Sport

Ending a season-long controversy, Cubs manager Dusty Baker has been offered a new three-year contract, not with his baseball team but with Motorola, who will retain Baker's services as their pitchman.

Fighting desperately for a spot in the playoffs against division rivals Detroit and Minnesota, the Chicago White Sox were looking forward to a visit from the AL West-bottom-feeding Seattle Mariners this weekend. The expectation was that the four-game series against Seattle would help the Sox get their postseason campaign back on track.

At a site traditionally seen as a house of horrors and a really ugly one at that, the Bears pulled out a rare win at the Metrodome Sunday. The defense came up big as usual. Adawale Ogunleye recovered a Chester Taylor fumble to set up a last-minute Rex Grossman 24-yard strike to Rashied Davis for a 19-16 win. The Bears (3-0) took sole possession of first in the NFC North with the win.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson was seen collecting change in the parking garage of the Mall of America on Wednesday. Witnesses say the 15-year veteran was sitting on the floor of the concrete lot near the entrance into the mall, with his Vikings helmet overturned, taking any and everything the mall goers would discard.

The White Sox wasted a golden opportunity on Thursday night, falling hard to the Seattle Mariners, 9-0, at U.S. Cellular Field. The Sox failed to pick up ground as last night's slate of games also saw the AL Central-leading Tigers and AL Wild Card-leading Twins lose. The Sox trail Detroit by six games and Minnesota by 5.5 with just nine games remaining on the schedule.

Just a month ago, Bears fans were wondering what had happened to their 2005 NFC North Champion team, so did General Manager Jerry Angelo. Rather than wait to get results, Angelo decided to take matters into his own hands.

On what turned out to be the most exciting night in Wrigleyville this season, the famed Harry Caray statue that normally stands at the corner of Sheffield and Addison freed itself from its perch this week and went on a legendary drinking binge that resulted in thousands of dollars in property damage.