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You get the feeling that tonight's Lions/Bears meeting at Soldier Field could be a throwback to the good ol' days of the "Black and Blue" division games played decades ago. All week long the phrase "playing through the whistle-and beyond" was how Detroit was being characterized around the Bears in Lake Forest.

While the Bears (4-1) were enjoying a bye-week, the Lions (2-3) came back in the 4th quarter to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 26-23; they won despite racking up 16 penalties (playing through the whistle and beyond). That was a huge win for the Lions; much has been expected from them this year. They were a big story last season making the playoffs after being the NFL doormat for a long time. Of course, the Bears would love to beat them to maintain a good distance with their lead in the NFC North’s division. The only blemish on the Bears season was the loss to Green Bay — a loss to the Lions wouldn’t be devastating, but could complicate playoff scenarios.

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Another change has come for the Cubs, but isn’t on the field or in the front office — it’s in the broadcast booth. With a simple press release on Wednesday night the Cubs baseball broadcasting world went into a tizzy. WGN-TV revealed that analyst Bob Brenly was leaving the television broadcast team. His three-year contract was up and Brenly made the decision to look for other opportunities. He found one on Thursday, returning to the Arizona Diamondbacks; their broadcast booth had openings, including the one formerly held by Mark Grace. The former Cub has some legal issues and his future in broadcasting (Cubs and anywhere else) is up in the air right now. 

Many of us in the business watched with fans as Bob and play-by-play broadcaster Len Kasper grew into a likeable, interesting and informative duo for Cubs baseball. You can tell they enjoyed working together, but even that wasn't enough to retain Brenly, apparently.

Len and Bob solid work in tandem, which is pretty hard to do when a club loses 101 games, like the Cubs did this past season. They were prepared, descriptive, informative and interesting; they were not homers — they were fair.

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A offer made to players by NHL management Tuesday could bring an end to the hockey league's fourth lockout in 20 years. The six-year deal would give the players and owners a 50-50 split of the approximately $3.3 billion in revenue (the previous deal gave the players 57 percent). If the players approve, the season would begin November 2nd with a full 82-game schedule.

We'll keep our fingers crossed for a quick resoultion. In the meantime, what can avid hockey fans do to whet their appetite for the sport?

The American Hockey League (the hockey minor leagues) just opened their season over the weekend. Locally, the Chicago Wolves and the Rockford IceHogs just played head-to-head twice over the weekend. Rockford is an affiliate of the Blackhawks and half their roster has several players that have played for the parent club and were placed with the minor league team prior to the lockout.

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It seems strange that Bears General Manager Phil Emery has to proclaim that he likes quarterback Jay Cutler. Of course, he was only answering a question posed by the media, and that is the sound bite most media outlets ran with, even though there was more discussed at the time. Emery went on to list his reasons: “He’s passionate and he’s got great drive and energy. He’s moving towards excellence, he does care and love his teammates and he is a big part of what we are doing in a positive way.” When you step back and think about it, Cutler really only has to answer to his team’s management and usually they’ll make the final judgment on him. However, it seems that his persona is in dispute all the time by the public and the media.

Much of this scrutiny has been brought on by Cutler himself: He is not seen as likeable by many people. His demeanor, body language and actions are analyzed like a defendant in a courtroom — and Cutler hasn't committed a crime. The reaction to him is really incredible for a player that has won nine of his last ten games. This season he became fodder for unpleasant discussions for two "offenses” — knocking the shoulder of offensive lineman J'Marcus Webb in one game, followed by walking away from his Offensive Coordinator Mike Tice in another game. The network cameras are trained on him for everything he does on and off the field during the game.

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White Sox fans looked at their season on Wednesday, now it’s the Cubs fans turn. Where do you stand on what happened this year and what should your teams do now? Feel free to attach a comment to the post or send me a thoughts and questions and you are invited to have your tweet on Twitter @Crayestout or go to my Facebook page Cheryl Raye-Stout #atthegame.

Here is a look at the North Siders:

Without taking out an advertisement and without a public proclamation, the Cubs are rebuilding, retooling and overhauling the team. The first season of the management team of President Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer is in the books . . . with 101 losses.

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Have your say, Sox and Cubs fans: Where do you stand on what happened this year? What should your teams do now? Weigh in, and I'll pose some thoughts as well. Today we look at the Sox. On Friday, we'll take a look at the Cubs. Leave a comment on this post, tweet me @Crayestout or go to my Facebook page, Cheryl Raye-Stout #AtTheGame. 

Rookie Manager Robin Ventura’s White Sox

Do you look at the White Sox season as a success because they exceeded expectations? Or wass it a failure, getting oh-so-close to the post-season but not making it?

To me, it felt like the Sox ran out of gas. They had big contributions throughout but not enough when it counted — at the end. There were several individual successes but not in totality. I hate to say this, but to me the season was a failure. When you are in first place for three months, you try any way possible not to relinquish the top spot —especially when you are not a perennial play-off team.

Free agents: To keep or not to keep?

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It was a tale of two halves for the Bears in their 41-3 win over Jacksonville as they head into the bye-week with a 4-1 record. Head Coach Lovie Smith and his staff should delete the game plan they had drawn up in the first half. As bad as it was with a 3-3 tie, the second half was 100 percent better in every phase of the game. It would have been great to be a fly on the wall to hear the halftime talk Smith had with his team. The coaching staff did an excellent job of implementing adjustments, which got the team back on track.

The Bears opened the third quarter on offense and although the drive only netted a field goal it was a long, sustain drive that seem to wear out the Jaguars defense.

It didn’t take long for the Bears to flex their muscles on defense; they forced a rattled Jacksonville’s quarterback Blaine Gabbert on a 2nd and long into throwing a bad pass, which allowed Charles Tillman to snare an interception and a score just as the Bears cornerback did on Monday night in Dallas against the Cowboys. Bears linebacker Lance Briggs also duplicated his turnover from week four; he grabbed a pick and went into the end zone.

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