Midwest

Twice in two nights the Chicago Blackhawks blew a lead and were unable to recover, dropping Friday's game 5-4 to the Dallas Stars after entering the third period up 3-1, then falling to the visiting St. Louis Blues 4-3 Saturday night after going up 2-0 early in the contest.

When the Bears 2006 season schedule was released, Bears fans took note of their dates with Green Bay, Minnesota and the Week 7 bye. The emphasis on the division foes was understandable, but why the bye week?

Worried that cleaning house might give players the wrong impression, Cubs brass signed pitching coach Larry Rothschild to a new two-year contract this week.

At age 24, Nate Jaqua has it pretty well figured out. The quiet 6-foot-3 Chicago Fire forward knows what he wants to accomplish and is working hard on the field to meet those goals. He played impressively in the All-Star game last August and is currently the Fire's top goal scorer for the second year in a row. Last month, Nate talked to The Heckler about Chicago sports, Fire fans and his desire to play in the World Cup.

The Blackhawks grabbed a solid early-season win last night against a fellow Original Six team, Montreal Canadiens. Despite being another in a long string of non-televised home games, this reporter was there in person after scoring some free tickets from someone on the inside.

Why They Might Be Good: Over the summer, future first-ballot Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett told the entire Wolves roster, "I know you guys stink, and you know you guys stink, so I intend to shoot the second the rock touches my hands. This sharing-the-ball thing ain't working. If you don't obey me, I'm going to shove the $1.5 billion I'll earn this year right down y'all's throats."

Why They Might Be Good: You could sextuple-team freakishly accurate shooting guard Michael Redd at mid-court, and he'd still go 7-for-11 from the arc. Thing is, Redd is a team player, the putz. If he decides to buy into the NBA's "me first" paradigm and hurls up 30-plus shots a game, he could be one of the league's poster boy ballhogs a la Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and Paul Pierce.