Over. Easy.

An air of inevitability imbues these Blackhawks now.  The Sharks just can't seem to play at their level, and the upcoming opponent in the Stanley Cup finals does not look to be of the same quality as any of their playoff foes so far.

So it seems like we are watching the NHL champions, as they skate circles around a bewildered San Jose team that apparently believed they were better at hockey than they are.

But I think I remember saying similar things about the Cubs in October of 2003, so take it for what it's worth.

The Carlos Zambrano circus has so many levels of ridiculousness that it is hard to keep track.  It began with the spring-training hoo-hah of his trim physique and rededication to discipline, which, of course, was followed by a miserable opening-day start.  Two weeks later, the preposterous bullpen move is made.  Then he's mysteriously unavailable on back-to-back-days, and finally melts down against the Pirates.

But there's more!  Lou Piniella announces that Zambrano's bullpen role is changing to long relief, directly refuting theories about an eventual return to the rotation, only to come clean the very next afternoon and admit that yes, he will be returning to the rotation.

And the best part is what we found out yesterday:  the Cubs brain-trust made the move to improve Zambrano's velocity, as if that makes even an iota of sense.  Zambrano throws as hard as he can all the time, and always has.  The idea that he would magically begin to throw harder -- and that the magic would carry with him back to the rotation -- is so weird that it defies analysis.

The desultory Sox welcome the Angels to town tonight in a matchup of disappointments.  Congratulations to Carlos Quentin on his return to a .200 batting average!

And the Nets getting the #3 pick is believed by some to help the Bulls in the LeBron sweepstakes, since they will not have John Wall or Evan Turner to sweeten their pitch.