THE WORLD IS CRAZY

Kentucky county clerk KIM DAVIS got a five day stint in the slammer courtesy of federal judge DAVID BUNNING but apparently, ms davis is a slow learner. after being instructed not to interfere DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY with marriage licensing in ANY way, she goes about removing her name and other information from the licenses issued to gay couples and then states the licenses "are not legal because they're altered."  ok, maybe i'm missing something but didn't she admit that she's interfering with the licensing procedure?? 

can she be fired by the governor? no.  can she be impeached by the state legislature? yes. but EVERYONE is hoping that she just steps down.  are there forums for religious extremists like davis? there certainly is but a county clerk's office is not one of them.
DO YOUR JOB or quit.

judge bunning has an interesting decision to make and has the added pressure of the AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION filing suit against davis and her county because she's created a "two tiered system" of marriage licensing.  Bunnig stated earlier that "public officials are not allowed to pick & choose which laws and court orders they want to enforce. At the end of the day, i expect the court's orders to be obeyed because that's how things work in America." davis has now started receiving AND ACCEPTING awards for "breaking the law" and upholding predjudice against gay couples. i think that will also get bunning's attention.

a little personal FYI for you---ms. davis, who apparently is a pillar of morality, has been married four times and was impregnated by her eventual third husband while she was married to her first husband. yowsa! where is MAURY POVICH when you need him?

davis has now switched over to the republican party (big surprise there) although she says the issue is not about politics. she has also allied herself with two far right politicians in MIKE HUCKABEE and TED CRUZ, who both believe that rape victims made pregnant during the assault should carry that child full term. enough said there.

finally, davis now teaches a bible study class at the local jail.  i'm thinking that pretty soon she won't have any travel expenses to teach that class.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING

KIM DAVIS, the county clerk from kentucky is really getting under my skin with her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. i wrote this before but it bears repeating: if your religious beliefs get in the way of doing your job, then resign.  it's a pretty simple solution but she has grown more obnoxious by the day and hopefully, the supreme court will find her in contempt of their DIRECT ORDER and send her to jail soon.  i think her refusal to resign will change course quickly when she's sitting behind bars.

speaking of goofs, RACHEL DOLEZAL, the white woman who claims she's black despite her WHITE parents coming forward, has announced her pregnancy. 37 and unmarried, dolezal says she's having a boy.................... but even if it's a girl, she'll say it's a boy. what a piece of work.

did you know that actresses/comediennes JENNY McCARTHY & MELISSA McCARTHY are first cousins? true story.

did you know that over three thousand americans gave up their citizenship last year and moved to a different country? apparently, taxes & crime are the two biggest reason and NEW ZEALAND is a popular relocation country because the language is the same as here.

did your mom smoke while she was pregnant with you? if she did, you have a 1 in 3 chance of having atrial fibrillation, a condition that makes your heart race and could lead to heart attacks and strokes.  so if you're thinking about having kids, "kicking the squares" should be first on your list of things to do BEFORE getting pregnant.

my personal opinion for the last twenty years............ knowing what we know about the health risks of smoking, i strongly feel that any pregnant woman who smokes should be arrested and at the very least, charged with 'endangering the life of an unborn child.'  other people have recommended much stronger penalties, including sterilization, but i think everyone agrees that it's bad for the child and something should be done.

doesn't DONALD TRUMP remind you of the playground bully?

how happy do you think HILLARY is about JOE BIDEN thinking about joining the presidential race?  i think biden will take a pass because of their long friendship.........but maybe not.

finally, GODSPEED to JOE GLINIEWICZ, the fox lake police officer who was killed in the line of duty on tuesday morning.  i first met joe when we both served as public information officers for our respective departments back in the 90's. prompt & professional, he always brought something positive when we had area meetings and was always the first to volunteer assistance in times of need. i didn't know his family but i can tell them that the greatest compliment an officer can get is when another officer says, "that guy can be my partner anytime"  and i heard that more than once about him.  rest in peace, joe.

bye for now

down the stretch they come!

the CUBS have just 34 games left and their magic number is down to 30 to reach the wild card playoff game in what has been a season of dreams for the organization and their fans. in what was initially termed a 'learning year' the cubs have benefited from every good bounce and every bad call and even profited from the only legitimate injury they had all year.

remember when MIGUEL MONTERO injured his thumb and was on the dl for six weeks?? even that injury worked out for the north siders because that injury forced the cubs to bring up KYLE SCHWARBER three months early and they caught lightning in a bottle with schwarber's ability to hit (there are no gold gloves in his future) and when montero returned, it allowed them to bench the uncoachable STARLIN CASTRO and implant ADDISON RUSSELL at shortstop, where he'll still be ten years from now. a team of destiny?  i think so.

of course, they have to survive the wild card game against the PIRATES  but if they do, i think the CARDINALS are out of gas and can be had in a five game series and then the cubs will be rooting against the DODGERS in their five game matchup against the METS because while the cubs have struggled with the dodgers at 2-4, they're 7-0 against the mets and pitting ARRIETTA & LESTER four times (and maybe five) against the weak hitting new yorkers in a seven game series would certainly be in the cubs' favor.

and now on to the WHITE SOX..................fire robin ventura.

ok, for you die hards..........the sox are JUST seven games out in the wild card race with JUST six teams ahead of them. but the exciting news is they just moved out of the cellar and have closed the gap on first place to just NINETEEN AND A FREAKING HALF GAMES! fire robin ventura.

how bad has this year gone for the DETROIT TIGERS?  they're currently BEHIND the white sox in the standings.  ouch.

so if the cubs fall short, CHICAGOANS can just start rooting for the bears, right? uh, i don't think so. this team will be the worst since 2002 when DICK JAURON coached the monsters to a 4-12 season. no speed, a very questionable defense and a quarterback who has NEVER stood up and accepted the blame.  ever. never.   isn't it strange that he's the ninth highest paid player in the NFL but his stats clearly indicate he's just a middle of the road quarterback? talk about pissing away money.  the only bright spot is this is the last year of his guaranteed money so he can be cut when the season ends but the head shaking part is he'll get signed to another monster contract somewhere.

JAY CUTLER. STARLIN CASTRO.  discuss.

what's going on with PATRICK KANE? the BLACKHAWKS golden boy did the right thing and went underground following the sexual allegations but he's keeping his fingers crossed that the case doesn't go to a grand jury. with a hot potato case like this one, the states attorney often doesn't want to make the decision on whether to prosecute so he'll throw it to the grand jury to cover his butt. no matter what happens with the grand jury, down the road the SA can easily deflect any criticism by pointing a finger at the grand jury.

 the problem for kane is if that happens, the grand jury is normally just a rubber stamp for the state's attorney and they'll surely indict him. there's almost no chance that he'll testify which means the jury will only hear the complaining witnesses' side of the story and if an indictment comes down, you can say goodbye to kane for this hockey season because there's no way the NHL lets him compete while this is pending. remember that an indictment is NOT a guilty verdict. it just means that the case is going to trial.

and continuing with bad news.............IS THERE A MORE SCREWED UP ATHLETIC PROGRAM  THAN THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS? athletic director MIKE THOMAS fires the football coach just a week before the season starts after staunchly defending him just three months ago. last spring, allegations of racism surfaced against the women's basketball coach and even the women's soccer team has pending lawsuits. while it's not the same kind of sleazy stench that permeated PENN STATE'S program, in just four years thomas has become the poster child for mismanagement and turned the sports program totally toxic.  would you send your kid to this athletic program?

 fair or not, the ENTIRE sports program is under the watch of the athletic director and it's bad enough when most of your sports programs stink on a yearly basis but when you can't control the internal problems and they continue to fester like an open sore, then you have to go because the buck stops in his office. pack your bags.

enough bad news.  adios

CUBS WIN!

I never thought that the following sentence would ever be typed by my fingers but here goes:

THE CUBS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!

 in fact, the odds on the cubs to make it to the world series are currently 8-1 and my betting window is now open. and this is no joke. 

Do they have a cake walk to the series? absolutely not because there's a team south of here called the cardinals who have whipped the cubs like a rented mule for years and not to mention the ONE GAME wild card the north siders have to survive. but that's exactly why YOU have to risk eight bucks to win a dollar. history & performance is on your side and that's why they call it gambling.  

WHY? other than the bullpen,  the cubs remind me of last year's KANSAS CITY ROYALS who, after surviving a wild card game, came within one out of being world champs.

above average defense, the ability to score runs in bunches and starting pitchers who will shut you down big time, including JAKE ARRIETA, who is in great shape to win the cy young award.  

My bets against the cubs this year are all in the toilet but I've spent the last dozen years winning thousands & thousands of dollars off kool-aid drinking cub fans with very low baseball I.Q's (sorry for the redundancy) and now it's time to spend some of that money and make a wager, which i did today at harrahs in las vegas.  (good to have friends who live there) how sweet would that be to win at 8-1 with money initially made from cub fans?

 a perfect team? no. weak spots? yes    will they win the world series? not a chance because either kansas city or toronto will crush them in 5 games but i won't even notice because i'll still be counting my money.

people on both sides of town are going to say i'm crazy..... but i just have a feeling.......

odds & ends

So the WHITE SOX were all giddy after winning 7 of 8 and decided to stand pat at the trading deadline. COMPLETE MORONS. did anyone want to mention to the emperor those seven wins came against last place teams? they had one piece worth trading and rather than get some prospects, they're going to let him walk away at the end of the year because they thought they were 'in it.' the only thing they're in is big trouble. the yankees kicked their ass over the weekend and now tampa is continuing the beat down.      arrrrrrgh.

the CUBS decided they didn't want to play with the big boys BUT they did made two solid moves which can only help them in the race to the post season. (although i was sorry to see TAYLOR TEAGARDEN go to make room for the newcomers.  it was just fun saying his name.)  

DAN HAREN will make a perfect #5 starter for the north siders as he eats up a lot of innings and keeps you in the ball game. he couldn't get a fastball past your mother but it will save the cubs the angst of starting DALLAS BEELER or TRAVIS WOOD. the cost for haren? two MINOR leaguers not even listed as top thirty prospects in the organization. see how that works?

the cubs also learned quickly that RAFAEL SORIANO is not the answer to the closing position and picked up fireballing TOMMY HUNTER from baltimore for journeyman JUNIOR LAKE, who signed his death warrant with manager JOE MADDON for  hot dogging it after hitting a home run against the marlins in early june.  lake soon found himself back in the minors, never to see wrigley again as long as maddon was still around. so enter hunter, who can throw 99 mph on his strong nights and while his major league experience is not that of a closer, he did fine his first time out over the weekend when he got the save against the brewers.

august is the 'we'll see' month for the cubs.  SEVEN games against the GIANTS, three vs. the PIRATES, four vs the BRAVES and three vs the DODGERS.  september will bring them six each against the CARDINALS and the PIRATES but  a bunch of games against terrible teams.  split the games mentioned earlier and they're dancing in october.

only the CHICAGO BEARS..........#1 draft choice KEVIN WHITE hasn't seen the field yet because of a secret injury.  is it his shin for sure?  nobody knows because NFL teams are not required to release any injury information until the regular season starts.  i'm hoping the bears can go 6-10 this year but a national publication today released their prediction that they would be the WORST TEAM IN FOOTBALL at 3-13.  ouch.

short but sweet. see you later.

TRADING FRENZY

It's become very apparent that only the teams who want to win THIS YEAR have become active in the trade market as the friday deadline nears.

 the nationals pick up JONATHON PAPELBON for a minor league starting pitcher.  the royals wanted BEN ZOBRIST and sent two minor leaguers to oakland to make the deal. the angels felt they needed outfield depth for the pennant push and in seperate deal, obtained DAVID DeJESUS and DAVID MURPHY for guess what?? two minor leaguers. ARE YOU SEEING THE PATTERN?

you have to give to get but apparently they don't understand that on the north side.  you have to wear big boy pants in july and be willing to take a gamble so you can get to the post season dance.  sometimes it works, sometimes not. BUT sitting with TWENTY MOVABLE PARTS and not doing anything is a slap in the face to both your team and your fans.

 even if you come up with an 'untouchable' list of obvious people on the current major league roster, it still leaves the cubs with minor leaguers JAVY BAEZ,  JEN HO SING, PIERCE JOHNSON, BILLY MCKINNEY, GLEYBER TORRES, ALBERT ALMORA and C J EDWARDS.  other than baez, heard of any of them?

add to that STARLIN CASTRO, JORGE SOLER and another half dozen 'movable parts' from the current roster and you can definitely interest a phillies club that is the worst team in baseball and need to rebuild in almost every position.

the cubs have one more chance to pull the trigger this week and trade for pitcher COLE HAMELS.  why him and not DAVID PRICE?  because hamels has three years left on his deal while price is a free agent in two months and as mentioned, the phillies need to rebuild.  the cubs need a pitcher NOW if they're serious about competing and sending three from the above list would probably do the deal.  two days to go.  testicles or no?

BASEBALL'S GETTING GOOD!

FIRE ROBIN VENTURA

How much longer can they take it on the south side? i see where the ballpark fans are starting to chew up ADAM LAROCHE and ALEXIE RAMIREZ and rightfully so. 12 home runs and 62 rbi's would be pretty good at this time of the year for one player but that's the TOTAL FOR BOTH.  they absolutely suck and the fans are tired of it.  ramirez is unfocused defensively and hitting .224 while the adam dunn look-a-like is hitting a whopping .218.  not bad for ten & twelve million but at least the sox have the option for ramirez for next year if he's not traded by then.  we're stuck with adam dunn jr. for another year...................... at thirteen million.  but i feel a lot better after reading today that laroche is going to work his way out of the season long slump by....batting practice?  watching video? working with the hitting coach????  sorry, but he's going to work on his ......confidence. lord, give me strength.

KYLE SCHWARBER has given the sewer rats on the north side plenty to cheer about as he continues to hit around .400 after ten days in the majors.  reminds of a guy named JAVY BAEZ who tore them up with a similar average for a month last year before finishing at .........   .169  but as i reported earlier, schwarber is a hitting machine and MIGUEL MONTERO may find out what WALLY PIPP felt like when LOU GEHRIG took his place.

the cubs still need hitting AND a starting pitcher but do they have the guts to make a trade?  counting the young guys on the roster already, the cubs have 16 solid prospects with a dozen still in the minors but they don't want to trade any of them.  last time i checked, only 8 can play the field at any one time.  what the cubs normally do is look for excuses NOT TO MAKE A TRADE.  this guy didn't pitch well the last two starts, this guy is struggling at the plate, he makes too much money, blah, blah, blah.  so they'll probably stand pat and hope they get lucky when DAVID PRICE becomes a free agent because the dodgers and yankees have very deep pockets.

p.s.   the GIANTS are a half game behind the cubs for that final wild card spot.  feeling cozy?

the baseball wild card races are snoozers this year as the cubs, giants and METS fight it out for the final spot and in the american league, MINNESOTA & HOUSTON have a strangle hold on the two wild card spots.  seventeen teams out of thirty are playing less than .500 baseball and when you subtract the six division leaders, that leaves a total of just seven teams to fight for the wild card and two of those are just over .500 and dreaming if they think they can make it.

THANKFULLY, the BEARS start camp next week and the JAY CUTLER experience will continue for the low, low price of twenty one million dollars per year.  the best part of the off season was the very lukewarm reaction to cutler by new coach JOHN FOX.  is that a smile i see on backup qb JIMMY CLAUSEN'S face? methinks mr. cutler's days are numbered.

enjoy the cubs while you can.  adios