Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Cubs Win!

The Chicago Cubs are back on top. They scored 5 runs in the 9th inning last night to propel themselves over the Giants and back into first place in the NL Central. Technically, they are tied with the Brewers, but with more wins then Milwaukee … they are placed on top in the standings.

The Cubs have a 3 game homestand against the Brew Crew next week, and from there on out…they have a pretty easy schedule through the end of the season. They have to go away to St. Louis for a series and that’s about it. All the rest are winnable.

With the Red Sox and White Sox both winning World Series in the past few years, it only makes sense that the Cubs break the curse this year and finally win a WS.

I have a tip that Larry Johnson was spotted at Wachovia Bank in Kansas City this morning trying to cash a check for $45 million dollars. However, the teller told him he could only cash the $19 million in guaranteed money today. Sorry LJ.

Larry Johnson ended his holdout today and returned to Chiefs training camp. The holdout cost Johnson about $357,000, But Peterson joked that with his new contract, Johnson would have no problem paying the fines. “I think there’s still a little left.”

“He is in really good shape. I have been monitoring his progress,” Peterson said. “He’s been working very hard. I don’t think it will take him long to get up to speed. But there’s a soreness aspect you’ve got to go through. He expressed to me last night he knew that and he didn’t want to waste any more time sitting out.”

Well congrats LJ on your big contract. Just don’t disappoint your millions of fans with a bust season. So many players get injured or suck after they hit the big payday. Let’s hope LJ is not one of them.

We all knew it was coming soon enough. No one really believed Michael Vick would challenged the indictment in trial. The feds don’t indict criminals unless they know they can win the case. Point blank…Michael vick is guilty, and he has now plead guilty and will accept his punishment.

I originally thought if convicted, Vick would server about 8 months in prison. But recently, I’ve been hearing 12-18 months with a max of 5 years. No judge is going to give him 5 years in prison, but I guess 18 months could happen. I wonder if vick will be placed in a federal ‘pound me in the ass’ prison? Will the inmates accept him as one of their own? Will they be awe struck? Will Vick be isolated for his protection? So many questions!

But the most important question on everyone’s mind… will Michael Vick every play football again? And if so, what team would take him? If Vick survives prison, he will then serve a minimum 1 year NFL suspension. So you’re looknig at Vick coming back to the NFL around 2010. Thats a long time to be away from football. So if he is reinstated, what team would want him? The obvious choice is the Raiders. However, if Russell pans out, they won’t need a QB. Maybe Tampa? Really, there are only a fwew teams that would even consider bringing him back, and thats only if he serves his suspension and apologizes to everyone with a tear in his eye.

Every year the same thing happens. A star player gets hurt in preseason and we have the discussion about how to stop it. Some say the NFL preseason is too long and should be cut down to 2 games. Others will say injuries are part of the game, and all teams experience them. I say it’s a little of both.

Last year the Redskins lost Clinton Portis in a preseason game. Granted his injury was due to a bonehead tackle, but nonetheless it happened during a meaningless game. This year, the Jaguars have lost 1st round draft pick Reggie Fuckin’ Nelson with an ankle injury. And yes, you do have to include his middle name when talking about him.

Also losing star players this year are the New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos. Last nights injury ridden game between the Giants and Ravens should be proof enough that the NFL needs to step in an do something about preseason. Otherwise, teams will start copying the Chargers (who haven’t played LT in a preseason game in like 3-4 years).

According the the Mugdish Poll of the Week, readers voted 7-6 against the Yankees making the playoffs this season. Currently, the Yankees are 4 games out of the East behind Boston and only .5 a game behind Seattle for the Wild Card.

I doubt the Yankees will catch the Red Sox for the division title, although I do think they can pull to within 1 game of them by the end of September. I do, however, believe the Yankees will win the Wild Card race. I’m not a Yankee fan by any means, but they just have too much talent on that team to miss the playoffs.

This one hits close to home. As a Jag fan, I’ve been following every step in the Tim Couch saga. He was brought into camp with hopes of replacing Quinn Gray as the Jaguars third string quarterback. Unfortunately, Couch couldn’t offer the Jags anything to improve their team (probably because he has poor vision and a noodle for an arm).

If you’re a QB and you get cut by the Jags, you may as hell hang it up for the season. There is really no hope for Couch. The Jags have one of the worst ‘veteran’ QB staffs in the NFL. There are teams with rookie quarterbacks who can perform on a more consistent basis.

Couch needs to hang up his playing days and work on coaching if he still wants to be involved in football. Get an assistantship as a small time DII school and work your way up the ranks. That’s the only way this guy will ever sniff an NFL roster again.

Not a good start for the FedEx Cup. News came out today that Tiger Woods will not be playing in the first ever FedEx Cup match. The Barclays is the first tournament in the 4 tournament playoff for the PGA Tour. Tiger leads the FedEx Cup standings by like 100,000 points anyways, so he can probably afford to take the week off and still win the damn thing.

But you know this type of stunt has to piss off Commissioner Finchem. Tiger said all year long that he supports the FedEx Cup and that he would play in all the events. However, today Woods said on his Web site that “I have said all along, my intention was to compete in all four PGA Tour Playoff events, including the inaugural Barclays Classic. But the truth is, I’m just not ready.” He then added, “My body is spent and I need a short break.”

Hopefully Tiger is telling the truth and not just trying to snubb the PGA Tour.

Step aside Mr. Peterman… there is a new perfect irony in town. What if bookies across the nation started taking bets on if Tim Donaghy, the gambling NBA ref who asked for police protection, would be dead or alive by the time he’s sentenced.

Donaghy is looking at a maximum of 25 years, which seems a little steep considering Leonard Little killed someone in a DUI case and didn’t step 1 foot insidea jail cell. But that’s besides the point. A lot of people are pissed and millions of dollars were lost because of Donaghy. Hell, even the Judge could have had a stake in the games?

So what would be the over/under on Tim Donaghy actually living to see the inside of a jail? I’ll take the under on that. There’s a lot of mafia members and general folks that wouldn’t mind seeing him dead. But actually, I don’t think someone would kill Donaghy before his sentencing. I think he’ll put lead in his brain by himself. This is too much for him to handle.

It’s a sad story for sure, but he brought it upon himself. So Bookies, crack open an ice cold Bud Light and “make the world a better place, punch Tim Donaghy in the face.”