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.