Bearing down

The Bears had a big day on Friday, signing free agent linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (PEES-oh tee-noy-SAW-mo-ah), giving defensive lineman Israel Idonije a two-year extension (he had been signed through 2010), and inking seven of their nine draft picks to contracts.

Tinoisamoa, who will turn 28 in July, will most likely replace Hunter Hillenmeyer, who is recovering from sports hernia surgery. He played under Lovie Smith for one year when Smith was the defensive coordinator in St. Louis. Tinoi (may I call you Tinoi?) had 104 tackles last year; as a point of comparison, Urlacher had 93. To be fair, the only other season he had more tackles than Urlacher was 2004, when Urlacher missed seven games.

After improving their offense by acquiring Jay Cutler, it's good to see Jerry Angelo working to improve the defense as well. The Bears "D" allowed 334 yards per game in 2008, 21st in the NFL.

Not Yankin' yer chain

The Yankees have taken over first place in the AL East, and while that doesn't sound like a big deal, it's the first time they've been atop the division since they won the division in 2006.

A rotation spot to Phil

With Brett Myers out for the season after electing to have hip surgery, the Phillies could pursue an impact pitcher such as Roy Oswalt or Erik Bedard, according to Ken Rosenthal. As of Saturday morning, the Phillies trailed the Mets by .5 game in the NL East.

Wings clipped

While I wouldn't mind seeing LeBron and Kobe go at it for the title (this was written Saturday morning, so if the Cavs lost Saturday, then never mind), Denver was a pretty fun team to watch. Birdman absolutely cracks me up, and with Carmelo, Chauncey and Kenyon Martin, the Nuggets were an exciting bunch.

If the Magic manage to de-throne the King Saturday night, I'll be rooting for them as the underdog against the Lakers. But what I'd most like to see is for LeBron to get his first ring. Just for perspective: MJ won his first title in his seventh year; this is LeBron's sixth year.