Bad time to be a Chicagoan -- check back in a month

Wait ... what? The Dodgers swept the Cubs? Three games, three Dodgers wins. The first two came in Chicago. The third was never really close. Hiroki Kuroda pinned down the Cubs all through Game 3, and James Loney's bat did the rest.

Pick when and where the knockout blow landed in this series. Whichever way you turn, the Cubs never had a shot. The National League's best team, a team that finished 97-64 with destiny seemingly on its side, had its vaunted pitching staff knocked around just enough, its fielders rattled just enough.

And out of the mayhem emerges a suddenly hot Dodgers club that, if Major League Baseball had any sense about it, wouldn't even be in the playoffs. It's sweeps like these that give reason to having division titles even in the age of 84-78 clubs (like the Dodgers).

As expected, the reaction from Chicago is mind-numbingly sad. Red Sox fans are amateurs compared to these guys.

Elsewhere
-- Speaking of the BoSox, they continue to deliver 12-hour games and ridiculously exciting late-inning thrillers. It was the Angels who got the best of the Red Sox this time, winning a 5-4, 12-inning melee last night. Don't ask how it got that far. By all accounts, the Angels wasted plenty of opportunities to blow the game open. Then, a routine popup landed untouched between three clueless Angels, allowing three Sox to score. But the Angels fought back, taking a 4-3 lead before promptly blowing, then winning on an Erick Aybar single.

-- Will it happen again tonight? Doubt it. The Sox won't let this thing slip out of their hands.

-- The Dow has fallen 10,000 points. Must have a lot of Cubs fans working over there.

-- Phillies-Dodgers in the NLCS. The battle of who's hotter. I like the Phils in this one, but the Dodgers' pitching and timely hitting will cause more problems for Philly than the Brewers' complete implosion.

-- Hilarious.

-- Disgusting.

-- How 'bout them Panthers? ... They're ranked again, too. There is some truth to the rumor that Dave Wannstedt's mustache is more powerful than ever. OK, OK, I just wanted to have a picture of Wanny's 'stache.

-- The (tentative) college hoops schedule for J. Greer for the 2008-09 season:

American at Georgetown
Memphis at Georgetown
Pitt at Georgetown
Providence at Georgetown
Bucknell at American
West Virginia at Georgetown
Cincinnati at Georgetown
BracketBusters at George Mason
Navy at American
DePaul at Georgetown

-- Parting thought: Must read.