Mark Buehrle

It was all about A.J. Pierzynski .

And now it sounds like at least one of Pierzynski's teammates—heck, one of his battery-mates—is . First, Mark Buehrle said Pierzynski's complaint about not being in the lineup Friday against a left-hander disrespected Toby Hall. Then, well, here you go: He likes to be that [villain].

He likes to see his name in the paper. He likes to, well, not to be in the middle of controversy—I don't think he purposely tries to cause some of it—but he just speaks his mind and pretty much causes controversy.
I think the follow-up to this story will be the Sox saying they're all lovey-dovey, hugs and kisses, BFFs.

I think the truth is that Ozzie Guillen would just as soon not manage the annoying, selfish-looking Pierzynski and that his teammates would rather be done with the full-metal-A.J. act.

The reality is that if these guys could ever prove they're more than about a .500 team, none of these things would be up for discussion.
By the way, the next discussion involving Pierzynski, Buehrle and a .

500 Sox team is whether the pitcher or catcher gets traded first.
Carlos Zambrano was close to a new deal this spring—a deal for a new contract. Now he seems to be stinking his way into another deal—a .

Zambrano is the best current Cub who was signed and developed by the organization, and now there's talk about trading him. That would be so Cub.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella teased the media and fans about some big pitching move that was coming Tuesday.

By Sunday, Ryan Dempster admitted that the big move was that he would start and Angel Guzman would close. Then, 20 minutes later, Take two, . Never mind.

Not going to happen. Just foolin'. Yes, well, move along, folks, there's nothing to see here.

Except for, I don't know, a .
The Choice (and remember, death is not an option): or ?
Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, on Sox : The scouting report we had was he had trouble with his command.

Same scouting report that suggests Cotts and Scott Eyre can handle lefties?
Alfonso Soriano's play in left was so bad—scared, it looked like—that even Cubs announcers experienced a .
Has anyone asked ?

Have you seen my last three weeks? he said.
Is it just me, or does blubbery umpire Joe West move only when he's following someone back to the dugout to throw him out?

Derrek Lee, . Or least, meet .
Lou Piniella's fly was down, but .

Some people write and talk with shock about Ozzie Guillen's potty-mouth, and I'm thinking, were any of these people around for the last 20 years?
Love the idea of , if for no other reason than the hours and hours that opposing defensive coordinators will have to devote to accounting for him. Love the idea that his teammates cheer his blinding speed in mini-camp.

I just hope we all like the idea after Nick Barnett catches him head-on during a slant route or Darren Sharper lines him up on a go route in Cover-2.
Another mini-camp, another outside linebacker who's Not Briggs. Only this one's .

Bears coach Lovie Smith has to go back more than 35 years to find a Super Bowl loser who didn't . That's some motivation.
The question isn't what happens when the Bears , it's how humiliating will it be if they don't.

Alex Brown wants . Just how much time does he think the Bears will spend trying to deal a second-stringer?
We put Ben Gordon's energy drink in a .

The can claims it will help you get clutch. Anytime Gordon wants to drink his own energy drink, fine by me.
Mark Buehrle, your table .

Your contract, however, .
I'm thinking we go for a round of line drives off the pitching arm for every Sox pitcher.
Jermaine Dye took a home run away from Hank Blalock to keep alive what was then a perfect game, and Dye also hit a grand slam to end all questions about who would win this thing, history or no.

Tadahito Iguchi made several sharp plays and started the two-out rally that preceded Dye's grand slam. Joe Crede made a handful of Gold Glove plays, including a body-twisting grab and clothesline throw to seal it. Say this for Sox GM Kenny Williams: He sure knows who to set up for contract years.

If Buehrle were going to lose his perfect game, I'm cool with walking Sammy Sosa and then picking him off.
Tell you what, though, there is no no-hitter if Jerry Hairston Jr. doesn't do that standard dopey baseball thing and slide into first base.

Hairston had the play beaten if he had just run through the bag. But no. Baseball players aren't bright enough to figure out that sliding slows them down.

And now A.J. Pierzynski .

Jimbo gets to keep . A good night on the South Side just got better.
How much does it stink to continue to be a Cubs fan?

Buehrle throws a no-hitter after the Sox win the Wold Series after Dusty Baker and the Cubs choke away a three-games-to-one lead in the National League Championship Series. And that's just this half-decade.
Oh, and don't forget being in last-place today after spending more than $300 million on a new savior as manager and new players.

Oh, and don't forget that on the day that Sox fans saw a 38th-round draft pick throw a no-hitter, Cubs fans were told Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, also known as Butch Casualty and the Sidelined Kid.
Just asking: When did Scott Eyre turn into Will Ohman?
Biggest game of the year, and the Bulls come out with no energy, no urgency, .

But hey, if you can show your immaturity in losing to the horrific Memphis Grizzlies, you can certainly play dead in Jersey.
The Bulls couldn't stop Mikki Moore, so there's no way they're going to stop Shaq. Fine.

Don't. Doesn't matter. Let Shaq do what he wants.

Just pound Dwyane Wade, and I mean pound him. Pound him like that dirty, little snot James Posey would. Let Andres Nocioni start it as Wade drives the lane.

Then it's Ben Wallace's turn. Then, finally, a use for all six of Adrian Griffin's fouls.
Just asking: Mikki Moore?

Knicks owner James Dolan said the deal for Eddy Curry wasn't good value for the Knicks. You think?
The NFL fined Brian Urlacher $100,000 for appearing at the Super Bowl media day wearing a hat that said vitaminwater, which isn't the swill of choice for the league.

Got to love a league that fines players than the physical damage they can inflict on opponents with dirty plays.
Vitaminwater. Just had to say it again.

See if the NFL tries to fine my blog.
Betcha the NFL would've fined Buehrle and Ozzie Guillen for wearing Virginia Tech hats when they met the media after Buehrle's no-hitter Wednesday night. A hat that pumps the league's mouthwash, fine.

But none of this memorializing stuff, unless, of course, the wonks in New York can make money off it. And don't forget, this was the league that refused to let Peyton Manning wear black high-tops in honor of the passing of the great Johnny Unitas, who, by the way, quarterbacked the Baltimore Colts to the championship touchdown in 1958 in what has been called the greatest game ever played, and if not the greatest, certainly the most important in the NFL.
Vitaminwater, vitaminwater, vitaminwater.

LaDainian Tomlinson turns down Madden '08 cover. .
They tell me I have to write this bio thing to go along with my blog.

Not sure you care, but the bosses apparently do, so here you go: I've covered sports for more than 30 years in print, on radio and now in cyberspace. In that time, I've smoked cigars with Michael Jordan, Mike Ditka and Red Auerbach, I've been thrown on a table by NHL all-time bad boy Dave "Tiger'' Williams, I've covered the Super Bowl, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals, I've had former Bears lineman Stan Thomas act like he was going to squeeze my head like a zit, I've interviewed Roger Clemens, Hank Aaron and Donald Trump, I've been cursed at by Mike Keenan, I've watched Denis Savard go into the Hockey Hall of Fame, I've been yelled at by Bill Wirtz, I talked sports with Ben Affleck at the World Series of Poker, and I cry almost every time I see Jim Craig skate up the ice looking for his dad in the stands as the 1980 U.S.

Olympic wrote the greatest sports story ever. Ever. These days, I write a syndicated poker column for the Tribune and co-host a with Sean Salisbury on the local ESPN outlet, WMVP-AM 1000.

And do this. Got enough on me? Good.

Now read the other stuff.