By Marty Gangler

Sources tell The Cub Factor:
Jim Hendry: Jim took some time to try and get his TIVO in working order. But he was trying to record too many shows in the same time slot and it just didn’t work out the way he wanted.
Carlos Zambrano: Carlos got to the part in his recovery where he has to apologize to everyone his “affliction” has effected. As of the posting of this column, he was on the Ds in the Chicago phone book.
Lou Piniella: Lou finally got the kegerator fired up down in his man cave. He’s thinking he might have some time on his hands in the next couple weeks.

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Posted on July 19, 2010

By Thomas Chambers

Synthetic surfaces and short fields and the Rachel vs. Zenyatta contretemps aside, we now enter into my favorite time of the Thoroughbred racing year.
It’s time for the best meet, Saratoga. The three-year-olds are maturing and the cream rises to the top. This year, we have the subplots of Rachel Alexandra’s efforts to regain her top form, and Zenyatta’s efforts to remain undefeated. And is Quality Road truly the best American horse in training?
And while the game rides the rainbow toward the lucrative Breeders’ Cup, the noble steeds and little people will be running in many of the most prestigious races of the American year.
Let’s start close to home.

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Posted on July 16, 2010

By Dan O’Shea

Fantasy Fix was saddened to hear of the passing of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, for if there is one MLB owner whom all fantasy league owners try to emulate, it’s George, by George.
We all want to be the most competitive, the most decisive, the most aggressive at picking up free agents and trading fading players for those just hitting their stride. And, more than anything else, we all want to be standing above the rest at the end of the season, chomping our cigars, and savoring the jealously on the faces of the vanquished.
As the second half begins in a couple days, let Steinbrenner’s spirit continue to be your guide. That means, in part, making some bets on which players will reach peak value as the summer wears on. Here are a few ideas among players still widely available in most Yahoo! leagues:

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Posted on July 14, 2010

By Jim Coffman

So I just couldn’t watch another Cubs monstrosity in Los Angeles Sunday night and fortunately I switched over to ESPN2 in time to find a rebroadcast of the World Cup Final already in progress. I arrived there in time to see all of the extra time (I had watched the regulation 90 minutes live but had to leave to coach my son’s youth baseball playoff game).
It was a gritty, gutty game in which Holland had a man sent off in overtime after it was very fortunate it didn’t have a different one sent off earlier, in the second half. In the end, surely no one was disappointed when Andres Iniesta knocked in a goal with only a little time left to give Spain the win and, most importantly, to save us the ridiculousness of the biggest soccer game on Earth being decided by penalty kicks.

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Posted on July 12, 2010

By Andrew Reilly

“First place Chicago White Sox.” What were the odds?
So we close the first leg of the 2010 season with the Chicago White Sox – the White Sox! – riding high as baseball’s hottest team, compiling a 27-10 record since June 1 and obliterating every team in their path. How is that even possible? When did John Danks become the best pitcher in baseball? How is Carlos Quentin driving in 11 runs in the span of a mere week? Why in the world is Omar Vizquel playing with the energy of someone half his age?
I don’t know; I suspect you (and they) don’t either, outside of idiotic platitudes about how this team never gives up and was built to win, so we’ll leave that one unanswered for now. However, what we do know is that, thanks to an improbably fantastic past six weeks, we suddenly have a season.

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Posted on July 12, 2010

By Marty Gangler

It’s been a good week in my book. It really has.
Sure, the Cubs did nothing more than tread a little water in the standings, but still, a pretty good week.
Why?
Because the Cubs proved they are bad enough to force a change in direction. If some of the swirling trade rumors are true, then management has finally realized what most Cub fans have been saying for two years now: This team sucks.
And they’ve finally sucked enough for something to be done about it.
Thank God for their suckiness.

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Posted on July 12, 2010

By Thomas Chambers

Three chords and the truth.
* Churchill Downs Inc. thinks it has The $99,000 Answer as it forges ahead with casinos at Fair Grounds and Calder Race Course, all the while threatening Illinois politicians through our own Arlington Park. They’re trying their best out at AP with tribute bands and horse-frightening fireworks and Idol idols.
* Out West, Canadian magnate, racing lord and weird duck Frank Stronach appears ready to fall off the Left Coast with Patrick Henry-esque cries for free enterprise (i.e. all the racing dates go to him), a solemn promise to change out the disastrous synthetic track surface at Santa Anita (to another synthetic!), and an eviction notice for the Oak Tree Association, a benevolent group that has run the fall Santa Anita meet for 41 years.
* Whether or not you agree with slots at the track, New York State approved them about 10 years ago and, with the same sloth and corruption we’re used to around here, can’t line up three cherries to save its souls.
Unless you’re a hard-bitten gambling type cursing the first leg of the double or endlessly incubating your Pick 4 dream, it comes down to the horses. The game needs horses with star power like hoops needs the Buckeye King.

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Posted on July 9, 2010

By Dan O’Shea

With the All-Star break approaching, we’ll take a couple weeks off from recognizing fantasy finds, studs and duds, and instead look this week at some must-trade busts, and next week at potential second-half stars.
The end of the first half of the baseball season is a good time to finally let go of the dead weight that’s been dragging down your fantasy team. Everyone has a few players they hold onto well into summer despite all the writing on the wall advising them against it. It’s time to let go, which in some cases means trading them to any Gullible Gus in your league who still believes in them.
Here’s a quick list of players to move, one way or another, before your fantasy league trading deadline:

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Posted on July 7, 2010

By Jim Coffman

After a few weeks of soccer, the primary pastime demands attention and this space is ready to give it up (this space also touted the prospect of South America dominating the World Cup, a prospect that blew up like an M80 during last week’s quarterfinals – another reason to switch sports).
Baseball is still the only big-time summer game in this country after all. I see little kids running around at soccer camps in Chicago in the June-July heat and I want to grab an organizer and shake him. I don’t care that Major League Soccer (still such a misnomer) rolls through most of its season in the summer. In the places where futbol matters most – Europe, primarily – the professional teams start their seasons in the fall, play all through the winter and finally wrap things up in the spring. The only time they take an extended break is during the dog days.
This isn’t complicated – when the weather is scorching, does a game featuring athletes running hither-and-yon for 90 minutes make the most sense? Or is it baseball, with its unique combination of standing around in the field for a while followed by sitting around in the dugout, that works best in these conditions?

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Posted on July 6, 2010

By Marty Gangler

As the Cubs continue to suck, we here at The Cub Factor can only wonder why Uncle Lou hasn’t been canned yet. How many more embarrassing losses do fans have to suffer through before someone is shown the accountability door?
Sure, firing the manager isn’t going to solve anything, but it will make at least us feel better. And we are the customers. Making us feel better is worth something.
But no; the Ricketts’ are sitting on their hands. We theorize as to why:

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Posted on July 6, 2010