Are Alfonso's Days as Top Dog Over?

The talk of moving Alfonso Soriano out of the lead-off spot has already begun.

And I didn't expect anything less from the first few days of Spring Training.

Chicago's North Side fans and certain segments of the media have been clamoring to drop the former 40-40-40 man down in the order to take advantage of the power that comes from Soriano's big bat.

And since his stolen base numbers have drastically dropped since his banner year with the Washington Nationals, these folks actually have a valid case.

Yet, I'll stand by my guns and suggest that Soriano stays atop the lineup.

The Cubs have been one of the league's most potent offenses with free-swinging left fielder leading off. He takes advantage of early-inning mistakes and pummels them over the left-center field wall. He has the potential of stealing second and third base if said ball does not reach the seats or Waveland Avenue.

But like most sluggers, Soriano has been prone to the punchout. And since you can't steal first, it makes it very difficult to take advantage of his speed.

With that said, maybe Soriano should drop to the middle of the order.

But then who replaces him in the No. 1 spot?

Ryan Theriot is a scrappy little player, but scrappy is truly "crappy" with an "s" in front of it. And Cubs fans have chosen to ignore the way he has just fallen apart in the stretch run each of the last two seasons.

Aaron Miles? He of the .329 career on-base percentage and .305 career OBP at the leadoff spot.

For all his faults, and a career OBP of .329 of his own, Soriano has posted a .293/.342/.550/.893 line out of the leadoff spot.

Mike Fontenot is the left-handed version of Theriot, despite his status in Ron Santo's eyes as "Lil' Babe Ruth."

So where are your other options? Fuku? D. Lee? Crazy Uncle Milton?

Yeah, on second thought, unless Brian Roberts finds his former steroid-using self in Cubbie Blue pinstripes, Lou Piniella should just pencil in the most polarizing lead-off man in the history of the game atop his everyday line-up.

Bud Selig can only hear your compliments

Bud Selig is a very well paid individual. He is so well off, the criticism of his caviar and cognac lifestyle by Scott Van Pelt landed him on the ESPN suspended list.

And while he helped bring baseball into a modern era with the Wild Card, parity, home runs and television revenue up the wazoo, he wants absolutely no part of that whole steroids black cloud.

Via ESPN.com:

"I don't want to hear the commissioner turned a blind eye to this or he didn't care about it," Selig told Newsday in a Monday phone interview. "That annoys the you-know-what out of me. You bet I'm sensitive to the criticism.

"The reason I'm so frustrated is, if you look at our whole body of work, I think we've come farther than anyone ever dreamed possible," he said, adding, "I honestly don't know how anyone could have done more than we've already done."

Fine and dandy. You've done so much for baseball. And by so much I mean taking advantage of players ruining their bodies for the benefit of your own pocketbooks is very Vince McMahon-like.

McMahon and wrestling took a bad rap forever as the sports-entertainment industry racked up ratings, advertising and commercialization dollars as its athletes/entertainers got juiced to make a few bucks.

And Vinny Mac had a nice lil' federal investigation to show for it. He was the selfish, canniving son-of-a-gun who capitalized as these wrestlers faded at the end of their respective careers thanks to rampant steroid use.

Now that Selig has the steroid spotlight to himself, he could help clear his name if he helped take responsibility for what happened.

It's very easy to take the glory. Now it's time for Bud to take the guff.

Happy Birthday to the G.O.A.T.

Happy birthday to Michael Jeffrey Jordan, the greatest basketball player in the history of the game.

Sure, he's packed on the pounds since he's retired (for the third time) but he's still very well-dressed and still has an eye for the good looking ladies.

Kudos, Mike. And thanks for the championship banner-raising memories from my childhood.

Is Chris Bosh Chicagobound?

With all the talk surrounding Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire, the Chris Bosh-to-Chicago rumblings have slowly become a little bit louder.

While I feel Stoudemire is a better fit for the kind of system the Bulls look like they want to run, Bosh is a better all-around talent. He is a better defender, and by all reports, a better teammate. Not to mention CB4 is a four-time All-Star, and at the age of 24, an Olympic Gold Medalist.

That's got to count for something.

I won't complain either way if Chicago can somehow find a way to bring a low-post presence to aid the ascending star of Derrick Rose.

I'll only complain if nothing happens.

Because if the Bulls can find a sidekick for the next great NBA point guard, Vinny Del Negro can't possibly find a way to screw it up and keep both players on the bench in a key late-game situation, right?

God, Save the Blue Demons (Part II)

Wake up, Jerry!

If there's a sadder Illinois college basketball story than what has happened at Southern Illinois, it is what is happening at DePaul.

It's a sad time to be a college hoops fan in my household, that's for sure.

The Blue Demons got blown out again (this time by No. 5 Louisville) and are still winless in Big East play. How much is the little school under the "L" tracks getting from the Big East? I hope it's enough to endure getting your face dong slapped by the Thabeets, Johnny Flynns and Greg Monroes of the world.

I think Devendorf actually slapped the Blue Demons' mascot's girlfriend. Shame on him.

Dar Tucker had 17 points and a nice dunk tonight. He did the same thing against Louisville in a blow out loss last season.

It's why I've come to the conclusion being absolutely hammered by Rick Pitino's Cardinals brings the best out of Dar Tucker.

Oh crap, here come the "Fire Lowery" folk

Sighs.

I'll address it only because it's my beat.

I'm not going to call for Chris Lowery's head.

There. I said it.

I got a text message Sunday morning that suggested it. I read a bunch of message board material that asked for it.

I understand fans are upset after Saturday's loss because, remember, I was a fan once. I stood in the cold to get into games at the SIU Arena. I stayed throughout blowouts at McAndrew Stadium for football games. And blow out losses at home to archrivals like Creighton are just absolutely demoralizing.

But calling for a coach's head after that loss is just kind of ridiculous.

The last two years fans have scrambled to their local places of worship to pray that schools such as DePaul, Michigan, LSU, Stanford, Marquette, Oklahoma State, Indiana, etc. didn't come in and swoop a rising coaching star. Now, they want to show them the door for a sub-.500 record with a team full of freshmen.

To be honest, I expected better from the Salukis this year. I expected them to be an NCAA team because I thought the Valley was stronger this year and the top three teams could get in. Boy, I was wrong about that.

As the year progressed, I thought this team could be NIT-bound. No shame in that. Postseason basketball allows you to have additional practices to work out those freshman kinks.

At 11-15, SIU looks to be watching all playoff basketball on the boob tube just like me.

As for Lowery, who has another stellar class of recruits coming in, I believe certain segments of Saluki Nation needs to give him another chance.

Because three MVC championships, a MVC Tourney championship and a Sweet 16 appearance should have bought him enough time.

Reason #8621 why people hate Cubs fans

Stupidity.

I'm not sure why I constantly run upon this site which runs down Cubs rumors and such. It gets plenty of hits and only because it has the magic search words "Cubs" and "rumors." Makes me wonder why I've been slacking on trying to get The Big Dead Sidebar some advertising dollars. Maybe it's because I'm busting my ass every day as the sports editor/beat writer of many sports at a daily student newspaper with a circulation of 22,000 while only having two sports writers.

Rant over.

Anyway, this specific post has inspired this upcoming rant:

"Foxsports has the Cubs listed 6th behind the Yankees, Rays, Phillies, Red Sox, and Mets. Wow, do not let your west and east coast bias show that much! I can see the why they would stack most of those teams ahead of us but the Mets??? They are awful and chock artist. To have them ahead of the Cubs is appalling. Lets keep in mind that only the Rays matched the Cubs in win total in 2008 that is in the top 5 of that list. I also want to say to the Yankees, you can not buy chemistry and I would be surprised if they won above 90 games this season."

Let the record show that Fox Sports' studios are on the west coast. Hard to have east-coast bias when you're located in the Pacific Time Zone. And I'm trying to figure out the west-coast bias when there's only three teams west of that really long Midwest river in the Top 10.

I digress.

And as much of "chock artist" the Mets are, note that the Cubs won 97 flippin' ball games and steamrolled through the National League before wetting the bed against the Dodgers.

As a self-proclaimed die-hard Cubs fan, I hate when my fellow fanatics pop off at the mouth and not do their research and are not honest with themselves. So let's be honest, completely honest. The Cubs lost Mark DeRosa, Kerry Wood and Henry Blanco and replaced them with Aaron Miles, Kevin Gregg and Paul Bako.

I don't even have to open baseball-reference.com to know that losing three important pieces to a team that won 97 games last season is a major downgrade.

Sure, the Cubs also signed Milton Bradley, but Jim Edmonds put up similar numbers in his time with the Cubs (save for the batting average) as Bradley did with the Texas Rangers. And Crazy Uncle Milton got a multi-year deal.

As for the five teams ranked ahead of the Cubs in the Fox Sports power rankings. Well, they have better talent than the North Siders. Plain and simple.

1. Yankees. Added CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Mark Teixeira ... and now that A-Rod has cleaned his conscience, he's going to club 60 homers and drive in 200 runs. Book it!
   
2. Rays. Added Pat Burrell, the right-handed power stick they've been clamoring for. Giving David Price a bigger role makes them one of the favorites in the AL East.
3. Phillies. Added the underrated Raul Ibanez and are coming off a friggin' championship.
4. Red Sox. Added John Smoltz, Brad Penny and Takashi Saito and returns the AL MVP, Big Papi, The Papelboner, Beckett and Lester.
5. Mets. The Metros rid themselves of bullpen stink by adding K-Rod and J.J. Putz. They have more proven closers than the Cubs have.

So there you have it. The Cubs are actually deserving of this power ranking if you take off your Cubbie-blue tinted glasses.

Urlacher for Anquan and other trades for Madden 2010 for your PlayStation III

David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune is a very respected Chicago Bears beat writer.

That's why I decided to click open the link to a headline that suggested the Bears should trade its one prize middle linebacker for one of the league's best wide receivers who is currently a west-coast malcontent.

The trade makes sense, in principle.

Arizona needs defense. That's a fact. There is no denying a player such as Brian Urlacher could have helped prevent the Cardinals' defensive collapse in the last two-and-a-half minutes of the Super Bowl.

Chicago needs offense. Specifically at the wide receiver position. The Bears have been bombarded with mediocre pass catchers since the days when Ron Turner orchestrated a feasible offensive game plan with Erik Kramer, Curtis Conway and Jeff Engram.

Urlacher wants out and so does Boldin. Sounds like a match made in GM heaven. And by GM heaven I mean Madden NFL 2010.

I'm sure the Atlanta Falcons are trying to get an advance copy to see what team would be willing to take Mike Vick's baggage (and contract).

Shaq and Kobe ... It just makes you wonder

At Sunday's NBA All-Star game, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant reunited for the first time since losing game 5 of the 2004 NBA Finals June 15, 2004.

"The Big Legendaries," as Shaq dubbed the former tandem following the game, brought home co-MVP honors as Kobe scored 27 points while Shaq added 17 points in just 11 minutes.

Watching them back on the court again just made me wonder what these two could have done had they not quarreled and fought during their last few years together with the Lakers. They had an opportunity to win even more than the three consecutive championships they won from 2001 to 2003. You could even argue that they would have defeated the Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals if the two had gotten along.

But it wasn't to be. Shaq was traded to the Miama Heat following the 2004 Finals loss and went on to win his fourth NBA Championship alongside Dwayne Wade. In that Finals, Shaq was willing to do what he never would with Kobe, be the Robin to Wade's Batman.

Kobe, meanwhile, went on to be "The Man" with average to below average Lakers teams. He was finally able to be the leader of the team, but it came at the expense of winning championships.

Had Shaq and Kobe stayed together, as well as head coach Phil Jackson, it's not inconceivable to think they could have won two, three, maybe even four more titles between the 2004-05 season and last season.

It's just too bad two egos weren't able to fit into a city as large as Los Angelas.

Daily Dosage: The 'I'm sad no one responded to my column' edition

SIU's men's basketball team got routed, and we'll get to that in just a minute. The women's swimming and diving finished in third place. The women's basketball team also got handled by Creighton.

Damn.

But more important than that, I did not get one response to Friday's column.

Of course not until Saturday night when the Missouri Valley Conference's most fashionable sports writer hit the bar scene.

I'll tell stories one day.

One day.

'Til then, I can resume crushing on Amanda Bynes.

Salukis slammed by high-flying Bluejays. Where else can I go with this story? Creighton's really good. They've got senior leadership, young stars and the Missouri Valley Conference's best coach.

82-60 kinda says it all. [Daily Egyptian]

No-no duo powers SIU softball. Alright, enough gloom and doom from the Saluki basketball world and let's talk about softball.

My new favorite Saluki team is off to an 8-0 start as a pair of Saturday no-hitters from Nikki Waters and Katie McNamara sparked the Salukis to a four-game sweep of the Samford Bulldog Bash in Birmingham, Alabama.

SIU spanked Austin Peay and Gardner-Webb in the double-round robin tournament. I really can't wait 'til this team returns to C'Dale. [Daily Egyptian]

Quality Linkage:

• Jeff Allen and I have similar Valentine's Day sentiments. [DC Sports Bog]
• Julian Jones (no, not the running back) will help you avoid any Plaxidents. [Wall Street Journal]
• Michael Jordan's still got game. [Bossip]
• Welcome to Twitter, Lance Armstrong. [Twitter via Deadspin]