This Cat doesn't believe in kitty curse

You don't have to explain it to Joe Girardi.

He grew up a Cubs fan, played for the Cubs -- twice -- and Ron Santo is a close friend.

So when a black cat ran in front of the Yankees' dugout on the South Side on Tuesday night, Girardi knew exactly what it meant.

"Absolutely nothing,'' Girardi said. "I don't believe in that stuff.''

Yeah, but what about Santo, the '69 Cubs, Shea Stadium, the collapse, the curse?

"Don't believe in it,'' Girardi insisted. "Doesn't scare me.''

You're not scared?

"No, (bench coach) Rob Thomson scared the heck out of me when he saw it,'' laughed Girardi, a Northwestern Wildcat in the '80s. "He screamed, 'Ah, look at that.' I jumped. No, the cat doesn't scare me, but Rob scared me.''

For what it's worth, the cat ran across the field, in front of the dugout, down the steps, and into the camera well in the eighth inning.

But nothing bad occurred in the bottom of the inning as Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless frame.

Actually, the most frightening thing was watching Kyle Farnsworth pitch a squirrelly bottom of the ninth Tuesday.

"I know the whole story of the '69 Cubs and everything that happened that season,'' Girardi said. "You think they lost because of that cat? No? I don't think so, either.''

So much for curses.

Drafting

The NFL is the original copycat league, which means that every team is thinking it can win the Super Bowl by pressuring the quarterback after the Giants and Pats were Nos. 1 and 2 in the NFL last year in sacks, and met in Super Bowl XLII.

This is truly groundbreaking stuff as surely no team has ever tried to pressure the quarterback before 2007, and no team has ever had success with it, right?

All that money spent and all those personnel geniuses and this is the first time some of these teams have given any thought to the defensive line.

Shocking.

Bearing down

As long as we're on the subject, just where is the Bears' defense if Tommie Harris isn't healthy, and is the club considering his injury history while trying to lock him up long term?

It's a fair question, and something the Bears may ponder at some point during the draft.

Comedy Central

Getting off to a good start is so unusual for the Cubs that it has some folks confused.

Naturally, we're here to help.

See, they play in this division called the "Central,'' where every team except the Cubs is a small-market team, or is managed like a small-market team.

This gives the Cubs a huge advantage as they spend like they're trying to empty every last dollar out of the account and get out of town before the new owners get a look at the books.

They also get to play the Pirates, Reds and Astros 51 times this season, which some think unfair.

Again, we should point out the Central Division was created in 1994 -- Milwaukee was added in 1998 -- and this is not a special program put in place for the Cubs a month ago.

There's no surprise here.

So if that bothers you, get over the fact that they can clean up on a division full of baseball's weakest sisters.

And wonder instead why they don't demolish them every year.

Ivan Boldirev-ing

The Blackhawks have apparently designated San Jose free agent Brian Campbell as the savior on defense next season, but if he's auditioning right now, he's got a funny way of trying to increase his value.

Campbell was anything but good during the opening series with Calgary. Fortunately for him, he's got at least another series to get his game together.

Step on my toe

Now that Jeremy Roenick had a monster Game 7 for San Jose, why don't they bring him back here, too?

And if they did, why do you get the feeling Bob Bassen, Greg Gilbert and Brian Noonan wouldn't be far behind?

Best ratings

Yankees manager Joe Girardi on the possibility of a Cubs-Yankees World Series: "The networks would love it.''

Best quote

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, on Girardi: "A lot of people think that's an easy job because they spend a lot of money, but it's not easy managing 22 superstars.''

Best meal

Comedian Alex Kaseberg: "A surfboard maker in San Diego has gone green and is making surfboards out of a soy base instead of polyurethane. That's a great idea. Go out in an ocean full of sharks and ride on top of an appetizer. Why not slather on some steak sauce instead of suntan lotion?''

Best point

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: "Major League Baseball celebrated the 61st anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the sport's color line by having about the same number of black players as it did in 1947."

Best question

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "Can you believe the University of Florida's 2006 crystal national championship football trophy was knocked off a shelf earlier this week and shattered into a million pieces? My first question: Where was Ron Zook at the time?"

And finally ...

CBS' David Letterman: "Everyone's still talking about the Pope's visit to Yankee Stadium. After the Mass, the Yankees retired Roman numeral XVI.''