You are aware they were the best team in the National League last regular season, running away with the Central Division, winning five more games than the NL East-winning Phillies (the eventual World Series champs), 13 more than the NL West-winning Dodgers? I mean, who thought they would instantly suck the postseason tailpipe? Was there any rational reason to believe that? And ''rational'' is the key word.

Hot-stove critics go on and on about the Cubs' gaping need for left-handed hitters (hence the Milton Bradley negotiations). But where was that crying need while the little bears were winning 97 games from April to October? No, what the Cubs need are players who can overcome being Cubs.

Mark DeRosa is gone, and that may be a huge mistake. DeRosa, who played every infield position as well as left field and right field, led the team in runs scored and was a stand-up guy. I'll remember him as the player who faced the media after the meltdown-sweep in Los Angeles, saying he was wounded beyond belief and could not, for the life of him, explain why the Cubs had failed so miserably.

Maybe the incendiary Bradley is a guy who makes the Cubs' lineup look more balanced. But are nut cases the only people who can overcome Cubness? And how exactly would Bradley's left-handed bat have changed Ryan Dempster's pitiful outing against the Dodgers? Oh, right. He would have hit a home run every time at bat.

- The best college team in the country is not playing for the national championship. And that is reason right there to quit with this BCS nonsense.

USC smoked Penn State in the Rose Bowl (the Trojans eat Big Ten schools as snacks), and they have one loss this season -- just like No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Florida. But they are out of the crown-running because the computer says they are. They can never be ranked ahead of the winner of the BCS title game to be played Thursday in Miami.

There are lawmakers in Texas (the No. 4, 11-1 University of Texas Longhorns, who play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday, also got screwed) who want to force the BCS to take any reference to national championship out of its playoff formula. And I think those obviously biased pols are right.

But that doesn't mean a playoff tournament is right.

It means there are too many Division I teams (currently 119), and football is too dangerous a sport to play enough games to know for sure who the real champion is. Four-team playoff? Eight? Sixteen? What if there are 20 schools with undefeated or one-loss seasons? What if a star quarterback has been injured and is now back? What if a ''student-athlete'' actually says, ''This is ridiculous. I've already played 15 games, been on the road for days, and I'd like to see what my classrooms look like.'' OK, that was a joke.

But even if St. Barack Obama says all fans want a championship playoff, that doesn't mean we must have one.

Some things -- like perfect abs -- you just don't get.

I have no idea why USC lost to Oregon State 27-21 back in September. I watched the game on TV and couldn't explain it as it happened .

But I feel Pete Carroll's team is the best in the land. And if we never knew these things for sure, that would be fine with me.

- IT'S POSSIBLE THE BEST college football player in the land is Iowa's Shonn Greene.

The running back gained 121 yards and scored three touchdowns in the Hawkeyes' 31-10 Outback Bowl win over South Carolina, and he set Iowa records of 1,850 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns in the regular season.

But Iowa finished only 9-4, and the Heisman is about publicity as much as performance.

''That's a lot of politics,'' Greene said of the Heisman.

Just like the real world, my man.

- I HAD TO MENTION THIS. I have witnessed what may be the most unfortunate last name for an athlete since, well, in some time.

Smelley.

That is, as in Chris Smelley, the South Carolina quarterback.

Smelley of the Gamecocks.

What do you do with this? I know it's not his fault, but I think the young man might want to change the spelling. Drop the ''S.'' Change the first ''e'' to another vowel.

I remember watching a college swimmer a couple years ago. Last name of Krapster.

I thought the same thing then.

- THE BLACKHAWKS ARE a nice young team. But seeing them play the Red Wings twice recently was interesting.

A lot of the NHL season is show.

But when men put their minds to it, they can -- and do -- thrash boys.

- THE BULLS REALLY, really miss some men in their lineup. Now well below .500, they look like a bunch of playground kids without a healthy Luol Deng, Drew Gooden or Kirk Hinrich.

How is it possible that rookie point guard Derrick Rose could play 27 minutes in a game and not have a single assist? How is it possible that players like Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas can seemingly act more childish with each passing day? Defense doesn't seem to be in anybody's vocabulary. A Friday night Comcast poll voted 61-year-old Norm Van Lier the best defensive player on the current team.

Is Hinrich truly the glue that holds all together? Or are these Bulls just budding New York Knicks? Comment at suntimes.com.