Jason's Take

The lead sports story in your July 4th edition of The Beacon News? Cubbie hearts were all aflutter in the Fox Valley tonight as third baseman Aramis Ramirez played a ballgame here in Kane County.

Ramirez, who has been out since May 8 with a left shoulder dislocation, went 1-for-2 with a walk and a double on his rehab assignment as the Peoria Chiefs beat the Cougars 7-1. Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson, rehabbing a back injury, also played and went 1-for-2.

The big story, of course, was the presence of two-time All-Star Ramirez.

"I felt pretty good," Ramirez told reporter Brian Miller, who was our man on the scene at Elfstrom Stadium. "Everything went better than expected. The main thing was swinging the bat and that felt good. I'm very pleased with the way I feel."

The Cougars are feeling pretty good tonight, too. They set an attendance record, as 14,872 packed the place. As far as we know, there were no traffic accidents on Kirk Road and no Cubs fans were injured as they jockeyed for position in long ticket lines.

No word on whether the Cougars held a ticket lottery, passed out bracelets or overcharged the fans by using an intermediate broker either.

In additional rehab assignment news involving all-stars, the Sox are sending outfielder Carlos Quentin to Charlotte. Quentin, who has been sidelined since May 25 with plantar fasciitis, will be brought along slowly. He's expected to play three innings in his first game, then five innings in his second game.

Quentin is not expected back until after the All-Star break.

There are several reasons why I don't think the Milwaukee Brewers will win the wide-open NL Central this season. Among them is the fact that manager Ken Macha (left) is an idiot.

Last year, I thought Milwaukee had the talent to beat the Cubs, but they finished seven games back, in part, because Lou Piniella got more out of his roster than Ned Yost. Well, Yost is gone now, but Macha isn't much better.

That point was driven home today as I watched the 10th inning of the Cubs' 2-1 win over Milwaukee. Here's the situation: Score tied 1-1, Ryan Theriot on third representing the winning run. Two outs, Milton Bradley at the plate. Pitcher's spot on-deck, Geovany Soto waiting to pinch-hit. Right-hander Mark DiFelice pitching.

Your move, Macha! What does he do? He walks Milton Bradley intentionally. No joke. I'm serious. He walked Milton Bradley intentionally. You've gotta be kidding.

This is the same Bradley who is hitting .192 against right-handed pitchers this season. Has Bradley gotten a single big hit for the Cubs yet this year? Not only would I pitch to Bradley in that situation, I'd lob the damn ball up there underhanded to make sure he swung at it.

It isn't like DiFelice actually wanted to pitch to Soto. He threw four straight wide ones to him, and that loaded the bases for Jake Fox. After a lengthy at-bat where Fox spoiled off three 3-2 pitches, DiFelice walked Fox on a borderline pitch that could have gone either way. Cubs win.

Why in the hell would you ever intentionally walk Milton Bradley? Only if you're a bad manager, like Ken Macha.

No, not that John Madden. The other one. (Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't quit my day job.)

The Hawks agreed to terms today on a one-year deal with the hockey-playing John Madden, a centerman who has spent the previous 10 years with the New Jersey Devils.

Madden, 36, is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and should provide the Hawks with some depth up the middle. He's not going to score much, but I can see him making himself useful on the penalty kill and providing veteran leadership for a team that is still pretty young.

The Hawks have a surplus of forwards at this point, and you have to wonder if a trade to bolster the blue line is forthcoming.

The Hawks pulled two players away from their hated rivals Wednesday, signing winger Marian Hossa (right) and center Tomas Kopecky. Both players were with the Detroit Red Wings last season.

Hossa was the biggest fish in the NHL free agent pond. The 29-year-old scored 40 regular-season goals to lead the Wings, who beat the Hawks in the Western Conference Finals before losing to Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Finals. Hossa signed a 12-year, front-loaded contract, during which he will be paid an average of $5.2 million per season.

Kopecky, a defensive-minded player, received a two-year deal.

In additional news, the Hawks lost goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin to the Edmonton Oilers. The 36-year-old somehow managed to get himself a four-year deal. The Hawks will go into the 2009-10 season with Cristobal Huet as their top goaltender. It's no secret I'm not a Huet fan, but I can't blame the Hawks for not wanting to give Khabibulin multiple years at this stage of his career.

Hossa's signing also likely spells the end of Martin Havlat's time in a Blackhawk uniform. Havlat had his best year for the Hawks last season, but his injury history makes it hard to justify giving him a deal for multiple years. The Hawks are better off signing Hossa, who has had fewer injuries. As an added plus, the Red Wings just got a little weaker as well.

Kopecky figures to take the role of third-line center. That likely means Samuel Pahlsson, also an unrestricted free agent, will sign somewhere other than Chicago.

As a Hawks fan, it's really refreshing to see the team pursuing top free agents. This never would have happened during the tenure of "Dollar Bill" Wirtz. My my, times have changed. I'm looking forward to next hockey season, especially with the mediocre baseball season we are going through right now.

I guess Chicago baseball fans are supposed to be all upset, because nobody wants to play for Lou Piniella or Ozzie Guillen.

In this week's edition of Sports Illustrated, the magazine asked 380 players the following question: Which manager do you least want to play for? Here are the top five (or should I say bottom five?):

1. Lou PIniella (Cubs) 26 percent
2. Ozzie Guillen (White Sox) 21 percent
3. Tony LaRussa (St. Louis) 10 percent
4. Joe Torre (L.A. Dodgers) 4 percent
5. Eric Wedge (Cleveland) 4 percent

I guess now I'm supposed to blame Guillen for San Diego ace pitcher Jake Peavy's decision not to come to Chicago. Sorry, not taking that bait. Peavy's on the DL now anyway, and thus, he's useless.

For whatever reason, some of the very best managers in the game made their way on to this list. Look at the resumes for these guys:

Piniella:
22 years
1,737 career wins
6 division titles
1 pennant
1 World Series title

Guillen:
6 years
472 career wins
2 division titles
1 pennant
1 World Series title

LaRussa:
31 years
2,502 career wins
10 division titles
5 pennants
2 World Series titles

Torre:
28 years
2,200 wins
12 division titles
6 pennants
4 World Series titles

Wedge:
7 years
524 wins
1 division title

OK, so Wedge doesn't have a pennant or a World Series to his credit. But those top four do. All told, these five men have combined for 7,438 wins, 31 division titles, 13 pennants and eight World Series titles. And players don't want to play for these guys? The players are idiots.

At right is a picture of Blackhawks first-round draft pick Dylan Olsen donning the Indian Head sweater for the first time. I have no idea whether it was a good pick or not. I've never seen Olsen play before in my life. I hope to see him at the United Center soon.

I can tell you that Olsen is an 18-year-old defenseman who played at the Junior A Level last season. He's committed to play at the University of Minnesota-Duluth next year.

Here's what Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon told Len Ziehm about Olsen:

''He was the best defenseman on the Canadian team at the World Junior tournament,'' Tallon said. ''We would have moved up to get him. We've got a good cycle of young defensemen coming up, and he adds to that. He's not a bone-rattler, but more of a shut-down guy.''

Here's the list of Hawks draftees. They picked a lot of centers this year.

Blackhawks Draft
Round Pick Name Position Height Weight
1 -- 28 -- Dylan Olsen -- D -- 6-2 -- 210
2 -- 59 -- Brandon Pirri -- C -- 6-0 -- 170
3 -- 89 -- Daniel DeLisle -- C -- 6-4 -- 222
4 -- 119 -- Byron Froese -- C -- 5-11 -- 191
5 -- 149 -- Marcus Kruger -- C -- 5-11 -- 172
6 -- 177 -- David Pacan -- C -- 6-3 -- 187
7 -- 195 -- Paul Phillips -- D -- 5-11 -- 190
7 -- 209 -- David Gilbert -- C -- 6-1 -- 184

This just in: The Cleveland Indians have traded former Cub Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals for relief pitcher Chris Perez and a player to be named later.

DeRosa batted .270 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs for the Tribe.

I'll bet Cubs fans and the Chicago media are going to be delighted to see North Side hero DeRo in Cardinal Red.