Fans spray to all fields: football, baseball and NBA
Giants need to run to stop the Patriots
I think the New York Giants will win the Super Bowl as long as Eli Manning can stay within himself and they use the running game, and if the defense puts a lot of pressure on Tom Brady.
Marty Calabrese
Madison, Wis.
No way to stop naming-rights deal
I am not a Cubs fan, but a fan of the other team in town. Having gone through the "trauma" of a ballpark name change, let me offer a few words of advice to Cubs fans regarding the naming rights for Wrigley Field.
First of all, get over it. There is nothing you can do to stop this. Like everything else in this "sport," this is a business decision driven by money.
Secondly, the best you can hope for is that the majority of the money generated by selling the naming rights will be put back into the team to make it better, and the ballpark itself, to make it a more amiable venue for a fan to see a ballgame.
Lastly, a world series title will take the sting out of just about anything it could possibly be named. Just ask any White Sox fan.
Frank Szuch
Palatine
Lieber gives Cubs several options
On paper, the Cubs look to take back the fans that jumped on the White Sox bandwagon a couple years ago and make a serious run at the World Series. And, if raising ticket prices are any indication, it's going to expensive to come back to the north side of town.
I believe the signing of Jon Lieber is a great move in helping to ease the cost of ticket prices and helps make the Cubs contenders from the start to finish. The Cubs needed a veteran starter capable of going into the seventh inning and possibly moving up the third spot on the rotation.
Lieber provides the Cubs with a "fail-safe" in case Kerry Wood fails as closer or gets hurt, as Ryan Dempster can be a closer again, work short relief, and be spot starter. Also, with Lieber on board, it frees up Sean Gallagher and Sean Marshall to be part of the proposed trade to get Brian Roberts with Baltimore.
Also, the signing Lieber allows the Cubs to put Mike Fontenot and Jason Marquis together in a trade for a center fielder (Angels Chone Figgins or Gary Matthews Jr.?).
Walter Brzeski
Chicago
In the NBA, money can ruin chemistry
After the recent Joakim Noah incidents, the question arose whether the team chemistry would be affected. I say definitely NO because the only team chemistry on the Bulls is the payroll figures.
Why would I pass to a teammate who makes more money than I do?
Why would I play hard defense and let the players making double what I make score all the points and take all the glory?
Has Big Ben (Wallace) ever really hustled for the overpaying Bulls?
Why not keep the players' salary figures a secret and the team chemistry might suddenly appear?
Bill Burke
Wheaton