Welcome to the 101st Post Spectacular!!

Look, anyone can celebrate a traditional milestone. Sixteenth birthday, fiftieth wedding anniversary, 56 straight games with a basehit, three consecutive weeks without Ozzie dominating the newspaper headlines for offending someone. Been there, done that. But given that the RT has always prided itself on being just a little different, I elected to bypass yesterday's monumental 100th post and save the party for today...the 101st post in the history of the Random Thoughts! Yes, that is right... 101 posts of pure fun. 101 posts chock full of all the things that you love...Hofstra, Dee Brownberg, the occasional Ed Asner and Silver Spoons reference, apparently now-defunct comments from the wizarding world, Things One and Two and, of course, Jessica Alba. It has been one heck of a ride, thus far!

Now I am not asking for streamers and a disco ball and I am not going to suggest that we all drop what we are doing, collect or friends and party like it is 1999 (which actually was quite a laid-back year), but 101 posts is really quite an achievement (self-pat on the back alert). There are now more Random Thoughts posts available for your enjoyment than lifetime episodes of Doogie Howser M.D., Mork & Mindy, the Munsters, Welcome Back Kotter, and, yes, Punky Brewster. Believe it or not, the RT now leaves Gilligan stranded on a deserted island; it turns out that Joanie loves the Random Thoughts a heck of a lot more than she loves Chachi; and The Ropers never had a chance. Heck, with today' post I am now only one behind ALF, and only 16 behind the Brady Bunch, although I am fairly certain that we blow the ever popular Brady Brides out of the water.

Anyway, congratulations to me and thank you to all of you who continue to enjoy the Random Thoughts!

* I hope that I do not have to remind anyone that it was the Random Thoughts that refused to close the door on the White Sox chances to win the AL Central (and if thewife claims that upon seeing the Tigers' lead grow to ten full games early last week, I proclaimed the Pale Hose six feet under, I fully anticipate making like Marion Berry and denying the whole thing). The Tigers had yet to hit a rough patch the entire season and could not be expected to play as well as they had been playing for the entire year. Further, as much as it may kill certain Cubs fans to hear this...the Sox remain a solid ballclub. Sure there are holes, the starting pitchers may be a tad tired from all the innings that they have been asked to throw over the last couple of years, and you just never know when Bobby Jenks is going to open a Scrum-Diddly-Umptious bar, find a Golden Ticket, and wind up stuck in a drainage pipe at the local chocolate factory, but anyone who has already counted the Sox out, may wind up looking a bit foolish.

* And my feelings regarding the Sox have not changed despite last night's loss to the lowly Tigers (RT flashback: the Sox loss to K.C. kind of reminds me of Illinois' loss to lowly Penn State) and the Tigers' consecutive victories over the suddenly punchless Red Sox. The Tigers have lived a charmed life all season, but perhaps their luck is beginning to run out. While the Sox pitching seems to be returning to form, the Tigers suffered a huge blow when second baseman Placido Palanco injured his shoulder and may be lost for the season. Happy days may be here once again for the Sox in the very near future. To use a well-worn cliche, the team just needs to take it one day at a time.

* Now, I have to hope that most Sox fans who do not have the name "Ligge" printed on the side of their mailbox (hey, cardboard boxes have mailboxes too!) do not wish injury on any of the Tiger, Twin or Red Sox players. Yesterday, I made it quite clear, that I, your fearless leader of the RT, would never wish injury or illness on any athlete (or ex-athlete), unless he or she played basketball for the little overrated school in the Northwest and looks an awful lot like the bass player for Black Sabbath (and Hawk Harrelson, of course), but, you know what? I lied. Just as Rex the Wonder Dog suddenly coming down with a case of Torsonic Polarity Syndrome** would give all Bears' fans the benefit of seeing Brian Griese on the field, the team would be equally better off should Cedric Benson suffer from a case of Loser's Lurgy. An awful lot of Bears fans trully believe that this year's team is Super Bowl worthy, but should Rex and Gayle Sayers-Walter Payton-Cedric Benson be the team's primary ballcarrier, I caution you to curb your enthusiasm. Benson the top option? Gimme a break! Jerry Angelo can dream on if he thinks that is the case. After all, Thomas Jones is and for the foreseeable future will remain the Bears' best backfield option.

* Speaking of Random Thoughts predictions, I think I may have seen Juan Pierre in Busse Woods, decked out in a khaki shirt and shorts with yellow neckerchief, trying desperately to light a fire using only dried leaves and a magnifying glass, so technically he was in a different uniform after the July 31st trading deadline. At least it looked like Juan Pierre. I suppose it could have been any 8-year old kid...

* I think I may have also seen A.J. Pierzynski in a Sunflower Girls uniform, but that is another story for another day. What's that old phrase about diff'rent strokes?

* Oh yeah, A.J. can get injured too. Maybe someone will hit him in the mouth.

* Concerned with the inexperience of his pitching staff and the possibility that his young arms may tire as the season winds down, Tigers' manager Jim Leyland is reportedly considering going to a six-man rotation. Most "baseball men" are readily criticizing Leyland for even considering such an unusual move. Excuse me, but isn't it Jim Leyland who has had an absolutely fabulous managing career, including almost 1,200 career wins and two MLB Manager of the Year awards? Isn't it Leyland who lead the Pirates to three straight National League Championship Series and won the World Series with the Marlins in 1997? Doesn't such success at least partially insulate you from criticism? Unless the "baseball men" who are criticizing him are Abner Doubleday, Babe Ruth and Terence Mann, I ain't listening. With such a young team, Leyland is bound to have to deal with some growing pains, he is just trying to make the best of what can be a difficult situation and deal with the inevitable facts of life.

* Quick...which pitcher has the most wins in the American League since the start of the 2005 season? Did you answer Johan Santana? Randy Johnson? Mark Buehrle? Mike Mussina? Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh? Hard to believe, but it is Jon Garland who is at the head of the class with 31 wins. In fact, Garland has the second most wins in the AL since the start of the 2004 season, behind only Santana. That is almost as hard to believe as the fact that Jim Hendry and most major league experts once considered Angel Guzman one of the top-five pitching prospects in the entire minor leagues.

* According to Jim, Guzman had all the tools (and the only real tools that Angel has shown so far are those that can be found at your local home improvement warehouse). Somebody better remind the Cubs GM that the majors is a different world. Guzman has largely looked clueless upon being brought to the majors. Any chance that is actually Jose Guzman out there in Cubbie blue? Now that I think about it, practically all of the Cubs' recent front-line prospects have largely looked about as prepared to play in the majors as the jawas were when attacked by the tusken raiders. I'm afraid of what this means for poor young Felix Pee-Ay. I suppose we just have to continue to have hope and faith that he is the next Lou Brock and not the next Damon Buford.

* I hate to beat a dead horse, but as long as I am boring you with statistics today, I'd like to take this opportunity to pile on Rex the Wonder Dog. Yesterday, I referenced Rex's 53.8% completion percentage. Not to frighten you or anything, but let me warn you that such a percentage is lower than Kordell Stewart's, Kyle Boller's and Joey Harrington's. Oh yeah, it is also lower than Michael Vick's, who despite the fact that in the last couple of years, he has single handedly caught Saddam Hussein, prevented the recent Britian to the U.S. airplane bombings, prevented the attempted assassination of then candidate for the west wing David Palmer, and created the I-Pod, high definition televions and TiVo, completes passes about as often as circa 2002 Marlon Brando passed up a trip to the buffet.

* When talking about which Chicago athletes are more likely to spend an evening in the E.R. after suffering from a freak ironing or gardening accident than either at home reading the scouting report or playbook or hanging at the local watering hole looking for their very own Annie Savoy, Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and Rex are deservedly the first names mentioned. Well, what about Mike Brown? Brown is seemingly always suffering from some malady or another, but, until recently, has not been mentioned in the same breath with the other occupants of the Windy City's M*A*S*H unit. Now comes word that Brown has an achilles injury and, despite Brown's insistence that he will be ready to start the season, the fact that he is suffering from yet another affliction has got to concern defensive coordinator Chico and the man who makes the ultimate decisions for the team, Lovie (yes, we Bears' fans are relying on a Chico and a Lovie to bring Chicago another Superbowl title). The Bears' secondary already contains a guy in Peanut Tillman who has about as much chance of preventing an opposing reciever from catching the ball as Jan does in holding on to a boyfriend when Marcia enters the room (you did not think that I was going to say Alice, did you? Hey, at least they are keeping it all in the family) and now they may be forced to play without Brown? What can Brown do for you? Let's hope the answer is not "nothing."

* Corey-o-Meter: It has been quite a while since we last checked in with everyone's favorite ex-Cub centerfielder not named Doug Dascenzo. Corey continues to have a solid season, hitting .282 with 12 home runs, 43 RBI and 37 stolen bases (second in the AL). Kid Corey still strikes out a little too much, but his plate discipline is seemingly beginning to blossom, as he has found himself walking back to the dugout with his head down only 19% of the time, compared with 26% of the time in both 2004 and 2005.

* Random Thoughts daily commenter Wrigley Bill has opined that the NFC Central will be won by the team who sucks least. Well, the Minnesota Vikings are well on their way to being the team that sucks most. First, the team loses rookie starting linebacker Chad Greenway for the season with a torn ACL and now comes word that career malcontent Koren Robinson has been charged with drunken driving. Robinson, who is reportedly already in the NFL's substance abuse program and was suspended last year for four games, faces a season-long suspension should he be found guilty. The injury to Greenway really cannot be controlled, but Viking fans have got to be concerned about the character of the players that call Minneapolis home. Last year, they suffered through the love boat debacle and things are not starting off on the right foot this season. Of course, signing an idiot like Koren Robinson when you are trying to leave your team behavioral problems in the past is a little like hiring Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds to head up a new commission to rid baseball of steroids. Nothing but good times in the land of Minnesota football these days.

* The Vikings were not going to win the division this year anyway. At least not with Brad Johnson at quarterback. Brad is the only guy in the NFL, besides Curtis Martin, not only to have dated each of the Golden Girls when they were still in high school (yep, even Sophia) but who also knows for certain whether Mrs. O'Leary's cow is actually responsible.

* Most of us who listen to Chicago sports radio are quite familiar with the voice of Marty Jones (no, that's Smarty Jones who lives in Kentucky and does nothing but eat 24 hours a day and score 227 ladies a week). Marty does the traffic reports on ESPN Radio 1000 and generally does an excellent job warning us that Bob Huggins has refused to take a taxi once again and is speeding up the Edens and to watch out because Mel Gibson and his entourage just turned his luxury car onto Addison . But, what is so dang funny? Is she watching the South Park movie in the studio? Is she listening to an old Sam Kinison recording? Did Dusty just say that the Cubs will be just fine once they get all their horses back? Marty simply cannot make it through an entire traffic report without starting the laugh. Not positive what is going on in her studio, but I'd sure love to know.

* Finally, I tried Red Bull the other day. Still no wings.

Cheers!

**Two trivia challenges today. First, in which television show was Torsonic Polarity Syndrome introduced and what is it? Second, I have hidden the name of 52 different television shows in this post (some not hidden very well). How many can you find?