Wednesday night’s leftovers… There was plenty of angst last month when the White Sox released popular utility man Pablo Ozuna, but the White Sox had a good reason for keeping Juan Uribe. Defense. Uribe still isn't hitting much, but he's been making one highlight play after another at third base the past five games. Josh Fields was given the first shot at taking over at third when Joe Crede went on the disabled list, but Uribe has stepped in and done a better job. *Ken Griffey Jr. has a wicked sense of humor, and he offered a sample following Wednesday night’s win over Detroit. After Joey Cora met with the media, the fill-in manager walked through the Sox’ clubhouse and caught the replay of himself on TV. “Look at that (bleeping) intensity,’’ Cora said.

All I can think about is the amount of food in my stomach! We just finished celebrating Andrea's 23rd birthday with an indoor picnic of pizza, cream cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, cereal (yes, with real milk) and all sorts of other American comfort foods. But I promise, though food is a favorite blog topic, our lives here do not revolve around food.

This spring, lawmakers sent Gov. Rod Blagojevich a proposed law that would require insurance companies to keep covering college students via their parents coverage if those students leave school or drop below full-time status because of medical problems. The House approved it 105-3. The Senate vote was 56-1. Blagojevich has made health care his top priority. Seems like a slam-dunk. Nope. Not in the current political climate where Democratic leaders are at each others’ throats and use just about every opportunity to try to embarrass each other, no matter who ends up victimized.

Geovany Soto is back in there as catcher this afternoon. Soto didn't start yesterday, and Lou gave three regulars Monday off. "We rested some people the night before, and they all performed very, very well yesterday," Lou said. "We just got to continue to do that, even at the risk of possibly losing a game along the way. You can't be scared to lose in this business, I cant tell you that." That's a twist on the "lose the battle to win the war" idea, and it's one Piniella has used with both his position players and his pitchers. As far as Beleaguered Bob Howry goes, Lou says he looked at film of yesterday's monster blast Beleaguered Bob gave up to Carlos Lee.

Watch this blog for reports from Beijing on the 2008 Olympics.

When he’s tooling around in his boat _ maybe soon, maybe later _ baseball is going to miss Ozzie Guillen. When he’s no longer manager of the White Sox, his replacement is probably going to come across more like Jerry Manuel or Gene Lamont. I was around when both of them were here, and they are genuinely good guys. They just chose their words very carefully. Hopefully, Guillen’s successor won’t be the reincarnation of Terry Bevington. Words can’t really describe that guy. Ozzie’s not going anywhere for now, unless he has to declare bankruptcy following his latest fine. But nothing lasts forever, and Guillen’s time eventually will come. His legacy can already be written. Ozzie was brutally honest as a player, and he hasn’t changed as the Sox’ manager.

As expected the Cubs activated Kerry Wood off the DL at noon today, just the time when lefty reliever Scott Eyre cleared waivers. At that point, the Cubs designated Eyre for assignment. GM Jim Hendry has seven days to trade Eyre (a likely possibility). If they can't make a deal, they'll then release him. Eyre could have complained about his handling by manager Lou Piniella, but he didn't. As close as he came was this before he headed for his RV to drive home: "I think I did that to myself last year in the first half. I don't think Lou ever got over that. But that's fine. I have no ill feelings, and I mean that, truly...I like this place." Eyre became a little emotional at that point.

A spokesman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich recently said that a memo containing a swear word from House Speaker Michael Madigan to labor leaders shows that Madigan is angry and isolated.
“… it just shows how he's just isolated and a coalition of one," Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero told Daily Herald reporter Nick Shields.

Here’s a link to the full story from last week:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=225204

Blagojevich is upset because Madigan seems to be standing in the way of the governor’s plans to expand gambling and lease out the lottery to finance billions in state-sponsored construction.
OK, time to hop in the way-back machine, back to the summer of 1988.

Let me preface this by saying that I watch Fox News Channel on a daily basis, and that I enjoy its news programming ... there's just so little of it that actually qualifies as such.

So, I'm watching "The Live Desk" with Martha McCallum and Trace Gallagher the other day when I see a promo for "The O'Reilly Factor" that pretty much goes like this:

"The No. 1 song in America is about lesbianism!"
Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" video is briefly shown
"Bill discusses what this means for America with Jane and Bernie, tonight on 'The O'Reilly Factor'!"

A few days later, I'm watching the same show when I see this promo:

In their never-ending quest to divulge as little as possible, the Bears list two starters at each of the wide receiver positions. On the left side, it's Rashied Davis/Devin Hester. On the right side, Marty Booker/Brandon Lloyd. Both listings are alphabetical, as is the starting quarterback spot, which reads: Rex Grossman/Kyle Orton. The third-team wide receivers are Mark Bradley and Mike Hass. No other positions are split with slashes on the first depth chart of the season. Impressive rookie Matt Forte is listed ahead of veteran Adrian Peterson at running back, although they have both been getting reps with the first team. At tight end, Desmond Clark is listed as the starter with Greg Olsen No. 2, although Olsen could wind up getting more snaps.