The Bulls have had quite a heated rivalry with the Indiana Pacers through the years. It dates back to the battles between Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller in the 1990s.

So, like a lot of people from the Chicago area, I don't have a lot of love for the Pacers. However, with the Bulls eliminated early from the NBA playoffs this season, I've adopted Indiana as my rooting interest moving forward. I have two reasons for this:

1. The Pacers are currently playing the loathsome Miami Heat, a whining, crying, flopping bunch of prima donnas who represent everything that is wrong with professional sports.

2. The longer small-market Indiana lasts in the playoffs, the lower NBA commissioner David Stern's precious TV ratings get. I'm quite sure commissioner Stern is salivating over a possible Lakers vs. Heat matchup in the Finals. You know he wants that Kobe vs. LeBron storyline. I, for one, would like to see that all go to pieces. How about Indiana vs. Oklahoma City instead? I think that would be awesome.

I was hanging on every play down the stretch of the fourth quarter Tuesday night as the Pacers held off the Heat, 78-75, to even the best-of-seven series at 1-1. I couldn't help but think of my formal colleague Michael Lush, a diehard Pacers fan who must have been cursing Paul George's ineptitude at the free throw line as Indiana struggled to put Miami away.

But the Pacers did manage to hang on. To celebrate, let's have a little song:

The White Sox got a rare home victory Monday night, defeating the vastly overrated Detroit Tigers 7-5. It was just a weird win, because everything that happened seemed to be the exact opposite of what you would expect as a White Sox fan. For example:

1. Dayan Viciedo went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI.
2. Brent Morel actually got an RBI hit on a hanging curve ball.
3. Zach Stewart fired three shutout innings of relief to get the win.
4. Hector Santiago struck his way out of a first-and-second, no-outs jam in the seventh.
5. Matt Thornton put up a zero in an uneventful eighth inning.
6. Paul Konerko had two horrible at-bats, looking brutal as he struck out.

So, in other words, several players who have been struggling did well. Konerko, the reliable elder statesman of the White Sox, did poorly.

This can only mean one thing. It's just the introduction to the opposite sketches....

Every now and then in the journalism business, you run into somebody who is trying to scam you. Such was the case recently for former Beacon-News sportswriter Jim Owczarski.

Jim, who now works for OnMilwaukee.com, recently got an e-mail from a fellow named Montaous Walton. The guy wanted Jim to do a feel-good story about his making it out of Milwaukee and signing a professional contract with the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

Only problem is, while Montaous Walton, the person, may exist, Montaous Walton, the baseball player, is fictional. There was no real contract with the Blue Jays. Just a fake one on which Walton spelled the name of the team incorrectly.

Over the period of about five years or so, Walton has convinced various media outlets to report on his fictitious success on the ball diamond. He even got a couple of sports agencies to give him plane tickets and other loot.

Major League Baseball found out about all this, and as you might expect, league officials are not happy. They want to prosecute Walton, assuming of course that is his real name.

As for Jim, he wrote a story about Walton. Just not the story Walton was hoping for. It's lengthy, but it's worth your time. Here's the link.

Feeling bad about the Phoenix Coyotes still being alive in the Western Conference playoffs? Yeah, it kinda stinks to see that team continue to win. Whenever I'm feeling a little glum about the Blackhawks' early exit this year, I just watch this video of Raffi Torres getting the living hell beat out of him:

Serves you right, Raffi!

Quite a game for Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton Tuesday night.

Hamilton went 5-for-5 with FOUR two-run homers, a double and eight RBI in the Rangers' 10-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. His 18 total bases are a new American League record.

Believe it or not, four-homer games are even more rare than perfect games. There have been 21 perfect games, but only 16 four-homer games. Here is the list:

Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers -- May 8, 2012
Carlos Delgado, Toronto Blue Jays -- Sept. 25, 2003
Shawn Green, Los Angeles Dodgers -- May 23, 2002
Mike Cameron, Seattle Mariners -- May 2, 2002
Mark Whiten, St. Louis Cardinals -- Sept. 7, 1993
Bob Horner, Atlanta Braves -- July 6, 1986
Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies -- April 17, 1976
Willie Mays, San Francisco GIants -- April 30, 1961
Rocky Colavito, Cleveland Indians -- June 10, 1959
Joe Adcock, Milwaukee Braves -- July 31, 1954
Gil Hodges, Brooklyn Dodgers -- August 31, 1950
Pat Seerey, Chicago White Sox -- July 18, 1948
Chuck Klein, Philadelphia Phillies -- July 10, 1936
Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees -- June 3, 1932
Ed Delahanty, Philadelphia Phillies -- July 13, 1896
Bobby Lowe, Boston Beaneaters -- May 30, 1894

When you see Hamilton have a performance like this, you can't help but wonder what kind of career numbers he would have if he hadn't been detoured by drug problems earlier in his life. The guy has sick talent.

Bulls live to fight another day

The beat-up Bulls mustered enough resolve to keep their season alive with a 77-69 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at the United Center. Chicago now trails the best-of-seven series 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday night in Philadelphia.

At long last, we had a Luol Deng sighting. The forward scored a grand total of 24 points in Games 2, 3 and 4 COMBINED. On Tuesday, he poured in 24 points on 10-for-19 shooting. Carlos Boozer added 19 points. It's clear the Bulls are going to need that kind of scoring from those two guys if they have any chance of forcing a Game 7 in this series.

Key contributions were also made by reserves Taj Gibson (8 points, 7 rebounds) and Ronnie Brewer (6 points, 8 rebounds). Of course, no Bulls game would be complete without a key injury, and Gibson left the game in the third quarter after turning an ankle. He returned in the fourth quarter and appeared hobbled, but he did finish the game.

White Sox 5, Indians 3

Is it possible Addison Reed should have been the Sox closer all along? The rookie right-hander worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th inning to preserve the Sox win in Cleveland Tuesday night. He pounded the zone, throwing 12 of his 16 pitches for strikes, and struck out both Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis Hafner to earn his second save.

Neither Hector Santiago nor Matt Thornton have the stuff to finish games. Reed does -- a 97 mph heater and a nasty slider. If I were managing the Sox (and fortunately I am not), Reed would be my guy in then ninth inning.

Braves 3, Cubs 1

We might be witnessing the beginning of the end for Kerry Wood. His ERA swelled to 14.54 after he surrendered two runs in the eighth inning and blew the game for Cubs Tuesday night.

Manager Dale Sveum has a thin bullpen, not a lot of options to use in high-leverage situations. But Wood really isn't anything more than a team mascot right now. He probably should be released, but won't be because of his status as a franchise icon. He certainly does not need to be pitching with the game on the line.

Allen Iverson talked about practice.

A true classic.

By my count, he says "practice" 24 times.

I can't imagine we'll spend too much time talking about the Cubs this summer. That organization is undertaking a massive (and overdue) rebuilding project. The Cubs are built to lose this season, and their 9-16 record through the first 25 games is an accurate reflection of who they are. This is a team that will lose 90 games, maybe even 95 or 100. For the most part, there isn't going to be much to discuss with this collection of bums.

That said, every once in awhile this Cubs team is going to cough up such a large hairball that we can't help but comment on it. Such was the case Thursday afternoon when Carlos Marmol and friends treated us to a spectacular implosion that looked as if it could have occurred on your local Little League diamond.

You have to pity poor Ryan Dempster. In his first start back from the disabled list, he pitched a fine game. He fired eight innings of three-hit ball at the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out six, walked just one and left the mound with a 3-0 lead. Enter "closer" Marmol, and before you knew, the Reds had rallied for a 4-3 victory.

Cincinnati scored three runs in the ninth to tie, and it did so despite collecting only one base hit during the rally. You see, Marmol was just too afraid to throw a fastball to that fearsome offensive force known as Willie Harris. White Sox fans all remember Harris -- the veteran utility player with very little pop in his bat. If you challenge Wee Willie with a fastball, probably the worst thing that will happen is he'll hit it for a single.

Alas, Marmol threw Harris five pitches -- four of them sliders -- and issued a leadoff walk. In my book, that pitch selection counts as criminal stupidity. The next three hitters due up after Harris were Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce. Those are the best hitters Cincinnati has to offer. You don't want to put people on base ahead of those guys, and you certainly don't want to walk people with a three-run lead. Marmol should have attacked Harris with his heater and made him earn his way on. Alas he did not, and that poor strategy opened the gates to hell for the Cubs.

Marmol next walked Votto on four pitches. Even with the count 3-0, Marmol still refused to throw his fastball. Ball four was a slider nowhere near the plate. Once again, I can't for the life of me understand that pitch selection. Votto did not represent the tying run in that situation. He's going to be taking all the way, trying to get on base, so just pour one over. Instead, Marmol issued a second straight walk, bringing Phillips to the plate representing the tying run.

Finally, Marmol threw one over the plate to Phillips, who hit a tailor-made double-play grounder to third. All Cubs third baseman Ian Stewart had to do was pick up the ball, tag third base and throw to first. If he had done that, the Cubs get two outs and probably go on to win. But in his haste to tag third Stewart forgot to catch the ball, which squirted out into left field. Harris scored easily to make it 3-1. Still two on, still nobody out.

Up stepped Bruce, who lined a sharp single to right field to load the bases. Note, this is the ONLY hard-hit ball of Cincinnati's entire comeback.

Marmol then walked Ryan Ludwick (on yet another slider) to force in a run. 3-2. Bases loaded, still no outs. Mercifully, Cubs manager Dale Sveum removed Marmol and brought in rookie right-hander Rafael Dolis. You have to give Dolis credit. He put out the fire. He induced a double-play grounder from Devin Mesoraco. The tying run scored on that DP, but hey, in that situation you'll trade the tying run for two outs. Dolis then fanned Wilson Valdez to get the game into extra innings.

Naturally, the Cubs offense went quietly in the 10th, and then it was Dolis' turn to implode in the bottom of the inning. Cincinnati's Zack Cozart grounded a leadoff single into center field. Then, Chris Heisey laid down a sacrifice bunt that Dolis fielded, but his throw to first was right into the runner. The ball appeared to hit Heisey in the back and caromed away, allowing Cozart to make third base. First and third, no outs. A sacrifice fly by Scott Rolen followed. The Reds had their come-from-behind win, and the Cubs meltdown was complete.

Final totals for the last two innings: Four Cincinnati runs on two singles, a sac fly and a sac bunt, plus three walks and two Cubs' errors.

I have to admit, this comedy of errors was highly entertaining. But then again, I'm not a Cubs fan. On the Comcast SportsNet postgame show, host David Kaplan looked like he had just lost his last friend in the world. I wouldn't take this season too seriously if I were Kaplan or any other Cubs fan. This team has already crossed the line into "fun bad." When you're struggling like the Cubs are, you just have to laugh it off and get ready for 2015.