Packers and Colts meet tonight in Week 3 of the preseason...Bears will play the Cardinals on Saturday.

While I don't invest much of anything in the exhibition schedule, this is the one week that "matters".  Starters play deeper into the game, some depth chart questions will be answered, and for the Green and Gold, they may be facing their Super Bowl foe for the first time this year! (settle down packers' fans, that wasn't the kiss of the death on your season)

Brian Urlacher won't play this week for the Bears, and I'm guessing at this point he will be pretty limited this season.  I'm actually very curious to see Arizona sans Boldin and Warner, that may be the most interesting part of the game.

I'm not spouting a full NFL preview this blog, just because we have a couple weeks yet...that will come later.

In case you want some early odds though, my friends at BetUS have Indy + 3 1/2 points tonight...same for Arizona over Chicago

It is a topic I somehow circle back to more often than I'd like, mostly because it is a frustration.  Everytime there is an uproar, everytime there is an overspill of emotion, it comes up again.  Fans and sports followers staking too much in their teams and players.

Whether its Brett Favre, or Tiger Woods, or Roger Clemens, I can't help but be reminded of the fact that a lot (not all) fans put way too much emotional stock in athletes and in sports.  Anyone that considers ANY pro athlete a role model is ridiculous!  Yes, ANY!  Admire what someone (or some team/figure) does on the field, and that should be enough!

Why is there a need in our sports world to make athletes more than what they are, entertainers. If my son or daughter strives to be a professional athlete, why do they have to model after someone?  Can't they just bust their tails off and work to become they best player THEY can be?  Why this idea of striving to be someone else? 

Be a fan, enjoy certain teams and players, thrive on rivalries...but take it all for what it is - entertainment!  You may buy tickets, jerseys, merchandise, whatever...but that is your choice...beyond that, what these athletes and franchises do has NO impact on your everyday life!

Bask in the triumphs, be disappointed with failures, but let it go at that!  Sports are entertainment, and sports are a business...you will enjoy them much more when you take the emotion out of it, I know I have!

Carlos Zambrano made his first rehab start in Triple-A Iowa last night, pitching a scoreless 7th-inning.  One encouraging thing, and the rest was annoying or not good.  Of the 15 pitches Big Z threw, 10 were for strikes.  Not great, but okay, fine.  In that 7th inning, Zambrano surrended two-hits and nearly a third run-scoring hit had Sam Fuld not made a nice catch at the wall.  "Z" did not register a strikeout or a walk.

Besides not being that good on the hill, one thing bothered me about this appearance more than anything else...the fans.  Packing the house to watch a big-leaguer doesn't bother me, I get that.  Giving a guy like Carlos Zambrano a standing ovation does.  This is the guy Cubs fans cannot stand anymore!  This is the guy who was put on the reserved list for anger issues!  This is a guy who takes swings at teammates and takes bats to water-coolers!  This is the guy the team overpaid for and hasn't done anything since!  This is the guy everyone wants out of the Northside!

I am sick and tired of fans!  Carlos Zambrano has done absolutely NOTHING to receive an ovation of any kind!  Way to go Iowa, you makes us all look like two-faced chumps!

Its been too long since I've spued my brain for you, so here are some quick hits spanning the past couple weeks...

All-Star Stuff...Make the HR Derby better, fewer outs in the early rounds, and more outs as contestants progress.  No one wants to see a guy put up 13 longballs in the first round, then go homerless in the second.  Winning the Derby with single digits in the final just seems boring to me...the game itself...decide what it is - meaningful for baseball -or- a fan's game.  I vote fan game, but a picking one will satisfy me.

Lebron James...wrong to leave Cleveland, absolutely not.  Could he have been more tactful, absolutely.  Should Cavs fans continue to drown in their own tears, absolutely not!  He's gone, get over it!  I mean, you still have the....um.....Ohio State, there ya go!  Invest too much emotion in them!

NFL...is it here yet?

Trade Deadline (MLB)...Cubs need to clean house...Colvin, Theriot, Soto and Marmol need to stay...everyone else can hit the pavement....the Brewers should only make a move worthy of their future.  Its tempting to deal Hart, Weeks, or even Fielder, but a trade for trade's sake is just stupid!  The White Sox should do what they can to add to the offense...Pitching (even without Peavy) is still pretty good.  If you can add a solid arm, do it, but Buerhle, Floyd and Danks can win a playoff series.

NFL...still not here? crap!

From Update man Josh Golberg...

I’m not the best softball player. I’m not the worst. I just love to play. It’s my favorite thing to do in the summer. If I lived in a warm weather climate, I’d wanna do it year-round. I love it that much.

But as much as I love it…it equally drives me nuts sometimes. The latest experience happened Monday.

I picked up my buddy and teammate Millis a little after 6 for a 7:40 game. We were way too early to warm up and stretch out, but that’s fine. I love to watch other teams play ball too. It never bores me.

The problem with Monday nights at Dawson is that the other three leagues outside of ours are church teams. And there is a LOT of bad softball in church leagues. You’ll have one or two guys that are vastly superior to the rest of his teammates.  You’ll have the guys that just wanna go out and have fun but aren’t the most talented. And there’s the guys who completely stink but take it so seriously and tell other guys how they should be playing. Those guys annoy the piss out of me.

That’s what was going on in this game. A guy with sub-par talent was telling his guys where to play in the field, how to stand in the box and most of all…to not swing! Yeah…because softball is all about taking walks. Nobody on the team muttered a word. They just took it all in and didn’t say a thing.

Me? I would have strangled him in the 2^nd inning of the first game of the season. But before that I would have screamed at him to stop swinging and missing before telling anyone else how to play the game. Ugh.

I watched this train wreck of a game for about a half-hour before having to take the field for our game across the park. But it made me think of a few more things that I can’t stand about people playing this game I love so much.

So some of these are observations while others should be unwritten rules regarding rec league softball. You could be (and probably are) asking, “Who are you to make up rules? Who made you king?” Well…I guarantee there are other people that have the same annoyances and nobody has really said or done anything…so it’s gotta start somewhere. Why not me?

·         Attire matters. Whether you wanna go all-out and get matching shirts/pants/spikes or just go with t-shirts that are the same color…what you wear speaks volumes. I’m sorry, it does. This could be a whole subculture of rules. In fact, let’s roll with a few of those quick…

·         Watch out for pants. Wearing pants for softball either means you’re good or hardcore enough to want to be good (even though you may not be). Boombah.com is the softball player’s locker room for this and most other pieces of attire. Most pants come from there. You can look like a complete fool if you try for the skin-tight baseball pants though. Just a warning.

·         No visors. Ever. You’re not playing golf. Wear a complete hat or use black strips under your eyes…whatever. But no visors. This means you Q – lose the visor.

·         Don’t accessorize too much. Those wristbands and forearm bands make you look like a major league baseball player…but what purpose do they serve? I’m only curious. It’s one thing to look presentable and quite another to go completely over the top.

·         Batting gloves. Wear them, fine…but to hit, not field. No batting glove on your throwing hand. This isn’t football, the ball isn’t tackified. And don’t ask the umpire for time after you hit a double so you can throw your gloves to your third base coach. Wear them, they won’t break.

·         Please don’t be the dope who looks like they’re playing in their everyday clothes (cargo shorts, a polo, jeans). Basically just wear something that looks like you’re doing something that requires some athletic ability.

·         Swing. This is a hitter’s game. If it’s tight and you need a run or two to send the game into extras or win…I don’t mind take a pitching here and there until you get something good to hit. If you’re also winning by double digits, nobody should be walking.

·         Don’t argue over calls/rules if you’re getting killed. We had this happen the other night. The most argued call is whether or not the runner has to slide on a play at the plate to avoid a collision. It’s never really called consistently. But we were down by double digits and playing like garbage. The other team had a runner that didn’t slide. Some guys objected and wanted him called out. Again, see the previous rule…if it’s close, fine. If not, shutup.

·         Get a good bat. The most frustrating thing about this church league we watched was that there wasn’t one decent bat on a team of 15 guys. If the church sponsors you, get them to buy the team a few bats. You’re telling me they don’t have the money? Some of these balls never left the infield even though they were struck well. Act like you’re trying to compete.

·         Don’t ask for time getting into the batter’s box. This isn’t “the show.” Your footwork is not essential to the striking of the ball. Sweeping dirt out or sweeping dirt in…it doesn’t matter. Before you step in, look where you’re going to put your feet, do it and get ready to hit.

·         Please…don’t step out between pitches so you can take practice swings. I saw that for the first time Monday night in the church league. What, you have to gather your thoughts? Figure out what kinda pitch is coming next? Get in the box and swing fool.

·         Hit the cut-off man 90% of the time. If a runner gets caught in between bases, know how to run a successful pick-off rotation. Know the Infield Fly rule.

·         Unless you’re on an ultra-awesome tournament team…don’t bring your bat bag with wheels to rec league (sorry Tyler). This isn’t an airport; it’s not a piece of luggage. Get a strap and carry it like everyone else. If you have a back problem and can’t, then you probably shouldn’t be playing anyway.

That’s basically it. Figure out what you’re doing when you go to play so you don’t embarrass yourself or the other people around you. This is meant to be fun, but just like everything else, you should know the rules and norms and observe the proper etiquette when you step on the field. Then everything will be fine.

Thanks Josh!!!

There are a number of reasons I like this hire:

1) Great defensive minded coach...in 18 seasons in the NBA, his teams have finished in the top 10 defensively 15 times

2) Experience...has served as an assistant with seven teams over 18 seasons.  The Bulls could have gone former head coach with plently of names out there, but are giving the head job to a well deserving, well-respected assistant.

3) Lebron James...association with Creative Artists Agency -- under whose umbrella LeBron James' agent, Leon Rose, sits

4) Having a coach in place before the draft

5) Postseason coaching experience...not officially hired yet because his team is in the Finals...again!