PM Update on January 23rd:
Okay, so after posting today's columns this morning, finally getting out to see Harry Potter in the afternoon, and working on tomorrow's columns, I finally settle down to read this week's Sports Illustrated before bed.

I read through the early blurbs, the Bears/Eagles review, and skim through the Jason Kidd bio. Then I turn to the first "Inside" section to find the following:

Inside the NHL: Blackhawk Up

As we posted before SI even hit newstands today and our subscription arrived, I'd like to take this opportunity to commend the SI editors on a catchy little title.

Whether the editor or author Daniel G. Habib decided upon the headline, congratulations to whomever on possessing the creativity necessary to derive almost the exact same title for your blurb as we chose for this "Good Chicago Sports".

If you're interested in the column, entirely about the Blackhawk forward Eric Dazé, click here to check it out. I have no idea if the link will still be active when you're reading this, but its currently working, so blame the soon-to-be-defunct CNNSI if the article has since vanished.

Since I suspect that no one was too concerned about SI potentially ripping off our idea, we now return you to your regularly scheduled article.

We're hoping to update these more frequently but haven't had much time with the daily columns. Once again, we're stuck with a full "month in review" column, covering everything that's happened since we last posted.

Chicago Bears

We made the playoffs, we rested for two weeks, and we were crushed by a quarterback from the south suburbs.

Why did we lose?

Dick Jauron really can't coach. We can't list the number of times that our TV. has almost been broken by a flying remote when we kneel down at the end of the half instead of trying for a big play. The only truly exciting game in the entire year happened because our wonderful Run-and-Shoop offense started aiming downfield against Tampa Bay. They stopped throwing deep, Hugh Douglas separated Jim Miller's shoulder, and the year ended.

So now we're stuck with Jauron for at least two more years, and quite possibly three unless Jerry Angelo finds a fan-friendly way to avoid giving Dick an extension. Angelo announced on Christmas Eve that not only would Jauron return for next year in Chambana, but that he'd begin negotiations on an extension after the season ended.

Jauron will be back, Offensive Coordinator John Shoop will return as his contract runs for at least another season, and Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache might just return despite rumors of a head coaching offer. Tony Dungy's move to Indy seems to keep Blache with the Bears, but other teams still might consider hiring him.

Blache was the same guy that used to give out actual bullets to players for great plays. He only stopped, albeit very reluctantly, after public outcry forced him to realize that some people don't believe that anyone should encourage violence off the field.

On the field, Defensive End Bryan Robinson and Cornerback R.W. McQuarters will both return after signing long-term extensions. We'll likely lose our other starting CB Walt Harris and possibly starting Safety Tony Parrish to free agency. Mike Green, 2000's Mr. Irrelevant, has established himself as a solid nickel player, and he might even wind up starting opposite Mike Brown at Safety next season.

On offense, hopefully they'll let Center Olin Kreutz leave as a free agent. He made the Pro Bowl after a spot as an alternate last year, but despite seemingly league-wide acclaim, he commits way too many penalties for our liking. Even if he does fire up the offensive line, we're already paying a lot of money to three starters, and we have 2001 draft pick Bernard Robertson ready to replace him.

RB James Allen will not be appreciated on any other team, and since he appears comfortable as a backup to Anthony Thomas here, I expect him to re-sign in that capacity.

QB Jim Miller is the other major free agent, and he should likely be re-signed as he's the best free agent QB available and wants to stay in Chicago. Backup Shane Matthews, even if he can't really compete in the league, is signed through next season, so despite many suggestions to the contrary, there seems to be no good reason to deal for Drew Bledsoe.

We should instead use the picks to build young depth on both sides of the ball. The Bears desperately need a young QB, and we will likely find several interesting possibilities available at the end of the second or third round, potentially even someone like Illinois' Kurt Kittner. Our first round pick can be used to add a specialist on defense, perhaps a pass rusher as several draft experts have suggested, or preferably a tall cornerback to help replace Harris in a suddenly-deficient secondary.

I'd like to see a great Tight End added as I believe strongly in the effectiveness of a burly receiver in every game, but unless a game breaker is available in the first round, we need to wait to address that need. There's also little point in adding another Wide Receiver as Marcus Robinson should be healthy and we just spent a top-ten pick on David Terrell. He needs to mature next season to add that capacity to our offense, and if we can acquire even a sixth or seventh round pick for Dez White, we need to dump Mr. Dropped Ball off as fast as possible.

There's no reason to continue to rehash our stadium views. We'll just say that the current plan is awful, and we hope someone in the Chicago Judiciary will help the Bears come to their senses.

Chicago Blackhawks

The only decent team currently playing, Brian Sutter's revived Blackhawks earned this column title with their consistent play this season.

We don't watch the Hawks since home games aren't televised, but we're committed to supporting them like every other major Chicago team.

However, we really like the fact that we're in second place in our division, and we're looking forward to the return of spring playoff games to the city. Tony Amonte might even stay if we keep winning.

Smashmouth Chicago Hockey is an acceptable alternative to the early demise of the Bears, and it would be nice if some team could win at least one playoff game for the city this year.

Chicago Bulls

We watched last Saturday's return of Michael to the Chicago. Okay, so we tired to watch it and mostly covered our eyes at one of the worst performances by any Chicago team ever.

Bill Cartwright will be a decent coach, but he's extremely unlikely to ever lead this team to the playoffs. He just doesn't appear to inspire the players, leaving them to look up to him because of his physical height and not his coaching talents.

Tim Floyd's departure was the other major Chicago news story on Christmas Eve, immediately followed by the requisite interim coach, week-long coach hunt, and logical hiring of one of the few possible candidates both willing to take the job and capable of maintaining some order over his players.

Now with the trade season approaching, Ron Artest appears on his way out of town, likely for another draft pick, and we can't decide if we're happy to be rid of the malcontent or upset that we're dumping one of our best defenders.

Either way, there's no guessing at what the Jerrys will acquire for him, so there's little room for further analysis. Figure on them messing up any moves for the next few weeks as we again start our charge towards one of the worst records in league history.

Chicago Cubs

We'll keep this shorter than last time since we reviewed the team fairly thoroughly, but a few moves have occurred that require comment.

The Cubs signed infielder Chris Stynes for a little over two million for this season. If Bobby Hill is ready as AGM Jim Hendry keeps repeating, this move makes absolutely no sense. We've merely added another veteran bench player only useful as trade bait, since we shouldn't make the playoffs over the St. Louis or Houston.

Darren Lewis signed for half a million as a right-handed defensive backup to Patterson and Rosey Brown in center. As long as Lewis is used as an injury replacement and defensive sub for Alou, we have little problem with this deal. Of course, as this club is "run" by Baylor, Lewis will find over 300 AB to help cost us games, and anything over 150 should guarantee us no better than a third place finish.

The three million that we spent on these two guys could have gone to perhaps signing a lefty reliever like Jason Christiansen or even towards a long-term deal for future closer Kyle Farnsworth.

These two signings will also keep Kevin Orie off the roster unless he beats out Mark Bellhorn or Augie Ojeda, and Bobby Hill should now start the season at AAA.

With these free agent moves, at least we didn't give up any draft picks. We'll have an extra three supplemental first round picks, as well as another three picks further down in the draft, likely including a fifth first round pick from the Mets for Weathers, a third round pick from the Yankees for White, and a fourth rounder from Texas for Van Poppel. As we already have perhaps the best farm system in the game, we'll be able to add depth and hopefully high-upside offensive players to the system.

The Cubs' 2000 1st round pick(3rd overall) SS Luis Montanez appears headed to third as our scouts believe that he simply doesn't have the defense necessary to stay at short. As he's at least three years away, perhaps he can take over at third as Dave Kelton moves back to left. While this leaves Nic Jackson without a position, one of these three guys will likely flame out by that time, leaving the Cubs with fewer options.

Left-handers Will Ohman and Phil Norton both underwent Tommy John surgery a week ago, so our roster looks even more lefty-deficient with only Fassero, Mahay, and likely starter Jesus Sanchez as available options. The good news is that since neither Norton nor Ohman would have likely contributed much to this team, we can move them to the 40-man roster when Spring Training starts to open up spots for NRIs like Kevin Orie or perhaps acquisitions from another roster.

We still haven't moved Robert Machado or Julio Zuleta, so hopefully we can work out a trade involving both of those guys within the next month. Perhaps Montreal would be interested in a young power-hitting 1B and a solid defensive backup in exchange for LHMR Graeme Lloyd, useless on the Expos but a valuable alternative to Fassero in Chicago. MacPhail always keeps a few million available for in-season acquisitions, and Lloyd would fill the one apparent gaping hole on this year's team.

Finally, while Juan Cruz is not 40 years old as my Mom believed when first seeing him on TV, the Cubs announced two days ago that he is two years older than listed, leaving our most-prepared pitching prospect at 23.

THIS IS FANTASTIC NEWS FOR CUBS' FANS.

While this technically lowers Cruz's ceiling, it also means that his arm is two years more mature than originally thought, so he'll be able to withstand Baylor neglecting pitch counts and a 180-200 IP season as the Cubs' fourth starter in 2002. With Prior up by the end of the season, Carlos Zambrano available to help out, and Bere here at least until the trading deadline, the Cubs rotation should have depth unmatched by anyone in the division outside of perhaps Houston.

Less than a month until pitchers and catchers report, but instead of spending more time discussing the Cubs, we promised an extended review of that other baseball team in town, so here we go:

Chicago White Sox

Okay, so our "next week" turned out to be next month, but we've finally put together our thoughts on the White Sox' future. We'll list who we believe should be starting around the All-Star break at each position for the next three years and than elaborate on these opinions below the table.

2002-2004 Chicago White Sox
Starting Lineup
	2002	Pos	2003	Pos	2004	Pos
1.	Ray Durham	2B	Tim Hummel	2B	Tim Hummel	2B
2.	Jose Valentin	SS	Jose Valentin	SS	Jose Valentin	SS
3.	Magglio Ordonez	RF	Magglio Ordonez	RF	Magglio Ordonez	RF
4.	Frank Thomas	DH	Frank Thomas	DH	Joe Borchard	CF
5.	Paul Konerko	1B	Joe Borchard	CF	Frank Thomas	DH
6.	Carlos Lee	LF	Paul Konerko	1B	Paul Konerko	1B
7.	Joe Crede	3B	Carlos Lee	LF	Carlos Lee	LF
8.	Sandy Alomar	C	Joe Crede	3B	Joe Crede	3B
9.	Chris Singleton	CF	Miguel Olivo	C	Miguel Olivo	C
Bench
BC	Mark Johnson	C	Mark Johnson	C	Mark Johnson	C
IF	Tony Graffanino	IF	Tony Graffanino	IF	Guillermo Reyes	IF
OF	Aaron Rowand	OF	Aaron Rowand	OF	Aaron Rowand	OF
UT	Royce Clayton	SS	Mario Valenzuela	OF	Mario Valenzuela	OF
UT	Jeff Liefer	1/3/O	Jeff Liefer	1/3/O	Jeff Liefer	1/3/O
Rotation
1.	Mark Buehrle	LHP	Mark Buehrle	LHP	Jon Rauch	RHP
2.	Todd Ritchie	RHP	Todd Ritchie	RHP	Mark Buehrle	LHP
3.	Jon Garland	RHP	Danny Wright	RHP	Danny Wright	RHP
4.	Gary Glover	RHP	Jon Rauch	RHP	Corwin Malone	LHP
5.	Danny Wright	RHP	Jon Garland	RHP	Mitch Wylie	RHP
Bullpen
CL	Keith Foulke	RHP	Keith Foulke	RHP	Matt Ginter	RHP
S1	Bobby Howry	RHP	Matt Ginter	RHP	Kyle Kane	RHP
S2	Jim Parque	LHP	Onan Masoaka	LHP	Onan Masaoka	LHP
L1	Onan Masaoka	LHP	Kelly Wunsch	LHP	Kelly Wunsch	LHP
R1	Antonio Osuna	RHP	Antonio Osuna	RHP	Edwin Almonte	RHP
M1	Matt Ginter	RHP	Matt Guerrier	RHP	Matt Guerrier	RHP

The only lineup spots that appear set are the #2 and #3 slots with Valentin and Ordonez. Hopefully Jerry Manuel will realize that even if Valentin makes more errors than many shortstops, he gets to more balls than many shortstops, especially Royce Clayton. He's also an ideal #2 hitter as a switch-hitter with power, speed, and a decent-to-good OBP.

Like their cross-town companions, the White Sox' playoff hopes rest on the back of their right fielder. Magglio Ordonez is as good as any American League outfielder, and since he's signed for the next few years, he should be able to remain relaxed and productive as the key to the Sox' offense.

Durham's only signed through the end of the year at 2B, and if Tim Hummel is ready after a year of AAA, the Sox need to make a switch. Durham reportedly wants a lot of money and doesn't add much to the offense. Hummel should be able to replace his OBP, and any counting numbers that he can muster will be a nice positive for the team. If he's not ready, Tony Graffanino can sub for half a season as a starter, an acceptable role for the quality backup.

With Valentin and Durham/Hummel set in the middle infield, Joe Crede has no one blocking him at 3B. He should mature into a very capable, above average player on both offense and defense, and after a couple years in the high minors, the Sox need to give him a couple seasons as a starter to see if he's worth a long-term deal.

Sandy Alomar is signed through the end of this year with Josh Paul and Mark Johnson available when Alomar is injured. Despite Paul's higher upside, Johnson should be kept as the backup to provide a lefty alternative and a better batting eye off the bench. With the rest of the young athletes on this team, Manuel doesn't need a catcher that can pinch-run. That horrible piece of non-logic cost the Sox at least one playoff games in 2000 against Seattle, and they shouldn't make that mistake again. Miguel Olivo is already the best defensive catcher in the system, and he should be ready to take over for Alomar after a year of AAA. Paul should be either out of options or only a year away from that time, so the Sox need to look to deal him to a team looking for a raw and relatively young catcher with some major league experience.

For 2003 and 2004, these six positions (Valentin at SS, Ordonez at RF, Hummel/Graffanino at 2B and IF, and Johnson and Olivo and C and BC) should only cost a combined $15 million or so, leaving plenty of salary room for the rest of the team at a probable $75M payroll, a reasonable expectation if the Sox continue to finish with 85+ wins.

The White Sox's 2000 1st round pick Joe Borchard should be ready no later than 2003 to take over in either centerfield or left. From what we've read, Borchard is capable of covering center for a couple years in necessary and might even be above average in left field. Chris Singleton has no place on the long-term White Sox, so should be dealt as soon as possible as even Brian Simmons could cover his spot for a year.

Now we're left with the heart-and-soul of both the Sox' offense and clubhouse, DH Frank Thomas, 1B Paul Konerko, and LF Carlos Lee. Thomas, if finally healthy, could be headed to the Hall of Fame but is owed about $10M a year through 2005 or so. Konerko, perhaps the most fan-friendly member of the team, needs to emerge as a 40-HR threat soon to retain his value to the team. He shows signs of heading in that direction but might not make it before free agency, likely after 2004. Carlos Lee is also on a similar timetable although he has more upside than the other two since he's also capable on the bases. However, he's awful as a left fielder, meaning that one of these guys has to move.

The other problem is that all three are right-handed hitters, and with Ordonez, Crede, Durham/Hummel, and Alomar/Olivo already in the lineup, that only leaves two slots for either switch-hitters or left-handers. Something needs to be done to give the Sox lineup more balance, and here's the solution:

Trade Carlos Lee and Paul Konerko to Pittsburgh for Brian Giles and Kevin Young, and release Thomas under the "Diminished Skills' Clause" in his contract unless he returns to his 2000 form after a lost season. The fans won't mind given his petulant attitude, and his production can be replaced by one of the other two.

These decisions have to be made together, so we'd suggest that Ken Williams wait until the middle of May to determine the course of the team. He should have already dealt Royce Clayton to anyone by that point, perhaps Los Angeles for a low-level pitching prospect, and replaced him with minor league signing Justin Baughman.

Chicago retains its great pitching depth after dealing Kip Wells and Josh Fogg for Todd Ritchie to add one starter hopefully capable of 200 IP with little chance of injury. Pittsburgh will take the deal because they don't particularly like Giles in Center and will jump at the chance to add two young yet experienced bats, either one almost capable of replacing his performance. Their lineup starts to look a little right-handed, but they're so happy to dump Young's contract that they'll deal their best player for a new young core of potential 30+ HR hitters.

Young can be used as DH for a season while waiting for a young power hitter, perhaps Mario Valenzuela, to mature, and Jeff Liefer can take over at first, adding another powerful left-handed bat to the lineup. Giles and Borchard anchor a potential 100+ HR OF along with Ordonez. The new heart-of-the-order looks like Ordonez/Giles/Borchard/Crede/Liefer, a balanced lineup with each player capable of hitting thirty or more home runs.

Is this too ambitious for either team if not both? Probably, so the Sox need a backup plan on offense. We return to an offer of Carlos Lee and Chris Singleton in the deal for Erstad. Anaheim will now accept the deal as they acquire a young power hitter to replace their departing free agent, and a replacement OF until one of their prospects matures. Lee can share 1B and DH with Brad Fullmer, giving Anaheim a young and strong power boost.

At least in 2002, Erstad hits 2nd, allowing Valentin to drop to the #5 hole and concentrate on power hitting. Konerko will get better pitches with Ordonez/Thomas/Valentin on base ahead of him, and then Erstad can replace Durham at leadoff next season, with Valentin moving back to #2 and Borchard adding a switch-hitter to the middle of the lineup. They could still replace Thomas with Liefer and move Konerko to clean-up.

Regardless of their decision, some deal needs to be made soon, and these two suggestions likely offer both the best immediate return and more long-term upside.

The pitching staff is far less complicated because the Sox have so much depth and so much youth that their only problems are maintaining everyone's health and determining who's the best of all their top prospects.

Buehrle will remain one of the top starters as long as he's healthy, and Ritchie adds a solid veteran arm to take the pressure off the youngsters. Garland will likely emerge as a solid if unspectacular starter, although he could be overtaken by some of these others.

Glover is a fine temporary option until Rauch is healthy, and Wright should begin to establish himself as a rotation force this year. Rauch is the likely future ace due to his height-induced potential, and Malone is one of the top lefty prospects in the majors. Wylie has good upside but likely needs another two years of seasoning.

Foulke is signed for two years, and by 2004, Ginter should be ready to replace him. The Sox have several great bullpen arms with fantastic command and over a strikeout per inning in the high minors. Kane and Almonte should replace Howry and Osuna by 2004, as Howry will be dumped as he'll be expensive next off-season and Osuna is signed for two more years.

Parque, currently anointed the third starter, offers little upside compared to most of these other pitchers. He doesn't appear capable of pitching effectively in almost any role and appears to be a bad clubhouse influence, so hopefully he'll be sent packing after this season. Masaoka, picked up from the Dodgers, could probably even start if necessary but should give the Sox a powerful lefty relief option sometime this season. Wunsch should be recovered from surgery by next season at the latest and can take over for Parque. Guerrier is a bit of a soft-tosser and will compete for the long relief role with Lorenzo Barcelo and Rocky Biddle, both recovering from surgery, as well as with Glover and potentially even Jon Garland if they don't find a trade partner before 2004.

Hopefully you agree with most of our assessments, but even if you don't, we follow the Sox as closely as any team except perhaps the Cubs. Their pitching staff has great young depth even if they don't have many high-upside offensive prospects aside from those likely to play at AAA or the majors this season. They should easily win two of the next five division titles, and hopefully will make at least an LCS if not a World Series' appearance before 2006. The Cubs still have slightly more potential because of their multitude of potential "aces" as well as a payroll increased by their superior attendance, so we'll continue to hope for a Crosstown Series before the 100th anniversary of the last one, however unlikely that might appear to outsiders and historians.

We were hoping to discuss our local columnists in detail, but the White Sox review took up too much time. We'll continue to update each of the five major professional teams whenever we post, with any extra time/space devoted to current events of important, such as Chicago-area Olympians in the next month.

Until Steve Goodman can rest in peace, these are your Good Chicago Sports.