Spellman's Scorecard: Maddon hiring will be a real treat

Happy Halloween!

I've decided to go as a grumpy, freezing, wind-blown bald guy with an enormous head.

Honk if you see me!!

The new guy:

Yeah, he's a good in-game tactician. Yeah, he's sharp as a tack.

Yeah, you name a topic and he can talk about it. Yeah, he's good with players young and old.

Blah, blah, blah.

The main reason I'm excited about the anticipated arrival of Joe Maddon is that he's universally respected.

It's been a long time since we've had a guy like that on the North Side.

A real long time.

Plus:

He seems cool.

Honestly:

I haven't been this excited about a Cubs managerial hire since they brought in a young up-and-comer by the name of Whitey Lockman.

What?

A man for most seasons:

I'm not a huge fan of fall, mainly because the dark and cold are harbingers of what's to come, but I do find the fallen leaves to be very useful.

Now, instead of just sensing there's a giant possum watching you from 7 feet away, you can actually see the beast as it rustles around behind that row of small trees next to the sidewalk.

Yeah, I'm weird.

That's not all:

We turn back the clocks Sunday.

C'mon now! That's just piling on.

It's the perfect time for:

The Breeders' Cup.

Although it's so sad to hear that the broadcast will go on without Bob Neumeier, who's been hospitalized after suffering a stroke.

But:

It'll be nice to see Eddie O live from Santa Anita.

Talk about a guy who knows his horse racing.

Eddie gets to see Joel Quenneville's Midnight Hawk run on the undercard Friday and then catch Denis Savard's Private Zone in the BC Sprint.

Add in all the other monster horses running over the weekend, and well, that is one sweet gig.

Gotta say:

There might not be a better athlete to work with than Antti Raanta.

Always available, always smiling.

If he indeed is sent down to Rockford on Friday, he'll be missed.

Random stat:

Through nine games, Nick Leddy had 3 goals and 2 assists for the first-place Islanders.

Question:

Were the Bulls that good or were the Knicks that bad?

We'll find out a lot more Friday night.

Bulls-Cavs #mustwatch

The price is right:

Is it weird that while driving alone I actually said "Hey!" out loud upon seeing gas for under $3 a gallon?

That kind of reaction means they've got us right where they want us, don't they?

Anyone else ...

Sense a "refinery issue" arising in the near future?

Wait, what?

I really wish I was paying more attention to who FOX play-by-play man Sam Rosen was talking about in the Bears' blowout loss to New England when he said "he's got a case of the dropsies."

Pretty sure I was making a sandwich at that point, but it amused me nonetheless.

Everyone knows it's windy:

And hopefully Mr. Nic Wallenda is ready for it this weekend.

He better be.

And finally:

Thank you baseball for that brilliant, brilliant finale.

• Follow Mike on Twitter @dhspellman