This is a story that evokes a lot of emotions in people. I understand both sides of the coin. But I also find it very hypocritical that we have a system that punishes people for their crimes and supposedly rehabilitates them for their crimes; but when they are released back into society we hold their past crimes against them. Thus, blocking any attempt at personal or professional growth. I understand some crimes are just so vicious – they are deemed unforgiveable. But I think there is a difference between forgiving and forgetting.

Bears training camp starts tomorrow (Friday). But it sounds like there’s already some “bruising” going on.

Yesterday former Bear and current Viking Bobby Wade told a Minnesota radio station that last week, while he was hanging out with Brian Urlacher, Urlacher told him, he doesn’t really care for new Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.

Baseball fans are getting ready for the Windy City showdown between the Cubs and the Sox.

They were at Wrigley Field early this morning hoping to purchase standing-room only tickets to tonight’s Crosstown Classic game.

Ever have those really bad days and then have a great one the next day?

That's kind of what the Chicago Blackhawks had this season.

Just three years ago, the Hawks went 26-43 in their season. This year, it was 46-24.

The Hawks were eliminated Wednesday night from the Western Conference Finals in Detroit. The score was 2-1 in OT.

It shows that no matter how bad you think something is, it can always get better if you take a fresh approach.

Are you proud the Blackhawks made it this far? Are you disappointed the season is now over?

We want to know...

One victory, either in Calgary or Chicago is all the Blackhawks need to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Getting excited?

I am.

To tide you over until Monday night's game, click on this link for the Blackhawks official introductory video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxxmVvl-CJc

Wow, what a great weekend to be a Chicago sports fan!!! You literally can spend the weekend shuffling back and forth between sports games and enjoying the outdoors and the warm weather. Softball anyone?

Here's the weekend schedule for our different sports teams.

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals was a blowout.

With a 107-86 victory over the Bulls, the Celtics now lead the series two games to one, and that home court advantage Chicago was counting on just couldn't come through.

Mike North of "Monsters in the Morning" on Comcast SportsNet and I caught up Monday outside of City Hall.

He was on his way to talk to Da Mayor, I was on my way to talk to him about the Blackhawks chances in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In our efforts to thoroughly cover the Blackhawks playoff run, we hit three sports bars before Game 2 in search of fans preparing for what is hoped to be an extended post-season.

Hawkeye's on Taylor displays the Indian in the front window, and there were no shortage of fans just south of the United Center more than five hours before game time.

http://www.hawkeyesbar.com

Ladies, you know the stereotypes.

Hockey players aren't typically considered the "prettiest" of professional athletes.

Those who hit the links are more polished, the ones on the court- typically taller.

But what's wrong with alternate captain Patrick Sharp, Number 10, seen above?

We had the conversation in our newsmeeting this afternoon, and the girls got together and decided that the 'Hawks are hot....in more ways than one.

I had the opportunity to speak with Blackhawks President John McDonough Thursday afternoon, just hours before his team faced off against the Calgary flames in their first post-season appearance since 2002.

This is what he had to say:

The day White Sox fans have been waiting for finally arrived – Opening Day on the South Side. Droves of diehard fans camped out at The Cell hours before today’s game, grilling, chilling and just having a good time. While many folks talked about their hopes for the Sox 2009 season, there were also plenty of others doing another ritual of many Sox fans -- unprovoked, big-time bashing of the Cubs.

I really feel bad for Shaun Gayle. I also feel bad for 41-year-old-Marni Kay Yang, the woman police say killed Gayle’s pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child in October of 2007.

A friend and business associate of Gayle’s, Yang appeared in bond court this morning in Waukegan. I was seated in the second row of the courtroom. Her name was called and police led a tiny woman in blue jeans, with tussled brown, shoulder length hair in front of the judge. The prosecutor began going over the details of the case, to make a point as to why bond should be denied for the mother of three turned murder suspect.

Former Bulls player and broadcaster Norm Van Lier died Thursday afternoon at the age of 61. Van Lier was a three time NBA all-star and a frequent guest on CLTV's Sports Page. Below is a clip of his appearance on the show in January. Feel free to leave you memories and comments about Norm below.

The Olympics, they are great, everybody loves them, but do you love them in your city? Tomorrow we will see the details of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. With the Olympics comes massive construction which will make it harder to travel around the city not only in 2016, but in the years leading up. However, this time inconvenience can be offset by the sense of pride having the Olympics would bring. The real question is the question of the year, where is the money coming from?

In the proposal we may learn how the city is coming up with the $500 million in private guarantees as well as the $1.1 billion needed to build the Olympic village. Mayor Daley has said that city taxes will not pay for the games and most funding will come from the federal government, but last month Daley said the city was willling to pay for extra police used to patrol the games as well as paying for extra barriers and protection. So in this time of sacrifice how much are we willing to sacrifice for our city and national pride? Are you hoping for a good proposal and a big win for the City of Chicago or are you praying that Madrid is as good at hosting an Olympics as they are at soccer?
Please leave your comments.

What do you think was the best Super Bowl ad? Was this batch of ads better or worse than previous years? Let us know what you think about the funny, interesting, risque and sometimes confusing commercials.

The Tribune company is getting closer everyday to finding a new owner for the Chicago Cubs. Despite the 100 year championship drought the Cubs are one of the most valuable franchises in baseball because of the great fan attendance and national TV coverage. The search has been narrowed down to three finalists with one Joseph Ricketts, president of a corporate bond dealer, being the favorite. Ricketts is believed to have offered around $900 million for the team. With all of this going on we want to know, do the fans care?
Are some of the most loyal baseball fans in the history of baseball even paying attention to the change in ownership? Do you think that the change may be just what the team needs to break "the curse" or is it just something happening behind the scenes that will not affect the product on the field at all? Post your thoughts and remember spring training is just around the corner.

Programing note for all you Blue Demon (or Huskie) fans. CLTV will be airing the DePaul Womens' Basketball game on Tuesday Jan. 14th. They take on UConn. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.

Daley Plaza is the place to be for any Cubs fan today. A rally for the team kicks of at noon and CLTV will be airing it live. Baseball Hall of Famer Billy Williams, WGN Radio's Ron Santo, Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and actor Jim Belushi are expected to be there and the event is free.
If you can't make it downtown, tune in to CLTV for live coverage and go Cubs go!
(If you'd like to watch it streaming live on the web, log on to wgntv.com)

Olympic Golden Boy Michael Phelps is in Chicago today, clocking some face time with Oprah and promoting the city's bid to get the Games in 2016. As part of his visit, he'll be hosting an live video chat on Chicago2016 site at 5:15 pm today. Now's your chance to ask him if he really eats all that food for breakfast.

Michael Phelps keeps finding gold at the Beijing Olympics.

The American swimmer has claimed five gold medals at the summer games so far, and he still has three more events to go.

I think his achievements in the pool are awesome and incredible.
But I also think more attention should be paid to the accomplishments of all the other talented athletes - especially those who don't win medals.

In 1996, my oldest brother, Derrick, competed in the summer games in Atlanta.
He was a Greco-Roman wrestler and 37 years old.

The AP reported on a major brawl that broke out last night between the Peoria Chiefs (whose parent team is the Chicago Cubs) and the Dayton Dragons. The fight sent one fan to the hospital and 15 players were ejected from the game along with the teams' managers.
Watch WGN's video of the brawl after the jump.

Spring training is over.. Home openers are starting.

For the last three months the cavern to which many people have hid themselves amongst the harsh Chicago winter... is melting away and people are peeking their heads out just as the flowers begin to.
It's arguably the best time of year in Chicago. While yes, we are still dealing with a nasty winter hangover and some snowy days (I’m looking out the window at snow right now), the occasional warmer one tends to put people in a jolly mood for the more habitually warm days to come.
We are now beginning to see the neighbors you forgot you had (whether good or bad) on a regular basis, more people are converging on Chicago neighborhoods for outdoor dining, shopping or simply spending time with friends.
You start to see announcements for outdoor events, markets and such.. and.. as mentioned Baseball is about to start.
For me.. It’s Shuffle time.. Chicago's Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday marks the start of the outdoor running season in Chicago. It's my favorite time of the year. I like to think of the Shuffle as a pseudo ground hog day. Every year the weather is different. Last year it was warm, years past it's been really really cold, and this year seems just about right.. (high 30’s, maybe low 40’s – hopefully the rain holds off because cloud cover is great) which if you look at races past, means we're going to have a relatively mild summer. (I know I'm no meteorologist, just hopeful!)
I love race morning when you see the die hards in their singlet’s, running shorts and gloves. The rest of us casual racers bundled up thinking their crazy, but hoping one day we could be so bold.
There's an excitement and energy in the air. (Maybe it's from 30,000 people trying to keep warm!) And it's like Chicagoans are saying *** winter.. we're here to play outside.. no matter what you throw at us next.

Hope to see some of you out there. For everyone else.. as Cubs fans always say, “there's always next year”!

What’s going on with the Bulls? I must admit, given my schedule (I go to bed at 6pm in order to get up @ 1:30am) I don’t get to watch my favorite NBA team very much. So I’m forced catch highlights or read about them. Unfortunately, I’m reading more and more about the “fits” they’re throwing rather then the points they’re putting on the board.

There have been a string of problems this season. If you've lost track, here’s a list of the more public incidents.

* Joakim Noah mouthing off to an assistant coach and the team voting to bench him for an extra day because of it.

* Scott Skiles quitting in the middle of the season.

* Tyrus Thomas deciding not to show up to practice for no apparent reason.

* Chris Duhon taking off to catch his alma mater, Duke play a basketball game, then over sleeping and missing the team shoot-around before a game the next day.

* And the latest, Andres Nocioni having a tirade on the bench Saturday night because he was pulled out of the game and interim head coach Jim Boylan having to banish him to the locker room for the rest of the game.

What’s going on? Kirk Hinrich says ''frustration is at an all-time high.” You got that right!

I thought these were professional men getting paid a lot of money to play basketball. How frustrating can it be? Most people shoot hoops just for fun.

I know there is pressure to win, given the bar set by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and crew, but this Bulls team is making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

It’s one thing to play hard and lose admirably, but this team seems to behave like a bunch of 2 year olds when they lose.

Remember gentlemen (and I use that term loosely), it’s not about whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.