Bears Draft OLB J.T. Thomas With Final Pick

Hey, look! The Bears got back to that crazy philosophy of drafting by need!

The Bears finished their 2011 draft by taking outside linebacker J.T. Thomas of West Virginia. Now, unlike Nathan Enderle and Chris Conte, I'm pretty familiar with Thomas and his work with the Mountaineers.

Bears Take Quarterback Nathan Enderle In Fifth Round

I'd like to make this clear right off the bat: I have nothing against Nathan Enderle, the quarterback out of Idaho that the Bears took in the fifth round on Saturday. I don't know much about him since, unlike you guys, I just don't watch a whole lot of Idaho Vandals football.

From what I've heard, though, the kid is an interesting prospect. A developmental quarterback that could pay dividends down the line, and someone Mike Martz really liked.

What I don't get, however, is why the Bears drafted him.

Bears Take Safety Chris Conte In Third Round

It wouldn't be a Jerry Angelo draft without the Bears taking at least one safety, and that's exactly what the Bears did with their third round pick, and final pick, of day two of the NFL Draft. The Bears took Cal safety Chris Conte with the 93rd pick.

Honestly, I don't know a whole lot about Conte at all. But here's what I was able to get on him off of these series of tubes called the internet.

Bears Trade Up To Draft Stephen Paea

Do this to Aaron Rodgers and I'll love you forever

After the Bears drafted Gabe Carimi on Thursday night, Jerry Angelo said that if Carimi hadn't been available, the Bears would have taken Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea. Well, as the second round began on Friday night, teams were passing up on defensive tackles, and Paea was sliding down the board.

Then the Giants took North Carolina's Marvin Austin, and the Bears decided they had to move. So, in a change of pace, the Bears traded up in the draft. Swapping second round picks with the Washington Redskins and sending their 4th round pick to the Redskins as well.

All so the Bears could get Stephen Paea.

Newest Bear Turning Out To Be A Twitter Treasure

This is a town that has now seen the first manager in MLB history suspended and fined for things said on Twitter. Odds are, Ozzie Guillen won't be the last, as the immediacy of Twitter is bound to get people in trouble from time to time.

There's simply not enough time to think about what you're typing before you hit send and the whole world can read your thoughts.

Now it seems that Ozzie Guillen may have some competition on the Twitter front. While Ozzie's Twitter has become popular because you don't really know what Guillen is going to say, nor how he's going to spell it, the Twitter feed of Bears draft pick Gabe Carimi is turning out to be a treasure trove for those who enjoy movie references.

What Happened With The Botched Trade Between The Bears And Baltimore?

When he met the media after the draft last night, Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said that the Bears took the blame for the botched trade that went down between them and the Baltimore Ravens. What happened was, the Bears wanted to move up to 26 because they believed that the Kansas City Chiefs were going to take Gabe Carimi, whom the Bears obviously wanted.

Baltimore agreed to the deal, one that would have swapped first round picks with the Bears, and sent the Bears fourth round pick to Baltimore. Only the trade never happened, and before you know it,  Kansas City had gotten it's pick in before Baltimore.

Luckily for the Bears and Ravens, the Chiefs took Jonathan Baldwin, whom neither team had wanted.

But what exactly happened during the trade to screw things up? Well, Baltimore's senior vice president Kevin Byrne was kind enough to break down the entire situation on the team's website.

Ozzie Guillen Fined And Suspended For Tweets

Well, Ozzie was half right.

After being kicked out of Wednesday night's game against the Yankees, Ozzie Guillen went straight to his Twitter account to say that he was going to have a big fine coming his way, and to mockingly call umpire Todd Tichenor a "tough guy."

Well, as Ozzie suspected, he's now been fined by MLB. He's also suspended for two games. Ironically, I found this out by following MLB's PR feed on Twitter.

Ryan Dempster Has Been Awesomely Awful This Year

In our fantasy baseball league this year, Panger drafted Ryan Dempster. She had him in her lineup for his first couple of starts before benching him and letting me know that she was going to "drop his ass." I told her I'd just bench him, as Dempster's career track record has shown that he's not going to be terrible all season long.

After all, this is a guy who has won 103 games in his career, and went 43-27 for the Cubs the last three seasons.

Breakfast Links: 4-29-11

How about those Chicago baseball teams?

• Seriously, she may be a Cubs fan, but I'm pretty sure we've all had this look on our face at some point this season. - Mocksession
• I may not like the subject matter, nor the point of view, but it still drew a couple solid LOLs. - Puck Daddy
• Stan Bowman reads Foul Balls, you guys. - ESPNChicago
• Also, Patrick Kane wouldn't mind a "physical presence" on the team next season. - CSNChicago
• Get ready to start hating the Atlanta Hawks. OH MAN, HATE THEM SO MUCH. - Tribune
• Reggie Bush with a rather mature reaction to the Saints drafting Mark Ingram last night. - Twitter
• It's probably a lot easier for Jerry Angelo to accept the blame for the botched trade with Baltimore last night since he still got the guy he wanted. - PFT

Game Recaps

• One ass-kicking.... - White Sox
• ..begets another. - Cubs

Bears Draft The Jewish Hammer

Well, the Bears got who they wanted in the first round of the draft on Thursday night. There had been reports that the team was hoping Wisconsin offensive tackle Gabe Carimi, whom is nicknamed The Jewish Hammer, would fall to them at 29, and the Bears got their wish.

They've landed the finest Jewish carpenter since Jesus Christ.

At Wisconsin, Carimi started 49 games and won the Outland Trophy in 2010. He also was a Consensus All-American, and the Offensive Lineman of the Year in the Big Ten.  In other words, he was a very good player at Wisconsin, who while not extremely athletic, is incredibly solid at the position. What will remain to be seen is whether the Bears plan on using him at left tackle or right tackle.

All I know is that with the Detroit Lions adding Nick Fairley to a defensive line that already included Ndamukong Suh and Kyle Vanden Bosch on Thursday night, they need all the bodies they can get on the offensive line.

Foul Balls MLB Power Rankings - Week 4

They done did it. Never in the history of the Foul Balls MLB Power Rankings has any team been able to lay claim to the top spot in the rankings. Not once in three whole weeks!

But that just goes to show you the awesome power behind these Cleveland Indians. The team we all knew would lay waste to the Major League landscape since February. How have they done it? Well, it's simple really. While a lot of the teams in our top ten excel in a lot of areas, and are rather average elsewhere, there isn't a facet of the game this season in which the Tribe aren't amongst the best in the league.

That's what has proven to be the biggest difference between them and the rest of the competition. The key is whether or not they'll be able to maintain it. Yes, we're almost to May, but baseball is a long-lasting, evil bitch, and she'll expose your weaknesses over time.

Breakfast Links: 4-28-11

Oh man, are you guys as excited for the NFL Draft as I am? Really? So you're not even sure you're going to watch it either, huh?

• The Bears are hoping to get lucky at 29. I'm just wondering whether or not they'll trade down, since we already know there's no way in hell they're trading up. - Tribune
• Also, if the Bears can start drafting better talent on defense, that would help to. Cuz, you know, their defense has been the problem all these years. - Sun-Times
• Speaking of the NFL, in case you missed it, the justice system gave the owners a giant middle finger yesterday. - ESPN
• Vancouver GM Mike Gillis got fined for his comments about the officials during the Blackhawks series. Though somehow I don't think he minds paying it, especially considering the only way for either team to get called for a penalty in Game 7 was by stabbing an opponent. And even then, it had to be to the torso. - ESPNChicago
• I'm pouring an ounce of carpet on the curb, homey. - Business Wire

Game Recaps

• Do you see what happens when you bench Brent Lillibridge a day after he saves a game? You get owned by a 100-year old man with a gland problem. - White Sox

You Can't Eject Ozzie Guillen From Twitter

Ozzie Guillen being a manager in the city you live in, for a team that you like and blog about, is a wonderful thing. Ozzie doing all of that while having his own Twitter account, well, that's more than any of us deserve.

Ozzie was ejected on Wednesday night between the top and bottom of the first inning. Home plate umpire Todd Tichenor called a low third strike on Paul Konerko, that Konerko didn't like. Ozzie didn't like it either. Tichenor probably told Paulie and Ozzie to deal with it, and Ozzie didn't take too kindly. He then went on a tirade like I don't remember seeing before being ejected.

But just because you kick Ozzie out of the game, that doesn't mean you can take away his Twitter.

The Blackhawks Must Sign Corey Crawford

As I mentioned in my post following the loss last night, this Blackhawks season was filled with more disappointment than pleasure, with the team's comeback against Vancouver easily standing out as the highlight of the season.

Still, as disappointing as players like Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa were at times during the year -- Jonathan Toews had some dry spots as well -- there was one highlight during the season.

I Come Here Not To Bury The Blackhawks, But To Praise Them

As I start this post I'm still staring at the Vancouver Canucks celebrating their win over the Blackhawks in overtime of Game 7. Do not doubt for a second that this hurts. A lot. I truly am fighting back the urge to go on a 500-word -- at least -- rant about Chris Campoli's turnover in overtime that led to the game-winner from Alex Burrows.

I want to. I really do. But I won't. I'm not going to blame Campoli for this one, nor am I going to blame any Blackhawk for this loss. The Stanley Cup is officially no longer property of the Blackhawks, and I'm just going to have to deal with it.

Of course, as painful as all of this is, I'm actually incredibly pleased that it ended this way.

Frank Vogel Seems Somewhat Delusional

Frank Vogel displays his team's chances in Game 5 tonight

I have to admit, before the Bulls began this series with the Indiana Pacers, I couldn't have told you the name of the Pacers coach if you asked me. Thankfully, nobody anywhere has ever taken the time to wonder about that, let alone ask me for the answer. Really, the only thing I knew was that the Pacers had fired Jim O'Brien and replaced him with an interim coach.

When the new guy's name has the word "interim" in front of it, why bother to remember it, right?

Breakfast Links: 4-26-11

Yesterday afternoon Foul Balls reached a bit of a milestone, as the millionth person laid eyes on the site. It blows my mind quite a bit to think that a million people have come to this site, whether by choice, or by accident, and laid their eyes upon my work. Then Jacobi told me the kind of numbers BHGP has done, and now I'm pretty much pissed off at all of you. But mostly Jacobi.

• Move over Royal Wedding, there's another marriage that I don't give a crap about to pay attention to. - People
• Speaking of Jay Cutler, Deangelo Hall is still a really big fan. - Red Zone Talk
• Old friend Will Leitch reviews the Bartman documentary. - Vulture
• Bryan Bickell won't be playing in Game 7 for the Blackhawks tonight, or any other possible playoff game the Hawks might over the next three weeks. - Sun-Times
• John Paxson comes to Carlos Boozer's defense. Carlos Boozer then gives everyone a puzzled look while wondering what defense is. - Tribune
• Kenny Williams comes to a shocking conclusion about the way that the White Sox have been playing. - ESPNChicago
• Everybody wants to give the Bulls crap about the way they're playing against an 8 seed, yet nobody mentions that the 8 seed in the West is now up 3-1 on San Antonio. Which is awesome, because it means more of this haircut. - The Last Angry Fan

Game Recaps

• Phil Humber one-hits the Yankees, and Sergio Santos closes out the game. JUST LIKE THE WHITE SOX PLANNED IT TO BE ALL WINTER. - White Sox
• Starlin Castro is a pretty fantastic baseball player. Unfortunately, he wasn't on Monday night. - Cubs

The NHL Wastes No Time

One of my favorite things during the NHL playoffs the last few years has been the "History will be made" commercials that the league does. I also enjoy how the league wastes no time making new commercials featuring games and serieseses that are currently taking place.

So of course today, not even 24 hours after one of the more stressful games of my lifetime, the NHL was able to turn last night's Blackhawks victory into a new commercial. Let's just hope they make one for Game Seven as well, and that it'll be one I want to post here on Wednesday.

Chris Harris Wants You To Have A Seat Over There

Somebody alert Chris Hansen, for Bears safety Chris Harris needs somebody to catch a predator for him. Being the tough football player that he is, and with no mini-camp to attend thanks to the NFL lockout, Harris did the only thing he could do on Monday afternoon.

He went to get a pedicure.

When he was done having his feet made all pretty, Harris returned to his car and found a note on his windshield. Which he was kind enough to tweet for the world to see.

Why Did Zubaz Go Out Of Style?

This photo is courtesy of the SI Vault -- via Chip Patterson -- and my oh my is that a blast from the past. While I'm not sure what year the photo was taken, I'd guess 1991 or 1992, I do know that from left to right that's Bill Cartwright, Stacey King and Horace Grant. I'm not sure what Cartwright is saying to King during the photo, but I'd bet money that King responded by yelling "Hot sauce!" or something of the sort.

Actually, given what I know about King from reading "The Jordan Rules," Stacey probably started complaining about playing time.

Oh, and if you're wondering who the reporters are, the man on the right is ESPN's J.A. Adande. As for the woman, I'm not sure, but if I had to wager a guess I'd say it's Melissa Isaacson.

Science Proves That Derrick Rose Is Good At Basketball

While we all sit around and wonder just how bad Derrick Rose's ankle injury is, I figured the best thing to do would be to show a video breaking down what a physical freak Rose is. ESPN has been running these Sports Science segments for a while now, and while some of them are interesting, I find this one to be more interesting than most.

But that's only because it's about Derrick Rose. Now, through the use of science, we can all finally rest assured that Derrick Rose is a good basketball player. Man, I'm glad that debate is over.

Also, if you're like me, there's one part of this video that is going to scare you a bit. See if you can figure out what it was while watching.

And Back To Vancouver We Go

I did not think this was possible. After falling behind 3-0 after the first three games of this series, looking as lifeless as ever, the Blackhawks were done. I knew it. You knew it. Vancouver knew it. Everybody knew it.

Everybody but the Blackhawks, it seems. The series is now tied 3-3 with Game Seven coming up on Tuesday night.

Honestly, I don't even know what to say right now. Maybe the words will come to me tomorrow, but at the moment I'm just too damn happy to put anything coherent together.

Breakfast Links: 4-22-11

So let's see. Yesterday the White Sox won, the Bulls won, the Blackhawks won and I got a free burrito from Chipotle. Yeah, it was pretty much the greatest day ever. You're gonna suck, Friday.

• What should be known as the "OMG we've had two seasons in three years where either the Yankees or Red Sox missed the playoffs!" rule. - Big League Stew
• There's a possibility that Wisconsin's Gabe Carimi could fall to the Bears in the draft. - Tribune
• Ozzie Guillen isn't worried about getting fired. - ESPNChicago
• I think we found out where the game-winning puck from last year's Stanley Cup Final is. - ESPN
• How much is John Danks going to cost next season? - MLB Trade Rumors
• Some people just piss me off. - Eye On College Football
• This thing will one day destroy us all. - The Week

Game Recaps

• Blackhawks win! - NHL
• Bulls win! - NBA
• White Sox win! - White Sox

Canucks Brass Scared Of Blackhawks Fans

Tonight the Blackhawks will once again fight for their lives. Having returned to Vancouver down three games to one in their series against the Canucks, the Blackhawks have to play like the team that handed a 7-2 beat down to the Canucks on Tuesday night instead of the team from the first three games of the series.

A loss would mean the season is over, while a win would mean that their defense of the Stanley Cup continues, and they'd be returning to Chicago for a sixth game. Though, if this series is extended another game and returns to the United Center, the Canucks front office would like a new seating arrangement.

Seems the brass has had just about enough of the Blackhawks fans it had to deal with during Games Three and Four.

White Sox Seek Closer On Craigslist

Ok, so it's probably not the White Sox who put the ad up on Craigslist, but somebody did. The ad can be found here, though I'm sure it will be removed at some point once Craig finds out about it and realizes that Major League teams don't actually advertise open spots on the roster on the internet.

Though maybe they should. In fact, while they're at it, maybe the White Sox should put up an ad for an offense too.

Foul Balls MLB Power Rankings - Week 3

Let's party like it's 1997 because we had to fall into a time vortex at some point. How else can you explain that, after three weeks, when there's more data to crunch and things should start making more sense, that the Cleveland Indians are atop the MLB power rankings. If you asked the Indians themselves this spring if they thought they'd be at this position right now, they would have told you yes, but none of them would have actually believed it.

The real goal in Cleveland had to be avoiding 100 losses.

Of course, the real question is whether or not the Indians can hold on to the top spot. Both the Reds and Rangers have tried and failed this season. Anyway, the rankings are after the jump.

Breakfast Links: 4-21-11

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the evening to get here. Bulls playoff game followed by the Blackhawks bid to keep their season alive? Why I might not even watch Archer until Friday.

• Did the Cubs throw the 1918 World Series? Do I care? - ESPNChicago
• With the draft coming up, a look back at Jerry Angelo's drafting history with the Bears. - Sun-Times
• The White Sox have bunted more than any other team in baseball so far this season. Like, a lot more. Too bad they're still terrible at it. - South Side Sox
• Also, Adam Dunn is sure he'll bust out of his slump soon. Maybe Ozzie should have him bunt more? - Tribune
• Carlos Zambrano is not in favor of a worldwide draft. - CSNChicago
• While we should still fear them taking over the world, it looks like our pitching jobs are still safe from robots for now. - Gizmodo

Game Recaps

• The Cubs won the first game of a doubleheader thanks to a Reed Johnson walk-off.... - Cubs
• ... but couldn't pull off a victory in the second game. - Cubs
• As for the White Sox, I'm not sure what else there is to say at this point. Just that I hope this all ends soon. - White Sox

Missing: The Chicago White Sox Offense

The baseball season is long. Sometimes too long. It's because of this that sometimes, as a fan, when your team is mired in a losing streak, you wonder if it's ever going to end. Following last night's 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay, the White Sox are now 7-10 and have lost six in a row. The reason for this losing streak is not hard to figure out. It's that the White Sox offense, the one that scored 40 runs through the first five games of the season, has managed a paltry 12 runs in its last six games.

It's really hard to win baseball games like that.

Breakfast Links: 4-20-11

Happy Pothead Christmas!

• I updated the post on the Bears schedule to include dates and times. Which is when I noticed that there will be a Monday Night Football game in Detroit this season, which means that there will definitely be no season. - Foul Balls
• Speaking of the NFL season that may or may not happen, there's a pretty solid slate of Sunday night games this year. - PFT
• Both Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner will begin throwing on Friday, though there is still no word on when either will return to the rotation. - CSNChicago
• Jake Peavy's latest setback may not be the end of the world, but he will skip a start. Which means he's not going to be back with the Sox until early May. - Beerleaguer
• Derrick Rose will likely get his MVP award during the first week of May. Let's just hope the Bulls are still playing by then, right? - Tribune
• Some good news for my fantasy team. - Hardball Talk

Game Recaps

• The Blackhawks sure aren't going to go quietly. - NHL
• The White Sox offense continued to sputter on Tuesday night, but I'll have more on that here on Foul Balls in about an hour. - White Sox

A Glimmer Of Hope For The Blackhawks?

Listen, after you see your team go out and hand a 7-2 beat down to an opponent in a playoff game, you may have a tendency to read more into it than you really should. Make no mistake, that's not what I'll be doing in this post. Despite the huge win in Game Four, the Blackhawks still have themselves quite the mountain to climb if they want to survive and move on to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

That being said, there is more reason to be optimistic after this game than I would have thought. First, there's the impact Dave Bolland made in his first game back from a concussion, accounting for 1 goal and 3 assists while frustrating the Sedin line on defense. Still, Dave Bolland isn't good enough to swing an entire series.

Roberto Luongo is, however, and I believe that Luongo may be a problem for Vancouver in the rest of this series.

Chicago Bears 2011 Schedule

Sure, there's no guarantee that there will even be an NFL season in 2011, but just in case, the NFL released its schedule for the upcoming season on Tuesday. Here's a look at the order in which the Chicago Bears will march to a 16-0 regular season and the subsequent Super Bowl championship.

NHL Will Be On NBC And Versus For Ten More Years

The NHL has come a long way since its last lockout and basically being shunned by ESPN the last time its television rights hit the open market. The league has gone from being on OLN - can you name that network in the comments? - to NBC and Versus, and while I haven't hated NBC's coverage of the game, I do still miss the old days when the NHL was on ESPN.

And I'm going to be missing those days for a while. It was announced on Tuesday that the NHL had agreed to a new television rights deal with NBC that will keep the league on NBC and Versus for the next ten years.

Breakfast Links: 4-19-11

We're all agreed that Tyler Hansbrough is the guy you play with at the park that takes shit way too seriously, right?

• Blackhawks, fooling themselves. - Tribune
• Fantastic news about Jake Peavy, and by fantastic I mean damn it. - CSNChicago
• Shockingly, Notre Dame said nobody's to blame for Declan Sullivan's death. - ESPNChicago
• Wait a minute, there's a chance the Bears won't have to play in London after all. - PFT
• Doesn't matter how much money you make, free t-shirts are still better than ones you have to pay for. - Big League Stew

Game Recaps

• I could link you to the NBA recap like I always do, but I believe my post tells you enough already. - Foul Balls
• There was a whole lot of nothing between the Cubs and Padres on Tuesday night as both teams froze their asses off, but then Tyler Colvin showed up. - Cubs
• Figuring that a five-game losing streak just isn't enough, the White Sox decided to throw the season's first shutout in the bunch. - White Sox

Winning Ain't Easy

Ideally, when you finish the regular season with the best record in the NBA, and you're playing a team that finished the season 37-45, you'd like to see some easy games in the first round. Well, easy games are not what the Bulls are getting from the Indiana Pacers two games into this postseason. Yes, the Bulls are up 2-0 heading to Indianapolis, but aside for about 15 of the 96 minutes played in this series, the Bulls have not looked sharp on offense.

In Game One, the Bulls shot like Keith Bogans on holiday, yet were still able to pull the victory off thanks to Derrick Rose and Kyle Korver in crunch time. On Monday night the Bulls turned the ball over 22 times, got nothing from Luol Deng and Joakim Noah for the most part, and were still able to pull off a victory thanks to Derrick Rose and Kyle Korver in crunch time.

No Suspension For Vancouver's Torres

NHL: "NOTHING TO SEE HERE! MOVE ALONG!"

While I harbor no illusions about the fate of the Chicago Blackhawks in the playoffs this season, I was taking some solace in the fact that Vancouver's Raffi Torres was about to get his ass suspended. In his first game back from a four-game suspension for a hit on Edmonton's Jordan Eberle, Torres delivered a hit to Brent Seabrook which was essentially a carbon copy of the Eberle hit.

So a suspension had to be coming, right? Wrong. According to TSN's Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger, the NHL will not be suspending Torres.

Pull The Plug

My playoff beard is barely more than just stubble at this point, yet I know I'm only a few days away from being able to shave it. Not that I will, because I'm likely going to adopt the practice for the Bulls because not shaving requires less energy than shaving. Plus, considering the weather we've had in Chicago the last week, and are going to continue to have, it's best to keep the beard for warmth. Anyway, my point here is that the Blackhawks trip to the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs is going to be a short one.

White Sox Not Only Team With Bullpen Problems

While the White Sox bullpen has been a sore spot so far this season, with Matt Thornton, Chris Sale and Jesse Crain all taking turns to blow leads late, there is a bit of solace that White Sox fans can take. First of all, there's no way that the back of the bullpen can be this bad all season long, right?

Right?

Secondly, the Sox aren't the only team in the AL Central having problems with their closer. No, the Twins are having problems as well, and if anything can make a Sox fan feel better about his problems, it's thinking about a Twins fans' problems. First Joe Mauer hits the disabled list, and now Joe Nathan is out as closer.

Derrick Rose's Season Highlights

Now if we could get back to regularly scheduled programming here on Foul Balls, I don't have much of anything to say about Chicago sports today. Thankfully somebody was kind enough to put together an entire video of Derrick Rose's highlights from the just completed NBA regular season.

There's no need to come  up with words and thoughts when someone out there knows how to edit a video!

See it after the jump.

Confronting Your Own Mortality

I had a lot of nervous energy about me last night, the type that normally comes when one of your teams is about to start in the playoffs. Particularly after the way the White Sox blew another game during the afternoon, the 9pm start time for the Blackhawks game in Vancouver couldn't get here fast enough. So I sat in my chair flipping back and forth between baseball games and the NHL playoffs just waiting for the puck to drop.

I had my window open as it was a nice night in suburban Chicago, and as my apartment building is located right off of a rather busy street, I'm pretty familiar with the sounds of traffic. So much so that when I heard a noise that was somewhat out of the ordinary, I hardly paid any attention to it. I kept my focus on the games I was watching.

Then I began to hear a lot of loud, hurried voices, but I didn't take my eyes off the Yankees/Orioles game. Alex Rodriguez was on deck, and since he's on my fantasy team, I was more interested in his at bat. But that's when I began to hear the sirens of a fire truck and ambulance. Then the red and blue lights began to flood the room.

Foul Balls MLB Power Rankings - Week 2

As you'd expect, since we're only two weeks into the season, there were some pretty big swings in the rankings this week. That's just what happens when the sample size is still pretty small. For the most part, though, the teams that were on top last week were on top this week, and the same for the bottom.

As you probably guessed from the photo, the Rangers are on top of MLB right now. Where do the rest of the teams fall, including Chicago's favored sons? Find out after the jump.

Breakfast Links: 4-14-11

The San Antonio Spurs lost last night and the Bulls won, so that means the Bulls finish the year with the best record in the NBA at 62-20. Seriously, think back to the before the year began. There was the new Miami Heat, the Celtics, the Lakers and the Spurs. And the Bulls played better than any of them.

• Ozzie Guillen says the best way to solve his problem at closer is to just not have a closer! - Tribune
• Even though a grand jury couldn't prove that Barry Bonds lied to them about steroid use, they were still able to find him guilty of obstruction of justice? Really? Well, hopefully the government can spend a lot more money trying to figure out how this incredibly important case ended this way. - Big League Stew
• Looks like April 29th will be the first chance for Jake Peavy to have a good start ruined by the White Sox bullpen. - Hardball Talk
• Michael Jordan wants to mold the Charlotte Bobcats after the current Bulls team. Good luck finding a Derrick Rose. - ESPNChicago

Game Recaps

• The aforementioned Bulls victory. - NBA
• I prefer the crying, shaken Roberto Luongo to the one we saw last night. The good news is that Vancouver won Game 1 the last two years as well, and they whipped the Hawks ass in Game 1 last year. We know how that turned out.- NHL
• It feels like the same game over and over again. The Sox keep blowing saves, and they keep playing extra inning games.  All three of the games against Oakland this week went to extras. - White Sox
• The Cubs strategy last night was to score a lot of runs early, grab three more late, and then give up a bunch in between, but not enough to lose. It's a good strategy! - Cubs

And That's All I Have To Say About That

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.Wed Apr 13 20:50:45 via TweetDeckTom Fornelli
TomFornelli

Another day, another blown lead in the 9th inning.

Go Blackhawks.

Breakfast Links 4-13-11

I don't know who convinced Alexei Ramirez that it was June already, but I appreciate it.

• Juan Uribe throws a fantastic fish-fry. - The Last Angry Fan
• This could end up being fantastic news for the Bulls. - ESPNLA
• Roberto Luongo says the Blackhawks aren't in his head. I guess we find out if he's being honest tonight. - ESPNChicago
• Matt Thornton says that Juan Pierre's apology isn't necessary. Also, it was nice of Alex Rios to display some team unity last night by dropping a fly ball of his own. We're 11 games into the season and Sox outfielders have now dropped five fly balls. Five. Alfonso Soriano is disgusted. - Tribune
• The dumbest thing you'll read all day, and that includes Foul Balls. - Observer Reporter
• Maybe Josh Hamilton should just own up to the fact he seems to get hurt on plays a lot of other players don't. Also, he should admit that his third base coach didn't say "Hey, dive head first into home plate! That always works out well!" - Hardball Talk
• We now know why Frank Thomas didn't need steroids. - SB Nation
• Just what the Bears need: a fat, self-important defensive tackle who thinks he's better than he actually is, and hasn't played a down of football in over a year. - Bears

Game Recaps

• Not even the suck of the White Sox bullpen can overcome the awesome power of Alexei Ramirez. - White Sox
• Though nothing can overcome the suck of the Cubs. Nothing. - Cubs

Did Ronnie Brewer Really Leave Tuesday's Bulls Game With A Jammed Wrist?

Or did he just feel victimized?

Via Mocksession

The NFL Has Doomed The Bears

Disclaimer: This entire post is written as if there will be an NFL season in 2011. I know that at the moment the prospect of missing an entire season of NFL football is a very real possibility, but I just don't think it's going to happen. So that's how I'm approaching this post.

Last season the Bears surprised everybody by not only winning the NFC North, but getting to the NFC Championship where they were quite possibly an injured quarterback shy of getting to the Super Bowl. Now it seems the NFL is determined to make sure that the Bears don't get anywhere close this season.

White Sox World Series Win Was Clean

With Manny Ramirez retiring thanks to a second failed MLB drug test, once again the discussion around the game of baseball has drifted toward steroids and PEDs. A topic that I burned out on years ago. Though it does turn out that some good can come out of this mess.

With debate raging about whether or not Boston's two World Series titles in 2004 and 2007 are "tainted" by Ramirez's apparent cheating, The Common Man over at The Platoon Advantage -- who is currently in first place in my fantasy baseball league -- decided to break down the World Series roster of every champion for the last 15 years, seeing how many players from each team are connected to steroids.

Only one team over that span of time has a clean record. Can you guess who it is? I'll bet you can.

Cubs On Verge Of Signing Doug Davis

In need of some pitching depth thanks to the release of Carlos Silva and injuries to Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner, I supposed the Cubs had an idea on Saturday night. As Jim Hendry was sitting there watching his offense be completely baffled by Milwaukee's Chris Narveson all night, Hendry likely thought to himself, "Man, I wish we had a lefty who threw nothing but 83MPH fastballs and breaking stuff. Those guys are damn near unhittable!"

So it's only logical that, being in Milwaukee, the name that would pop into Hendry's head would be former Brewer Doug Davis. And according to MLB Trade Rumors, the Cubs are close to signing Davis to a minor league deal.

Breakfast Links: 4-12-11

Well I had a good time at the Sox game last night right up until the ninth inning. I'm really beginning to wonder if Juan Pierre recently found out that Matt Thornton is sleeping with his wife.

• As for the good news, word is that Adam Dunn may be back on Friday. - Sun-Times
• Mike Quade wants you to know that it wasn't Marlon Byrd's fault for that costly caught stealing on Sunday, nor was it Ivan DeJesus' fault, nor was it Quade's fault. It wasn't anybody's fault, it was everybody's fault. Or no, it was Marlon Byrd's fault. No? I don't know, I don't really care. Holy shit we care about dumb things in April. - ESPN Chicago
• Both Dave Bolland and Troy Brouwer will be making the trip to Vancouver. Now, will either of them be playing? - Tribune
• Patrick Kane's playoff mullet is back. Also, I shaved on Monday for what I hope is the last time until June. Not only because that would mean the Hawks have made a deep run in the playoffs, but also that I haven't had to shave in two months. - CSNChicago
• Do you like college football? Do you also like giving money to charity? No? Then don't click this link. - EDSBS

Game Recaps

• I made the joke on Twitter last night, but it was funny, so I'll make it again. Following last night's game, the White Sox have decided to change this season's slogan from "All In" to "E7." - White Sox
• Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney, the two cagey vets, led the Cubs offense on Monday night. - Cubs

Blackhawks vs Canucks Schedule

The NHL announced the dates and times of the first round games, but not television. I'm assuming CSN will carry the majority of games, with one or two on Versus. All times are Central, obviously.

1. @Vancouver Wed. 4/13 9pm
2. @Vancouver Fri. 4/15 9pm
3. @Chicago Sun. 4/17 7pm
4. @Chicago Tue. 4/19 7pm
5. @Vancouver Thu. 4/21 9pm
6. @Chicago Sun. 4/24 7pm
7. @Vancouver Tue 4/26 TBD

As always, games five through seven are if needed. 

Thanks, Minnesota

But the Twins still suck.

Wipe The Slate Clean

It only makes sense for it all to be decided this way. After a year that began with seeing all the heroes of last season's Stanley Cup run, the Blackhawks slogged their way through a rather disappointing season, giving away games they had no business losing.

So it's fitting that the Hawks are in the playoffs thanks to a Dallas team losing to a bad Minnesota squad.

Still, though the Hawks are officially in the playoffs now and will be getting ready to play Vancouver on Wednesday night, it's hard to be as confident in this team as you were last season. Last year the Blackhawks were a machine that just couldn't be stopped. This year they're more of a beat up old Chevy Nova that was just good enough to get you within range of the auto shop before she finally bit the dust.

Though you did have to push her down the street for that final block.