What do all of those talented receivers have in common? They’ll all be free agents whenever NFL business resumes. And that means they all better be possible targets for the Bears.

Ripping Jay Cutler has almost become a sport itself in Chicago, but let’s all be rational and get past the negative body language and aloofness for a second. Did any quarterback do more with a worse offensive line or less inspiring group of wide receivers? He took a physical beating all season long and had to endure Johnny Knox’s unwillingness to fight for a ball, Devin Hester’s lazy routes and suspect hands and Mike Martz’ stubborn refusal to play Devin Aromoshodu, by far the best red zone target on the roster.

Cutler’s only receiver who could make a play across the middle of the field was Greg Olsen, and his most talented receiver, Matt Forte, was worn down from also carrying the ball 20 times a game. Despite all this and despite what fans and talking heads in Chicago and across the country would have you believe. Cutler actually had a pretty good season. He completed 60.4 percent of his passes for 3,274 yards with 23 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He also ran for 232 yards, a facet of his game that often gets overlooked. He fumbled six times and needs to be more mindful of pressure in the pocket, especially when he refuses to just throw the ball away. But there’s simply no doubting that he made strides in 2010, no matter how the season ended.

Jerry Angelo and the Bears had a great draft, addressing the team’s biggest need by grabbing Wisconsin’s Gabe Carimi in the first round. Now he needs to do Cutler another favor, peruse that list at the top of this post, and make contact with each and every one of those receivers. I listed them in my own personal preferential order based on who I think would be the best fit for the Bears. Steve Smith from the Giants is a great receiver, but he’s more of a possession guy and is so great for the Giants because they team him with Hakeem Nicks. The Bears need a guy who’s a home run threat, a legitimate red zone target, and someone who can do damage in the middle of the field. That’s why Vincent Jackson should be the team’s first priority.

The Vikings, having used their franchise tag on Chad Greenway and not appearing to be a serious contender in 2011, may not be a serious player for the 24-year-old Sidney Rice. We know what he can do when healthy, especially when he has a quarterback with a big arm who isn’t afraid to use it. He’s option No. 2 should the Bears miss out on Jackson.

That might seem high for Malcom Floyd, but we’re talking about a 6-foot-5, 225-pound beast, almost a carbon copy in size to his Chargers teammate Jackson. The Bears receivers are small in stature, giving Cutler few options in the red zone and limiting his ability to throw a jump ball. Floyd is 29, but he’s exactly the type of weapon Cutler could use.

Don’t sleep on James Jones, who is just entering his prime and gets overlooked due to the presence of Greg Jennings, Donald Driver and JerMichael Finley. The Packers may not put up much of a fight to keep him with two of the league’s most dangerous pass-catchers in Jennings and Finley already on the roster, as well as Driver and Jordy Nelson. Jones has been known to come down with a case of the dropsies, but he’s a guy who can stretch the field and go across the middle.

With all these possibilities, as well as the Bears gaping hole at the position, it would take a complete nitwit or someone so incompetent as a leading NFL personnel man for the Bears not to come away with one of these receivers. Should that be the case, I think we’ll have to send Mr. Angelo for a meeting with the Tattaglia Family.

Everyone connected to the MLB seems to know the best plan for realignment. Some suggest it’s as easy as moving the Astros to the AL West. Jim Bowden proposed a boneheaded geographic realignment, which would make MLB resemble the NBA and destroy traditional rivalries.

I, too, was thinking about realignment plans over the weekend when the perfect idea smacked me right in the face. Honestly, I’m not surprised no one else has thought of it yet. Sometimes it’s the most obvious ideas that are the hardest ones to see.

Two leagues of 15 teams. Each league has three 5-team divisions. Those divisions are divided by … team nickname. Duh.

Here is your brand spankin’ new MLB:

Real Life People League

Offensive Name Division

Indians – Chief Wahoo, with the burnt red skin and huge goofy grin, has survived all attempts of getting rid of him. The Indians are really the class of the OND.

Braves – Same vein as the Indians, although they bring a different sort of Native American-related insensitivity with the tomahawk chop and the droning chant that accompanies it.

Padres – They’re a bunch of monks, but they’re right on the Mexican border, so instead of “Fathers” they’re Padres. In fact, their name only exists because of insensitivity. I’m not sure the San Diego Fathers would have been approved. Anyway, thank James Polk and the U.S. Army of the mid- to late-1840s for the Padres.

Dodgers – A Dodger, in and of itself, is not offensive. However, they could have done the good people of Brooklyn a favor and changed the name when they moved to L.A. The only things you have to dodge in L.A. are terrible drivers and breast implants.

Giants – See Dodgers. New York is a city of giants. Giant buildings, giant egos, giant attitudes, giant expectations. Nothing is giant about San Francisco except Tim Lincecum’s weed stash and the hippie population.

Halloween Costume Division

Cubs – People dress up like bears all the time for Halloween. I’ve seen people as generic bears, Yogi Bear, Fozzy Bear, Smokey the Bear, the list goes on. And it seems to resonate with all ages. Plus, I think I wore my Derrek Lee jersey like three years in a row as a “costume.”

Tigers – Another popular animal costume. You’re pretty much guaranteed to see a tiger no matter if you’re going to a Halloween party, trick or treating with kids, whatever. A tiger will be there.

Pirates – A pirate costume has the benefit of a few props with the sword, eye patch and parrot. And now that the Pirates don’t suck and have a bankable star like Andrew McCutchen, you might even see people dressed up like Pittsburgh Pirates this year.

Angels – Go to any college campus across America on Halloween and you will see roughly 1,472 slutty angels walking around. It never fails.

Royals – Kings, queens, princes, princesses, royal soldiers, Mounties, Bo Jackson. Expect a spike this year after the Royal Wedding.

Actual Profession Division

Rangers – The Texas Rangers were formed as a law enforcement force in 1823 by Stephen F. Austin. They served at the Alamo, in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. They fought Indians (Rangers-Indians, longest rivalry ever!) in the West and tracked down Bonnie and Clyde. They’re still going strong today with statewide jurisdiction. That’s more than can be said for MLB’s Rangers, who don’t have great reach outside Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington.

Athletics – The only team in the league where the guys on the team literally are what their team name says they are (not applicable during Jason Giambi-era).

Yankees – Used derisively by the British to refer to Americans, circa 1769. Used derisively be Southerners to refer to Northerners, 1861-about early 20th century. Used derisively to refer to teams who develop little of their own talent and just buy a bunch of stars, every MLB fan 2000-present. Oh yeah, the actual profession part is how Southerners called Union soldiers Yankees.

Brewers – They make our beer. Some of them in America even do it well. Hint: Their names are not Miller, Anheuser-Busch or Coors.

Mariners – Sailors. That gives us three teams with military background, another who figure to be in peak physical condition, and a bunch of dudes who make beer. Really the fabric of America.

Animals and Inanimate Objects League

Birds, Snakes and Fish Division

Blue Jays – They might have a chance to win this division!

Orioles – Ditto!

Cardinals – I hate the St. Louis Cardinals, but honestly, an actual cardinal is a pretty nice looking bird. Really the belle of the BSFD.

Diamondbacks – Is it ironic that the one land-dwelling creature in the division is also the team that serves up the most homers?

Marlins – Marlins management pushed for a Seafaring Division that would have included them, the Pirates and Mariners, but we just couldn’t get it to work. I think it was something about not being able to survive where all their other division-mates live.

Lazy Name Division

White Sox – In their defense, they were named in 1904. Previously, they were the Chicago White Stockings, a name they propagated from the Cubs once the Cubs gave it up. Now, they continue to let Juan Pierre play every day. Lazy all around.

Red Sox – In their defense, they were named in 1908 after going by the moniker Boston Americans from 1901-07. They’re really only creative in trying to come up with ways why they’re okay but the Yankees are evil when there’s really no difference.

Phillies – The name Phillies narrowly edged Philadelphia Phils, Philadelphia Dels, Philadelphia Delphias and Philadelphia Scumbags.

Reds – They wore red socks and were the Red Stockings from 1882 until 1889 until that was too long a name, so they just went with Reds. That was cool until 1953 and then Communism forced their hand, so they changed the name to Redlegs. Joe McCarthy was censured in 1954 and died three years later, and the Reds finally felt comfortable to go back to that name in 1958. None of them are creative. They do get bonus points for having the best mascot in the majors, Mr. Redlegs.

Nationals – National capital. National monuments. National League. Nationals Baseball Club. And to think, it took them a year to come up with that.

Physical Feature Division

Twins – The Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. No truth to the rumor that they removed the underline from the “win” part of their name in the logo this season.

Rockies – Very impressive mountain range with stunning peaks in Denver and throughout the state of Colorado.

Rays – A few years ago, they would have made a Seafaring Division possible. Now their nickname is a sunbeam, which I suppose are plentiful in the Tampa Bay-St. Pete area.

Mets – The New York Metropolitans. Big city name. Thanks to Bernie Madoff and Jeff Wilpon, might have a small city budget that forces them to get rid of Jose Reyes or David Wright. Yeah Mets!

Astros – Houston, Texas: The home of the American space program. The Astrodome also had a Jetsons-type feel to it, and their dog was Astro. It’s a bit of a stretch for the Physical Feature Division, but the Braves used to be in the NL West, so I’m not apologizing.

——

The Lazy Name Division is loaded with the Phillies, Red Sox and Reds, as well as the White Sox and up-and-coming Nationals. The Halloween Costume Division looks to be the weakest, with the Tigers leading the Cubs, Pirates, Angels and Royals. Anyway, this is super obvious and I’ve already sent my proposal to Bud Selig. I trust that he’ll fast-track my induction into Cooperstown.

It wouldn’t.

I’d be all for MLB realignment, as long as it’s a proposal with solid footing. This one has no chance of getting off the ground in my totally-unconnected-from-any-MLB-heavy-hitter opinion. Two 15-team leagues without divisions, huh? Well, what happens to the bad teams? If you think the only difference between finishing fifth in a five-team division and 15th in a 15-team league is semantics, you’re wrong. Teams at the bottom would have even less chance of competing than they do now. Not only would the Pirates have to jump ahead of the Brewers and Cardinals, they’d have to worry about the Phillies and the Rockies and the Braves, too. Also, as has been pointed out, MLB would resemble the NBA and NHL where all the competition at the end of the season is for the fourth and fifth playoff spots, not for the top spots. The pennant race, which already has a knife sticking out of its back, would completely die.

Yes, there is room for realignment. The best idea for I’ve read came from Joe Sheehan, who advocated for contracting two teams and having four 7-team divisions, two in each league. The top two teams from each division would make the playoffs. But that will never happen because there’s no easy candidate for contraction like there was in the early-to-mid-2000s. One thing we know for sure is that these 15-team, NCAA-style superleagues have no chance of becoming reality.

I understand that the Midwest doesn’t exactly feature the friendliest climate for a football game in early December and that the conference doesn’t want to take a chance that snow or extreme cold could screw with its maiden voyage into conference championship game territory. Still, the weather doesn’t seem to stop the Bears, Packers, Bengals, Browns, Steelers and Chiefs from hosting outdoor games in December and January. The Big Ten had a chance to embrace its Midwest, smashmouth roots by placing the game in Soldier Field, or even Lambeau Field in Green Bay. It had a chance to put a distinct stamp on its championship game. All the other conferences play their championship games in warm weather or controlled environments. Not only could the Big Ten have been unique and immediately grabbed the adoration of football purists, it could have truly connected with its fans, the vast majority of which are born, raised and continue to live in the Midwest. Instead, it went the safe route.

Sure, the game will be great theater every season, and it’s a win for the conference to no longer have its best teams on the sidelines from Thanksgiving until the new year. But just imagine if the championship were played against the backdrop of a snowfall in Chicago instead of a giant Peyton Manning poster in a sterile, climate-controlled, 72-degree building. Chicago is the Big Ten. Indianapolis is the Little Ten. Nice choice, conference presidents and chancellors.

By the way, the Bears won the first ever game played at Lucas Oil Stadium. Thought that was worth mentioning.

Give Plax a chance

I write this knowing it will never happen. The Bears don’t make plays for offensive players in free agency, especially receivers, especially if that receiver is coming off a 20-month prison stint. In this case, I think they should make an exception. For the last two years, the Bears have been terrible in the red zone and at the goal-line. Plaxico Burress was one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL once his team was inside the 20-yard-line. Obviously, there are a few issues facing any team considering Burress. I’ll take the one I can write off first. That would be age. Burress was never particularly dependent on speed or athleticism, two qualities that tend to decline with age. His greatest strengths — his size, hands and red-zone efficiency — should stick with him.

The issues that are a bit more confounding are rust and conditioning. There’s no guarantee that Plax in 2011 will even resemble Plax in 2008. But the Bears are desperate for any options at the goal-line other than plunging Matt Forte up the middle and throwing a corner to Greg Olsen. Considering the market should be thin, a market that will likely include the Eagles, Jets and Rams, the price shouldn’t be too prohibitive. Reward > Risk.

A slider to Ryan Theriot?

With two outs, a man on first and the Cubs leading 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth in St. Louis Sunday, Ryan Theriot came to the plate to face Carlos Marmol. With the count at 2-2, I assumed Marmol would bring a fastball. After all, I watched Ryan Theriot pretty closely for six years. If you throw him a fastball at the top of the zone in that situation, especially one as good as Marmol’s he’s not going to do much with it. At worst, he’d float in a single into shallow right field and then you deal with Matt Carpenter. You can imagine my surprise when Marmol shook off Koyie Hill. Uh oh. You can imagine my surprise when I saw the ball hump toward the plate, and you can imagine my disgust when Theriot deposited an awful spinner of a slider down the left field line to tie the game.

OK, first, it was a bad slider. There’s a chance that if Marmol throws one of his good sliders, a pitch he had working all inning before the 2-2 offering to Theriot, he gets him to strike out swinging. Still, that has to be a fastball. First of all, we know Theriot can’t catch up to Marmol’s heat. Second, by throwing a slider you’re pitching away from your defense, which was playing Theriot to go to the opposite field. Third, if you miss with the heat, the slider is a great option on 3-2. There was no reason to throw a slider in that situation. Everyone seemed to know it but Marmol. What Carlos Zambrano said after the game was right, but it’s something better left unsaid to the media. I can’t help but think that if their roles were reversed and Marmol said something about Zambrano to a group of reporters, Marmol would be on the DL and Zambrano would be suspended.

Also, and this needs to get some attention, if Tyler Colvin hits cutoff man Starlin Castro, they’ve got a shot to cut down the tying run at the plate. Just saying.

Baseball is so proud of its unbalanced schedule. “No one crowns a division champion the way we do,” MLB execs trumpet from the highest mountains. “If you want to win your division, you have to beat the teams in it consistently.” On that point, MLB is correct. Every team in the majors plays each team in its division between 16 and 19 teams a year. Baseball will tell you they go to great pains to ensure the best team in each division ends up as its champion. If they stayed the course and kept every team’s schedule consistent, I wouldn’t argue. Unfortunately, that is not the case. No, MLB takes its precious little unbalanced schedule, strokes its back…and then castrates it with interleague play.

Divisions and wild cards are won by mere games. Interleague play completely skews the equality of the unbalanced schedule. Not only do the Reds play six games against the Indians while the Cardinals get six with the Royals, the Reds also play the Yankees, whom the Cardinals miss this season. It’s not just the NL Central either. Let’s take the AL East as our second example. At least the Cardinals and Reds can both make the playoffs. One of these AL East behemoths is going home before October.

Heading into play Friday, the Rays hold a one-game lead over the Yankees for first with the Red Sox 1.5 back. They also have by far the toughest interleague schedule. Tampa Bay plays six games against the Marlins and three-game sets with the Brewers, Astros, Reds and Cardinals. The Yankees play six against the lowly Mets in addition to the Cubs, Reds, Rockies and Brewers, while the Red Sox draw just one team currently above .500 when they travel to Philadelphia at the end of June. Their other NL opponents are the Cubs, Brewers, Padres, Pirates and Astros. Those five teams are currently 93-122. Even if you throw in the Phillies, the teams the Red Sox play in interleague this year are 20 games under .500 on May 19. There’s really only two legit contenders in the bunch, and that includes the Brewers who are currently a game under .500. The only bad team the Rays play is the Astros, but that’s completely washed out considering the Red Sox also play them and the Yankees get home-and-home series with the Mets. If the Rays miss the playoffs by a scant margin to one of these two teams, take a look back at their interleague records. There’s a good chance it will make the difference.

Bud, you’ve done some nice things as commissioner, with the current labor peace a major feather in your cap, especially when we look at the NFL mess and the impending doom in the NBA once this unbelievable postseason ends. But it’s time for you to admit that interleague play has run its course, especially considering how egregiously it upsets the delicate competitive balance of the unbalanced schedule. I understand that the true regional rivalries — Cubs-White Sox, Mets-Yankees, Dodgers-Angels, Giants-A’s — are huge local draws. My suggestion is to play each of those once a year with the home team alternating each season, and then let the rest of interleague play go the way of the bullpen car.

Yes, I realize this will never happen and that I’ve wasted a small portion of my night writing this. Whatever.

With the Cubs leading 5-3 in the eighth, the Reds put the first two runners on against Kerry Wood. Ryan Hanigan then laid down a horrible bunt, way too hard and right back at Wood. The pitcher pounced on it and immediately wheeled for a throw to third. Unfortunately for the Cubs, his throw was a bit off-line and got by Aramis Ramirez and all the way down the left field line, allowing Scott Rolen and Fred Lewis to score and Hanigan to motor all the way to third. Chris Heisey followed with a sac fly and just like that, the Cubs were trailing.

Wood was saddled with a throwing error and later said, “The ball’s going to be wet, so you just make sure you make a good throw and I threw it to the wall. I had a [good] grip. When I went to go throw it, it slips out.” Yes, it rained steadily all night and Wood’s throw wasn’t perfect. But I saw the play differently. First, let’s take a look at the play (starts at 1:18).

At first blush, Wood’s throw to Ramirez appears very wild. It’s to the shortstop side of the bag and into a sliding runner. But the reverse angle tells a different story. Before Wood uncorks his throw, Ramirez is already stretching, anticipating a perfect throw right to his chest. As any first baseman can tell you, this is a cardinal sin. You never stretch before the throw is made. If you stretch prior to the throw, it is nearly impossible to shift to a throw off-line. If you sit back in an athletic position, you can adjust to high throws, low throws or throws to your left or right.

Watch the clip again. The throw is well within Ramirez’ range, but he has already stretched forward. With his body in that position, all he can do is stab at a throw to his left. Predictably, it gets past him and down the line, dooming the Cubs to another ugly loss. No, Ramirez does not and never has played first base. But this is a simple fundamental that every infielder should know, considering they’ll all be called upon to take force throws at times during the season. Ramirez’ lack of execution cost the Cubs on Tuesday.

And now, I’m channeling my inner-Steve Stone. For all you youngsters out there, especially if you play first base, do not stretch before the ball is thrown. Otherwise, you won’t be able to adjust to throws that are slightly off-line.

“And Thibodeau unloads his bench,” Marv Albert said, a line straight out of the announcer’s handbook.

Only thing was, the five on the floor for the Bulls didn’t look like your typical garbage time guys. Taj Gibson, C.J. Watson, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer and Omer Asik combined for 28 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and two blocks in 80 collective minutes. It was Gibson who provided the signature highlights of the night, the first a posterization of Dwyane Wade from head to toe and the second a thunderous put-back dunk that nearly blew the roof off the United Center. Sure, the unit referred to as the “Bench Mob” is a group of non-starters, but it is also central to what makes the Bulls tick.

“What goes underrated about them is the depth of their team,” said Al Horford, who was personally frustrated by his college teammate, Joakim Noah, in the Bulls 4-2 series victory over the Hawks in the conference semifinals. “They just wear on you. They just kept coming, kept coming every game. It seemed like their starters were fresh.”

The 2010-11 Bulls are a Pentagon, both defined by defense and needing five sides to be whole. Those sides are Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, unyielding team defense and depth. Most teams set a rotation to get them through the dregs of the regular season, then deviate from it come playoff time, giving more minutes to starters. The Bulls have clung steadfastly to their regular season rotation — sitting all the starters but Luol Deng at the start of the second quarter and usually at the start of the fourth — not because it’s a gimmick or because they feel a need to dance with the girl who brought them to the dance, but because it’s what makes them who they are. When the Heat went small to try and get their offense going in Game 1, they played right into the Bulls hands, allowing Taj Gibson his starring role.

Not many teams go 10-deep at any point of the season, and virtually no teams do so in the playoffs. It’s something that allows the Bulls to stay rested, and fuels their elite defense and offensive rebounding, which, along with Derrick Rose, is at the heart of the 62-win Chicago Bulls. They’re more than just the second unit, more than just the Bench Mob. They’re a vital part of a the No. 1 seed in the East.

Thanks to our respite, there was a lot of fluctuation in the rankings. The Giants jumped 10 spots, and the Tigers leaped 12 to No. 8. On the other side, the Dodgers plunged eight spots to No. 19, while the Brewers fell six spots to 18th.

Six weeks after Memphis lost to Kansas in 2008, the Bulls won the NBA Draft Lottery, guaranteeing the hometown boy would remain in Chicago. I was talking to my friend Vadim that night when he said to me, “Do you remember that game against UCLA? He never smiled. That’s the kind of point guard I want!” He hasn’t changed in three years. If anything, he’s a few ticks beyond where he was on the Nothing-To-See-Here-Folks Meter. That’s more than can be said about the Bulls’ upcoming opponent.

Look, too much has been made of the Heat’s antics after defeating the Celtics to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals. After all, it isn’t the first time they’ve celebrated minor events as if they’ve saved the world. But it is interesting that the Heat and Bulls had diametrically opposed reactions after achieving the same feat. One team acted like it just won the championship. The other projected an image that they hadn’t accomplished a thing. I’m not foolish enough to suggest that the Heat aren’t equally as focused as the Bulls are on the task at hand and point to the impromptu jubilee they threw on Wednesday as evidence. I’m not chasing that straw man. What I am saying is that I’m happy I cheer for the team that took on the personality of its leader in treating it’s second-round triumph as business as usual. Keep moving along everyone.

Three years ago Derrick Rose showed the world that he believed anything short of a championship was a failure. When he stares down Mario Chalmers Sunday night they’ll shake hands, no doubt both of them remembering the last time they met with so much on the line. Rose didn’t smile at all that night. He won’t Sunday, either. The only sure formula for catching a grin on the MVP’s face: Eight more wins.