At long last, the on-going sale of the Chicago Cubs has finally started, with opening bids having been submitted on Friday. According to the article, 7 groups submitted bids for the Cubs, Wrigley Field, and the Tribune Company’s 25% stake in Comcast Sports Net Chicago. Sources say Mark Cuban was one of the bidders. Experts predict that the sale will fetch over $1 billion, helping Sam Zell knock off some of the $13 billion in debt he owes on the company, in particular, a lump sum payment of $750 million that is due in June 2009. Whether or not the deal gets done by then remains to be seen, and if it goes past that, what will happen when Cuban outbids Canning, but MLB accepts Canning remains to be seen as well. My personal wishes are that this sale drags beyond June 2009, making it more likely that if Cuban is to be rejected despite having the highest bid, Zell will sue saying he is entitled to the highest bid.

After losing defensive end Phillip Daniels for the season with a torn ACL, the Washington Redskins acquired Jason Taylor from the Miami Dolphins to fill the void, giving up a 2nd-round draft pick in 2009, and a 6th-round choice in 2010.

With this trade, it puts an end to Jason Taylor’s time in Bill Parcells’ doghouse, who Taylor fell out of favor with after focusing the off-season on Dancing With the Stars and not football. This makes one less story that won’t be regurgatated all season long.

About 10 days after getting CC Sabathia, in a quest to make the playoffs for the first time since they won it all in 1982, the Milwaukee Brewers have acquired 2nd baseman Ray Durham from the San Francisco Giants, hoping his .293 batting average, and .385 on-base percentage will help bolster a team that has the worst batting average in MLB among 2nd basemen. This move will either create a platoon at 2B, or it will move out Rickie Weeks completely. What happens is to be seen, but one thing is for certain: The Cubs are still better than the Brewers

With last week’s MLB All-Star Game going 15 innings, and mercifully ending in the bottom of the 15th on a walk-off sacrafice fly in the final All-Star Game at historical Yankee Stadium in it’s final season, MLB’s All-Star Game was exposed as a fraud and a joke. After the 2002 game which ended in a tie in Bud Selig’s hometown of Milwaukee, the commish has tried to make the game more entertaining, and get the players to care about the game, by linking home-field advantage in the World Series to the game, with Fox using the slogan this one counts. As this game lingered on, Bud Selig told both managers that the game would be played to it’s end.

If these games are to really count, then massive changes are needed. First off, every team should not have to be represented. If the game is to count, why should better players from teams that already have reps be left off so every team has someone at the game? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of playing to win? Second, something has to be done about the pitchers. You’ve got guys throwing 100+ pitches on the Sunday before the game who have to throw 2 days later in the All-Star Game. This can damage their arms down the road and jeopardize their teams playoff hopes, like the Philadelphia Phillies for example. Brad Lidge got up 6 times, and threw over 100 warm-up pitches, plus the pitches he threw in the game. If I was the Phillies GM, I would be livid that my pitcher had to do that. To remedy this, the rosters should be expanded so more pitchers can be added, so that these guys who throw on Sunday don’t have to be used, unless of course the game started becoming a single-game triple-header.

Lastly, linking home-field advantage in the World Series to this game should be abolished. It’s a complete joke that this exhibition decides who gets game 7 of the WS at home. MLB has really screwed this up.

When convicted steroids dealer Kirk Radomski found a shipping receipt under a busted TV last week, that was not the only thing that was busted. One Mr. William Roger Clemens has also been busted. That receipt found under the idiot box was for an HGH shipment sent to Clemens. As everyone knows, when Clemens testified under oath in February, he said he never used HGH, and he didn’t have any knowledge of his wife using it either. This is going to prove Clemens is lying. Roger, you really screwed this one up. See you in the slammer.

So last week, the Cubs and Brewers each made trades for starting pitchers that figure to up the ante in the NL Central race, with the Beermakers acquiring ace CC Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians, and the Cubs acquiring Rich Harden from the Oakland A’s. Their additions give both teams a solid 1-2 punch in Ben Sheets and Sabathia for the Brewers, and Carlos Zambrano and Harden for the Cubs. All 4 of these pitchers are bona fide aces who are among the best in the game. For the Cubs, the only problem is if Harden can stay healthy this season. He has been on the DL 6 times in the last 4 years, all with pitching related problems. Ditto for the Brewers with Sheets, also struck with Wood and Prior Syndrome.

The Cubs should be a little concerned over Harden’s health. The timing of this deal is very fishy, that he was traded about 3 weeks before the deadline. Anyone who has read Moneyball by Michael Lewis would understand how Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane’s mind works, and this move is not consistent with that. Perhaps Beane knows something that the Cubs don’t, and tried dumping off Harden before the injury came out. If Harden makes it through 2008 in one piece, the Cubs could have a very 1-2-3 in Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, and Harden, and a solid #4 in Ted Lilly.

Ultimately, I think the Cubs will end up edging the Brewers (and Cardinals) and win the NL Central, while the Brewers will miss the playoffs, and then Sabathia will bolt town for a 9-figure contract over the winter…possibly with the Cubs.

In the last week, since Brett Favre has said he wants to return, he officially asked the Pack for reinstatement or release. The Packers said they have no intentions of releasing him, and then later said they would welcome him back…As the back-up to Aaron Rodgers.

This is all a joke, and quite frankly, it’s getting to be stupid. Either the Packers should release Favre, or bring him back as the starter. Do they really think Aaron Rodgers can get them a Super Bowl title in 2008? They are kidding themselves if they think so, after last year when the Pack were so close. Why should Favre have to settle for being the back-up after starting 275 consecutive games (including playoffs).

The Pack need to realize that they can’t have it both ways. If they are so concerned about Favre going somewhere else and possibly hurting them later, then they should bring him back as the starter. #4 under center gives the Pack the best shot at winning the Super Bowl this year. As for where Favre would go if he were released, Minnesota would seem to be the most logical choice. With a solid defense, a great offensive line, and Adrian Peterson at RB, Favre would seem to be the final piece to the puzzle there.

As for those suggesting he come down south to the Windy City and play for the arch-enemy the Bears, forget it. They are not a QB away from being Super Bowl contenders, regardless of what the media says. They have a makeshift offensive line, and a very weak reciever core, and a running game that is not proven. If Favre were to play with the Bears in 2008, it would be just like his 2005 season with the Pack - not good. And for those who think it’s the Chicago media who says Favre would be the final piece, they’re wrong. William C. Rhoden of the New York Times recently wrote that too.

This is no way to treat a legend. Either the Pack should release Favre, or bring him back as a starter

According to ESPN, Brett Favre is contemplating coming out of retirement. Despite this, Favre calls it a rumor.

When will the madness stop!? Brett, make up your mind already, would you? This is getting absurd, every year. If I was Aaron Rodgers, I would demand a trade if Favre actually does return to Green Bay. When he retired, there was talk the Packers didn’t want him back. Maybe they don’t actually want him back. Maybe if he returns, the Madden Curse will live on and Favre’s streak will end. All I can say about this is don’t come back, Brett. People say he can still play, I say look no further than this, a brilliant article by Sal Paolantonio.

Recently, Brian McNamee, former trainer for Roger Clemens, said in a court filing that syringes and other materials that he has will show that they contain Clemens’ DNA. As we all know, Clemens was named in the Mitchell Report, and filed a defamation suit against McNamee and is now under investigation for perjury.

All I can say about this is Roger is dead meat.

Recently, NFL Commishoner Roger Goodell spoke out about the way rookies in the NFL are paid, saying it’s “ridiculus” to pay unproven rookies large sums of money.

“There’s something wrong about the system,” Goodell said. “The money should go to people who perform.”

“[Jake Long] doesn’t have to play a down in the NFL and he already has his money. Now, with the economics where they are, the consequences if you don’t evaluate that player, you can lose a significant amount of money.

And that money is not going to players that are performing. It’s going to a player that never makes it in the NFL. And I think that’s ridiculous.”

What Goodell said, I completely agree with. It is absurd that those players get massive amounts of money without even playing, like Jake Long with his 57.75M contract, 30M of it guaranteed. Goodell favors a slotted system similar to the NBA, but allowing for a provision to renegotiate the deal once the player proves himself. I favor this too. I believe that that would be fair to all parties.

In the sport of football, where a career can end with one mis-step or one violent hit, it is important for the players to get as much money as they can while they are healthy, and non-guaranteed contracts make that even more essential. With a slotted system, the owners are not being killed by a draft mistake for many years, the proven veterans get the money they deserve, and allowing for the deal to be re-negotiated once the player has proven himself allows for these rookies to get what they deserve when they deserve it. I am in favor of this, and I hope the NFL puts this system in soon.