Quick Update

It's finally summer! Unfortunately, it's also a Tuesday, and this particular Superstar just finished up a long day at work, which is now pretty much a Tuesday only thing. (Closing Sunday and Wednesday, doubles Tuesday, just fyi.)

Still, there is a whole lot going on in the world of sports right now. It wouldn't be fair to leave everyone without at least a brief look at what's been going on. I think we'll have a bunch more updates later this week as Snuffles heads down to the ancestral homeland of Bloomington for an Armchair Convention.

Without further ado, how about some links?

SI.com:

John Mullin talked to Jerry Angelo about the Vanderbilt-Chicago pipeline that the Bears have going these days.

Peter "Brett Favre's Wife Better Be Jealous That We're Having Dinner!" King ranks Chicago #4 in his preseason power rankings. Hope that's not a curse.

Meanwhile, the NBA conference semifinals have been interesting, even without our Bulls participating. King James and the Cavs crushed the Hawks (who didn't see that coming?) and are undefeated in the postseason thus far. The other NBA superstar, Kobe Bryant, is currently relaxing on the bench as the Lakers are demolishing the Rockets by around 35-40 points in Game Five there. Still, the Rockets beat LA handily the other day even with Yao Ming out for the season, and this one is at least going six games.

Back to the East– Orlando and Boston are battling it out in a tough series. Apparently it was a good game tonight. I have a tough question for this one. Who is less likeable: Eddie House or JJ Redick? Right now, I have a narrow edge for House, who celebrates every made shot just long enough to completely ignore his defensive assignment, but my longstanding hatred for Coach K Junior makes it a close race.

One of my Mabears coworkers asked me today about who I want to see in the Finals. Honestly? I took Cavs-Nuggets. Carmelo vs. LeBron is just such a compelling storyline. But I think it will be chalk, and the Lakers will take down Denver, who is handling Dallas in their series.

Segue!

O'Shea, where's my Blackhawks update at?? The Hawks punched their ticket to the Western Conference finals, right? They could play their historic rival from Detroit in what would be an epic matchup (think Bulls-Knicks in the '90's). Would love to give you more but I'm not exactly qualified for that. I believe the Red Wings and Mighty Ducks (yeah, yeah, I know, Ducks) are still playing.

Lastly, the White Sox are hovering just below .500 in the AL Central. Just like every year, all five teams look fairly evenly matched. It's amazing to me that Cleveland can't put it together with the amount of talent on that roster. I sense some firings if their subpar (12-22) record holds up through the All Star Break.

The Sox need to make a trade for another starter, and they need to do it soon. Buehrle, Danks, and Floyd are about as good as you need a top three to be in the American League. Colon can hold the fifth spot. But Contreras just got optioned to the minors today and Clayton Richard took his starting spot, lasting 3 1/3 and giving up several runs. Ouch. Still, a win's a win. Thome hit two HRs today.

Who's out there to fill the neglected four spot? The name that immediately comes to mind for me without research is Jon Garland. More investigation needed.

So yeah, that's what's up in Chicago sports. We're also overdue for an Indiana update which will be coming ASAP. Hope all is well for everybody, and Happy May! It's a great time of year.