Feeling sorry for LeBron

Interesting weekend ahead, with the NBA season looking like its coming to a close, inter- league play for most MLB teams and the second major of the golf season. (Plus the season premiere of ‘Entourage’ season 4) Time for a few quick random thoughts.

1---The Cubs have been playing better lately, as shown by taking two of three in Milwaukee and splitting with the Braves in the dirty south. I am liking the way that Alfonso Soriano is swinging the bat (he was amazing the first two days against Atlanta) and both Rich Hill and Carlos Zambrano have started to show their skills. Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, and Felix Pie are producing better than anybody could have imagined, and when Aramis Ramirez returns, the team has as good of a one through four lineup (Soriano, Pie, D-Lee and Ramirez) as any in the National League.

But not everything is perfect on the North Side of Chicago. The bullpen is still a mess, with no dependable eighth inning guy that is necessary to win big games come August and September. Right field, which I though would be a strength of this team, is a merry-go-round of crap, since Jacque Jones, Cliff Floyd, Matt Murton and Angel Pagan seem to have all forgotten how to swing a bat. And lets not forget all the controversy surrounding the team. A week after the Barrett/Zambrano fight and Lou Piniella ejection, the team gets in a bean ball war with Atlanta, which results in a first inning ejection for Ted Lilly. If the Cubs are going to start winning games on a consistent basis, they have to leave the controversy behind them and focus on baseball.

2---The NBA Finals have been one big snoooooooooooooze fest. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan are dominating the Cavs on both ends of the court, and it seems LeBron James is too nervous to play smart basketball. I said at the start of the series San Antonio was a better team, but I thought that the combination of James and the excited home crowd could get Cleveland at least two wins. Now it seems they’ll be lucky to win even one. If I’m LBJ, I tell owner Dan Gilbert that he HAS to get a new coach and some more scorers on the roster or else when James’ extension runs out in two years, he’s out the door.

3---I’m not a big golf fan, but I do enjoy the majors. Last years US Open, where Phil Mickelson lost a lead on the final hole by being way too aggressive and hitting stupid shot after stupid shot, was a blast to watch. It proved that even golf can be considered an exciting sport, because there is no margin for error. For this weekends Open, held outside of Pittsburgh, I am picking my three favorite guys on the tour: Tiger, Chris Dimarco (Florida alum) and Luke Donald (Northwestern alum).


4---Happy Fathers Day!