel-good atmosphere of today's Bears win over the Eagles.  According to a story in the Chicago Sun-Times, a fan fell to his death during the game on Sunday.

Apparently the man fell around 50 feet on the east side of the stadium around 4:55 pm.  Which would have been either during halftime or just after it if my memory serves.  He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he later died.

The age of the victim has not been reported, nor does anyone seem to know what caused the fall at this point.  Whatever the case, this is terrible news.

Update: The victim has been identified as 23-year old Stewart Haverty of Woodstock.

John Scott Destroyed Kevin Westgarth

I didn't get to see much of the Blackhawks game last night, but I was lucky enough to tune in during the second period just in time to see John Scott beat the crap out of Los Angeles' Kevin Westgarth.  I mean, seriously, there are hockey fights, and then there are dudes just getting the crap beat out of them.

The blood!  Oh the blood!

See all of it after the jump.

Cubs Interested In Brandon Webb

AHHHH! A MOUSE!

This story is a day old, but I was somewhat busy with college football on Saturday and I had the NFL today, so I haven't had time to post it here yet.

Still, my colleague over at FanHouse Ed Price reported on Saturday that the Cubs are interested in former Cy Young winner Brandon Webb, and have begun talking to his agent.

So Maybe This Bears Team Isn't That Terrible

I haven't made much of a secret about the fact that despite the Bears winning record this season, I still had plenty of doubts about them.  I'll come right out and say that I fully expected the Bears to get their butts kicked by the Eagles on Sunday.

Instead they looked impressive in a 31-26 win, and now stand alone atop the NFC North following the Packers loss to Atlanta.

In Case You Were Wondering

Nope.  It doesn't get old.  Me and Cam Newton.  America's newest stars.

Derrick Rose Having Neck Spasms

He's trying to look at you, HE JUST CAN'T

Very light posting schedule here today since I have so much college football to cover, but while I moment I figured I'd drop in and share some bad news.

It looks like Derrick Rose is a gametime decision tonight against the Nuggets.  He's been having neck spasms.

"It's real sore," Rose said. "It started a little before the (Phoenix) game. It's been stiff ever since. If it's up to me, I'll play. But right now, I have to turn my whole body to look a certain way.

"I've been getting treatment but it hasn't gotten loose yet. I went to the team party (on Thursday) for a little bit, but I left because my neck got more irritated."

If Rose can't go tonight then C.J. Watson will start in his place and the Bulls will fall to 3-3 on the Circus Trip.

About Last Night: The Bulls Own Phoenix

Seriously, I figured the Blackhawks game would be leading this post this morning given the matchup against Antti Niemi in San Jose last night, and after the first few minutes of the Bulls, that seemed like a certainty.

No joke, just over halfway through the opening quarter the Suns had a 25-6 lead.  Slowly, the Bulls worked their way back into the game to make it 62-50 at half.  They'd eventually force overtime by outscoring the Suns 29-17 in the fourth quarter, and would go on to win the game in double overtime 123-115.

Hottest Suns Fan Ever?

You decide.

Taj Gibson's Foot Worse Than Bulls Letting On?

Over the weekend the Bulls were concerned enough about the status of Taj Gibson's foot that they had him undergo an MRI on it.  According to the team, the results showed nothing more than a pinched nerve in the foot, and Gibson went out and played 40 minutes in the Bulls loss to the Lakers on Tuesday night.

So everything seemed fine, but now suddenly Taj is out for tonight's game against the Phoenix Suns.

The Blackhawks Like To Party

Maybe you didn't notice last season, but while the Blackhawks were busy celebrating a Stanley Cup, every time you saw a member of the team during the parade, or just out on the town, they were hammered.  Not just Patrick Kane, either.

Just about everybody other than Jonathan Toews -- who I imagine prefers to spend his nights home alone and reading Dostoevsyky -- likes to get drunk on this team.  They're hockey players, and that's what hockey players do.

They drink, they play hockey, and then they sleep with puck bunnies.

Channel Surfing: Hawks Say Hello To An Old Friend

Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks - 9:30pm - WGN

Last year Antti Niemi was one of the most popular Blackhawks in the city of Chicago.  He was Cristobal Huet's backup, and though none of us knew all that much about Niemi at the beginning of the season, the fact that he wasn't Cristobal Huet was reason enough for everyone to want him to be the team's starter.

A role he would finally claim for good towards the end of the season, and into the playoffs, where he was in net as the Hawks went on to win the Stanley Cup.  The Blackhawks rewarded Niemi for all of this by telling him that they just couldn't afford him, and they'd rather have Marty Turco, and Niemi signed with San Jose.

Stan Van Gundy Thinks Phil Jackson Is 'Ignorant'

On Tuesday former Bulls coach and current man who lets Kobe Bryant run the Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson was on ESPN1000's Waddle and Silvy in preparation for the Bulls game against the Lakers on Tuesday night.  Not surprisingly, the struggles of the Miami Heat early in the season were a topic that came up on the show, and Jackson made a few comments that seemed to ruffle some feathers.

Marcus Jordan Has Something In Common With His Dad

No, it's not a crippling gambling addiction or hundreds of millions of dollars.  It's something that has helped serve Marcus on the basketball court, however.  He can dunk on people just like his daddy used to.

Video after the jump.

About Last Night: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

While this circus trip has gotten off to a pretty nice start for the Bulls, especially given what we're all used to seeing, there's still one thing this Bulls team just cannot do: they cannot beat the Lakers.  Not in LA.

Not that it was the fault of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah or Taj Gibson.  Rose scored 30 points and dished out 8 assists, while Joakim had another double-double with 19 and 13.  Taj, who is battling a foot injury, managed a double-double of his own with 16 and 12.

Pierzynski Wants To Stay In Chicago, But I'm Not Sure He Will

As we learned earlier today, the White Sox offered arbitration to both Paul Konerko and J.J. Putz, but decided not to offer it to A.J. Pierzynski.  Which could mean one of a few things.

It could mean that the White Sox just don't plan on bringing Pierzynski back.  Something that is somewhat evidenced by the fact they went after Victor Martinez so hard.  Still, I don't think that's the case at all.

Brent Seabrook Is Watching You Sleep

Much like the Chicago Bulls, the Blackhawks are on a circus trip of their own.  Which means a lot of time away from home, and a lot of time in a hotel room with one of your teammates.  As you'd expect, the more time you spend with a person, the more you get to know about them, and the deeper connection you might start to feel for them.

Which might not be a great thing if your rooming with Brent Seabrook.

White Sox Offer Arbitration To Konerko And Putz; Decline Pierzynski

The White Sox have made their decisions on Paul Konerko, J.J. Putz, A.J. Pierzynski and Manny Ramirez.  I know, I'm shocked by the decision to let Manny walk too.

Anyway, read my thoughts on it over at FanHouse.

Well, the White Sox Won't Be Signing Victor Martinez

Not that I ever expected them to, but there was a small part of me holding out hope that they would.  Making it worse is the fact that the Detroit Tigers picked him up.  What confuses me, however, is that the White Sox reportedly did make an offer for Martinez.

In fact, they offered him more annually than the Tigers did.  The problem is the Tigers added a fourth year to the deal.

Blogpoll Ballot: Week 13

Not a whole lot of change at the top on this week's ballot, though LSU struggling with a bad Ole Miss team does cost them a few spots as Ohio State and Wisconsin picked up wins against tougher competition on the road this week.

Other than that, not much movement other than Nebraska and Iowa moving down in the poll following their losses, and a little dose of some homertastic hot sexy MACtion at the bottom.

Judge my opinion after the jump.

Canucks Coach Gets Panties In A Bunch

One drawback of getting to spend my day at Wrigley Field on Saturday and then spending my night watching more college football was that I wasn't able to watch the Blackhawks play the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.  Over the last few seasons, with the playoff series and vitriol between the two teams, the Canucks have jumped right up there with the Red Wings as Hawks rivals I can't stand.

There are few things I enjoy seeing the Blackhawks do more than rain hellfire down upon Roberto Luongo, which they did once more on Saturday night, beating Vancouver by a score of 7-1.  The win was twice as satisfying because, not only did the Hawks beat Vancouver, but for one night they actually resembled the team we've grown accustomed to the last two years.

Brad Childress Fired By The Vikings

In a move that you knew would be coming sooner or later, news broke on Monday morning that the Minnesota Vikings had fired Brad Childress as the team's head coach, and have replaced him with former Bear Leslie Frazier.  The news comes barely 24 hours after the Vikings got destroyed at home by the Packers 31-3.

The writing was basically on the wall when Childress decided to let Randy Moss go a month after the Vikings had traded for him, and owner Zygi Wilf wasn't exactly thrilled by the decision.  Throw in the fact he's feuded publicly with Brett Favre -- someone he basically went out of his way for to bring back this season -- Percy Harvin, and just about everybody on the team, and it was more a question of when rather than if Childress would be fired.

What I'm wondering about, though, is whether Lovie Smith should be worried.

Photos From Wrigley Field

Northwestern's band practicing before the game.  First thing I saw on way to press box

I'll Probably Frame This

Larry Rothschild Is Off To New York

Well, it looks like one of the first things Mike Quade is going to have to do as Cubs manager is find himself a new pitching coach.

Larry Rothschild caught everybody a bit off guard on Friday afternoon when he announced that he was leaving the Cubs to take over as pitching coach with the New York Yankees.  Rothschild says that the decision was made so that he could spend more time with his family.

"It has less to do with leaving the Cubs than it does with the opportunity to be with the family, and also with the Yankees," he said.

It's probably got something to do with the money too.  I'm not sure what the Yankees are paying him, but based on what they generally give players, I'd guess it's at least $20 million a year over the next 18 years.

Nike Determined To Make NFL Harder To Watch

See those?  Those are apparently the proposed uniforms that Nike will design for the Bears to wear starting in 2012.  Honestly, the Bears jerseys aren't all that bad, but holy crap you should take a look at some of the others over here.

Some special ones after the jump.

Live Blog: Bears vs. Dolphins

Foul Balls Is Live-Blogging Tonight's Bears Game

Hey there, assholes.  It's me, Brian Urlacher.  I look old in that photo, don't I?  It's because I am.  Want to know how I know this?  Because if I get four tackles tonight, and you better believe I will, then I'll become the Chicago Bears all-time leading tackler.

Yep, that's right.  Dick Butkus ain't got shit on me.  He never won anything with the Bears, just like Gale Sayers.  They don't have any rings.

It Seems Patrick Kane Isn't Just Jonathan Toews' Wingman On The Ice

There are bad commercials, and then there are bad commercials that are so terrible that they're great.  This is one of those commercials.

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane did an ad for the new Dell Streak phone, and apparently the ad was just TOO HOT FOR YOUTUBE because it was pulled from the site.  It seems that the internet universe just couldn't handle the power moves that Patrick Kane puts on the ladies.

White Sox Listening To Offers On Gavin Floyd

One of the things I would not expect Kenny Williams and the White Sox to do this winter is move one of their starting pitchers, but as we've all come to understand when it comes to Williams, the minute you think he wouldn't do something, he's probably thinking about doing it.

So that's why I wasn't all that shocked to hear that the White Sox had been talking to some teams about Gavin Floyd.  Now, before you get worried, that doesn't mean that they're planning on trading him, but you're not doing your job if you don't listen to offers, and one of those offers is reportedly coming from the Colorado Rockies.

Micah Hoffpauir Is Going To Japan

Things have been pretty quiet on the Cubs front this week while the baseball world convenes in Florida to swap stories, players and dollars.  Really, the only thing we've heard come from the north siders is that they want to renovate Wrigley Field, and that they have some interesting ideas on how to do it.

As for the actual roster, there hasn't been much of anything.  We know the team still has interest in Cliff Lee, but whether or not they're going to act on it remains to be seen.  Meanwhile the White Sox seem to be going after a number of people, already, like Hideki Matsui and Adam Dunn.

All the Cubs have done is lose players.

White Sox Show Interest In Godzilla

The White Sox want to add some left-handed bats to the lineup this season to help balance it out, and while Kenny Williams talked to Adam Dunn's agents on Tuesday, with so many suitors for Dunn, odds are that the White Sox will be priced out of the running before it's over.

Which might explain why the team has begun talking to Hideki Matsui, which Jon Heyman tweeted earlier on Wednesday.

Reinsdorf Admits Allowing Marlins To Talk To Ozzie

Remember that report last month that the White Sox nearly traded Ozzie Guillen to the Florida Marlins for Mike Stanton?  Well, it turns out it wasn't entirely true.  The Sox were totally willing to trade their manager, or at least let the Marlins talk to him, but it wasn't for Mike Stanton.

Jerry Reinsdorf talked with Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun-Times to talk about the tenuous relationship between his manager and general manager, and also admitted that he gave the Marlins permission to interview Guillen for a price.

Winter Meetings: Kenny Williams On Dunn, Pierzynski, Konerko and Peavy

The winter meetings are going on in Orlando right now, and general managers throughout baseball are talking with each other about possible deals or talking to agents trying to find out what it's going to take to sign free agents.

While Kenny Williams has said he's in more of a listening mode than looking to make a trade, it seems he also spent some time talking to Adam Dunn's agent, just to get a feel of what it's going to take to sign him.  The price tag?

Apparently it starts at three years and $40 million.

Fans, Chicagoans, Countrymen, Give Me Your Money

Hello there, friend.

Maybe you don't know me, but I'd like to introduce myself to you. My name is Tom Ricketts, and I, along with my family, own the greatest baseball team in all of the land: your Chicago Cubs. It's pretty awesome owning the Chicago Cubs, I have to admit. It comes with all sorts of fringe benefits.

Why, I now have Ernie Banks' phone number. Ernie Banks! Can you believe that? I'm not even sure I do yet. As if that isn't cool enough, I also have the ability to get Ronnie Woo Woo to come to my house and watch me have sex with the missus, while chanting my name.

"Tommy, Woo! Ricketts, Woo! Tommy, Woo! Climax, Woo!"

I tell you, it's magical.

Allow Me To Steal Two Minutes Of Your Life

Presented without comment. Which is very hard to do. The Situation. Bristol Palin. Talking about abstinence and safe sex.

One is a teen mother.

The other is a walking STD.

Head. Going. To. Explode.

Pierzynski Won't Be Signing With The Marlins

Yesterday it was reported that there was mutual interest between the Florida Marlins and White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, and that if the Marlins could free up some payroll by trading Dan Uggla, the team might make a push to sign the catcher who has been with the White Sox since 2005.

Well, reportedly, the Marlins are very close to trading Uggla to the Atlanta Braves.  Which would be a bad sign for those who want Pierzynski to come back to Chicago.  Well, here's some good news for those people, as the Marlins have had a very busy day.  Not only are they on the verge of trading Uggla, but they also made another free agent signing this afternoon.

Wrigley's Gone Purple

Panger sends along that picture on her way home from stalking Jay Cutler and calling him names.

Dinosaurs Were Made For Climbing

Seriously, considering it's located right next to Soldier Field and the way Bears fans can behave following a loss or a victory, I'm really not sure how the Field Museum has been able to keep itself from being burned to the ground.

Reduced to a smoldering pile of mummies and dinosaur bones.

It has survived, somehow, but the folks at the museum may want to reconsider the idea of having some of the dinosaurs on display outside.  After all, the winters here can be harsh, and the Bears fans can be incredibly stupid.

Sox Fans Crap Their Pants Over Uniform Change

Apparently the White Sox are making a change to their road uniforms for 2011.  I just became aware of this about 20 minutes ago, but I guess some people have seen this as some kind of a big deal.

What are they changing?

Well, as best as I can tell from the research I've done on Google, they're replacing that patch on the sleeve pictured there to the right with the traditional Sox logo.

DEAR GOD WHAT ARE THEY DOING BURN THE CITY DOWN THEY CAN'T DO THAT IT DESTROYS THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE UNIFORM.

Yeah, apparently a lot of White Sox fans and bloggers were quite disturbed with the news, so much so, in fact, that Sox PR man Brooks Boyer felt the need to email them this weekend because of it.

Bears Fans Are Still Delusional

Listen, I don't have all that many complaints about the Bears win over the Vikings yesterday.  Actually, I should say I don't have any new complaints.  Jay Cutler is still the team's best running back, and that is going to bite this team in the ass at some point, particularly over the next few weeks.

Still, the Bears played well yesterday.  Cutler only had one DERP moment during the game, and he bounced back from it quickly, which isn't something we see often enough.  Devin Hester finally remembered that he got his money for what he could do returning kicks, and has accepted the role to the team's benefit.

Then there was the defense, which did what it's done just about all season, and played incredibly well.