A look ahead to the coming week in sports:
SUN 14
Angels at Cubs (1:20 p.m., Ch. 9): What a bummer that fans on the North Side won’t be able to take a rare gander at the great Mike Trout, who’s back in Anaheim nursing an injury. But that’s OK — take a moment to appreciate old-man slugger Albert Pujols, whose home run Friday was his 29th in only 91 career games at Wrigley Field. (If you want to cheer for Cubs starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood, too, that’s your business.)
The Masters (1 p.m., Ch. 2): Some of us are old enough to remember a time when one could make reference in advance to Tiger Woods on Sunday at Augusta as though it were a given he’d still be there.
MON 15
Bears sighting: “Drop and give me 20! You know, if you’re up for it.” The Bears report back to Halas Hall for the start of their voluntary workout program. That means strength. That means conditioning. That means Akiem Hicks lapping his teammates in shuttle runs. Well, maybe not that last part.
Cubs at Marlins (6:10 p.m., Ch. 9): Just spitballing here, but maybe this would be a fine time for Yu Darvish to pitch a bunch of innings and — stop us if this is too far out there — win a game?
TUE 16
Royals at White Sox (7:10 p.m., Ch. 9): No one embodies the Sox’ disappointing beginning to the 2019 season more than Reynaldo Lopez, who will make his fourth attempt at his first quality start. An 0-2 record and 12.15 ERA aren’t what anyone had in mind for the team’s alleged No. 2 starter.
WED 17
Red Sox at Yankees (5:35 p.m., ESPN): Hey, it’s the first ESPN game of the year between these age-old rivals. By our calculations, that leaves only 847 to go this season. By the way, has anyone mentioned to these preposterously talented teams that the Rays are kicking their butts in the standings?
FRI 19
Blue Jackets at Lightning, Game 5 (TBD): All Tampa Bay did was compile the best regular season in over two decades, putting up more points — 128 — than any team since the 1995-96 Red Wings. So, naturally, the Lightning coughed up a 3-0 lead and lost Game 1 of this first-round series to ex-Blackhawk Artemi Panarin and run-of-the-mill Columbus. Aren’t the Stanley Cup playoffs the greatest?
SAT 20
76ers at Nets, Game 4 (2 p.m., TNT) Is it closing time for Jimmy Butler? By that, we mean will Jimmy Buckets hit all the clutch shots as his title-hungry team vanquishes a playoff opponent on the road to glory? Yes, we realize Bulls fans may find these concepts impossible to comprehend.