Bulls forward Luol Deng finally earned his first trip to the All-Star game yesterday, when he was named as a reserve for the Eastern Conference team. more ›

While it was a travesty that he was left off the initial AL All-Star roster given his top-five ranking in all three Triple Crown categories, Paul Konerko finally earned his spot on the team Thursday. Fans picked Paulie in the Final Vote, where the White Sox first baseman beat out Victor Martinez, Alex Gordon, Adam Jones and Ben Zobrist. Konerko received 8.4 million votes, but joked, "There were definitely some multiple voters. My mom was probably a million of them." For the NL, Phillies' center fielder Shane Victorino won the fan vote. more ›

Paul Konerko was left off the AL All-Star squad despite being in the top five in batting average, home runs and RBI. Now it's up to a final vote to get him onto the team. more ›

While the Bulls' Derrick Rose was voted into the starting line-up for the NBA All-Star game, he'll be traveling to Los Angeles by himself for the main event. Last night, the rosters' reserves were announced, and no other Bulls made the cut. Before going down with a thumb injury in December, Joakim Noah looked to be a lock for the game. Carlos Boozer deserved a spot, given his 19.8 points and 10.2 rebounds/game. Of course, he did miss the first month of the season with a broken hand. Luol Deng was an other potential long shot, averaging 17.8 points, 6.2 rebounds. Ultimately, the rest of the Bulls were snubbed. more ›

The NBA announced its fan selections for the upcoming All-Star Game on Thursday night. For the first time since Michael Jordan retired, the the Bulls have a player in the starting line-up. Derrick Rose was voted to start for the Eastern Conference team in the Feb. 20 game. Rose will team up with Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire. more ›

It was quite an All-Star Game last night for Major League Baseball as the National League defeated the American League 3-1, the NL's first win in the Midsummer Classic since 1996 (and including that tie in 2002). And both a Cub and White Sox (White Sock?) figured in the decision. After the round-about way he made it onto the roster, the Sox' Paul Konerko was largely silent, entering the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth and going 0-for-2. But the not, at least from a local stand-point, belonged to the Cubs' Marlon Byrd and (in a more unfortunate way) the Sox' Matt Thornton. With two on and one out in the NL top of the seventh, Thornton was brought in, recorded an out, and then faced Byrd. Byrd fell behind 0-2, battled back to 3-2, fought off a pair of fouls, and then drew the walk to load the bases. The next batter, Brian McCann, doubled off of Thornton, knocking in all three runners and putting the NL down the road to their first victory in 14 years. more ›

A concussion did what White Sox fans could not. Last week, Paul Konerko came up short in the "Final Vote" fan vote for a spot on the AL All-Star team roster. But due to an injury to Twins first baseman Justin Morneau to see Chi Sox first baseman Konkero was added to the squad over the weekend. The South Side slugger ranks among the top five in the AL with 20 home runs and 63 RBIs while sporting a .299 batting average -- numbers that should have made Paulie an easy selection for the team. Besides, shouldn't a first place team have more than one middle reliever representing them at the All-Star game? Konerko will join teammate Matt Thornton, who was named to the roster last week, in Anaheim for tomorrow night's All-Star Game. more ›

While the Blackhawks are busy battling the Canucks in the NHL playoffs on the ice, off of it, they're pitching the league. Specifically, they're lobbying the NHL for rights to host both an NHL All-Star Game as well as the league's annual draft. Chicago's been the site of the NHL All-Star Game three times but the last was almost 20 years ago (1991). Said league commissioner Gary Bettman: more ›

The Chicago Bulls sent two representatives to Dallas this weekend for the NBA's annual All-Star Weekend. Rookie Taj Gibson suited up for the first year squad in the Rookie Challenge on Friday and scored six points and grabbed two rebounds in the game that saw the rooks beat the second years players 140-128. more ›

• Naperville mayor George Pradel is recovering after suffering a heart attack Wednesday night.
• 52 puppies were rescued from a South Suburban puppy mill.
• A defense of Scott Lee Cohen. [via]

Here's one more round of the All-Star visit of Pres. Obama, courtesy of the White House Flickr Stream. [see our previous set here and check out SI's collection here (thanks, Chris!)] more ›

It was a mercifully quick-paced Major League Baseball All-Star Game last night, lasting barely 2 and a half hours, which made it shorter than the previous night's Home Run Derby. In the end, the American League came away with another victory, winning 4-3 and keeping the NL winless streak intact (the NL last won 6-0 in 1996). That's what happens when you allow the DH, folks. It's not real baseball. Anyway. It was the second straight year the final score was 4-3 and the fourth straight year the AL won by a single run. And what of our local boys? North Sider Ted Lilly didn't see any action, but South Sider Mark Buehrle pitched a quick, easy 1-2-3 third inning for the junior circuit. more ›

A few days after this year's Winter Classic, and the ratings are in. The prognosis? Good. Very good. Better than last year, in fact. It earned the NHL's best overnight ratings in 13 years and increased 12 percent over last year's game.

This year's outdoor game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings earned a 2.9 overnight rating and a 6 share. Each overnight ratings point equals about 735,000 TV homes. Last year's game featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres had a 2.6 overnight rating and 5 share...In Chicago, Thursday's game drew a national high of an 11.8 rating and 21 share, with Detroit second at 10.5 and 21.

In honor of this year's All-Star game in Yankee Stadium, Major League Baseball is releasing a series of city-specific, unbelievably ugly Statues of Liberty. (Statue of Liberties?) more ›

The NBA finalized the All-Star game rosters, announcing the reserves on Thursday. It should come as no surprise that the Bulls will not represented. Again. more ›

Too bad Brian Urlacher's monster game on Monday night came too late in the season for it to impact Pro Bowl voting by coaches and players. While he won the fans' vote, the Bears' middle linebacker was not selected to February's Pro Bowl for only the second time in his career — and the first in which he played the whole year. more ›

Although it's not as if anyone actually watches the Pro Bowl, the NFL announced the Pro Bowl rosters on Tuesday. Seven Bears have been invited to Hawaii for the postseason all-star game. As expected, the bulk of the slections are on defense and special teams. Linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, as well as defensive tackle Tommie Harris (on IR, won't play) will represent the defense, while rookie Devin Hester was voted in as the... more ›

Was it only a week ago that the Sox sat in third place in the AL Central, 10 games behind the Detroit Tigers? My, how things change quickly! more ›

Should the White Sox again find themselves in the World Series this October -- and why shouldn't they? -- they now know they'll have home field advantage, on account of the American League's 3-2 victory in last night's All Star Game. It didn't look quite so promising for a while, however. more ›

We did it again! For the second straight year, a member of the White Sox was voted by fans in MLB's Final Vote for the 32nd roster spot in the All Star Game. A.J. Pierzynski beat out 4 other worthy contenders for the honor, just as Scott Podsednik did last year. Once again, the White Sox marketing staff jumped into action to promote their candidate, coming up with their "Punch A.J." campaign. Playing off his... more ›

Major League Baseball announced the rosters for next week's All Star Game yesterday, and 6 members of the White Sox were selected, along with one Cub -- Carlos Zambrano. more ›

As Fox repeatedly reminded us last night, "This time, it still counts." As in the winning league's representative in the World Series gets home field advantage. So it's a good thing for the White Sox that the AL won the All Star Game 7-5 last night. more ›

Chicagoist asked you to do our city proud by voting early and often for MLB's Final Vote to select the last players on the All Star game rosters, and you didn't disappoint! more ›

Following last night's victory over the Charlotte Bobcats, the Bulls completed the first half of their season with a 22-19 record. Yeah, that's right... 3 games over .500! Of course, that means they've beena sizzling 22-10 since their 0-9 start. more ›