Busy days ahead

A lot is going on these days. The Bears opened training camp a few days a go. The Cubs just had their longest winning streak of the season and then shipped off the greatest pitcher in franchise history. The Bulls schedule was announced. College football is less then a month away. Seems like time for some random thoughts.

1--The Greg Maddux trade shocked me. Not because I didn’t think that Jim Hendry would have the ability to pull the trigger on a move of that magnitude. It wasn’t that I felt that there wasn’t a market for the Mad Dog. And it obviously came into my mind on Saturday that we could be seeing the last of Greg Maddux at Wrigley Field wearing a Cubs uniform. No, the reason I probably still am walking around with my best Phil Ivey poker face on is because you never expect your favorite team to trade away a pitcher who has 327 wins, 15 gold gloves and four Cy Young’s. It’s usually an un-written rule that you don’t let a player go who has only one question surrounding him, and that is which cap will Greg Maddux where into the Hall of Fame when he is elected five years after he hangs his cleats up? But the Cubs did. And maybe more surprising then anything is that I’m not that mad. I feel good for Maddux, who gets to end his career in a playoff race instead of the NL Central basement. I’m glad the Cubs got a sold, every day shortstop in Cesar Izturis. And I like to see that young guys like Carlos Marmol, Rich Hill and Sean Marshall are going to get a chance to prove themselves on the Major League level for the last two months of the season.

2-- Take one peek at the National League pitching stats and it’s obvious to me that Carlos Zambrano should be the pick for Cy Young this season. Big number 38 started off the season with no wins (including two losses) in his first seven starts. Since then, he is 12-1 with a sub-3 ERA. He is tied for the league lead in wins, is third in innings pitched, seventh in ERA, and first in strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .199 against Big Z, by far the best in the league. He’s also hit four home runs and has a stolen base. Oh, and in case you forgot, he’s doing this on a team with only 44 wins. Pretty damn impressive. Still, people are saying that the award will go to someone like Tom Glavine, Brandon Webb or Chris Carpenter. I guarantee you if the Cubs were more relevant, Zambrano would be an obvious number one candidate.

3--Lots of controversy is surrounding the Bears backfield so far this training camp, and as Stephen A would say, quire frankly I’m happy with that. I like the Thomas Jones and Cederic Benson are in a competition to be the number one running back spot. In the NFL these days, unless you have a guy like Ladanian Tomlinson or Shaun Alexander, you need multiple backs to carry the load. The Bears having two number one quality runners can be nothing but helpful come December when the tundra gets frozen and yards are tougher to come by. I think Jones will eventually win the job, but don’t be shocked if Benson ends up with more regular season yards and touchdowns. The other position that a lot of people are concerned with is quarterback. Will it be the potential of Rex Grossman or the experience of Brian Griese? Once again, I’m happy with a little controversy. (Better now then in December, like last season) Rex has been handed the job three years in a row, yet has never started more then three consecutive games. Griese is the new guy who doesn’t really know the system. My pick is Grossman, but the odds of him lasting all 16 games are worse then Mel Gibson saying l'chaim when he picks up his next beer.

4--The NBA schedule was released yesterday, and it appears that unlike me, TNT, ESPN and ABC really think that signing Ben Wallace puts the Bulls over the top and makes them title contenders. The Bulls are slated for a Halloween night opener at Miami on TNT, where the champs will most likely be receiving their rings. They also are scheduled to appear on national TV 20 more times then that. Pretty impressive for a team that hasn’t won a playoff series in eight years. Right now, with the season still three months away, I see the Bulls finishing second in the Central and third in the East. I hate to be repetitive, but I still feel they don’t have enough scoring and they are relying too much on jump shooting.