Derek Thompson added 10 points for the Eagles (12-16, 7-6), the Mid-American West Division leaders, who snapped a two-game slide. Lampley also had team highs of five assists and three steals.

Tony Nixon and Abdel Nader scored 10 points apiece for the Huskies (3-23, 2-11), who dropped their fourth in a row and fell to 0-12 on the road. Nadel’s seven rebounds led Northern Illinois to a 42-28 edge on the boards.

After a 22-22 halftime tie, the Huskies started the second half with a 14-2 surge. But with the score 39-26, Eastern Michigan reeled off the next 15 points, holding Northern Illinois scoreless for 9:06.

The Eagles swept the season series, having won 47-40 on Jan. 7 in DeKalb.

(© 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

Joakim Noah had 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the first triple-double by a Chicago center in roughly 35 years, and the Bulls simply ran away with this one. The Central Division leaders built an 11-point halftime lead and broke it open in the third quarter, a nice send-off for the All-Star break.

Ronnie Brewer scored 15 points as all five Bulls starters scored in double figures. Reserves Kyle Korver (11 points) and Taj Gibson (nine points, 10 rebounds) provided a spark as Chicago handed Milwaukee its sixth loss in seven games.

Brandon Jennings scored 20 points to lead the Bucks, who never really had a chance in this one with Chicago shooting 54.4 percent from the field and dominating on the glass with a 49-29 rebounding edge.

Boozer hit 9 of his 12 shots.

Rose looked sharp again after saying the lower back pain that caused him to miss five recent games is gone. He put up a 23-point effort against Atlanta on Monday with another strong showing.

And then there was Noah. How good was he? Consider this: Not since Artis Gilmore had 35 points, 15 rebounds and 11 blocks against Atlanta on Dec. 20, 1977, had a Bulls center delivered a triple-double.

Noah fired up the crowd twice in the final minute of the third quarter.

First, he dunked on Beno Udrih for a three-point play. Then, after two free throws by Jennings, he buried a corner jumper with about a second left to make it 93-75, sending a roar through the arena.

Notes: The Bulls have won seven straight against Milwaukee. … Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said veteran G Richard Hamilton “is doing a lot more” and is “taking on contact now,” but his return date remains up in the air. Hamilton has been limited to 11 games this season because of thigh and groin problems. … Backup PG C.J. Watson missed his second straight game because of a mild concussion. … Milwaukee’s Stephen Jackson did not travel with the team because of a sore right hamstring, and Drew Gooden missed his fourth straight game because of a sprained right wrist.

(© 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

Scott Martin added 15 points and Jack Cooley and Eric Atkins had 13 each for the Irish, who shot 61 percent. They outscored the Mountaineers 41-16 in the second half after leading by just two points at the break.

The Irish (20-8, 12-3 Big East) have not lost since Jan. 16 at Rutgers and are 15-1 at the Purcell Pavilion. It’s the first time in program history Notre Dame has won nine straight Big East games.

The Mountaineers (17-11, 7-8) have lost six of their last eight. Kevin Jones had 15 points for West Virginia, which shot just 31.5 percent and made only 6 of 27 field goal attempts after halftime.

(© 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

Chicago Fire Soccer LLC entered into a licensing agreement on Sept. 23, 2009, with Chicago Fire Juniors Inc. for use of its trademarks, names, logos, mascots and symbols, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court.

CFJI agreed to pay the Fire $50 for every player on a CFJI team annually, excluding players placed on more than 50 percent scholarship, the suit said. More than 6,000 players are involved in the leagues in five states, according to a Wednesday statement from the Fire.

The suit claims CFJI failed to pay $35,950 that is due under the agreement. That amount represents 704 “full players” at $50 each and 75 “partial players” at $10 each.

The youth league also failed to get written approval and consent from the Fire or Major League Soccer to use the Fire logo on merchandise it sold or distributed, the suit claims. CFJI failed to submit reports on performance and assessment of players.

“The Chicago Fire Soccer Club has grown its Player Development program from 400 youths to over 6,000 across five states in just four years,” the team statement said. “The Chicago Fire continue to invest in its Player Development Program to grow youth soccer in Chicagoland and across multiple states.

“As part of this measure the club is standardizing practices and centralizing its Academy and Juniors programs out of Toyota Park to provide youth soccer players greater access to a professional environment. The club continues to work with its affiliates to make sure that each affiliate club is in accordance with Chicago Fire Soccer Club standards,” the statement said.

But according to the suit, the youth league didn’t amend its bylaws to specify that at least one board position be a designee of the Fire, and didn’t develop a plan to coordinate functions, operations and ownership as required in the agreement.

Mike Jeffries of the Fire emailed CFJI President Joe Fuster on Oct. 7, 2011, and explained the youth league was in breach of contract, the suit said. Jeffries also emailed Fuster on Nov. 4, 2011, to stress the Fire’s desire to resolve the issues.

The Fire notified CFJI in writing on Nov. 22, 2011, of its intent to terminate the licensing agreement due to CFJI’s failure to pay and the resulting breach of agreement, the suit said.

The agreement stated that if CFJI was in default, the Fire has the option to terminate the agreement effective 30 days after written notice, the suit said. The 30-day period lapsed on Dec. 22, 2011, without CFJI making payment or resolving the contract issues.

On Dec. 30, 2011, the Fire terminated the licensing agreement, the suit said. The Fire sent a cease and desist letter to CFJI demanding it stop unauthorized use of Fire trademarks, but the league continues to use them on its website and representations to the public, the suit claims.

The three-count suit claims breach of contract and seeks an injunction stopping CFJI from using Fire trademarks or stating any connection with the MLS team. It also seeks $35,950, attorney fees and court costs.

A Chicago Fire Juniors spokesman declined to comment on the suit.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

According to a report, reserve free agent Joel Przybilla has decided to return to the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Przybilla had reportedly been deciding between playing for the Bulls or the Heat.

By the looks of this picture, however, that time appears to be long, long gone.

Jones will turn 40 in April and is about to begin his 19th season with the Braves.

He’s due $14 million in 2012, with a club option for 2013.

One of the promotions items the Tampa Bay Rays are giving out this season is the Don Zimmer “Zim Bear.” Check out the photo below.

Your thoughts on this man-bear?

Photo credit: Tampa Bay Rays

MESA, Ariz. (CBS) – One thing is for sure, it will be a lot quieter at White Sox camp this spring.

Robin Ventura takes over for Ozzie Guillen, and though both are very competitive men, they couldn’t be more opposite in personalities. Ventura met the media for the first time in Arizona on Wednesday and touched bases on a multitude of topics.

The new Sox manager is itching to get going.

“I’m tired of looking at papers and reports, he said. “It’s nice to actually get here and see guys in uniform and see guys hitting and throwing – that’s the fun part. It has seemed like a long time since I got hired. It will be nice to have the whole squad in camp and get going”.

Seemingly, there are few spots up for grabs on the Sox roster, but Ventura gave no glimpses into how he’s leaning.

“It’s open for going through the spring and seeing how guys do,” Ventura said. “I have a lot of ideas that I’m probably going to keep between myself and the coaching staff. I’m not going to pinpoint anything right now. We’re just going to go forward and see how it goes”.

As for the low expectations that are being placed on the team with Detroit the prohibitive favorite, Ventura responded: “Detroit has kind of earned the favorite’s role from what they did last year and during the offseason, but it’s not going to change the way we approach anything. We’re not going to concede anything to anybody. We’re going to go about playing the right way, so it’s fine that people say what they say, but it’s not going to change my attitude or my team’s attitude”.

And make no mistake – though Ventura is a first-time manager, there’s no doubt who is in charge.

“It’s my way or the highway,” he said.

For more spring training coverage from Mesa, Ariz, click here. Find all of David Schuster’s spring training blogs here and follow him on Twitter (@schumouse).

(CBS) This may be simply because I watch so many Bulls games on DVR, but I’m itching to fast-forward to the playoffs. Push a button, blur it by, and get on with it.

Just past the halfway point of this lockout-shortened season, we have learned nothing significant about this year’s team, other than how easy it is for Derrick Rose to get hurt, and for it all then to become immediately irrelevant.

It feels like more bad can happen than good between now and any games that matter.

So they get home-court advantage by out-hustling better teams and pounding the myriad bands of bums. Great. But none of this makes them significantly more likely to get past a Miami Heat squad that performs like an exhibition at the Air and Water Show – some nights looking more like the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds than a basketball team.

All this compressed schedule of toil, and for what?

Rose is still everything, and he already has two injuries that he admits will need to be managed from here on in. Sprained toe, strained back, and something else, probably, soon. Some midweek night in some indistinguishable NBA arena he’s going to land wrong again on a hard floor. At least his backup’s backup’s backup has been a nice find.

Luol Deng’s versatile, professional play has earned him an All-Star spot, but nobody now thinks he’s transformed into the kind of second true star that elevates the Bulls to a different conversation. Joakim Noah still needs to play like his unruly hair is on fire to counterbalance his deficiencies and Carlos Boozer still has only limited interest or ability to play satisfactory defense. The bench still outperforms that of the other team almost every night.

And what of Rip Hamilton, the big offseason move that was to solidify them for May and June? He’s been a headbanded, lucite-faced ghost, and reasonable fans have already lowered expectations for what he’ll mean, even if he’s “healthy.” He may just be old and brittle.

One could argue that regular-season games could matter if/when Hamilton is reintegrated to the offense, but even that is a reach. Veterans know what to do, and all that looks different when he plays is the incorporated series of baseline-chase “floppy” sets and single-double actions that take advantage of his skills. And Ronnie Brewer returns to the second unit, where he belongs.

Tom Thibodeau grinds ahead, having instilled a sense of commitment and purpose in this team that has the engine running hot all the time. What is key, however, is the past tense of that statement: last year’s Bulls had just been constructed, and Thibodeau was an unproven, unknown head coach who needed to establish a culture, and he did.

Now, this is as solid a team as can be, playing for the reigning NBA Coach of the Year. Any trite contention that these games help them “come together” seems a little silly. Togetherness, whatever that means, is not an issue. If they again fall to the Heat, it will not be due to a lack of unity or cohesion.

32 games remain of this year’s 66, which still seem like a lot.

I’ll be watching impatiently and anxiously, hoping the Bulls stay healthy and waiting to learn something.

Dan Bernstein has been the co-host of “Boers and Bernstein” since 1999. He joined the station as a reporter/anchor in 1995. The Boers and Bernstein Show airs every weekday from 1PM to 6PM on The Score, 670AM. Read more of Bernstein’s columns here. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein.
Listen to The Boers and Bernstein Show podcasts >>

The severity of the concussion is not known, but it is believed Toews suffered the injury early in the Blackhawks’ recent road trip. A second source said it happened Feb. 10 at San Jose. The source also said that Toews may have hidden his symptoms from the team to remain on the ice.

Toews missed Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over the Red Wings and did not practice Wednesday. He will not play when the Blackhawks host the Dallas Stars Thursday, but he is listed as day-to-day.

Here’s your chance to register for this incredible opportunity to help raise money for the Special Olympics.

Each participant is asked to raise a minimum of $125 to support the programs enjoyed by the nearly 5,000 Special Olympics Chicago athletes throughout the year. Plungers will receive a souvenir t-shirt and a warm towel when exiting the water.

The 12th annual Polar Plunge will take place at North Ave. Beach on Sunday, March 4 at 10 am.

Here is that statement in its entirety:

In an effort to grow college football’s great popularity and success, we just completed two days of productive meetings in Dallas, Texas.

We have until the fall of this year to finalize any possible changes to our current structure. That’s when contractual obligations require us to begin negotiations with our television carrier for future coverage decisions. We have a self-imposed deadline of sometime this summer to decide what changes we will propose to our governing bodies for football’s post-season. It’s still early in our process and we will continue to meet with our conferences and review options.

Whatever we do, we want to protect college football’s regular season which is the best and most meaningful in sports. We want to preserve the great bowl tradition while making it better and more attractive. We also have heard the message about playing bowl games closer to or on January 1, the way it used to be.

As we proceed, we will evaluate the many pros and cons of numerous possible changes. Every idea has exciting up sides, as well as complicated consequences. From the realities of the calendar to the issues presented in terms of venues such as who hosts games, we have tremendous responsibilities and opportunities.

The bottom line is we will continue to talk about how to make a great sport even better for student-athletes, fans and everyone who loves college football.

Bob called into The Boers and Bernstein Show to voice his displeasure with the Bulls’ decision to sign veteran point guard Mike James to his second 10-day contract with the team.

With injuries to Derrick Rose and C.J. Watson, the Bulls have had no choice but to look outside the team for a fourth-string point guard.

“Aren’t there other options out there besides Mike James?” Bob asked. “I think he’s too old for the position.”

You see, in three games since signing his second 10-day contract with Chicago, James has averages 10.3 points and 4.3 assists — not bad for your fourth-string, 36-year-old point guard.

This question sparked an immediate reaction from co-host Dan Bernstein who responded with this: “He’s a fourth-string point guard! The acquisiton of Mike James was out of pure need. The injury to Derrick and the injury to C.J. Watson — they needed another point guard. … Who would you rather have as a backup point guard than a veteran who has stepped up and player terrific for you? … What in God’s name are you expecting from a call-up as a fill in?”

LISTEN: Caller of the Day

For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (CBS) – Much like on the other side of town, the White Sox seemingly have little competition with their starting positional players but there are a number of open spots on the pitching staff.

Specifically with the Sox, the competition is in the bullpen and even more specifically the closer’s role. The battle is between three guys: Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain and Addison Reed.

Though Reed is the youngest and least experienced of the three, he likely is the leader for the job going into Spring Training. He’s a hard throwing right-hander who in his brief time with the Sox last September struck out 12 while walking just one. The Sox have had a history of bringing guys out of nowhere to be their closer and Reed could be their latest.

As for the other two guys, Crain didn’t hide his feelings.

“That’s going to be up to the coaching staff but they know how I feel about the opportunity,” he said. “I can’t control anything other then going out and pitching. I’m sure they have someone in mind but we’ll see what happens and I’m going to give them something to think about.”

Meanwhile, Thornton was handed the closer’s role at the beginning of last season and didn’t have much success.

“I had a bad five or six weeks in my career at the really worst time,” Thornton said. “I was given an opportunity by Ozzie to be the closer last year and I blew it. I didn’t get the job done but I did bounce back and had a good last few months of the season and threw the ball well.”

Thornton learned from last year’s experience and would like a second stab.

“If I get a shot at the closer’s role I would enjoy it and I would like another chance to prove that I can do it,” he said.

For more White Sox spring training coverage from Glendale, Ariz, click here. Find all of David Schuster’s spring training blogs here and follow him on Twitter (@schumouse).

Schuster was on The McNeil and Spiegel Show discussing prospective pitcher Dylan Axelrod when Williams stated his opinion on the 26-year-old right-hander.

“Dylan Axelrod is an outstanding young man and he can pitch,” Williams said. “He’s one of these good stories that you hear about coming through the Independent League and the getting an opportunity and making himself into a major league, so let’s all root for him. … I didn’t find him. He found us.”

LISTEN: Kenny Williams on The McNeil and Spiegel Show

For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.

New general manager Phil Emery has stated he has the green light to spend money where needed. With wide receivers like Dwayne Bowe, Vincent Jackson, Marques Colston and DeSean Jackson potentially available, the Bears could finally land a No. 1 wide receiver.

“I would try to get one in free agency, and depending on who I could get in free agency, I’d also think about it in the draft in one of those four picks in the first three rounds,” Brad Biggs of the National Football Post and Chicago Tribune told The Mully and Hanley Show. “I think they’ve got some other areas that certainly need to be addressed, and not all of these wide receivers are going to hit the open market, but for the guys that do get out there, I think there is going to be tremendous competition for players like Vincent Jackson, if he gets out to the open market. You’ve got to have a plan, you’ve got to have a price and you’ve got to have conviction. You can’t just throw money around. You’ve got to believe that it’s going to work. But I believe they need to rectify the mistakes of the previous years with this position.”

LISTEN: Brad Biggs on The Mully and Hanley Show

For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.

Though some of the Bears available money has to be set aside for draft picks, the Bears have more than enough to fulfill their needs.

“You gotta carve out a little bit for the draft picks but it leaves them with enough room to do anything they want. Is it the $67 million that the Bucs are reported to have in cap space? No, it’s far from it, but my goodness, when you talk about cap room, you’ve got all the flexibility you could possibly need.”

The old “Cubs Way” is now gone, and a newer, smarter brand of baseball is taking over.

“If you’re going to build this thing from the ground up, you’ve at least begun the right way,” Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times told The Mully and Hanley Show. “They’ve stock piled pitching. How any of these guys that are sort of bounce-back candidates respond remains to be seen, but if one or two of them do, then you add to that. What you’re doing when you bring in position players is you’re focusing on guys with versatility and guys that can catch the ball.

LISTEN: Gordon Wittenmyer on The Mully and Hanley Show

For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.

Wittenmyer said that though there might not be any immediate signs of change this season, slowly but surely, fans will begin to see the difference.

“You’re going to emphasize fundamentals in camp,” he said. “If something begins to look like it’s coming together, whether it’s this year or next year,  now you add to that. Meanwhile, you’re not spending the big bucks on the big-buck home-run hitters before you need them. One or two of those guys isn’t going to put you over the top, anyway.”

The report alleges Rose wanted the Bulls to work out a trade that would send Carlos Boozer to Los Angeles for Gasol.

“(Derrick’s) not going to undercut Carlos Boozer or any of his other teammates by saying anything publicly that’s going to undermine them and make it seem like he doesn’t ant them around,” Sheridan told The Mully and Hanley Show. “But, let’s face it, Pau Gasol would be an uprgrade over Carlos Boozer. If he can be had at the right price, certainly the Bulls would have to put something on the back end of that trade to even it out for the Lakers. If you can get Pau Gasol in there instead of Carlos Boozer, you’ve upgraded your team and given yourself a better chance to get past the Miami Heat. That’s what Derrick is all about – getting past the Miami Heat and getting to the NBA Finals.”

LISTEN: Chris Sheridan on The Mully and Hanley Show

For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.

Sheridan said the trade would make sense for the aging Lakers if the Bulls would throwing in a point guard like C.J. Watson.

“They’re not an elite team anymore,” he said. “They need to do something to get a little bit younger and a little bit better. Right now, the best trade asset they have is Pau Gasol. You start looking around the league if you’re the Lakers, especially toward the Eastern Conference because you’re going to want to trade the guy out of the conference, and you say, ‘Well, who has got the goods to give us exactly what we’re looking for?’ They’d have to replace a guy on the low block and the Bulls can do that with Boozer. The Lakers also need a point guard. … Look, the Bulls have C.J. Watson who has filled in pretty admirably in the games Derrick Rose has missed.”

(CBS) You’re well-versed in the “Curse of the Billy Goat.” You’re plenty familiar with that hex the Black Sox put on the White Sox way back in 1919. And you’re fully aware that when it comes to spooky baseball shenanigans, Chicago is “Curse Capital, USA.”

But here in 2012 as spring training is once again sprung upon us, what you likely don’t know is that there’s another baseball “curse” that’s been lurking beneath the Windy City’s collective radar for more than a century.

And it just might be the most powerful one of them all.

More than six years ago after the White Sox captured their first World Series title since 1917 – and finally busted the ghosts of the Black Sox in the process – I first identified this previously unknown hex that’s long been quietly haunting Chicago’s big league ballparks.

But it wasn’t until last week, when news broke that the Cubs might play their 2013 season down at U.S. Cellular Field while Wrigley Field gets a gut rehab, that my memory of this “Curse of Chicago” was jogged.

And I thought I’d run ii past you today.

Last week, I wrote a blog entry where I imagined a bittersweet scenario in which the Cubs finally fulfill their fans’ dream of winning a World Series, only to end up doing so while nightmarishly displaced at The Cell. Now, you can certainly call that tale science fiction. But the story I’m about to share with you is nothing but the truth.

Even the most seasoned baseball observers among you might not realize that, in spite of that White Sox title in 2005, Chicago still remains a championship graveyard.

And that’s because the Windy City – or, perhaps more appropriately, the When-dy City – still hasn’t celebrated a postseason baseball series championship of any kind on its own soil since 1906. In fact, the only reason why that championship was celebrated within the Chicago city limits was because the 1906 World Series never left Chicago city limits.

In that showdown, the White Sox topped the Cubs at South Side Park in Game 6 of a crosstown Fall Classic, sparking a celebration that surely rocked the city but also appears to have somehow rankled the baseball gods.

Because they haven’t forgiven Chicago since.

After all, get a load of this list of the city’s all-time championship-game history – and perhaps get a couple of chills in the process …

2005: The White Sox won the American League Division Series in Boston, won the AL Championship Series in Anaheim, and won the World Series in Houston.

2003: The Cubs lose the potential series-clinching Game 4 of NLDS at Wrigley Field, before going on to win the series in Game 5 in Atlanta. Then, in the NLCS, the Cubs lose potential series clinchers, Games 6 and 7, at Wrigley Field.

1945: The Cubs lose the decisive Game 7 of the World Series to the Detroit Tigers at Wrigley Field.

1917: The White Sox win the World Series over the Giants in Game 6 at the Polo Grounds in New York City.

1908: The Cubs win the World Series over the Tigers in Game 5 at Bennett Park in Detroit.

1907: The Cubs win the World Series over the Tigers in Game 4 at Bennett Park in Detroit.

For those keeping score, that’s seven Chicago postseason series victories since 1906 – with each and every one of them being clinched outside the City of Big Shoulders. And that’s four times – three in 2003, and one in 1945 – that the Cubs had an opportunity to secure a series championship on city turf only to come up short.

In all the years that this metropolis has played Major League Baseball, Chicago has celebrated only one postseason series clincher within its city limits (1906). And, again, it took two Chicago teams to make that happen.

Now, of course, in 2005, the White Sox were so efficient in the playoffs that they didn’t need to come home to clinch a series. Same can be said for the 1907 Cubs, who swept Detroit in four games.

Nevertheless, with all of this in mind, perhaps it doesn’t matter one lick if a future championship-caliber Cubs squad played its games at U.S. Cellular Field. After all, even if that hypothetical team were to finally win a World Series, the clincher likely would take place on the road.

Otherwise, it doesn’t seem as if it could take place at all.

Because until further notice, the Windy City should be considered inhospitable for all series-clinching celebrations as this under-appreciated “Curse of Chicago” lives on.

But, hey, at least the Billy Goat probably appreciates it.

After all, it means he still has company, right?

Dave Wischnowsky

If nothing else, Dave Wischnowsky is an Illinois boy. Raised in Bourbonnais, educated at the University of Illinois and bred on sports in the Land of Lincoln, he now resides on Chicago’s North Side, just blocks from Wrigley Field. Formerly a reporter and blogger for the Chicago Tribune, Dave currently writes a syndicated column, The Wisch List, which you can check out via his blog at http://www.wischlist.com. Follow him on Twitter @wischlist and read more of his CBS Chicago blog entries here.

May 31, 1998 – Bulls beat the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals

You remember Reggie Miller, right?

He’s that shooting guard from the Pacers that made the Bulls’ lives a living hell during the seven-game Eastern Conference Finals in 1998.

The Bulls were poised to return to the NBA Finals and win their third-straight NBA championship, but they’d first have to go through Miller and the Pacers. Chicago had little trouble reaching the conference finals after sweeping the Nets in the first round and taking down the Hornets in five games in round two, but Miller and the Pacers wouldn’t let the Bulls just march into the Finals uncontested.

Early in the series, it appeared the Bulls would win the series, taking Games 1 and 2, but once the series shift to Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, things began to change.

After the Pacers took Game 3, they trailed the Bulls 94–93 in Game 4 with 2.9 seconds left.

Miller then got free from Michael Jordan, caught the in-bounds pass from Derrick McKey, and turned and made a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds to go.

The clutch 3-pointer tied the series at 2 games, but the Bulls would eventually take home the Eastern Conference crown in Game 7 in Chicago. This was one of only two Game 7s the Bulls would play during their run of six championships.

The Score will continue to release a new Flashback each weekday until they reach 100. Check back tomorrow for a new one, or check out all of the previous Flashbacks: 670 The Score’s 20th Anniversary »

EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) – Before tipoff at Welsh-Ryan Arena, some of the most loyal fans sitting courtside called Tuesday night’s game against Michigan “the biggest game in Northwestern’s history.”

Whether or not it really was doesn’t matter because the Wildcats lost 67-55 in overtime, which means every game from here on out is even bigger if Northwestern wants to receive its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

There’s little doubt the ‘Cats missed out on a giant opportunity Tuesday night in Evanston. Squarely on the proverbial “bubble”, a win over the Wolverines would have given Northwestern a third win over an RPI Top 50 team, propelling its resume well past some of the other teams fighting for a tournament berth.

“This is a tough loss, but I think we are just going to look at it as we fought hard and we lost to a good team,” junior guard Reggie Hearn said after the game. “We had a chance to get a resume-building win, we didn’t get it, but there’s still a lot left to play for.”

Hearn’s attitude is exactly how the NU players should look at Tuesday’s loss. It was a big opportunity, but the idea that it was “must-win” is simply a misconception. A loss to Michigan is not a bad loss in any way and it’s possible the Wildcats would still be in the NCAA Tournament if the selections were made today.

NU has now taken Michigan to overtime twice this season and Bill Carmody wasn’t the only Big Ten coach in the building Tuesday who still thinks Northwestern is an NCAA Tournament team.

“Absolutely,” Michigan head coach John Beilein said when asked if NU was good enough to make the tournament. “Let’s really look at this. We’ve beat them twice in overtime. This league is so good, both of those times, I mean, Marcotullio missed the foul shot (in the first game), and here, the last shot could have gone in on their end. We’re 0-2 and they’re in the tournament.”

He’s right. But unfortunately, it’s the Wildcats who are 0-2 in those two games and because they lost Tuesday night, they have some major work left to do. The two remaining road games at Penn State (Saturday) and at Iowa (Mar. 3) are indeed “must wins” and next week’s home clash against Ohio State will probably actually be “the biggest game in Northwestern history”.

The problem is the Wildcats only have one road win in Big Ten play (at reeling Illinois) and if they couldn’t hold onto a seven-point halftime lead against Michigan in a game with enormous hype, one can only wonder how they will be able to put it all together against an even better Ohio State team next week.

And that’s why Tuesday’s game against Michigan was indeed a huge missed opportunity. The Cats needed another big win to put on their resume. Now they’ll have to beat Ohio State next week or pull off a significant upset in the Big Ten Tournament, meaning they’ll have to win at least two games in Indianapolis. And that’s assuming they win their last two road games, which is anything but a guarantee.

After the game, head coach Bill Carmody said it was possible his players were “jittery” and that was evident as Northwestern failed to score before the first media timeouts in the both the first and second halves. They also failed to score in the last 1:58 of regulation after John Shurna gave the ‘Cats a 49-46 lead. The drought carried over to overtime as Northwestern didn’t score until Dave Sobolewski hit a layup with 1:42 left. By then it was too late as the Wolverines had already hit three 3-pointers in a row to take a 9-point lead.

But despite the failures down the stretch, the Northwestern players insist they don’t feel the pressure of the program never having made an NCAA Tournament.

“We embrace the fact we are fighting that and it gives us energy, if anything,” Hearn said.

Considering he hit all four shots he took and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, Hearn’s play backs up his words. And if the rest of the team is on the same page as him, the Wildcats still have a great shot at reaching the tournament.

But unfortunately at this stage, all that matters are the results and Northwestern didn’t get the win Tuesday.

“It would have been a really good win,” Carmody said. “But it wouldn’t have assured us of anything and it doesn’t knock us out of the box either.”

A loss at Penn State, however, might knock Northwestern out of the box. And oh by the way, the Wildcats haven’t won a game in Happy Valley in 10 years.

Hey, no one’s saying it’s going to be easy.

Adam Hoge

Adam is the Sports Content Producer for CBSChicago.com and specializes in coverage of the White Sox, Blackhawks and college sports. He was born and raised in Lincoln Park and attended St. Ignatius College Prep before going off to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned a Journalism degree. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHogeCBS and read more of his columns here.

Burke scored 19 to lead the Wolverines (21-7, 11-4 Big Ten), who made 14 3-pointers and kept their Big Ten title hopes alive with a well-earned road victory.

Northwestern (16-11, 6-9), whose chances of getting to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history were dealt another blow, got 14 points from John Shurna, six below his Big Ten-leading average.

Shurna became the school’s career scoring leader on Saturday, but managed only four points after halftime Tuesday night.

Burke sank a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound by Novak to give the Wolverines the early lead in overtime. And then two more 3s gave the Wolverines a nine-point lead.

Tim Hardaway Jr.’s 3-pointer with about a minute and a half left in regulation tied the game at 49. Both teams had a chance to go ahead in closing seconds but couldn’t.

Northwestern missed two shots and the Burke rebounded the second one and called a timeout with 24.3 seconds to go. The Wolverines moved the ball around before Northwestern’s Alex Marcotullio fouled with 4.7 seconds to go.

After both teams used timeouts, Burke put up a contested shot from deep that was well short, forcing the second overtime game of the season between the teams. Michigan won the first meeting 66-64 in Ann Arbor on Jan. 11.

Reggie Hearn, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer as Northwestern regrouped after three rapid-fire turnovers to give the Wildcats a 45-43 lead. And a Wolverines miss at the other end,. Shurna made a spin move in the lane and dropped the ball in the basket to make it a four-point lead.

But Burke and Hardaway hit 3-pointers for Michigan on either side of a basket Shurna made while falling down making it 49-49 tie with 1:25 left.

Michigan clamped down on defense in the second half and the Wolverines took their first lead of the second half when Matt Vogrich sank a 3-pointer from the corner. Seconds later a Northwestern turnover led to a fastbreak layup by Burke and the Wolverines led 41-38 with a little more than eight minutes left.

The Wildcats managed just three baskets on 11 attempts in the first 12 minutes of the second half, a span that saw the Big Ten’s leading scorer Shurna go scoreless.

Hearn’s hustle and six points during a closing 18-5 run over the final eight minutes drove the Wildcats to a 31-24 halftime lead.

The Wolverines hit six 3-pointers in the first half and had a 19-14 lead before Northwestern’s half-court trapping defense started to bother them over the final half of the opening 20 minutes. The Wolverines shot just 8 for 24 overall in the first half, while Northwestern was good on 50 percent and outrebounded Michigan 20-10.

(© 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

Jimmy Hayes scored the tying goal in the second period and set up Marcus Kruger’s winning score in the third as Chicago earned its fourth consecutive victory since a nine-game losing streak.

Valtteri Filppula scored a power-play goal for NHL-leading Detroit, which had won six in a row. Jimmy Howard had 27 stops in his first action since being sidelined for two-plus weeks with a broken right index finger.

While Howard was back in the net for the first time since Feb. 2 at Vancouver, the Red Wings were without leading scorer Pavel Datsyuk. The star center had arthroscopic surgery Tuesday to remove fragments from his right knee and is expected to be sidelined for two weeks.

Datsyuk leads the Red Wings with 43 assists and 59 points, playing a key role in Detroit’s record 23-game home winning streak. The Red Wings host Vancouver on Thursday.

Chicago was missing its star center, Jonathan Toews, who was scratched with an upper-body injury and is day to day.

Hayes skated behind the Detroit net early in the third and threw it in front, where Kruger slammed in his own rebound to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead just 1:53 into the period.

Crawford and the Blackhawks’ defense took it from there, tying up Detroit and preventing any really great chances to tie it up in the waning moments.

The Blackhawks evened the season series at two games apiece while improving to 7-1 in their last eight home games. Chicago is 21-6-4 at the United Center this season.

The Blackhawks got off to a slow start without their captain and the Red Wings took advantage. Kruger was sent off for tripping just 34 seconds into the game and Filppula sent a wrister over Crawford’s right leg to give Detroit a 1-0 lead at 2:22.

The Red Wings almost had an early two-goal lead but Crawford gloved Jiri Hudler’s open shot from in close about 4 1/2 minutes into the first.

The Blackhawks turned up the pressure late in the opening period and carried it over to the second, forcing Howard to make a handful of outstanding stops. Patrick Kane made a perfect pass to Patrick Sharp in the mouth of the Detroit goal, but Howard got over to kick it away. Michael Frolik skated in on a breakaway after Ian White fell down in the second and Howard kicked that one away, too.

Chicago finally broke through at 7:45 of the second when Duncan Keith’s shot from the left point squirted through to Hayes, who pushed it into the wide-open net for his fifth goal of the season.

Detroit could have a different defensive look when it takes the ice against the Canucks.

The Red Wings acquired Kyle Quincey on Tuesday in a three-team deal that also involved Tampa Bay and Colorado. The Lightning traded forward Steve Downie to the Avalanche for Quincey, who was shipped to the Red Wings for a first-round draft pick and minor league defenseman Sebastien Piche.

Quincey was drafted by Detroit in 2003, and played a role as the Red Wings reached the Western Conference finals in 2007. He played in 13 playoff games, helping fill a void left by injured defenseman Mathieu Schneider.

NOTES: Red Wings F Dan Cleary was activated from injured reserve and played against the Blackhawks. He missed the previous five games with a lower body injury. … Chicago swapped minor league forwards with Tampa Bay, sending Brandon Segal to the Lightning for Matt Fornataro. … Red Wings G Ty Conklin cleared waivers and was assigned to Grand Rapids of the AHL. … Blackhawks D Niklas Hjalmarsson missed his seventh straight game with an upper-body injury.

(© 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

The Bulldogs (18-12, 11-6) play their regular-season finale at Valparaiso on Friday. The Horizon League tournament begins on Feb. 28.

Ronald Nored, in his final regular-season home game, had 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Nored and fellow senior Garrett Butcher played for Butler’s back-to-back national finalists.

Andrew Smith and Chrishawn Hopkins added 10 points for the Bulldogs. Butler has won 12 in a row in the series with Illinois-Chicago.

Gary Talton had 13 points and Darrin Williams scored 11 for the Flames (8-19, 3-13). UIC broke a 26-game road losing streak Saturday at Eastern Illinois.

(© 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

Ohio State shot 65 percent from the field.

William Buford, much maligned for his recent poor shooting, had 17 points, and Aaron Craft added 11 to go with five assists. Jared Sullinger, third in the conference at 17.5 points a game, managed just nine before fouling out.

The Buckeyes (23-5, 11-4) stayed on the heels of Big Ten leader Michigan State with three games remaining. The Spartans are 11-3 in league play heading into a game at Minnesota on Wednesday night. Ohio State will visit Michigan State in the regular-season finale on March 4.

Meyers Leonard had 21 for Illinois (16-12, 5-10), which has lost six in a row and nine of 10.

The game was a dramatic turnaround for Brandon Paul, who had 43 points in Illinois’ 79-74 stunner over then-No. 5 Ohio State on Jan. 10. Paul almost destroyed the Buckeyes by himself, making 11 of 15 shots from the field – including 8 of 10 3-pointers – and 13 of 15 free throws.

But on this night, he managed just nine points on 2 of 9 shooting.

Ohio State improved to 18-1 at home this season, coming off a 58-48 loss at Value City Arena to Michigan State on Feb. 11 that ended a 39-game, home-winning streak. The Buckeyes made only 14 of 53 shots, an arena-record low of 26.4 percent. They connected on 2 of 15 3-pointers.

In their most recent game, a 56-51 loss to No. 17 Michigan on Saturday, they shot 38.8 percent.

In losing two of their last three, many of the Buckeyes have caught a lot of flak, but none more than Buford, who hit 2 of 12 from the field in the loss to Michigan State and 3 of 12 at Michigan.

But he was 7 of 9 – 2 of 3 from behind the arc – against Illinois.

The Illini never got closer than 16 points over the last 25 minutes. The loss will add to speculation that ninth-year coach Bruce Weber’s job is in jeopardy.

It has gotten so bad that Weber last week bemoaned that he had become too worried about winning and not “developing a culture and a toughness.”

In contrast to their most recent games, the Buckeyes came out hot.

In the opening 16 minutes against the Illini, they were 16 of 19 from the field (84 percent) and 5 of 7 (71 percent) behind the arc.

Ohio State went on 10-0 and 9-0 runs in the first nine minutes to go up 26-8. They had another 8-0 run by the 4-minute mark to make it 40-18. By that point, they had already made more field goals than they had in the Michigan State defeat – with 24 minutes left.

Four players had at least seven points in the first 20 minutes, led by Thomas’ 11.

Buford, who had four points against Michigan State and only six against Michigan, had seven at the break. He was 3 of 4 from the field. Craft and Smith were both 3 for 3.

Leonard was the only Illini able to solve Ohio State’s defensive pressure. He had 14 points at the break, taking advantage of his height advantage over Sullinger and running past backup big man Amir Williams for backdoor dunks.

(© 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

MESA, Ariz. (CBS) – One of the longest-running soap opera sagas is finally over, as the compensation package for Theo Epstein joining the Cubs was announced Tuesday.

The Cubs sent reliever Chris Carpenter and a player to be named to the Red Sox. Boston will also send a player to be named back to the Cubs. The players to be named will be announced by April 15.

General manager Jed Hoyer was glad that this four-month story finally came to a conclusion.

“I think both sides are happy that this is behind us, and now we can move forward with the spring without worrying anymore about the compensation,” Hoyer said Tuesday.

Initially, when this story first unfolded, the Red Sox were asking for Starlin Castro or Matt Garza, so giving up Carpenter is nowhere near that level. Still, Hoyer said this is a painful loss.

“He is a difficult guy to lose, but we realized we were going to lose something of value when Theo came over here,” Hoyer said. “I hope Chris has a lot of success over there, but there was a price to be paid for getting Theo over here”.

Carpenter’s eyes looked a bit red when reporters caught up to him.

“As soon as they called me into the coach’s office, I had a feeling of what was going on,” Carpenter said. “I can’t say anything bad. I appreciate everything the Cubs have done for me and it’s been a great organization over the past four years. I’m looking forward to going to Boston and helping them to win now”.

Carpenter’s cell phone was going off every 30 seconds while reporters talked to him with calls from either the Red Sox or well-wishers. And when asked what it is like to be traded for a president in Epstein, Carpenter replied: “I guess my name will go down in history”.

For more spring training coverage from Mesa, Ariz, click here. Find all of David Schuster’s spring training blogs here and follow him on Twitter (@schumouse).

The 28-year-old Segal has recorded 13 goals and 12 assists in 53 regular-season tilts with the IceHogs this season. He made his National Hockey League debut with Tampa Bay in 2009.

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, the Big Ten’s plan has been to remove the top four teams from the bowl pool and have the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds host semifinal games.

Sources tell the newspaper, however, they are skeptical that leagues such as the Southeatern Conference would OK the potential for prime-time December games in places such as Columbus, Ann Arbor or Madison, Wis.

The Tribune also report that college football’s TV partners appear to favor having bowls host the semifinal games, unlike the plan proposed by the Big Ten. If the top four teams are removed from the bowl pool, it would break with tradition and devalue the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange Bowls.

(CBS) Just watch the games.

The NFL’s annual meat market, better known as the Scouting Combine, gets underway Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Every team in the league will be represented there by management types, coaches and scouts.

They will get heights and weights, measure speed and determine how many times players can press 225 pounds on the weight bench.

They will utilize this information to formulate their offseason game-plans. Instead of basing their final decisions on how well a player competed in actual college football games on Saturday afternoons and Thursday nights, teams will make draft day decisions largely on what they saw at the Scouting Combine and other measurement-fests called “pro days” after the combine is over.

It’s pretty much a waste of time.

The most valuable information that teams get at the combine are the heights and weights of each player. The NFL does a great job of standardizing this information so one team doesn’t have a prospective first-round linebacker 6-4 and 248 pounds while another team has him 6-3 and 231 pounds. Those things make a difference.

But all the other measurables like 40-times, vertical jump, the 3-cone drill, 20-yard drill, the bench press and the broad jump are just activities for gym class.

Scouts who have spent most of their lives evaluating football players’ talent levels do so from watching them compete in games and practice. That’s what it’s all about. A defensive end’s 40-time may not matter at all, yet a slow time can get a draft prospect branded in a negative way.

Case in point: Defensive end Terrell Suggs was a dynamic pass rusher coming out of Arizona State in 2003. He was considered unstoppable coming around the corner and crushing quarterbacks on a regular basis.

However, when Suggs had his pro day and was weighed, measured and timed, eyes were opened when Suggs ran a 4.83 40. Some scouts forgot what they had seen when Suggs was busting around the corner and opposing offensive tackles could only get a whiff of him as he went by. They could not block him.

Suggs got downgraded after that “slow” time and many teams no longer looked at him as an elite draft pick. Luckily for him and themselves, the Baltimore Ravens did not pay any attention to Suggs’ 40-time. They selected him with the 10th pick and he became one of the best pass rushers in the league.

They took a lot of grief for it at the time as there were many critics who thought that his lousy 40-time was indicative of the way he would play in the NFL. Those critics couldn’t have been more wrong. Suggs had 12.0 sacks in his rookie season in 2003 and is coming off a career-high 14.0 sacks last season when he won the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.

There’s nothing wrong with paying attention to what goes on at the Combine and looking for specific skills based on positions. If a wide receiver has a fast 40-time and does well in the standing vertical jump, that may give an indication that he can go get the deep ball. But if the receiver projects to play out of the slot and run pass patterns over the middle, that 40-time is little more than trivia.

An athletic offensive lineman who can beat all the other blockers in the 40? It doesn’t really come into play. There may be one play in every 40 where he has to sprint downfield and deliver a block. The rest of the time, he is taking on a pass rusher or a tackler at the line of scrimmage and he needs technique and a mean streak. None of the combine tests measure those characteristics.

Then there’s the interview process. Teams like the Giants, Redskins and Broncos believe they have developed some innovative interview techniques from the questions they ask of prospective players. The idea is to learn something about the player’s character and long-term motivation.

That seems like a waste of time. Over the years, some of the most sincere and honest players from those interviews have gotten themselves into trouble and some players with poor history have managed to avoid trouble later on. There are no guarantees in either direction.

General managers, coaches and scouts need something to do as they prepare for the draft. They go to the combine, interview the players and make projections. That’s fine – as long as they go back to the game tapes from the college season and look at how the athlete played before making their draft pick. That’s how the most successful teams operate.

They base their draft decisions on game action and not combine hype.

Steve Silverman

Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman was with Pro Football Weekly for 10 years and his byline has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Playboy, NFL.com and The Sporting News. He is the author of four books, including Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Football — The Top 60 Players of All-Time. Follow him on Twitter (@profootballboy) and read more of his CBS Chicago columns here.

Tonight, when the Blackhawks face off against the Detroit Red Wings, they’ll have to do so without their captain Jonathan Toews, who will miss at least this game with an upper body injury.

For what it’s worth, the Blackhawks are saying this injury is not related to the wrist injury he rehabbed during the All Star break, but that opens the door for speculation on a potential concussion.  As of now, the Hawks are calling it day to day, but I’m sure  more info will seep out in the days to come.

Obviously, this is a huge blow to the Blackhawks.   Even when he’s not scoring, Toews is the best player on the ice for the Hawks.  Now, he’ll be replaced by a guy who’s been a healthy scratch for five of the last six games in Brendan Morrison.

For the rest of this column from the Red Light District, please click here.

In the 90s, the Bulls dominated the Jazz, defeating them in back-to-back NBA Finals. Now, however, the Heat took round one when they knocked the Bulls out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, but one NBA expert said the Bulls have what it takes to take down the Heat.

“Once you get those (championship) teams assembled, fans in Chicago have seen how sweet it is to get a great hand and be able to play it for a long, long run,” veteran NBA scribe Roland Lazenby told The McNeil and Spiegel Show. “I will tell you, you have to flat out love the way the Bulls compete. It’s not like they’re going to be able to go to Mars and find some player that’s going to change the balance. They have got a deep roster. Those guys player hard. … When that team is healthy, they’re the best shot in the Eastern Conference to beat the Heat.”

LISTEN: Roland Lazenby on The McNeil and Spiegel Show

For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.

Lazenby went on to discuss why LeBron James isn’t in the same category as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

“Michael and Kobe are so far ahead (of James) in terms of all the intangibles,” he said. “When you start looking at the tremendous talent, then LeBron obviously is on a level that exceeds them in a lot of ways in terms of basic talent, but the focus and the fire — all those things that make great people truly great — those are the things that LeBron has yet to bring.”

While Rose didn’t look to be 100 percent, one NBA expert said he was close.

“I think he looked pretty much close to himself,” Kendall Gill of Comcast Sportsnet told The McNeil and Spiegel Show. “I don’t know if he’ s 100 percent or not. There was one play in the second half where he went up for a lay up, made it and then crashed under Josh Smith. I think that he kind of tweaked his back a little bit on that play. Back spasms, they come and go. I think he’s probably about 95 percent back, not 100.”

LISTEN: Kendall Gill on The McNeil and Spiegel Show

For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.

Throughout this 66-game NBA season, many have questioned the amount of minutes head coach Tom Thibodeau is playing his starters, Rose in particular. Gill said that Thibodeau is just going to play each player however many minutes they are capable of.

“You don’t understand this until you get out of the league, but with the amount of money that you’re making, you can play me as many minutes as you want,” Gill said. “That’s my thought. Coach Thibodeau is going to play his players the amount of minutes that he wants to play them because he think that if you’re healthy, you should be out there on the floor playing. That’s why you see Luol Deng out there playing 42 minutes. That’s why you saw Derrick Rose play 35-plus minutes yesterday after having five games off.”

The injury is not related to the wrist injury he suffered earlier this season.

Brendan Morrison will play in place of Toews and skated with Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp on the first line in Tuesday’s morning skate.

The center won’t be the only star not playing tonight as Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk will miss two weeks with knee surgery.

Toews is officially listed as day-to-day.

Meanwhile, Niklas Hjalmarsson practiced with the Blackhawks this morning, but said he will not play tonight either.

Maddux was voted to eight All Star games, he was a World Series champion, he won the Gold Glove award 18 times and was a four-time Cy Young Award winner.

That brings us to Steve in Algonquin who questioned whether or not Maddux was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. If Greg Maddux isn’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer, the Hall of Fame shouldn’t exist.

This statement prompted host Dan Bernstein to ask, on several occasions if Steve was out of his “damn-fool mind.”

Steve argues that Maddux’s numbers are inflated due to umpires calling a “huge strike zone in that era.”

Not to be out-done, however, later, the boys fielded a call from Bill in Milwaukee who said the Bulls shouldn’t try to trade for Dwight Howard after the team’s win over the Celtics last week.

Bernstein later asked that Bill never call into The Boers and Bernstein Show again.

MESA, Ariz. (CBS) – Brett Jackson is the future for the Cubs.

The question is, when is that future? Is it near or is it far? If you listen to the former No. 1 draft pick, it’s coming quick.

“The goal is always to be in the big leagues and compete at that level,” Jackson said. “Obviously that’s where I want to be and that’s what I’m working towards everyday and I think I’ll be here real soon.”

The likelihood is that Jackson will get a little more seasoning in the minors this year. Last season he split time between Double-A and Triple-A and hit .278 with 20 home runs but he also struck out 138 times in just 431 at bats. That’s nowhere near good enough and he knows he still has a lot of improvement in store.

“I want to take advantage of the tools I have but I need to refine those tools too,” Jackson said. “All offseason I worked on both my strength and speed. I also worked on my hitting and throwing and my defense, which is very important to me.”

And speaking of defense, it sure looks like Jackson is being groomed to be the Cubs’ center fielder if, or when, Marlon Byrd moves on.

“I would love to play center field at the big league level,” Jackson said. “I think I’m fast enough and throw well enough and I love running down fly balls and being in control out there in the outfield.”

Jackson stands 6’2″ and weighs 220 pounds. He combines power and speed and has matinee looks that will make him a fan favorite, especially if he performs like expected. He dearly wants to get to Wrigley Field and show his talents.

“I’d love to be a Cub forever,” he said. “I love the city of Chicago and I love the atmosphere in this organization with all the changes. It’s an atmosphere that I want to be part of for a long time.”

And very shortly he will be.

For more spring training coverage from Mesa, Ariz, click here. Find all of David Schuster’s spring training blogs here and follow him on Twitter (@schumouse).

One hockey expert thinks the ‘Hawks could be in line to make some moves before the looming trade deadline.

“I think Stan (Bowman) and the Blackhawks could use some depth on the blue line,” former Blackhawk Darren Pang told The Mully and Hanley Show. “I think everybody sees the same thing. … Like all good teams, they all want the same thing at the deadline: a good, experienced, couple of defenseman to solidify that part of it. Could they use some help up front? Yeah, they could certainly use some depth up there.”

LISTEN: Darren Pang on The Mully and Hanley Show

For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.

“The Cubs won 72 games last year,” Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune told The Mully and Hanley Show. “I’ll bet you money that they win more than that this year. I don’t think they should’ve been as bad as they were last year. I think if you look at the talent that is there and how shaky that division is, I think they’re going to be a pleasant surprise. They’re sorta setting themselves up to be, on a measured scale, a peasant surprise.”

LISTEN: Phil Rogers on The Mully and Hanley Show

For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.

With run producers Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena gone, who combined for 173 RBIs in 2011, Rogers said the Cubs may receive some unexpected support from their highest-paid player.

“I think the Cubs think they’ll get more out of Alfonso Soriano then has happened in the past,” he said. “We’ll see about that. If they could’ve traded Soriano, obviously they would have. I think they’ve evaluated Soriano and thought, ‘This is a guy that is better than he has been.’ They think they can get a better effort out of him.”