Busy day at the Palmer House Hilton, where SoxFest is officially up and running.
You can say what you want about last season, and the "rebuilding" job GM Kenny Williams did this winter.
I thought the crowd was better than expected, and Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, new manager Robin Ventura and 2005 World Series hero Joe Crede received big applause from White Sox fans when they were introduced in the opening ceremony.
Williams?
He got some applause, mixed in with some boos.
KW has had a rough week - his son Kyle made 2 costly mistakes for the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game against the New York Giants last Sunday - and now he is facing some serious pressure with the Sox.
Williams said his son Kyle is doing just fine and has had plenty of support.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk can't be out in Washington as he recovers from a stroke and subsequent brain surgery, so Washington is coming to him.

Kirk's weekly lunch partner -West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin - will visit his colleague Mark Kirk later tonight at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The two were supposed to sit next to one another as a show of bipartisanship during this week's State of the Union address. Manchin left the seat empty in Kirk's honor.

We just received the daily update on U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's condition. Here's the full statement:

“Senator Kirk is doing quite well this morning. He is alert, responding more rapidly to questions and the swelling in his brain has stabilized. While he remains in serious but stable condition, we are pleased with his continued progress,” said Richard Fessler, MD, PhD, neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and professor of neurological surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

We just got this from Dr. Richard Fessler, Sen. Mark Kirk's doctor.

Here's the full statement.

In the latest issue of Pro Football Weekly, draft expert Nolan Nawrocki has the Bears taking LSU wide receiver Rueben Randle with the 19th pick in the first round.

That would be a start.

Trading for Dolphins WR Brandon Marshall, in addition to drafting Randle, could transform the Bears’ receiving group from one of the NFL’s worst to one of its best. It would also, for the first time, give Cutler a legitimate array of weapons with which to showcase his skills.

From Ryan Voyles, our new addition to the Springfield bureau:

Yesterday, we told you how U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh would be unchallenged in the March 20 primary after both potential opponents, Richard Evans and Robert Canfield, were thrown off the ballot by the Illinois Board of Elections.

We couldn't reach Evans before that story ran, but the Villa Park Republican called us back this morning.

Evans said he is objecting to the decision by the board and accuses the board of not following their own rules.

"There's a number of procedural flaws in what happened at the State Board of Elections, including a timeline that was totally flawed from our perspective," he said.

One of the several points to come out of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's speech in Elmhurst yesterday was a suggestion he might support a plan to shift the retirement costs of teachers from the state to local districts.

It's a plan that Senate President John Cullerton floated last year, and we wrote about it then.

One of the basic arguments is this: Chicago schools have to pay for their teachers' pensions. Why shouldn't suburban and downstate schools have to do the same?

When the Tigers' Victor Martinez went down with a season-ending knee injury a few weeks back, the White Sox appeared to have a sliver of hope in the AL Central this season.
Following Tuesday's bombshell announcement – free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder signed a nine-year, $214 million contract with Detroit – the Sox, Indians, Twins and Royals instantly became division also-rans.
Fielder, Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander are three of the Top 10 players in the game, and the Tigers are now set up for a World Series run.
Over time, Detroit is probably going to regret giving Fielder such a long contract.
For now, the Fielder addition makes Detroit a powerhouse team.

Jonathan Toews withdrew from the All-Star Game on Tuesday and was placed on injured reserve, but the Blackhawks remain hopeful their captain can return to the lineup for the next game on Jan. 31 at Vancouver.

“We'll see how he progresses this week, but we said the injury is not serious and it's not,” coach Joel Quenneville said.

General manager Stan Bowman said putting Toews on IR, retroactive to Sunday with an injury to his left arm, was done purely to open a roster spot for rookie center Brandon Pirri to be recalled from Rockford to play in Tuesday's game against Nashville.

Since a player needs to spent only a minimum of seven days on IR, Toews would be eligible to play next week against the Canucks. The Hawks are off for the next six days for the all-star break.

Busy day for the White Sox on Monday in advance of this weekend’s SoxFest at the Palmer House.
Let’s get to it:
-There is only one person who knows where Ozzie Guillen keeps the mute button – Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
Obviously sensing more storms following some of Ozzie’s Twitter comments last Friday regarding his abrupt departure, Reinsdorf issued a statement late Monday afternoon: