Baseball has been very good for the Cubs so far this season. The Cubs have maintained a lead in the NL Central since the season began, and still maintain one of the best records in the entire league. Every test that has come the Cubs way they have passed, from dealing with ailing players like Kerry Wood and Alfonso Soriano, to staving off divisional rivals like the Brewers and Cardinals as well as inner-city rivals, AL Central powerhouse, the White Sox. With all of this success, the Chicago Cubs have been able to kick back, relax, and get comfortable with a usually three-to-six-game lead in the division. Maybe too comfortable.

For most people Arlington Park is a nice place to take the family on a Sunday afternoon or to find the wise old gentlemen who has followed horse racing for the past 62 years. This Saturday however is the running of the 26th Arlington Million. A race that will have national coverage on ESPN and be viewed by thousands who come out to the race track.

Bolingbrook, Il – 8/6/08- Money Magazine recently ranked Bolingbrook as the #32 best city to live in the entire USA. There is a new mall, a new hospital and is also known as the tee-ball capital of the world. They also play a little football in Bolingbrook. Now when I say a “little” I am actually speaking literally. I had a chance to stop by a scrimmage game of the Bolingbrook Flag Football Colt Division (5-7 years of age).

In the wake of the Cubs finding themselves in a remarkably tight division race, scouts and managers have looked in one of the directions that has given them the most hope: South Bend, Indiana, home of Charlie Weiss and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.The Irish recently gave the team the lanky dreamboat Jeff “I’m Usually Taller Than You” Samardzija, an All-American wide receiver while playing football for the Irish. Samardzija, while perhaps more talk than walk, throws an impressive 97 M.P.H. fastball that has many in the major league saying, “Wow, you know he used to play football?” Which is subsequently followed by “Yeah, I did. He was really good at that sport, and now he’s slightly above mediocre and slightly below above-average at this one.”