The All-Star teams have been announced and thanks to the idiotic rule that every team has to have a representative, the Cubs will send Marlon Byrd (.310/9 HR/35 RBI) to next week's game in Anaheim. Meanwhile, for the Sox, Matt Thornton was the inexplicable pick (2-3, 4 Saves, 2.92 ERA in 33.2 IP) leaving Paul Konerko (.297/20 HR/57 RBI) at home, hoping he can make it through thanks to MLB's "Final Vote" where fans get to vote on the last player added to each roster. The picks are mind-boggling. No disrespect to Thornton, but how his average relief stats were deemed worthy of the selection instead of Konerko's offensive resurgence is beyond our comprehension. And as for Byrd, maybe it's easy to take his decent offensive output because the Cubs have otherwise been so awful (we've already gone on record as saying no Cubs should go to the All-Star Game as punishment for such a high pay roll and such an awful performance). You can check out MLB's coverage here, including starters, but you'll have to root around a bit to find lists of reserves. more ›

The Cubs and Sox had a rare simultaneous day off yesterday as they both traveled, the Cubs to the Pacific Northwest where they'll open up a series against the Seattle Mariners tonight (9:10 p.m., CSN +) and the Sox back home where they'll open up a new homestand on a hot streak against the equally hot, NL East-leading Atlanta Braves (7:10 p.m., CSN). Meanwhile, All-Star voting continues online and neither the Cubs or the Sox have a shot at getting a player into the starting lineup. In fact, the Sox have no players among the AL's leading vote-getters though at least Paul Konerko (.296/17/51) has a good shot at being named as a reserve. As for the Cubs, Alfonso Soriano (.270/10/35) ranks a distant 11th place in outfielder voting; whether or not he makes the squad is up in the air and it's questionable how Carlos Silva's recent struggles (two straight losses) will affect his odds at making the team even though his 8-0 start was the team's lone bright spot in the first half of 2010. At 8-2 and with a 3.01 ERA, Silva is still the bright spot of the starting rotation and just one more win will probably be enough to send him to Anaheim. more ›

On Saturday night at the UIC Pavilion, the Windy City Rollers' league season came to a close as The Fury over-powered an injury-riddled Double Crossers squad for the Ivy King Cup, champions of the league for 2010. Jammers Kola Loka, Ska Face, and Jackie Daniels helped pace the Fury to a big early lead, 49-16. The Crossers tried to slow the pace down at times but The Fury used speed to keep the lead pack ahead of the Crossers' jammers. Not helping matters was that Crossers' captain/jammer Julia Rosenwinkel, already skating hurt, left the bout after sustaining more harm to her injured leg. Indy Cent picked up the slack, scoring 41 points for the Crossers, but The Fury, who finished with the best overall record (5-1) in league play, were too much, dominating the Crossers in the second half after building a big halftime lead and won convincingly, 130-71 to carry off the Cup. more ›

Bulls star Derrick Rose announced today he'll be in Dallas in February at the NBA's All-Star weekend to defend his All-Star Skills title. The contest will be held Saturday, February 13. Rose is also expected to play a part in the Rookie Challenge game which matches rookies against second-year stars. As of right now, it looks like that may be the only involvement a Bull will have with All-Star weekend. Rose has the best chance of any Bull to be make the East All-Stars but currently ranks sixth in voting at his position, behind Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Ray Allen and Gilbert Arenas. And even with Arenas no longer in the running, it looks like Rose will only make if he's a coach's selection. more ›

You know what we've been craving? Roller derby. Thank Heavens, there's more on the way. The ladies of the Windy City Roller All-Star squad have their work cut out for them against the Baltimore's Charm City All-Stars. According to the WCR: more ›