The Cubs will need to do better than 41-40 in their second 81 games if they want to reach the postseason. On the bright side, to reach that goal, they won't have to spend as much time in first place as their players have had to spend on the disabled list.
With baseball's All-Star Game next week in St. Louis, look for some celebrities to attend. Here's how Hollywood.com's Tom Leupp ranks the star power of the top sports (notable fans in parentheses):
There's nothing like the memorial service for Michael Jackson on Tuesday in Los Angeles to show the world who the biggest MJ on the planet is. Or was.
Random thoughts while wondering how Chicago can have only two players picked for the All-Star Game and it still seems like too many:
• • That London report also says 2012 organizers are ''falling short on delivering employment targets, tourism strategy and sports participation.'' On the bright side, Londoners presumably don't have to worry about having their taxes raised because of the seemingly inevitable cost overruns.
Sometimes (if not most of the time) it's best for Quick Hits to step aside and merely let others speak:
If Cubs players need a wakeup call, maybe the new owner will buy each of them an alarm clock -- unless the protracted purchase takes so long that alarm clocks no longer exist.
Random thoughts while wondering whether, 20 years from now, people will be asking why Ozzie Guillen isn't the same person he was when he managed a World Series winner:
Cindy Morgan took some time off from writing to do some writing.
Good news, Blackhawks fans. Now that he has been released by the Detroit Red Wings, Chris Chelios is available to return to his hometown team and to the franchise where he was a fan favorite. Not that the Hawks necessarily need him from a playing or PR perspective. A team spokesman said Tuesday: ''Right now, our focus is on the NHL draft and free agency. And for us to comment on Chris joining our organization in any capacity once his playing days are over would be premature.''
Random thoughts while wondering why baseball doesn't have two 15-team leagues -- rather than a 16-team National and 14-team American -- and simply have interleague games played throughout the season:
If the Indians-Cubs series shows anything, it's that Kerry Wood is not the answer to any perceived problems in the Cubs' bullpen.
''Oh, miss,'' Quick Hits said to the waitress walking by.
Either there was a disproportionate number of White Sox fans in the ballpark Wednesday at Wrigley Field, or most of the Cubs fans had departed by game's end. Unless perhaps Cubs fans have reached the point of being left speechless by their team's lack of run production.
The International Olympic Committee heard representatives for the international governing bodies Monday in Lausanne, Switzerland, urging their sport's inclusion in the 2016 Summer Games. You know, the one that Chicago could host. The sports: golf, rugby sevens, squash, softball, baseball, roller sports and karate. So what's that have to do with anything on a Cubs-Sox page? Rest assured, if Chicago does host the 2016 Games, they will include Wrigley Field as an event site. Which makes sense. Croquet or darts would fill Wrigley -- if they were Olympic sports. Maybe the IOC would look at the least-attended sport and put it in the park. Even archery would be a hot ticket if it was held in Wrigley.
Random thoughts while wondering whether the Phil Jackson-coached Michael Jordan championship Bulls (take your picks from six) would've beaten the 2008-09 Jackson-coached Kobe Bryant Lakers in five games for the NBA title (or six or seven; OK, diehard Bulls fans, or four):
Signing former White Sox pitcher Freddy Garcia to a minor-league contract is just another move by general manager Ken Williams to put a World Series championship team together -- although it does seem a little soon to have a reunion for the 2005 squad.
