Cubs

ATTEND White Sox vs. Minnesota Monday-Wednesday, U.S. Cellular Field The Sox are slipping, so they'll need a boost from this three-game home stand to try and catch Detroit. It also will be new addition Brett Myers' first appearance at the Cell in a Sox uniform. OK, so that isn't all that exciting, but he might be the first of several new additions by GM Kenny Williams ...   ATTEND Bears training camp 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Olivet Nazarene University This requires driving to Bourbonnais, but it might be worth it to see how Matt Forte, Jay Cutler and Brian Urlacher are healing, watch Brandon Marshall make ridiculous catches and maybe snag an autograph or two. No word on whether Cutler is accepting wedding gifts.

WATCH White Sox at Red Sox 6:10 p.m., Monday, CSN Kevin Youkilis returns to play at Fenway Park for the first time since his trade to the South Side, bringing with him all the drama of old grudges and hard feelings. Even Cubs fans won't be able to resist tuning in for this one. . READ "Running For My Life" Available Tuesday Can't get enough of those human-interest stories they show during the Olympics? Read this autobiography of Lopez Lomong, a former "Lost Boy" of Sudan who became a distance runner and U.S. citizen, and get a serious reason to root for Team U.S.A.

It always gets darkest before the dawn, or so the cliché goes, and it's all Cubs fans have at this point. If this Cubs season were a prime-time sitcom, it would be NBC's "Whitney," a grating, joyless exercise in entertainment that improbably manages to draw a respectable audience week in and week out. Before winning seven of 10 games recently, this team was on pace to lose more than 100 games as the ghosts of the past continue to haunt the...

The last time the Cubs played a truly meaningful game, Barack Obama was still a U.S. senator and the "Twilight" series existed only in book form. It's been a long, rough road through the unmet high expectations of 2009, the midseason quit job of 2010 and the general malaise of 2011. But I believe the franchise may have hit rock bottom, and there's no way from there but up. If you've disengaged from regular Cubs fandom - and judging by sinking broadcast ratings and empty seats at Wrigley, you have - now is the time to make like Captain Picard.

For a brief moment last week, when the Cubs took two of three games from the White Sox, it looked like the Cubs were poised for a turnaround and the Sox were slipping. The teams have reversed course recently, however, and Wednesday's games were solid examples: The Sox drubbed Minnesota 12-5 and the Cubs were pulverized 17-1 by the N.Y. Mets. Here's what else we took from the Chicago teams' recent performances.   WHITE SOX Good news: Adam Dunn broke an 0-for-24 skid with three hits, including a homer.

A quick note to the Ricketts family - if you had enough money to buy the Cubs without relying on public aid to help you close the deal, you have enough money to fix up Wrigley Field without our help. Somewhere along the line, the public stopped being a potential fan base for professional sports franchises and more of a personal piggybank for billionaires looking to pad their bottom lines. The Rickettses, despite claiming to be a family of the people, are no different. Right now, they want the already severely cash-strapped city of Chicago to chip in $150 million to help renovate Wrigley and develop the area surrounding it, largely so they can make more money.

I'd like to thank the White Sox. You almost did it. You almost kept me occupied until Bears preseason in late July and August. You fell short by about a month or so … but hey, really nice effort, guys. Sorry, but losing two of three to the Cubs will not cut it. In a few years, when the Cubs are built, then you can lose two of three to them. Not here. Not now. Is there someone in Chicago, Charlotte, Birmingham, Winston-Salem, Kannapolis or Great Falls who can play third base?

Another round of the Crosstown Classic is in the books, and as usual, we learned a lot about both the Cubs and White Sox in the meantime. Tribune contributed   Jake Peavy (still) owns the Cubs In two starts against the Cubs this season, Peavy's pitched 15 1/3 innings and surrendered just one earned run. In his career, he's 7-3 with a 2.23 ERA vs. the North Siders. Does he have any advice for Zach Stewart? Or Gavin Floyd and Philip Humber, for that matter?