Illinois

"People need to understand that we have to undo decades of damage left behind by mismanagement and gross negligence," said Ricketts. "We might lose 500 games over our first five years. I want fans to know that it's not going to be pretty for a while."

The long-awaited sale of the Cubs is nearing an end as the Ricketts family has been selected as the final bidder by the Tribune Company, which will end the newspaper company's 27-year championship-free reign that saw the North Side's losers only get more lovable. Insiders estimate the purchase price is just under $900 million, about $880 million more than the Tribune paid for the team in 1981.

The Blackhawks game must have been moved to the dark side of the moon on Monday, as they got beat 4-1 and weren't even on TV. Perhaps programmers confused fan interest in the Wild with that of the Minnesota Timberwolves?

The Bulls managed another milestone on Monday in an already remarkable season of lackluster play and mailing it in. They managed to lose to the Knicks, a team with even less heart than they have, 102-98.

While Cubs fans were shoveling in negative temperatures or rubbing elbows with Mike Fontenot at the Cubs Convention, the White Sox signed a combined 525 pounds of pitching, avoiding arbitration with closer Bobby Jenks while inking Bartolo Colon to a one-year, incentive-laden deal.

On a recent appearance on "Monsters in the Morning" -- a new show on Comcast Sportsnet -- Mayor Richard Daley told hosts Mike North and Dan Jiggets he would welcome a second NFL franchise to Chicago.

Martin Havlat's overtime heroics lifted the Blackhawks to a 2-1 win over the Blues Saturday Night, redeeming the squad's overtime loss to the Rangers the previous evening.