The good news from last night's Chicago White Sox victory is that Stella has his groove back.  Captain Paul Konerko, who struggles in Detroit helped prevent a Sox sweep, hit two home runs and drove in five runs as the Sox took the Royals 7-4. 

There were, however, a few tense moments.  First, Andrew Sisco, who is happy to not be wearing a Royal uniform came out to start the eighth inning.  Someone in the Sox bullpen forgot to remind him he was pitching for the Sox now and not the Royals.  Sisco looked every bit like that pitcher that both the Cubs and the Royals couldn't wait to get rid of, surrendering two walks and a wild pitch (sandwiched around a fly out) before he got the hook.  Mike MacDougal came in and got the first out, but then Sox manager Ozzie Guillen got trumped by Royals manager Buddy Bell.

Bell had sent left-handed hitting Ross Gload to the plate to pinch-hit for Emil Brown.  Guillen came out and brought in the left hander Matt Thornton.  Now, at this point, sitting at home, I knew that Buddy Bell had Reggie Sanders on the bench and when Ozzie brought in Thornton, even I knew what Buddy Bell was going to do.  So it begs the question, would you rather face Ross Gload with Mike MacDougal or Reggie Sanders with Matt Thornton.  I would have picked the former and my fears were realized when Sanders slapped a single making the score at that point 5-4.

Fortunately for the Sox, they put two runs up in the top of the ninth to salt the game away, although Bobby Jenks gave up a double and a single before he closed out the game.  If Jenks wins the Rolaids relief man of the year award, he should ask that the prize be given in Rolaids and give all of them to Guillen.

The same two teams conclude their series tonight in KC.  My fear is Javy Vasquez is due for an egg laying.

Lightning Round

• The Cubs are now 3-8 at home and 0-3 in extra inning games played at home.  Mt. Lou is set to blow again.  And, it looks like the Brewers may be the real deal this year.  Of course, it's only April.
• In the race for Lord Stanley's Cup, Vancouver, led by veteran Canuck Trevor Linden scored three third period goals on the way to a 4-1 win over Dallas to claim their first round series in seven games.  Round two matchups are:  In the East,  Buffalo vs. the Rangers and Ottawa vs. New Jersey; In the West, Detroit vs. San Jose and Vancouver vs. Anaheim.  I'll have my picks for round two tomorrow.  In round one, I was 7-1, thank-you very much.
  
• Now that the college coaching wheel is about to stop spinning, here are some coaches that should do well next year.  I also think Ricardo Patton and Stan Heath will do well, simply because a big name coach usually does okay at a mid-major the year after they were fired from a major conference job. 
  
• USA Today enthralls you with 25 years of draft coverage.
• The Texas Rangers have placed relief pitcher Eric Gagne on the DL with a hip problem.  Is it just me or is Gagne about as dependable health wise as a 1977 Chevy Vega?
• The college coach's association does not support the pending legislation for a text messaging ban, but rather limitations.  The NCAA should turn a deaf ear.
• Kenny Mayne's new Sportscenter catch phrase has aroused ire in people with no sense of humor. I don't think Kenny means anything by it other than he thinks the word "Obama" is funny.
  
• There are very few web sites that make me laugh out loud until my eyes tear up.  Hire Jim Essian's daily entry "Sweet Uncle Lou's Diary" is on of those places.  Hysterical.
• Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin is dead at 76.  He'll be saving Russian taxpayers some money as the embalming was done five years ago.
• A recent study shows that among professionals, lawyers are the most depressed. Maybe they actually do have a conscience. 
  
• Katie Couric may soon be ousted from a job she should have never had. 
  
• If you are bugged by being nagged, you may have the latest designer neurosis "reactantcy."  Bristol Meyers Squibb is no doubt working on a chemical cure.  Have you ever noticed how these designer cures all have names that sound like sci-fi characters?  "I have ED, but Cardassian put an end to that." Or, "I was reactant.  Everytime my wife nagged  me about anything, I flew into a rage.  But now, I'm okay, thanks to help from Klingon."
• Prolific author David Halberstam died in a car accident yesterday in Northern California.  He wrote many great books, among them a tribute to former Red Sox Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams and probably the best ever book on Joe DiMaggio.
• Speaking of books, Watergate co-author Carl Bernstein (who has been played in the movies by both Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson) is coming out with a tell all book about Hillary Clinton.  That should be very, very interesting.
• Why does CBS wait two weeks to suspend two radio personalities after they were involved in a prank phone call poking fun at the Chinese?  It just shows that they are reacting to pressure groups and advertisers and not to their best interests.  They need to start getting ahead of these things or they will look like the shill that they apparently are.  Where's the integrity, boys?
• If you missed it Saturday afternoon, here's a fond look back at Canada's newest reality show: When Goalies Go Goon.