And so I’m officially in southern Illinois, a relatively short drive (compared to Thursday’s 12-hour job) away from Busch Stadium and the schizophrenic Cubs, who need to get healthy in a hurry and rest some of their bullpen arms if they are to hold off the Cardinals and Brewers in the second half of the season.

Of course, that’s an argument I won’t be making in the building tonight, as Cards’ fans know what it’s like to have a bevy of injuries and yet still win. Tony La Russa, as much as I wouldn’t mind seeing him make seven trips to the mound tonight as the Cubs obliterate Cardinals’ pitching (OK, so La Russa could make seven trips to the mound in a game the Cards were winning), has to get credit for perhaps his most masterful job of managing in a career full of masterful jobs of managing.

Anyway, I’m only hours away from the Arch and seeing this rivalry from the other side. Already I’ve incurred a small portion of the Cards/Cubs wrath, hearing from Melinda Pierson’s otherwise delightful aunt and uncle that the Cubs will surely fall from first place before the end of the season, and maybe before Monday. (But they liked Ron Santo!)

There is a chance of that happening, with the Cubbies just 2 1/2 games up on the Birds in the NL Central standings heading into the three-game set. Like last year, when I drove 15 hours with a buddy to see first place hang in the balance between these two heated rivals for 2 1/2 innings before the rains came, a lot is on the line tonight, and it should be palpable.

There should be some fireworks tonight. And then some after the game as well.

Play ball!

So I”m off to St. Louis, and yes, the Ron Santo Cubs’ jersey is in the car.

I’ll be gone for a few days, and then after I get back from St. Louis, I’m off to the beach for a few days. 

What all that means is that Herald sportswriter Ryan Sarda is handling the sports section by himself. Ryan’s going to do a great job, but with our sports staff cut in half for a week, he can only be in so many places at one time. That’s why it’s even more important for all-star coaches and/or team parents to let the Herald know about results from tournament games around the area. Please call Ryan at (919) 718-1223 or e-mail him at sarda@sanfordherald.com with those results.

As for me, I’m already sweating the possibility of my beloved Cubs tumbling out of first place in front of my eyes at the hands of the hated Cardinals. I’ll be posting updates from my trip as often as I can.

Go Cubs!

If you haven’t read Sunday’s column, I posted it below. If it’s too long for you, well, here’s the gist of things:

I’m going to see my Cubs play my buddy’s Cards in Busch Stadium over the Fourth of July weekend. I love the Cubs, but I’ll be in the vast minority. Plus, the Cubs are in first place and the Cards are chasing them. It’s a big rivalry anyway, but it’s bigger when the teams are good.

Do I:

A) Wear my Cubs hat in rival territory.

B) Wear my Cubs hat and Ron Santo jersey in rival territory.

C) Wear shorts and T-shirt with no indication that I’m a Cubs fan.

d) Get over it; it’s no big deal being The Guy Who Wears The Rival Team’s Jersey In The Home Team’s Ballpark.

Let me know.

Here’s the column:

Am I about to become That Guy?

I’m about to be That Guy.

I usually look down on That Guy. Well, the That Guys who annoy me, anyway. I guess this time they’re Those Guys.

You know Those Guys. Sure you do.

The, I Know A Lot About This Sport, So I’m Going To Talk A Little Too Loud And Too Often To Make Sure Everybody Knows I Know A Lot About This Sport Guy.

I hate That Guy.

Or how about the, I Yell At The Ref/Ump All The Time Guy?

Hate That Guy, too.

There are others.

The, I Drink Too Much And Then Curse Too Much Even Though Kids Are Sitting All Around Me Guy.

The, I Won’t Stop Talking Trash Even Though My Team Is Getting Drilled By Four Touchdowns Guy.

The, I Bring My Glove To The Game Even Though I’m 42 Years Old Guy.

The, I Get Mad When People Are Standing Up In Front Of Me Even Though It’s A Big Moment In The Game Guy.

The, I Am Wearing The Rival Team’s Jersey In The Home Team’s Ballpark Guy.

Uh-oh, wait a minute.

I can proudly say I’ve never been any of Those Guys.

Yet.

And there’s still a chance I can keep my dignity and refrain from any of the above. 

Just not a good one.

Next week, over the Fourth, I will get my first look at the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis, where the hated Cardinals will be hosting my beloved and all-of-a-sudden slumping Chicago Cubs. It’s the Yankees/Red Sox of the Midwest, only the Cubs rarely have anything to hang their hats on when compared to the Birds. It’s that whole “haven’t won a world series in a century” thing.

But this year — if die-hards like me can ignore the recent Cubs’ malaise for a moment — it’s Chicago with the early upper hand in the NL Central Division. The Cubs have at times held the major leagues’ best record in baseball, and entering Sunday’s games, hold a 3 1/2-game edge on the Cardinals.

First-place Cubs against second-place Cards at their place. Last year a buddy of mine and I drove 15 hours for 2 1/2 innings in Wrigley last August before a rainstorm killed our one shot at the true taste of the rivalry we’ve always heard about, but never truly felt.

This time I’m going to get it. And maybe all of it. Directed right at me.

I have two shots this time at seeing Cubs/Cards. Tickets for the Fourth and July 5. In St. Louis. In Busch. But with another friend. Who loves the Cardinals.

And all of that is fine. My buddy and I may boast the most civil Cubs/Cardinals friendship in the world. Seriously. We get along great, no matter how tight the race is. Considering that I have a close Duke friend who I won’t talk to for a week if the Tar Heels lose to the Blue Devils, I find this downright remarkable.

But I may be putting all of that on the line.

Not because I’m a Cubs fan. Because I may look like a Cubs fan.

To reiterate: In St. Louis. In Busch. 

I can’t see not wearing the hat. I just can’t. I’ve never been to a college, minor or major league game without wearing a hat. And the Cubs hat I’ll likely wear is kind of tame. It’s got the Cubs’ Bearface logo from 1968 on the front. It’s my favorite. I have to wear it. 

The jersey, though, I’m a little worried about. 

That Guy.

A sea of red, I’m presuming, with Cubs fans dotted here and there throughout the stadium. That’s the scene I figure I’ll find. The same thing happened with Cards fans in Wrigley last summer, and it’s fine. But, on the bus back to the train, my buddy and I were ready to let the Cardinals fan with a blinking Cards hat have it. 

He was That Guy for our trip. And he always will be. And, even though we both know better, he’ll be the face — and hat — we’ll see forever when we’re in one of our hating-the-Cardinals moments. (I mean, c’mon. The hat had blinking lights over the “StL” logo on the cap. You just can’t let that go, not when he’s sitting across from you on the bus. You just can’t.)

It’s still too soon for me to wear the Mark Grace jersey. He needs to be retired a few more years for me to break that one out at a game again.

The Ron Santo one, on the other hand, is another story.

Santo, like my mother did, has battled the dregs of diabetes for most of his life, and is a hero of mine. The should-be Hall of Famer played his incredible career by controlling his blood sugar with candy bars and Cokes. He had to. It was the only way for a while. And he did it without telling anybody.

But Santo The Diabetic is also Santo The Cub, and Santo The Cubs Radio Broadcaster, who can really get on Cardinals’ fans nerves. And it’s a beautiful blue pinstriped jersey. And it’ll stand out amongst all that hideous red.

As I sit here now, less than a week and a 12-hour drive to my buddy’s house in Illinois, I’m leaning toward wearing both hat and Santo jersey. Even though I figure I’m setting myself up for ridicule should the Cubs play poorly, or searing looks of death should they play well, I feel like I’d be letting all Cubs fans down if I didn’t stride into that stadium in my Chicago best.

I think I’ll be OK, considering I’m not any of Those Guys mentioned above. 

It’s sitting next to one of them in my full Cubs’ regalia that has me worried.

A few thoughts from the NBA Draft, my favorite draft of the year, for reasons you can find here.

I’ll be checking in every so often throughout the draft, happy in knowing that this will be a Tar Heel-free draft tonight. This is already a good day, even if you take away the impending doom Michael Jordan is about to lay onto the Charlotte Bobcats franchise.

7:30 p.m. Here comes David Stern, who instead of saying this has been one of the most trying NBA seasons ever, that it’s been one of the most exciting. Glass half full there.

7:37 p.m. So the Bulls surprise no one and take Derrick Rose, the point guard from Memphis, with the top pick. I love how everyone is already comparing Rose to Jason Kidd. I think Rose is going to be pretty good, too, but Kidd? A triple-double machine? I don’t think so. He’s 6-foot-2, not 6-5. How come nobody talks about that?

Still, this is the right pick. Which brings us to…

The Miami Heat at No. 2, who, according to everybody in the world, is shopping the pick because team president Pat Riley doesn’t like Michael Beasley, the 6-8 forward from Kansas State.

Personally, I think the fervor of the last two weeks is a smokescreen to try to drive up the price for the second pick. Riles probably isn’t crazy about Beasley, so if he can get something to wow him, he’d do it. But I think it’s all overblown. We’ll find out soon enough.

7:42 p.m. And the Heat do select Beasley. Kevin McHale is weeping openly.

7:43 p.m. Analyst Jay Bilas says “wingspan” for the first time tonight.

7:49 p.m. The Minnesota Timberwolves select USC guard O.J. Mayo with the third pick. I love this pick for Minny because I think he’s most the NBA-ready player. 

Throw away all the YouTube clips. He plays team basketball, he plays defense, he has a nice mid-range game to go with his jumper and he will actually play defense (did I mention that?), which is something that Beasley doesn’t do. (I think there’s at least a chance Beasley becomes Glenn Robinson.) The T’Wolves’ backcourt is undersized with Mayo and Rashad McCants, but it’s explosive, too. And after the year Minny had, at least this team might be worth spending money to watch.

NOTE: The T’Wolves, near 1 a.m. look like they’ll be trading Mayo and others to the Grizzlies for Love, Mike Miller and others. 

7:54 p.m. The Oklahoma City SuperSonics take UCLA guard Russell Westbrook with the fourth pick. Westbrook has been the biggest mover since guys started declaring for the draft. When a guy is a “late-bloomer,” isn’t there a chance he could be the next Antonio Daniels?

8:01 p.m. The Memphis Grizzlies select Rope Beard, aka Kevin Love, with the fifth pick. I don’t think Love’s NBA numbers will reveal just how valuable a player he will be. Good pick for this team. See above note.

8:04 p.m. Knicks fans are getting ready to boo.

8:06 p.m. Danilo Gallinari is the pick at No. 6. Knicks’ fans hate it because he’s an international player, but he doesn’t play like one. He’s not soft like Pau Gasol and is young and a versatile scorer. I like this pick as well.

8:07 p.m. We learn that “gallo” means “the rooster”, and that Reebok already has a shoe called “The Rooster”. Um, I’m liking him a little less now.

8:08 p.m. Stephen A. Smith asks two different questions that get the same answer from Gallinari. “I like to win and play hard.” Not a good start to the young man’s career. He might get eaten alive in New York.

8:12 p.m. The Clippers take Eric Gordon, the guard from Indiana. Of course. Need a short (6-3) shooting guard who shot 33 percent from NCAA 3-point range and folded down the stretch? Eric Gordon’s your man. Oh, and he can’t dribble. Just put “Bust” on the back of his jersey.

8:14 p.m. Gordon does have this going for him — he’s won the Worst Suit Award for the night with his white and navy blue two-tone thing. Eccchhhhh.

8:18 p.m. The Milwaukee Bucks take Joe Alexander, the forward from West Virginia, with the eighth pick. Everybody’s saying Alexander’s a “freak of an athlete” (in fact, Bilas just did). I think he’s a wait-and-see guy. Maybe he’s Dirk Nowitzki. Or maybe he’s Mike Dunleavy Jr.

8:19 p.m. The Charlotte Bobcats are on the clock! How will Jordan screw this one up?

8:25 p.m. And MJ lives up to the billing. Texas point guard D.J. Augustin is the selection, all 6-feet, 172-pounds of him. Didn’t the Bobcats already have this guy in Brevin Knight? Or Raymond Felton? And wouldn’t Jacque Vaughn or Mateen Cleaves been cheaper? 

Indiana president Larry Bird just did a blackfip as well. Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless is about to fall to the Pacers at 11.

ESPN’s Chad Ford writes that “Augustin has a chance to be special.” Good, but Ford said the same thing about Darko Milicic.

8:30 p.m. The New Jersey Nets, who traded Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for Yi and Bobby Simmons, take Stanford center Brook Lopez at 10. Bilas is in love with him, probably because Lopez looks like he should’ve been playing for Duke. 

Bilas: “He plays mean.”

And, “The one knock on him — he’s not very athletic.”

OK then.

8:35 p.m. The Pacers passed Stern the note before he left after the Nets’ pick. It’s Bayless, and Jamaal Tinsley’s days are numbered.

Of course, Tinsley’s days are numbered every time he goes into a nightclub. Good pick for the Pacers.

8:40 p.m. The Sacramento Kings take 6-11, 250-pound forward Jason Thompson from Rider. Feel free to comment on this one. Even I don’t know much about this guy.

8:44 p.m. Ford is reporting that the Pacers may be sending Bayless to Portland for the 13th pick and Jarrett Jack. I don’t know about that one.

8:47 p.m. The Blazers take 6-7 Kansas guard Brandon Rush at 13. Don’t the Pacers already have him in Danny Granger? I like Rush in Portland, which is really building something with Brandon Roy (OK, so maybe Portland already has Rush as well), Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge.

8:51 p.m. The Golden State Warriors take LSU big Anthony Randolph, who barely weighs more than me (6-10, 197 pounds — him, not me). An upside pick here, but an athletic one. He’ll fit in well in Nellie’s system. But that does give the Warriors two Brandan Wrights.

8:52 p.m. From Ford: “The Blazers will send the rights to Rush and Jarrett Jack to the Pacers for the rights to Bayless and Ike Diogu. I think this is a great pick for the Pacers. Rush should be a great fit in the backcourt with T.J. Ford because he defends, shoots the ball and has great size in the backcourt. Rush is one of the most NBA-ready players in the draft.”

There you go.

8:57 p.m. The Phoenix Suns take the other Lopez, Robin, at 15. Isn’t this a little high for him? And the days of the Suns running and gunning are gone, officially. But they did need some interior defense, and Lopez does that.

9:04 p.m. The Philadelphia 76ers select Florida big man Marreese Speights. Kind of a project guy, right?

9:08 p.m. All eight Bobcats fans can relax a little now. The Toronto Raptors just took Georgetown center Roy Hibbert, all 7-feet-2-inches, 275 pounds and six points against Davidson of him, with the 17th pick.

Whew.

I guess Rafael Arajuo wasn’t working out.

9:10 p.m. My bad. The Hibbert pick is going to Indiana in the Jermaine O’Neal trade, right?

The Pacers have been looking for an answer for the Rik Smits era for a while now.

9:14 p.m. At No. 18, the Washington Wizards select JaVale McGee, the 7-footer from Nevada. He’s the one who was supposed to have been killing himself in draft workouts. Are we sure MJ didn’t return to D.C.?

9:18 p.m. The Cleveland Cavailers take N.C. State freshman J.J. Hickson at No. 19, killing MJ’s plan for another ACC underachiever on his roster.

Here’s what I had written here before the pick: Ohio State center Kosta Koufos at No. 19, the same Kosta Koufos who found Tyler Hansbrough to be too athletic for him. At least the Cavaliers can still use that “he’s a hometown guy” for Ohio-born Koufos when LeBron bolts for Jersey, err, Brooklyn.

That means the Bobcats are gonna take Koufos, aren’t they?

9:26 p.m. Yup, it’s Koufus. Oh wait, no, it’s Alexis Ajinca, the 7-1 center from France. Didn’t the Bobs once have this guy, only his name was Primo Brezec?

Why would any NBA team want a soft international big after watching Gasol wither in the Finals this year? Why? Why? Why? 

Sell those season tickets, boys.

9:31 p.m. The Nets are on the clock again with the 21st pick. Does anybody else realize right now that, with Jefferson gone, Vince Carter is the team’s go-to guy? 

9:33 p.m. New Jersey just took Ryan Anderson, a 6-10 forward from the basketball factory of Cal. 

Right.

9:34 p.m. So, to recap, the Nets, in one day, have gone with Brook Lopez, Yi and a shooting 6-10 dude from Cal. With VC on the roster.

Gee, no team is going to try to be physical with these guys.

9:36 p.m. This just in — Ajinca averaged a whopping 5 points per game in France? Five?! FIVE?! The Bobcats just took Frederic Weis, but with a pick they traded away a future first-rounder for. Even Isiah’s Knicks weren’t this stupid. 

Can they just fire MJ now? Please?

FIVE?!

9:38 p.m. Just to rub even more salt into the wound of J.J. Redick’s ego, the Magic take another shooting guard, Western Kentucky’s Courtney Lee.

9:42 p.m. Utah, at 23, takes Koufus. He’ll fit in well there — and he may help the basketball team, too.

9:44 p.m. From Ford again: “In the history of the NBA Draft, has there ever been a player that averaged 5 ppg or less who turned into a decent player?”

Let’s ask His Airheadedness that.

9:49 p.m. Serge Ibaka from the Congo goes to Oklahoma City at 24. We may hear from him in three years. Or we may not.

9:50 p.m. Stu Scott on Ibaka: “His mother and father were basketball players.”

Yeah, from the Congo. My dad was a basketball player from MInnesota. In high school.

9:51 p.m. Kansas’ Darrell Arthur is still sitting in the green room. Maybe now he wishes he would’ve played hard every time out.

9:53 p.m. My buddy Fisher is a lot funnier than I’ll ever be. Check out the comments.

9:56 p.m. Houston. 25th pick. Nicolas Batum. OK.

He averaged 8.5 ppg for France. Too many for MJ.

10:01 p.m. The Spurs just took George Hill from IUPUI with the 26th pick. I think the Spurs thought “IUPUI” was a foreign country and that they could stash Hill away for two years before bringing him over to win another eight titles.

10:05 p.m. Apparently Arthur has a kidney issue, which is keeping teams from drafting him.

Funny, Alexis Ajinca has a scoring issue, but he got drafted.

10:08 p.m. New Orleans is drafting for Portland here, and selects Arthur. This is a good fit for both. Arthur has a chip on his shoulder to go with his kidney, he doesn’t have to be The Man on what is an emerging team, which fits his personality. And if he’s a bust, they’re covered. Look out for the Blazers.

Hey, um, a good question was raised by my buddy Neil. We’ve been told that Arthur’s mother quit her job as a truck driver to follow all of her son’s games at Kansas. Um, either I need to quit my job and go to truck-driving school tonight, or something funny is going on here. Maybe the NCAA ought to look into Kansas when it’s done with Indiana and USC.

10:11 p.m. Where’s Erin Andrews?

10:15 p.m. Memphis takes Donte Greene from Syracuse in a pick they got from the Lakers in the Gasol trade. Who will they be gift-wrapping him to next year?

10:17 p.m. I just found a bench-worn Redick jersey on eBay.

10:19 p.m. The Pistons have to trade Rasheed Wallace now, right? And they could draft DeAndre Jordan. That makes sense, right?

10:22 p.m. The Pistons take D.J. White instead. OK, a bigger Jared Jeffries. Yawn.

10:24 p.m. Has Mark Jackson not liked a pick yet? He’s too worried about potentially miffing a GM who could hire him next year as a head coach.

10:29 p.m. From Ford: “Detroit is selecting White for the Seattle Supersonics, a Pistons source told me. The Pistons will get two of the Sonics’ second-rounders — the 32nd and 46th picks. This is a very solid pick for the Sonics. White is a excellent rebounder and a good low post scorer. He’s also young for a senior. He helps the Sonics get tougher up front.”

10:31 p.m. The Celtics take Some Guy with the 30th pick.

OK, there’s the first round. The second round is looming, but since the Bobcats already took a second-rounder in the first round, there’s really nothing to look forward to. Looks like Mario Chalmers, Chris Douglas-Roberts and DeAndre Jordan made the wrong choices, though.

I wrote just yesterday how much I enjoy the NBA Draft. And then this comes across the AP wire:

Bobcats obtain 20th pick from Nuggets

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Charlotte Bobcats acquired the No. 20 pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday from the Denver Nuggets.

The Bobcats sent the Nuggets a future protected first-round pick, and now have two picks in the first round, including the ninth overall pick.

The move could give Charlotte an option to take both a big man and a point guard in the draft, two areas of need. The Bobcats were impressed with Georgetown center Roy Hibbert when he worked out for the team earlier this month. Hibbert is expected to go late in the first round.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, noooooooooooooooooooo! 

A future protected first-round pick? OK, so usually those are the kinds of picks where if the Bobs end up with a top 3 pick, they keep it. But still. Considering that Charlotte has never even sniffed the playoffs, meaning they’ll probably be in the lottery again real soon, giving up first-round picks is darn near crazy. This isn’t like the Hornets trade today, where they shipped the 27th pick away to Portland. The Hornets are among the best teams in the NBA. They’re almost guaranteed a late pick. Charlotte’s not.

And the worst part? Yeah, Hibbert. Roy Freaking Hibbert? The same Roy Freaking Hibbert who scored a whopping six points in the NCAA Tournament against Davidson? That Roy Freaking Hibbert? The one who can’t run up and down the floor in college, and he’s gonna be a great pro? 

Michael Jordan, by hiring Larry Brown as his coach, wants to win right now. So OK, the Bobcats may finish eighth in the Eastern Conference this season, make the playoffs, get bounced in the first round, and find themselves with another good draft pick. Only they gave it away.

For maybe Roy Hibbert. 

So the Bobcats could have a team with Emeka Okafor, Hibbert, Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson (who could be traded Thursday — cross your fingers) and Raymond Felton, with Jared Dudley, Matt Carroll, whomever the No. 9 pick turns out the be (which will likely be a point guard), The Artist Formerly Known as Adam Morrison and The Artist Formerly Known as Sean May. Talk about a herky-jerky team. You’ve got guys who want to run (Wallace, J-Rich, Felton and maybe D.J. Augustin from Texas) and guys who can’t (everybody else).

Sounds like Jordan’s Wizards teams that he put together, which, by the way, were dreadful. They were bad even with Jordan, who may have helped Washington to more wins, but never got them into the playoffs.

The scariest part to the Bobcats getting a second pick is that Jordan will get to choose two players this time around (Kwame Brown, Morrison, hiring Sam Vincent as coach). And by the time he’s finally run out of town (Incompetence can only last so long, no matter what your name is. Then again, Kevin McHale still has a job.), Charlotte will probably get to watch the first round of a future draft from the sidelines.

Which is probably where Roy Freaking Hibbert will be.

Ah, the NBA Draft is looming.

I love the NBA Draft. Love it. 

I love all drafts, really. Well, except for maybe the amateur baseball draft, which has too low of a success rate and too few known names to attract a following.

The NFL Draft is the king of all drafts, but my undying love is for the NBA’s version. There are only 30 teams, only two rounds, and aside from a few Euros here and there, there’s a good chance I’ve come across at least 95 percent of the players selected from watching them play in college.

The NBA Draft has other things going for it, like the player interviews, which have taken on new realms of unintentional comedy since ESPN’s Stuart Scott has begun conducting them. But who can forget an emotional Antonio McDyess telling the world that now his mother can finally have the china cabinet she’s always been dreaming of? Sometimes things aren’t always scripted, and true personalities come through.

And how about the suits? Wow, the suits. 

The easy picks, the bad picks, the analysis. Back when TNT was hosting the draft, Charles Barkley would try to insult entire organizations, like the Los Angeles Clippers, while Hubie Brown seemed to call every white player a “good floor leader” or an “extension of the coach on the floor.”

With ESPN having taken over, there is still good fodder to be found, like Jay Bilas’ ever-expanding vocabulary. Words like “upside” and “elevate” (instead of “jump”) have been around a while, but Bilas has added to the lexicon with terms like “long” and “blowbyability” and “ball-friendly” and, one that was only used during the college hoops season — “low error rate”. I’m giddy already.

OK, OK, I need to calm down a little. But the draft is only a couple of days away, and already there’s wild chatter about trades involving the No. 2 and No. 3 picks. Does it get any better than that? These are decisions that will forever be tied to the success or failure of these teams. If the Miami Heat trades out of No. 2 and Michael Beasley becomes the next Karl Malone, that will be remembered like Bowie over Jordan. 

It’s a fantastic night, one that doesn’t end until somebody is breaking the whole thing down and telling us which team did well and which team blew it, a full five months before these kids ever wear NBA uniforms. 

At the end of the day, the draft is just a crapshoot. Tons of guys, future Hall of Famers, weren’t drafted in the first round, and their stories become the stuff of legend, showing what a lark drafts can really be.

But, no matter how you look at it, a draft is the foundation of a professional sport. The teams that do it well win. The teams that don’t? They fall apart. 

And the faults can always be traced back to one 3-hour block of time. And we get to watch.

My column was brimming with questions. Here are some answers.

Remember when an ACL tear was a devastating blow to an athlete’s career? Think Tiger Woods and Philip Rivers believe otherwise?

I was amazed when I found out Rivers played the AFC Championship with a torn ACL. But that was one game. Woods has been walking miles and miles — and winning and winning — for 10 months.

Carlos Zambrano’s minor shoulder strain isn’t foreshadowing another demoralizing Cubs’ collapse, right? Right? RIGHT?

I can’t talk about this right now. Next.

If the Kansas City Royals can sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium, why can’t the Boston Red Sox beat the Cards in Fenway?

The NL Central will be a three-team race (Milwaukee’s a-comin’) in September. I’ve ordered a lifetime supply of Maalox.

If Kobe Bryant is the second coming of Michael Jordan, then how come his team blew a 24-point lead in an NBA Finals game?

Because he ain’t Jordan. Never was, never will be. End of discussion.

Why would Penguins star Evgeni Malkin turn the Russian league down?

$12.5 million tax-free. That’s the offer.

Does the PGA Tour matter now?

At the British and PGA, yes, kinda. Everywhere else? No.

Why doesn’t ESPN give Erin Andrews her own private jet and fly her to be the sideline reporter at every ESPN broadcoast?

No male has an answer for this one, nor does want to give one. Just make it happen.

Why is Roger Federer’s career considered in a nosedive when he gets blasted in the finals on his worst surface by perhaps the greatest clay court player tennis has ever seen?

This won’t even be on the radar in a fortnight.

Did anybody else hear Kevin Garnett, in the middle of his post-Finals interview with ABC’s Michelle Tofoya, say, “Michelle, you look good tonight”? And did anybody else hear Garnett’s analogy of getting the “never-won-a-championship” monkey off his back to confronting the school bully? How can anyone not like Garnett, but love Kobe?

Good question. (Careful on the “bully” link, which features some strong language.)

If a columnist like espn.com’s Jemele Hill gets suspended for a politically incorrect line in her column, does her editor get suspended, too?

I want to know the answer to this one.

Why won’t they bring Vanilla Coke Zero back?

Because I like it.

Why was the amateur baseball draft televised?

Because Peter Gammons said so?

How much pressure does NASCAR, with its fat TV contract, put on several Sprint Cup drivers to appear in Nationwide Series races? There’s got to a be a reason why these guys keep criss-crossing the country at small-time tracks, right? It can’t all be about the money drivers are making, right? 

Seriously, the only reason anybody watches these races is because half the field is well-known. And NASCAR has to keep that happening.

Remember when the Carolina Panthers thought signing David Carr to a two-year deal was a good idea?

Don’t remind me.

How soon will the NBA team that drafts Roy Hibbert next week regret its decision? By the weekend? Next month? 

Not soon enough.

The fact that a guy like Jim Thome can’t do anything but pinch-hit in games played at Wrigley Field suggests how one-dimensional a DH is, doesn’t it? So if you wouldn’t be good enough to play on at least half of the teams in the league, why wouldn’t there be questions regarding the Hall of Fame credentials of a career DH?

I’m not saying the DH needs to go away or that somebody like Edgar Martinez shouldn’t be considered for the Hall. But there are justifiable concerns.

Did you know that Michelle Wie is ranked 200th in the world — in women’s golf? And did you know she made the cut this week in the LPGA Tour event?

Let’s all hope she can make a Jennifer Capriati-like comeback and win someday.

Would anybody in their right mind bet that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will stay retired?

Um, he’s a boxer. See Foreman, George.

Who lives a better life? Top-flight race horses or homeless people?

Can we get our priorites straight, please?

Why would a baseball general manager have a radio show?

Only bad things could happen.

Remember when senior tour golf was televised live?

…and the NBA finals were not?

Has it ever rained this much in Omaha?

Probably, but never with the Tar Heels in town.

So Chipper Jones is actually human?

Yes. Nobody’s ever hitting .400 again.

When will Dale Earnhardt Jr. win again?

Probably soon, but what else is everybody gonna talk about?

When will I get some answers?

Dunno. 

Maybe the PGA Tour should just fold.

No, not this year. This year at least there’s a chance for Tour players.

Next year, though. And beyond. Just fold it. It will be too easy for one guy, and it’s impossible to think he can even be challenged.

Tiger Woods revealed on Wednesday that he needs ACL surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2008 golf season. He played the U.S. Open with a torn ACL and with two stress fractures in his left tibia.

He played 91 holes in 1 under on a U.S. Open setup, walked somewhere in the neighborhood of 21 miles last week in playing the tournament, winced a bunch and pulled off some of the most memorable shots of his incredible career.

All on one leg.

His doctors told him two weeks ago to walk the next three weeks on crutches. First Woods told his doctors he’d win the Open, and then he told his golf coach Hank Haney that they’d just work on putting that day. Had he followed doctor’s orders, Tiger would still have another week left on crutches and a 14th major still to be won.

But not only did Woods win the Open on one wheel, he first suffered the ACL tear last July jogging at home after the British Open. 

Last July.

Um, last July.

That’s almost 12 months ago.

A year.

So with a torn ACL, Tiger decided against surgery and, well, won seven straight tournaments, including a little tourney called the PGA Championship.

And then he rested in the offseason, hoping the pain would subside.

It didn’t, but neither did his golf game.

Again, with a freaking torn ACL, Woods made seven starts in 2008 and won five times.

Five — which is five times as many healthy knees he has.

Only now, when forced to, Woods will break down and have the surgery, which means the rest of the golf season is basically irrelevant. Sure, the British and PGA still have yet to be played, but they’ll be played without Tiger, which will put a small tarnish on whomever wins either event. And then there’s the Ryder Cup, in which now the Americans face no pressure to win. None. A Ryder Cup without pressure? What?

But that’s the way it is. Sure, there’s likely to be some competitive golf played out there over the next few months. Yawn.

And then, when Woods returns, it’s lights out. Remember, on one leg, Woods won 12 times, including two majors (and a second).

Who knew that the golfing world’s best chance to compete against the greatest player ever to play the game — and, knowing what we know now, that debate can be put to rest — would have been during one of the most dominant stretches of his career?

Tiger Woods will be healthy in 2009. And the PGA Tour may as well be dead.

The best of Tiger Woods is yet to come.

Because, if you can believe this, we’ve been seeing him at his worst.

It is being widely reported that Tiger Woods will shut it down for the rest of the golf season, electing to have ACL surgery on the left knee that caused him such obvious pain during the 108th U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

Woods revealed that he suffered a stress fracture in his left leg about two weeks before the Open.

Woods won the Open in a 19-hole playoff on Monday over a game Rocco Mediate, who pushed Woods perhaps harder than he’s ever been pushed in winning a major.

What golf fans thought was remarkable has become even more legendary. Before this revelation, it was truly amazing to think of Woods being able to come back after a 9-week layoff on what was still at the very least a sore knee and still win a major championship.

To find out now that he was doing it on what is essentially a broken leg and a knee that required further work to fully repair is the stuff of legend. Willis Reed, meet Tiger Woods.

While some may choose to think that Mediate and the field somehow benefited from a gimpy Woods, consider that Woods finished the Open championship at 1 under par through four rounds, a full six shots better than the two previous winning scores in Opens. And then, in a fifth round on a harder, faster, tougher golf course, he ripped off another even par 71.

Woods played 91 holes of U.S. Open golf in 1 under. On a bad knee supported by a broken leg.

While his march on Nicklaus ends for the season at 14, Woods’ legend only grows with this news.

Of course, it hurts the game. Woods is the biggest TV draw in American sports, and now the British Open and PGA Championship will be without him. Maybe even more dramatic, the Ryder Cup will be without Woods now, a severe blow to what has been a slumping American team over the last few years.

And it hurts the field. While Woods’ departure certainly opens the door for everybody else, the 2008 Open Championship and 2008 PGA will be known more for who won’t be there than who wins. Should Phil Mickelson win either, the tally will go down on his major resume, but it will come with an asterisk placed there by a nod-nod, wink-wink public.

This news affects the whole game, and its history, from the U.S. Open through the rest of the year.

And so here we are, back in Boston for Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers held on in a Game 5 that just about everybody in the world had to figure would go their way — teams down 3-1 at home tend to always come through.

But there were still warning signs for the Lakers, who again raced out to a huge first-quarter lead, just like they did in Game 4. L.A. blew the big lead in that game, and they blew a 19-point first-quarter lead in Game 5, but managed to win. One has to wonder if Boston can just play even in the first period whether the Celtics can pull away comfortably late.

I guess we’ll see, won’t we? Starting tonight.

First Quarter

9:42 All those experts who said Pau Gasol is finally getting it after Game 5? Well, Gasol’s touched it three times on the bock already and has looked as soft as ever. 4-3, Lakers.

9:05 Kobe Bryant has come to score 50, err, play. He has eight of the Lakers’ 10. 10-7.

6:31 The Celtics are 2 of 13 from the field — and are tied!

2:47 Ray Allen, who had been carrying the Celtics early, leaves after getting fouled (well, it’s not a foul I guess if it’s not called, but…) by Lamar Odom. Allen heads to locker room to get his eye looked at and suddenly, Kevin Garnett emerges, scoring six straight points, two of them on a nasty turnaround fader over Gasol. KG’s got eight points already. 20-18, Celtics. 

:00 Celtics take a 24-20 lead into the start of the second quarter. Mission accomplished — they aren’t down by more than 18 points.

Before the end of the period, on the Lakers’ last possession, Bryant pulled up from 4 feet behind the 3-point line and chucked a 3. I don’t think that’s a good sign for the Lakers.

Second Quarter

8:23 KG’s resting on the bench, Allen has yet to return, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, P.J. Brown and Leon Powe all have two fouls.

And the Celtics lead by five, with the ball. 31-26, C’s.

Which is the better team?

6:31 The things that turned the series into the Celtics’ favor early — offensive rebounding, defense on Kobe, production off the bench — are back in Game 6. The Celtics have a whopping eight offensive boards already, and they’re making the extra pass, the last two of which have gone to reserves James Posey and Eddie House. Both resulted in 3s. Celtics by their biggest lead, 38-29.

Meanwhile, Bryant hasn’t had a field goal since the first quarter.

5:28 Another 3 from Posey. Another timeout called by Phil Jackson. The Celtics lead by 14 and are bringing the house down.

Allen’s back on the bench, but his teammates are picking him up. Garnett has 10, House 7, Posey 6, Pirece 6, with six assists.

Why did I bother to mention that?

The Lakers’ scoring looks like this: Kobe 13, nobody else more than 4.

:47 Garnett is a monster inside, catching the ball deep in the post and scoring with pretty jumpers and drives. He’s hacked by Lamar Odom and puts it in, makes the foul shot and the Celtics may be starting to chill the champagne. Boston, 56-35.

Halftime Celtics, 58-35

Everything is going for Boston, which is just 24 minutes away from celebrating its 17th championship.

Of course, this is a Celtics team known as much for blowing leads as for coming back in them in this series (anybody remember Game 2?). A long way to go, but you couldn’t have asked for a better start if you’re a Celtics fan.

Bryant has just three points since the first quarter, and all of them have come on technical foul shots. He hasn’t had a field goal in more than 17 minutes.

Third Quarter

8:48 Rondo with a three-point play a few minutes after a drive-and-dish for a 3 from Allen. Either he’s feeling much better on that sore ankle or Rondo’s just that much better at home, but he’s been fantastic on both ends of the floor tonight. 70-44, Celtics.

5:57 L.A. needed to come out in the first 6 minutes of the third quarter and make a few stops and whittle the lead down. Instead, it’s gone up as Rondo is leading the charge. He makes another ripaway steal and finds Allen in the corner for another 3. Garnett is staying aggressive as the Lakers are becoming increasingly passive. 77-48, C’s.

3:26 What a baby Gasol is. Garnett is a tough dude, but allowing him to one-arm the ball away from you? And then you complain to the stripes? Maybe that trade with Memphis wasn’t so one-sided.

2:36 Another steal by Rondo, giving him six for the game. He’s one away from tying a finals record. Celtics by 30, 84-54.

:00 (In a hushed voice) Hey, hey, Rondo drives to dish. He drives into the paint to draw the defense and kicks it to an open shooter. Like Ray Allen. Or even P.J. Brown. Or anybody. Ssshhhh. Quiet now. The Lakers haven’t figured this out yet. 89-60, Boston.

Fourth Quarter

10:56 Does Kevin McHale get a fourth championship ring for shipping KG to Boston?

9:13 And another 3 from Allen, who now has 20 points. 101-70, Celtics. 101 points with 9 minutes still left. Wow.

8:40 Somebody gonna guard Ray Allen?

Then again, it may not matter. 104-70.

5:43 Tell me if you’ve heard this one before:

Allen for 3.

That’s seven.

113-77.

4:01 Kevin Garnett leaves the game to a thunderous ovation. He’s walking lightly, leaving a huge monkey on the floor. 26 points and 13 boards in a finals-clinching game. The critics can shut up now. 116-81, and it was Garnett who set the tone tonight in this brilliant Celtics performance.

2:28 Phil Jackson leaving Kobe and Odom on the floor to endure the continued embarrassment. Interesting.

:30 There’s something I’ve never seen before.

No, not the 40-point blowout.

Close, though.

The Gatorade shower on a basketball court.

Final Celtics 131, Lakers 92

What can you say? The better team clearly won. It’s hard to be poignant now, but you have to feel good for KG, Pierce and Allen, whose legacies as NBA greats were cemented tonight. Add the emergence of Rondo and the nice moves from the sidelines by coach Doc Rivers, and something special happened in this series. 

The Celtics are back.

The Celtics are champions.

 It’s their rightful place.

Postscript

A nice moment between Garnett and Celtics great Bill Russell. Embracing, Garnett was telling Russell, with his 11 rings, “I got my own. I got my own. I got my own.”

And later, “I hope we made you proud.”

And then the best one, “You’ve got to tell me where to go tonight.”