By Andrew Reilly

It’s not their fault they’re rapidly losing ground.
It’s not their fault they can’t move a runner past second base, it’s Joe West’s fault, because he’s a terrible umpire.
It’s not their fault the bullpen has been effectively useless, it’s modern medicine’s fault for allowing two of their most valuable relievers to fall prey to injury.
It’s not their fault Alex Rios’ bat has turned to stone, it’s the Royals’ fault for rescheduling Friday’s game to capitalize on that sweet, sweet WGN money.

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Posted on August 23, 2010

By Thomas Chambers

Want turf racing?
Arlington Park’s got your turf racing. It’s Million Week and the palace is hammerin’ the turf angle home as it plans to run 11 of its 12 races Saturday on the world-class grass course.
We’ll see the only Grade I races and some of the best horses Chicago offers in any year. The marquee races kick off with 79th running of the Grade III Stars and Stripes Turf at 3:06, followed by The Secretariat, The Beverly D and the Arlington Million. Chasers will also have the $60,000 Hatoof right after that.
Rumors are that Comcast Sports will carry the Million, but my local listings don’t check out.

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Posted on August 20, 2010

By Dan O’Shea

A rookie RB in the top 10?
Ryan Mathews, rookie running back for the San Diego Chargers and successor to LaDainian Tomlinson, has been getting some high praise during training camp, high enough that he’s currently the No. 8-ranked player in all of Yahoo! Fantasy Football 2010 – not the No. 8 RB, the No. 8 overall.

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Posted on August 18, 2010

By Marty Gangler

Dear Jim Hendry,
So, you have this first baseman.
Yes, I agree that he used to be good. Heck, he won a batting title and knocked in a bunch of runs a bunch of times, but aren’t his best years behind him?
And doesn’t his contract, like, expire at the end of the season?
And didn’t you try to trade him and he decided that he didn’t want to help you get ready for next season and he vetoed the trade?
Plus he’s hurt now.
So why is he still getting at-bats?

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Posted on August 17, 2010

By Andrew Reilly

You know what’s awesome about the Sox being three games back?
Everything from now on, all the time, every day.
They lost today? That’s huge.
They won today? That’s also huge!
Split the series? THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING US!
And this is only possible because the once mighty have suddenly been reduced to . . . not quite a shell of their former selves, but really just their former selves.

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Posted on August 17, 2010

By Thomas Chambers

It never ceases to amuse me how racing writers, in dipping to the same level as the blowin’-in-the-wind general media, bestow greatness on the latest very nice thing.
“Zenyatta’s quest for her 17th victory would make her perhaps the 3rd greatest racehorse to ever live,” Charles Jay writes for BetUs.com. “She’s already considered the greatest female racehorse to ever live . . . Winning this Sunday’s Vanity would no doubt cement her place in thoroughbred racing history and put her on the greatness list after the immortal Man O’War and the indomitable Secretariat.”
It gets worse.

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Posted on August 12, 2010

By Dan O’Shea

This being the Year of the Pitcher and all, it might be a good time to get your hands on every spare fantasy arm you can find.
The trouble is there are usually (unless your commissioner is a nit-wit) only so many starting pitcher slots – four in some leagues, but I’ve seen others with three or even two.
Starters don’t go every day, and they may not all pitch on the same day, but if you are trying to gain fantasy points by loading up on pitching stats, you need a lot of arms, and that means potential conflicts. That means it’s time to look for pitchers with flexible position eligibility – the sometime elusive SP/RP.

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Posted on August 11, 2010

By Marty Gangler

How in the world are you still watching?
You should have better things to do.
But if you insist, we here at the Cub Factor would like to give you a little something for the effort.
If you do watch these guys, we suggest drinking – heavily. And if you do drink, why not make a game out of it? If the Cubs aren’t going to make a game out of it, at least you should.
Here, then, are some suggestions for the 2010 Chicago Cubs Spiral Toward Last Place drinking game:

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Posted on August 10, 2010

By Jim Coffman

What we need is a preseason checklist: 1. Make fun of Bears offense in general. 2. Make fun of Jay Cutler’s interceptions in particular. 3. Make fun of Bears defense in general. 3. Make fun of Bear defender . . . nah, let’s make it “Make fun of Brett Favre.” On second thought, I think we’ll have to make that, “Make fun of the people who have been making fun of Brett Favre.”
Then again in this space, we always look for reasons for optimism – especially before the games start. And there is one gigantic reason for Bears fans to have a shiny, happy feeling when looking forward to fall Sundays: Julius Peppers. It is already clear that the defensive end the Bears signed for gigantic dollars in the offseason isn’t just good enough to pile up sacks, he’s good enough to enable multiple teammates to pile up sacks.
If he can stay healthy, he will force opponents to game plan for him in particular. And the Bears haven’t had a defender like that since Brian Urlacher was at his sideline-to-sideline best earlier this decade.
Peppers’ abilities might even enable the Bears to overcome their unbelievable unwillingness yet again to make a significant upgrade at safety. More on that later in the inevitable slide back toward pessimism.

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Posted on August 9, 2010

By Andrew Reilly

So here we go.
The Twins sit one game back in the loss column but tied with the Sox in the win column.
Mark Kotsay is still the designated hitter despite repeatedly showing he can’t hit, his contributions moving closer and closer to winning this year’s Grindy McGrinderstad award for Outstanding Achievement By An Inexplicably Overused And Overvalued Veteran Who Plays The Game The Right Way Except When It Comes To Hitting And Fielding.
Bobby Jenks is probably still the closer, even if he’s hurt and can’t close games and even while J.J. Putz is pitching like a 2007 version of J.J. Putz or, even better, a 2006 version of Bobby Jenks that didn’t worry so much about proving he could pitch with “finesse” and “control” but rather came in and brutalized the enemy with air-scorching fastballs and curveballs that actually curved.

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Posted on August 8, 2010