It's October 26.

I was looking over the Tribune sports section today, and it seemed like all the World Series coverage was Cub-related. Hey, idiots, your team got eliminated three weeks ago!

Beacon sportswriter Rick Armstrong dropped the media guide on my desk today. Seniors Chester Frazier, Calvin Brock and Trent Meacham are on the cover. Yep, it's almost time for another season of Illinois basketball.

So, I was watching Game 7 of the ALCS Sunday night, and I noticed that Dick Vitale was in the stands rooting for his beloved Tampa Bay Rays.

I don't think Denis Savard is the best coach in the NHL by any means, but the timing of his firing Thursday was rather curious.

You can bet your bottom dollar that Fox TV executives are praying for a Boston-Los Angeles World Series. They desperately want to see Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez play against his former mates with everything on the line.

Accordingly, I'm rooting my heart out for the Phillies and the Rays.

The Blackhawks thought they could get rid of overpaid goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. They couldn't, and now they've got problems.

As I watched the Bears lose to Atlanta on Sunday, it occurred to me that there are really only two things that motivate this team: 1) Backs-against-the-wall situations and 2) Scenarios where someone the Chicago media has said something cross and "disrespected" the players.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Javier Vazquez sucks. If we had our way, he wouldn't have been the starting pitcher in the Sox 6-4 Game 1 ALDS loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday.

But there are other reasons the Sox lost.