As a crappy 2009 season of White Sox baseball comes to a conclusion, it is helpful to be reminded of happier days. Such as September 30, 2008. Jim Thome's solo home run and John Danks' great pitching beat the Minnesota Twins 1-0 in a one-game playoff for the AL Central Division title one year ago today.

Happy anniversary, and remember always that the Twins are crappy. They are perpetual losers.

I've been trying to think of another day in my lifetime where both the White Sox and the Cubs had a doubleheader on the same day. I'm not sure that it's happened before. The Cubs are playing two at Wrigley against the Pittsburgh Pirates today, while the Sox are in Cleveland for a pair.

If this were midsummer, it might be an exciting day of baseball. Four games to watch. Can't beat that, right? Unfortunately, this is not midsummer. It's September 30, and these games don't mean a damn thing to any of the teams involved. Both the Sox and Cubs are out of it. I believe both Cleveland and Pittsburgh were eliminated from contention sometime before the All-Star break. That begs the question, why bother playing these makeup games?

The Sox and Indians got rained out Tuesday night, thus leading to this doubleheader. Why not just wipe that rained out game off the schedule? Attendance is terrible at the park formerly known as Jacobs Field today. Neither team is in the hunt. There was no intensity in Game 1, a 5-1 Cleveland victory. What's the point?

Back in the old days, they didn't bother making up rained out games between bad teams. I recall being at old Comiskey Park on July 18, 1989, as a 13-year-old kid. The Sox and Yankees played to a scoreless tie through four innings, and then it rained buckets. Game rained out. They never made it up. Why? Because both the Sox and the Yankees sucked that year. The Sox finished 69-92, the Yankees 74-87.

No need for two teams that are up the track to play that precious 162nd game. It would have been a waste of time, much like the makeup games that are being held today in Chicago and Cleveland.

....here's why. The Sun-Times News Group will be out of business in a matter of days if a sale doesn't go through soon.

I'm not optimistic. Hope I'm wrong.

The Bears 25-19 win in Seattle on Sunday has been described as "ugly." That's certainly an understandable description, given that the Bears got off to a terrible start and fell behind 13-0 early. Nevertheless, Seattle is the loudest outdoor stadium in the NFL. It's a difficult place to win, no matter how many injuries the Seahawks have.

Jay Cutler's 36-yard TD pass to Devin Hester (pictured) with 1:52 left gave the Bears the lead for good and allowed them to survive a difficult first three weeks with a 2-1 record. Frankly, I thought the Bears would be 1-2 at this point in the season. Since they are a game ahead of the pace I thought they would be on, it's not real hard for me to see the Bears reaching double-digit wins this season.

Here are the remaining home games: Detroit, Cleveland, Arizona, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Green Bay and Minnesota.

Here are the remaining road games: Atlanta, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Minnesota, Baltimore and Detroit.

Looking at those remaining home games, there's no opponent on there who really scares you. Actually, Pittsburgh was the toughest home game on the Bears' schedule, and they already have that one in the win column. It's unlikely the Bears will run the table in those seven home games, but say they manage to go 6-1. That would put them at eight wins, which means they only need to win two more road games the rest of the season.

I like their chances of winning at Detroit. Win six home games, win at Detroit and then they only need one more road win out of those other five to get to 10 wins. Simple enough on paper, huh? We'll see if the Bears can play enough defense to get it done on the field.

Remember all those concerns when Jake Peavy was acquired?

"He won't be able to pitch in the American League."

"He won't be able to pitch at U.S. Cellular Field."

I called 'hogwash' on that at the time, and I feel even better about that after watching Peavy's first two outings. He's got a 2-0 record after his 2-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers Friday at the Cell.

Peavy looked like the ace Sox fans hoped he would be against a Detroit team that had plenty to play for. He struck out eight and walked just two in seven innings. In each of his first two starts with the Sox, he's had good life and movement on his fastball -- along with a slider that has been effective to left-handed hitters.

As I indicated when Peavy was acquired, the question mark is his health. It certainly took awhile for him to get back on the mound for the Sox, but now that he's there, we're seeing a glimpse of just how good he can be.

If healthy, Peavy WILL be the ace of the 2010 Sox. I realize that's a big 'if,' but the garbage about not being able to pitch effectively at the Cell is just utter nonsense. Look at this guy's stuff and look at his competitive makeup. If he's on top of his game, he's a top-of-the-rotation pitcher in any league, in any ballpark.

Just keep him healthy and everything will be fine.

I realize I'm in the minority, but I believe that Chone Figgins (right) is NOT the cure for what ails the White Sox. The Los Angeles Angels leadoff man will be a free agent at the end of the season, and I've heard plenty of speculation that Sox GM Kenny Williams will put on the fullcourt press to try to acquire him.

The Tribune's David Haugh brought up the possibility in his column today. Haugh points out that the Sox will need to find $40 million to sign Figgins.

On this blog, we will not be getting "Figgy" with it. I can't justify giving Figgins $40 million over a four- or five-year period, especially with the knowledge that the speedster with be 32 years old on Opening Day 2010. NEVER give a long-term contract to a 30-something player that makes his living with his legs.

Let's look at some numbers here, comparing Figgins to current White Sox leadoff man Scott Podsednik:

Figgins: .301 avg., .399 OBP, 5 HRs, 51 RBIs, 109 runs, 42 SBs
Podsednik: .303 avg., .353 OBP, 6 HRs, 45 RBIs, 72 runs, 29 SBs

Is Figgins the better player? Sure. But is the difference between those two stat lines enough to send Podsednik packing and bring in Figgins? The answer here is a decisive 'no.'

Podsednik, who is two years older than Figgins, is the better value because you can sign him to a minimal-risk contract of one or two years. Give Pods $2 million and be done with it. There's going to be a big bidding war for Figgins among big-market teams that are lacking a leadoff man. The Cubs and Yankees will be involved, and certainly the Angels will move to try to retain Figgins. The price will be high, both in terms of dollars and years.

Stay out of it, Kenny Williams. You have bigger problems than your leadoff hitter. The biggest problem is the middle of the batting order. The Sox have only three players with more than 70 RBIs this season. One of them was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 31. Another is hitting .180 since the All-Star break.

That leaves Paul Konerko, who has 28 homers and 87 RBIs this year, and not much else. A.J. Pierzynski is batting third now when he should be hitting sixth or seventh. Alexei Ramirez has been hitting as high as fifth against left-handed pitching. He should be batting eighth or ninth. The failures of Jermaine Dye, Carlos Quentin and Alex Rios, along with the trade of Jim Thome, have necessitated a lot of lineup juggling. It just hasn't worked. The middle of the order isn't nearly strong enough.

Contrary to popular belief, the Sox don't need table-setters. They have Podsednik, Chris Getz and Gordon Beckham. Ramirez is another guy who can run. You've got guys who can be threats on the bases. What you don't have is somebody to knock them in.

Forget about Figgins and get a guy who can bat fourth or fifth in the lineup and give you 90-100 RBIs.

I've been trying to figure out just what the hell has been going on with White Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye lately. Is it old age? Is he hurt? Is he pissed off that the Sox brought in Alex Rios to potentially take his job? Did he suddenly forget how to hit?

I don't know that I've ever seen a player put together two halves of a season more opposite than what Dye has produced this year. Let's crunch some numbers:

Dye in the first half: .302 avg., 20 HRs, 55 RBIs, 15 2Bs, 55 runs scored, .375 OBP, .567 SLG

Dye in the second half: .168 avg., 5 HRs, 19 RBIs, 3 2Bs, 19 runs scored, .276 OBP, .260 SLG

Talk about falling off the map. The man who won the World Series MVP for the Sox in 2005 and blasted a career-best 44 home runs in 2006 has a meager .260 slugging percentage for the entire second half of the season? Wow! Heck, I thought Dye was the Sox first-half MVP this year. It wasn't so long ago that he was quite good. Now, I cringe when I see his name in the starting lineup. I wish I had an explanation for this dropoff, but I don't.

It's actually been painful to watch Dye limp toward the finish line here in September. He's hitting .135 for the month with no homers and two RBIs. He hasn't had an extra-base hit since Sept. 6, when he hit his only double of the month. Earlier this season, I thought there was a fair chance the Sox would pick up Dye's $12 million option and bring him back for 2010. Now, I'm almost certain he'll be gone this offseason. My, how things can change in a matter of two months.

UPDATE: Dye breaks out of his slump with a pair of two-run homers Wednesday night. Not that it mattered. Sox lose 8-6.

Blackhawks winger Adam Burish will be out for six months after tearing the ACL in his right knee during a preseason game Sunday night.

Burish, a fourth-line forward, is a fan favorite due to his chippy style of play. He'll be missed on the penalty kill, but the Blackhawks should have enough depth to account for his absence.

This is where the offseason signing of veteran forward John Madden comes in handy. Madden should be able to center the fourth line and pick up the slack when the Hawks are short-handed.

On Sunday morning, I was standing on the platform at the Adams and Wabash 'L' station, waiting for a Green Line train to take me down to 35th Street. While I was on my way to the White Sox game, it was pretty clear that Bears football was on the minds of most Chicagoans. Most people on the street were decked out in Bears gear, in anticipation of the home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers later that afternoon.

As I was waiting for the train, I was surprised to see a group of 20-25 men making their way down Wabash, all wearing Ben Roethlisberger jerseys. ALL OF THEM were wearing Black No. 7s. No Hines Ward jerseys. No Troy Polamalu jerseys. No Santonio Holmes jerseys. Roethlisberger jerseys ONLY.

They were raising quite a ruckus, pointing toward and taunting and cursing everyone wearing Bears gear in their path. I guess there is safety in numbers. They were a pretty large group. If there had been just two or three of them, odds are someone would have confronted them and thrown a punch. I thought to myself, "Those guys better hope the Steelers win, or they're in for a rough afternoon."

Later in the day, after the Bears had beaten Pittsburgh 17-14, I had a good chuckle knowing that all those Roethlisberger clowns were no doubt getting theirs on their way out of Soldier Field. You never know what you're going to see on gameday in Chicago. Knowing those Steelers dopes left town with a loss somehow made Sunday's Sox debacle a little easier to take.

I'll be damned. There's a hockey game on this weekend. Yeah, it's only preseason -- but it's a welcome sight. The Blackhawks are playing Washington at 7:30 Saturday on CSN.

Sure, there are other TV options for Saturday night. Jake Peavy is making his debut for the Sox at 6 p.m. I figure he'll only pitch about five innings though. He'll probably be out of the game by the time the Hawks game starts, and it will be time to change the channel. Other than Peavy, what reason do you have to watch a Sox-Royals game this weekend?

Football? Meh. I'm already tired of it. Most people know that football is my fourth favorite sport, behind baseball, hockey and basketball. I can do without it. The Illini aren't playing this Saturday. Even if they were playing, they suck anyway. Bears? Not as interested as a lot of people are.

Glad hockey is almost here....

It's one of the all-time great myths among White Sox fans -- this notion that Aaron Rowand is a great center fielder, nay, a great player because he's "willing to run into walls." He's "scrappy." He's "grindy." He has "the fire AND the passion." And he's also on this list mocking the 10 "scrappiest" players in baseball.

The author points out that Rowand, who checks in at No. 7 on the list, has a .326 OBP with 112 strikeouts and 27 walks this season. In other words, he can't hit. He never really has been a good hitter, but people think he is because he crashes into walls.

Cubbie cult hero Reed Johnson checks in at No. 6. (He's a grinder.) Of course, free-agent-to-be Chone Figgins appears at No. 4. I can foresee a big bidding war for Figgins this offseason. I've been crossing my fingers and hoping Sox GM Kenny Williams refrains from giving the 32-year-old Figgins a five-year contract worth millions. Repeat after me: FIGGINS IS NOT. THAT. GOOD.

I find it outstanding that Boston's Dustin Pedroia is No. 1 on this list. Last fall, this blog pointed out what a dweeb Pedroia is. He is the weakest MVP in the history of the American League. ESPN's marketing campaign won him that award. Like everyone else mentioned here, Pedroia is just not that good. But he is scrappy. And grindy.

Whenever the Bears lose, it's always a difficult week in Chicago. For me, the losing isn't such a big deal. It's listening to all the fans howl at the moon and act as if their very lives have just been ruined because the Mediocrities of the Midway have failed them.

This week has been worse than usual, because the Bears lost a game AND lost Brian Urlacher to a season-ending wrist injury. All rational thought has gone out the window, as far as I can tell.

In between bloodcurdling screams of terror, uncontrolled sobbing and shaking their fists in anger at God above, Bears fans have called for the team to sign 36-year-old former Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks off the street to replace Urlacher. I would be reluctant to make such a move for multiple reasons.

First off, this is Sept. 15 and Brooks is unemployed. All through training camp and all through preseason, no one thought enough of Brooks to sign him. That should tell you something. Namely, NFL people don't think Brooks can play anymore. On personnel matters, I tend to trust NFL people more than the tired masses in Chicago.

Secondly, even if Brooks can still play, he'd be a square peg in a round hole. Brooks made his money as a weakside linebacker, not a middle linebacker. Last I checked, the Bears have one of the best weakside linebackers in the business in Lance Briggs.

The screaming meatheads want to move Briggs to middle linebacker and sign Brooks to play the weak side. So, essentially, they want to make two positions weaker instead of just one. Personally, I'd prefer to keep Briggs at the position where he is an elite defender and roll the dice on Hunter Hillenmeyer in the middle.

Hillenmeyer (pictured) is no fool. He has 56 career starts in the NFL and he knows the Bears defense inside and out. The mental side of being a middle linebacker won't be a problem for him. He'll make the right calls. He'll get the Bears in the right defenses. He won't be able to cover as much ground as Urlacher did because he's just not as good an athlete as Urlacher. But I'll roll the dice on him before I sign some guy off the street that nobody else wanted.

Hillenmeyer didn't embarrass himself in the second half the other night in Green Bay. He played OK. As we noted earlier this week, Nathan Vasher and Kevin Payne got beat deep and lost the damn game.

Before we panic, let's at least give Hillenmeyer a chance to play a full game at middle linebacker and see how things go. See how the defense looks this Sunday against Pittsburgh, and then reassess the situation. My guess is, if Hillenmeyer can't get the job done, internal options like Nick Roach or Jamar Williams would still be better than signing Brooks off the street.

With the 2009 White Sox unlikely to make the playoffs, it's about time to look ahead to next year. Here's the tentative schedule.

The Sox open at home April 5 against Cleveland. Interleague games next year include home series against Florida, Atlanta and the Cubs. Road interleague series are against Pittsburgh, Washington and the Cubs.

The Bears signed linebacker Tim Shaw to a one-year contract on Monday. This move probably will not soothe panic-stricken fans, who are still coming to grips with Brian Urlacher's season-ending wrist injury.

Shaw figures to contribute on special teams. Veteran Hunter Hillenmeyer was expected to play on all four phases of special teams this season, but now that Urlacher is done, Hillenmeyer will be pressed into duty as the starting middle linebacker.

Someone has to take Hillenmeyer's spot on special teams. Enter Shaw. Obviously, it's not an inspiring signing, but let's face it, you're not going to sign somebody off the street to replace someone like Urlacher.

You might say the Bears experienced their fair share of adversity during Sunday night's season-opening game at Green Bay.

Quarterback Jay Cutler threw a career-worst four interceptions. Starting linebackers Brian Urlacher (wrist) and Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee) and tight end Desmond Clark (back) left the game with injuries. Running back Matt Forte rushed for just 55 yards on 25 carries. An ill-advised fake punt on their own half of the field failed and handed Green Bay three points in the fourth quarter. Gack.

But through all that, the Bears still had a 15-13 lead with less than two minutes to go. It was their game to lose, and they lost it. As we've seen all too often the last two years, the Bears defense couldn't get a key stop when it needed one. Cornerback Nathan Vasher broke down. He got beat in single coverage by Green Bay's Greg Jennings (pictured), whose 50-yard TD reception with 1:11 left lifted the Packers to a 21-15 victory.

It would be real easy to throw the blame for this loss at Cutler's feet. He had a poor first half, during which he threw three interceptions. And after decades of incompetence from Bears signal-callers, Chicagoans are conditioned to blame quarterbacks for everything. For members of the media, it's easy to write a column excoriating the quarterback for his poor play. You won't get that from me.

I thought Cutler did a helluva job of rallying the Bears from a 10-2 halftime deficit. It would have been easy for him to crumble after throwing three early interceptions. Instead, he took his team down the field for three second-half scoring drives. The Bears took the lead on a 21-yard Robbie Gould field goal with 2:35 left. At that point, Cutler had done his job and the responsibility shifted to the defense.

While the Bears might have played good defense for the majority of this game, the definition of a great unit is one that can make a big stop with outcome hanging in the balance. Didn't happen. Vasher slipped up. He allowed a big play that cost the Bears the game.

At one point in time, people called Vasher "The Interceptor." After all, he had 17 picks in his collegiate career at Texas, and he has 18 in his career with the Bears. However, only two of those have come since 2006. Vasher looks nothing like the player who went to the Pro Bowl in 2005. As we can see from the photo, Vasher got no help from safety Kevin Payne, who was also left in Jennings' dust.

"The Interceptor" is now "Burnt Toast," and the Bears are 0-1.

Don't worry about your quarterback, Bears fans. Jay Cutler is a good player. He IS the long-term answer you've all been waiting for. The problem is this aging, injury-prone, overpaid defense that just cannot make a stand when the game is on the line. It's going to be even tougher now that Urlacher is lost for the season with a dislocated wrist.

Cross your fingers and hope Cutler can find a better chemistry with his receivers. The Bears are going to need to score a lot of points to overcome their issues on defense.

There hasn't been much reporting on it lately, but Joe Cowley reported on it today: White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin has been some combination of bad and injured all season long.

There are many reasons why the Sox look unlikely to repeat as AL Central Champions this season, but Quentin's woes rank right at the top of the list. For five months of 2008, Quentin was the best player in the league. He had a league-leading 36 homers and 100 RBIs when he went down with a broken wrist Sept. 1 of last season.

We haven't seen that player at all this year. Quentin is hitting .231, down from .288 a year ago. He missed two months with plantar fasciitis, which has led to knee pain as the year has progressed. He has only 16 homers and 39 RBIs.

Since coming off the DL on July 20, he's tried to pull EVERYTHING. He looks like he's pressing, trying to make up for lost time, instead of just accepting his base hits. Quentin seems unable to accept the fact that his numbers won't be what he hoped due to the injury. Now, he's making it worse by trying to hit the damn ball 500 feet every time he steps to the plate.

Where is the Carlos Quentin who drove the ball to center and right-center last year? He's gone, and the Sox need to find that guy to win in 2010.

They've already got their starting rotation lined up for next season: Jake Peavy, Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Danks and Freddy Garcia. I'll roll the dice on that group. But you need an offense, too, and with Jermaine Dye likely following Jim Thome out the door this offseason, Quentin is going to have get back to being a middle-of-the-order force next year. The Sox are depending on him.

During my Labor Day weekend, the thing that really caught my attention was how bad Illinois looked against Missouri. I wasn't surprised that Missouri prevailed, but 37-9? Wow. Ron Zook did not have his Illini ready to play in that game. That's concerning, because he had nine months to get them ready.

I've been saying for awhile that this season is make-or-break for Zook. Until Saturday, a lot of Illini fans didn't agree with me, citing the Rose Bowl season that happened just two years ago. Here's the thing: The Illinois football program has been down this road before.

Look at the tenure of the previous head coach, Ron Turner: In 2001, he posted a 10-2 record. The Illini won the Big Ten championship and played in the Sugar Bowl that season. The following year, the team slumped to 5-7. Two years later, the Illini went 1-11. Turner should have been fired at that point, but he was given "accident forgiveness" for his Sugar Bowl appearance two years prior. Bad move. Illinois went 3-8 in 2004. Turner got fired and it took two more years to recover from that mess.

A similar scenario could be unfolding now. Zook had his big year in 2007, 9-4 and a Rose Bowl bid. Last year, the team slumped to 5-7 -- just like Turner's squad the year after the Sugar Bowl. If Zook turns in a second straight dud of a year like Turner did, fire him. Don't give him "accident forgiveness." Don't allow it to get out of control like it did under Turner.

The lesson here is this: Any coach can have one good year. Turner is considered an idiot by Illinois fans, but he did something Zook has yet to do: Win a Big Ten title. I can't emphasize it enough: Any coach can have one good year. Right now, Zook's winning percentage (18-31, .367) is actually worse than Turner's was at Illinois (35-57, .380).

Illinois fans, do NOT give Ron Zook a free pass because he went to the Rose Bowl two years ago. Learn from history and demand a winner this year. One good year does not make Zook (or anyone else) the right coach. Consistency is the thing that defines a good coach. Thus far, we've seen nothing of the sort from Zook.

White Sox fans got a pleasant surprise Thursday afternoon when Triple-A callup Carlos Torres (right) fired seven shutout innings and earned his first major-league win in a 5-0 whitewashing of the Cubbies.

Unlike his previous outing against Cleveland on Aug. 8 -- where Torres walked half the people in the free world -- the right-hander pounded the strike zone all day and let his defense work behind him. He struck out six, walked none and gave up only five hits.

Here's the question: Did Torres dominate because he had good stuff? Or do the Cubs just really suck? You have to figure it was a little bit of both. Torres had his offspeed repetoire working and he kept the Cubbie hitters off balance all afternoon.

However, I must say that the inept hitting of Alfonso Soriano really helped Torres out. Every time Torres got in trouble, up stepped Soriano to kill the rally.

First and third, one out in the fourth? Soriano fans on a change up in the dirt to kill the momentum. Torres gets out of the inning.

Jake Fox leads off the seventh with a double? Soriano strikes out swinging on a fastball over his head, failing to advance Fox to third. Fox later gets thrown out at the plate on a base hit to right. Torres gets out of the inning.

With this performance today, you figure Torres gets another start next Tuesday against the Oakland A's. We'll see then whether he's a legit candidate for the White Sox pitching staff in 2010.

From this afternoon's game, I draw two conclusions. 1) Alfonso Soriano is brutal this year. The Cubs should shut him down the rest of the season, and 2) a .500 team in the American League is better than a .500 team in the National League.

The Sox won the season series from the Cubs 4-2. Even though the Sox suck this year, I believe they are Chicago's best baseball team.

Whenever your team starts to slip toward the fringes of the pennant race, you start brainstorming for reasons to keep paying attention. I'm one of those bad, unpatriotic people who likes baseball far more than the NFL. I'd rather watch a crummy Sox team than watch the Bears. So, here are some storylines to follow as the Sox play their final 28 games of the season.

1. Can Freddy Garcia (pictured) earn the vacant fifth starter's spot for 2010? -- Garcia has thrown the ball extremely well in his last two starts. He left the mound in the seventh inning with a 3-2 lead in Boston. The bullpen blew that one, but it was a quality start. He also limited the hard-hitting Yankees to four hits over six innings in a loss Sunday. You figure Garcia has five starts left this season. Can he keep it going?

2. Can Gordon Beckham win Rookie of the Year? -- Beckham is currently in an 8-for-60 slide that has seen his batting average dip to .272. Nevertheless, he leads all AL rookies with 10 homers and 52 RBIs. He's clearly the best rookie position player in the league. Can he get hot down the stretch and hold off Tampa Bay's Jeff Niemann (12-5, 3.80 ERA) and Oakland's Andrew Bailey (6-3, 1.88 ERA, 21 saves) for top rookie honors?

3. What's going on with Jermaine Dye? -- One of the big offseason questions for the Sox will be whether the former World Series MVP will return in 2010. Overall, Dye has respectable numbers -- 25 homers and 72 RBIs. But he's been in a horrible spin since the All-Star break. He batted just .189 in August with only two homers and one double in 102 plate appearances. For a power producer, that's terrible. This is the second straight year Dye has slumped in the second half. A September rebound might be necessary for Dye to stay in Chicago.

4. Alex Rios? What the hell? -- I was excited about this acquisition when it was made, but my gosh, Rios has been brutal since joining the Sox. He's 10-for-64 in his first 17 games with the South Siders. Maybe he's trying to impress new teammates. I don't know. But he's totally lost at the plate right now and needs to get something positive going to take into the offseason. This guy is a critical piece for the 2010 hopes.

5. Spoiler time -- The Sox still have four games left with Boston, three with Minnesota and six with Detroit. Even if the Sox can't make the playoffs, they can have an impact on who wins the AL Central and the AL wild card. Maybe they can knock the Red Sox and the Twins down a peg.

As the White Sox continue to lose everyday, I'm reminded of my tenure as a sportswriter in Sterling. The Rock Falls High School football team was just terrible in those days. After a particularly horrific loss in Week 8 of the season, some enterprising reporter asked Rock Falls coach Ron McCord if any positives could be taken from the game.

McCord replied, "No injuries, one more week."

That's how I feel about this White Sox road trip. "No injuries, two more games." Don't care about the outcomes much anymore. The same can be said of this season. "No injuries, 29 more games."

As an aside, the White Sox are now 0-12 in the last 12 games Tony Pena has appeared in. Pena is so bad, in fact, that I don't even have a picture of him to put with this blog entry. The midseason trade to acquire Pena will not go down among GM Kenny Williams better efforts, to say the least. Dude is an arsonist.

As I was driving home from work last night, digesting the news of the day, it occurred to me that yesterday's events were a good illustration of the differences between the White Sox and the Cubs. Specifically, we saw the difference between Sox GM Kenny Williams and Cubs GM Jim Hendry. But more on that in a minute....

First, let's make one thing clear: The last 10-14 days have shown that both Chicago baseball teams are pretenders.

The Sox have lost eight out of nine games entering Tuesday's action. They are six games out of first with 30 games to play. They went 11-17 in the month of August. It was men against boys when the Sox played Boston and New York. They got their asses totally kicked. Barring a miracle, they will not make the playoffs. Only a fool believes this team can win the World Series this year.

The Cubs have had a very disappointing homestand so far. Over the last week, they have gone 3-4 against non-contenders Washington, New York and Houston. They are 10.5 games behind St. Louis in the division race and six out in the wild card -- with four teams to pass. They went 11-17 in the month of August. It was men against boys when the Cubs played against Philadelphia and Los Angeles. They got their asses totally kicked. Barring a miracle, they will not make the playoffs. Only a fool believes this team can win the World Series this year.

Now that we've established that, the respective GMs reaction to the situation is unequal and opposite. Williams went ahead and backed up the truck last night. He traded two veterans (Jim Thome and Jose Contreras) who are not part of the 2010 plans. This was the right choice on multiple levels: The 2009 Sox were on life support, and it was time to pull the plug. Thome and Contreras now have the opportunity to pursue a championship with legitimate contenders. For the rest of the season, the Sox don't need to waste at-bats and innings on those two guys. Some younger players will get those opportunities as the team looks forward into the future. Making these deals was the sensible thing to do, regardless of what Rick Morrissey thinks.

On the other side of town, we have good ol' Jim Hendry. He had a chance to make two trades. He could have sent Rich Harden (pictured) to Minnesota and Aaron Heilman to San Francisco and gotten a prospect or two in return. But, no, he declined to pull the trigger. Maybe Hendry thinks he can sign Harden to a long-term deal after the season. I'm not sure. But there was certainly no reason to hold on to Heilman. Laughably, Hendry excused his non-action by claiming the Cubs are still in contention this year, and that Harden is an important piece of that puzzle. Naturally, Harden went out a few hours later and puked all over the mound in a 5-3 loss to the Houston Astros.

When it comes to the Cubs, you have to wonder whether these guys actually believe their own BS. If they pull off a miracle and end up winning the World Series this year, I'll be first in line to congratulate them. But I have five months worth of visual evidence that suggests their team stinks just as bad as the White Sox. Why do they claim to still be in it? Are they trying to protect the Cubbie brand? Are they just trying to do what the fans would want them to do?

Well, guess what? Sometimes you gotta make some tough, unpopular decisions. Sending Jim Thome away won't win many points with most Sox fans, but baseball-wise, it was the right thing to do. Winning organizations do what makes sense from a baseball standpoint, not from a marketing standpoint. You really have to wonder what the hell the Cubs are thinking. I know what the Sox are thinking: They are thinking, "What do we need to do to win in 2010?" The Cubs will be well served to get on that same train of thought sooner rather than later.