Manager Ozzie Guillen had some advice after the White Sox' second consecutive bad loss. ''Throw it away,'' he said after the 5-1 loss Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers. Unfortunately for Guillen, third baseman Mark Teahen didn't wait until after the game to follow that advice.

To hear Jay Cutler and Mike Martz tell it, with the exhibition season having mercifully ended, now comes the easy part. ''Absolutely,'' Cutler said when asked if the Bears' offense is easier now that preparations are under way for Sunday's season-opener against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field.

Herb Gould: Athletic director Ron Guenther is presiding over a tricky experiment down in the football lab in Champaign-Urbana, this notion of revamping the coaching staff while keeping the head coach. ''We're installing three things -- a new offense, a new defense and a new attitude,'' coach Ron Zook said in the wake of Illinois' false start, a 23-13 opening loss to Missouri.

Rick Morrissey: What if Tiger Woods is in contention this weekend? What if he locates enough of his golf game to be on the BMW Championship leaderboard during the last two rounds? Will you cheer for him? If so, what will those cheers mean? That all is forgiven? That everyone deserves a second chance? Or that all you ever wanted from him was his golf game anyway?

Serbia knocked defending champion Spain out of the World Basketball Championships on Wednesday in Istanbul, Turkey, when Milos Teodosic made a long three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left for a 92-89 quarterfinal win.

NEW YORK -- Treating the whipping wind and his familiar foe as only slight nuisances, 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer served his way to a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over fifth-seeded Robin Soderling in the U.S. Open quarterfinals on Wednesday night.

The Cubs may be getting an extended, critical look at what Mike Quade might bring to the team in 2011.

Manager Ozzie Guillen had some advice after the White Sox' second consecutive bad loss. ''Throw it away,'' he said after the 5-1 loss Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers. Unfortunately for Guillen, third baseman Mark Teahen didn't wait until after the game to follow that advice.