The Bears' schedule is brutal. They open on the road in San Diego, then come back home to face Kevin's Chiefs in what may be an early season must-win game for both teams. OK, nothing is must-win in week 2, maybe more like "You better win if you don't want to dig an 0-2 playoff hole." And it just goes on from there. The day after the schedule was announced the 10 or so Chicago Tribune NFL "experts" mostly predicted the Bears will go 10-6 or 9-7. And that's without knowing whether Lance Briggs or Tank Johnson will be back. They may go in as the banged-up defense from last fall, only for the whole season and against better opponents.

Baseball, not football, is the sports topic in Chicago today. You probably heard Mark Buehrle of the Sox pitched a no-hitter against the Rangers last night, coming within an eyelash of a perfect game. He walked Sammy Sosa in the 5th -- you've probably heard of him -- and promptly picked him off first. (What was Sammy thinking? He's no threat to run any more). That was the only blemish on the scorecard, meaning there were only 26 official at-bats. That's pretty cool in itself in a game where statistics make their own music.

This was the first no-hitter by a White Sox pitcher since 1991 (Wilson Alvarez) and the first in the new ballpark. They now have 14 no-nos in the history of the franchise, which is high on the list among major league teams. The Dodgers have the most with 18 or 20, one or the other. (Tip of the cap to Sandy Koufax). What I didn't know and wouldn't have guessed is that the Mets have never had a no-hitter in their 45 years as a franchise. That surprised me considering the Mets have often been known for pitching, including Hall of Famers like Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan. They both pitched their no-hitters after leaving the Mets. Many, many in the case of Ryan. How many did he finish with? 6, 7? He was young when he came up with the Mets, couldn't find the plate, couldn't even in fact break into the starting rotation. He had dominating stuff but they couldn't count on it and so they traded him to the Angels. Where he struck out 383 batters a couple of seasons later. That's a total I don't think we will see again any time soon.


>The "experts" say the cheifs wont make it to the playoffs this year - and that was before this schedule came out.
>
>>I knew it came out a week ago, but just now took a close look at it.
>>
>>I just have one question - exactly who in the NFL league office did the KC Chiefs tick off???
>>
>>
>>KC starts with 2 road games, and ends with 2 road games.
>>KC starts with 3 of 4 on the road, and ends with 3 of 4 on the road. (not sure if that has EVER happened since the start of the 16-game schedule)
>>KC is the only playoff team without a primetime game at home.
>>
>>Their ONLY primetime appearance is the last week of the season against the Jets on the road.
>>
>>GOOD GRIEF!!!!