By Jim Coffman
The Blackhawks could easily cut themselves some slack at this point in what has already been a wonderfully exciting post-season. Of course they wouldn’t do it consciously. Consciously they’ll just keep pushing forward, maintaining the routines that have put them in this position, three wins from the Western Conference finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs or making adjustments when necessary. But this team has already enjoyed so much relative (to recent seasons) success. And it is much more than just comfortably qualifying for the playoffs and winning a series. These Blackhawks have done nothing less than completely shake free of the yoke of losing that dragged on their organization for a decade.

Beachwood Baseball: The Cub Factor The White Sox Report will return next week.

Somewhere in the Blackhawks’ subconscious, a little voice is singing these praises. That voice can’t help but be smugly satisfied with this season already. Back home and as comfortable as they can be with an extra day between Games 2 and 3 in their conference semifinal (they are back in action Tuesday evening), the Hawks will have to guard vigilantly against a letdown.

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Posted on May 4, 2009

By Marty Gangler
Well geez, it’s about time. That’s what many a Cub fan would have to say after the Cubs opened the week losing two of three to the D-Backs and then taking the last three of four from the Marlins. So they finished the week 4-3, but it feels better than that because they won the last three in a row. But it was still just 4-3. I did some math, and I think it’s right, and if a baseball team won four of every seven games for the whole year they would get 92 or so wins for the year – which actually might be enough to win the NL Central. But still, it doesn’t feel that good this week. With all of this in mind, including the math, we here at the Cub Factor would like to list a few things that feel like this week for the Cubs.
* You think your girlfriend is cheating on you so you confront her about it and it turns out that she isn’t but she’s now considering it because you accused her of it. So, you’re glad she isn’t cheating, but there’s a bad taste in your mouth.
* You really hate your job but don’t want to be fired and then find out that you aren’t fired but you still might be if you don’t show that you like your job. So it’s good you still have a job but it’s still the same job. So you have that bad taste in your mouth.
* You come home from a hard day and you are very hungry. You thought you had a Tombstone in the freezer but you forgot that you ate that last week watching all those Bulls overtimes, but you find a stray Hot Pocket that must have fallen out of the box some time ago so you throw it in the microwave. But then it turns out to be a broccoli and ham lean pocket which really isn’t very tasty. So, you are glad you are not hungry anymore but you literally have a bad taste in your mouth.
And that’s what it feels like to be a Cubs fan this week.

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Posted on May 4, 2009

By Green Bay Bill, Tom Latourette and Joe Dillo
A tribute to Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville.

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Posted on May 3, 2009

By Thomas Chambers

The Kentucky Derby is the most exciting two minutes in sports. And the longest two minutes without timeouts. As the field of 20 departs the starting gate, the competition gets sorted out at every furlong in a combination of survival and elan, raw speed and deceptive quickness, calm and drama.
And while every Derby presents the possibility of something special, this year’s wide-open field almost guarantees an uncommon element: pleasant odds across the board.

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Posted on May 1, 2009