So sayeth the ever-reliable New York Post:

Two sources in the golf community have told The Post that Ari Fleischer, the former presidential advisor to George W. Bush and the man who was brought in to help repair the steroid-shattered image of Mark McGwire, has been huddling with Woods, plotting a strategy for his return to golf — at the Arnold Palmer Invitational starting March 25 at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla.

“They were in his living room this week going over a strategy for how to handle Bay Hill in two weeks,” one source told The Post.

The other source told The Post, “I would be shocked if he didn’t play the Arnold Palmer.”

Shocked I tell ya. Shocked!

Two things.

1) This is somewhat earlier than earlier pundit guesses. The sexy choice about two and half weeks ago was the Master’s at Augusta National on April 5-11. There’s no entry cutoff. You can show up for your tee time and go from there. So he could have kept it under the radar, something that fits well with his persona.

2) The sooner the better. Just get this guy back on the golf course. He went through his therapy to keep up appearances. He gave his public apology. The next step is for him to start golfing again, so we have something else to talk about: the greatest golfer in the world doing what he does best.

A rich, powerful, successful, competitive man had sex with several woman. Was it morally wrong? Of course. Are we kidding ourselves if we don’t believe there aren’t countless other athletes who have done/are currently doing it/will do the same in the future?

Yes, yes we are.

Once he steps back onto the golf course, the focus starts to turn away from all that extracurricular activities, and back to why we were ever talking about this guy in the first place.

Oy.

So not only is Joakim Noah on the shelf; it’s likely another Bulls starter — Luol Deng — will miss the team’s next two games against the Magic and Heat on Thursday and Friday due to a strained calf, according to the Trib.

Taj Gibson is struggling with plantar faciitis like Noah, and may sit as well come Thursday.

What’s really killing this team of late — last night’s loss marked their fifth straight — is their defense, something you can directly attribute to the loss of Noah, and maybe Tyrus Thomas as well.

As Hoopsdata notes on Twitter today: “Bulls have an average DefEff of 124.0 (!) in last four games. Their season average = 102.7. Unsurprisingly, they lost those games.”

This is not good. Not good at all.

As I noted Monday, their Playoff Odds were 52.9. Today? 41.0.

Gulp.

Milton Bradley to the New York Times last week:

“Two years ago, I played, and I was good,” Bradley said. “I go to Chicago, not good. I’ve been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me.”

Oh, and then there’s this interview with ESPN that dropped last night in which Bradley talks about the hate mail he received.

At this point, there’s not much more to say. Cubs fans didn’t like Bradley. Bradley didn’t like Cub fans. He didn’t play as well as he has in past seasons. The Cubs traded him.

Life moves on.

Have y’all heard of Logorama, the Oscar winner for Best Animated Short?

Nah? OK. (You can watch it here.)

A description: It’s a 16-minute film set in Los Angeles in which the landscape and its inhabits are all logos. The cops are Michelin Men. Ronald McDonald is the villain they are trying to apprehend. The mischievous kid is Big Boy. The MGM lion is in the zoo.

Some French bros made it. It’s a social critique about brands/consumerism engulfing our lives.

Do you get the drill? I think you get the drill.

So yes: Mixed in with the many brands, I happened to spy the Bulls’ logo popped onto the head of Michelin Man during the climax — that’s what she said — of the film.

Boom:

The end.

Guys.

Remember when I wrote that even though the Olympic gold-medal game between Canada and the U.S. was totally awesome and sooo many people watched it, I was still dubious the sport would actually gain a considerable new fanbase from such a game?

Well, if we’re going to cherrypick one game a week after said game and look at its ratings — which I’ll admit is a small sample size and probably not fair at all — my thesis stands up. So far.

From Sports Media Watch:

The Red Wings’ 5-4 win over the Blackhawks drew a 1.2 overnight rating on NBC Sunday afternoon, up 20% from Bruins/Rangers on the comparable date last year (1.0), but down 8% from Penguins/Capitals on February 7 (1.3), NBC’s last NHL telecast before the Olympic break.

This marks the fourth straight NHL telecast on NBC to draw at least a 1.2 overnight rating. To put that in perspective, NBC did not draw an overnight higher than 1.1 during the previous two seasons (excluding the Winter Classic).

Now, of course, the Penguins/Captials matchup is probably going to bring in more viewers, insomuch as it’s a game that features Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. So that’s why there’s a little drop there. And it’s nice to see that year-over-year hockey has improved.

But as far as the gold-medal game buzz carrying over? Doesn’t look like it happened.

Yes, the Bears may not possess a first- or second-round pick in this year’s draft, but this doesn’t not mean they can’t find some talent in the later rounds.

It’s not as if every NFL squad consists of players from the first and second round. Heck, using recent history as a guide, the Bears have found more keepers in the later rounds, anyway.

For those wondering where the offensive linemen or DBs are coming from — both positions the Bears could stand to improve upon, and ones they have yet to shore up in free agency — Jeff Dickerson has a nice little list of guys the Bears may be keeping tabs on during the upcoming pro days: Robert Johnson, FS, Utah; Rodger Saffold, OT, Indiana (IU represent!); Kareem Jackson, CB, Alabama; Larry Asante, SS, Nebraska; Marshall Newhouse, OG, TCU.

Some of these bros — including Saffold and Jackson — may not make it out of the second round. But if they do, the Bears could pounce.

Missing from this list? A wide receiver. The Bears continue to say they think they can develop the young corps of Johnny Knox, Devin Aromashodu and Devin Hester, and it’s probably unlikely the Bears can get an impact guy in the draft if they’re not picking till the third round regardless.

Yet, it remains to be seen if this young trio will blossom or not next season, and whether a true, go-to No. 1 will emerge.

Now, of course, the Bulls would still be in the playoffs if the season ended today. And, of course, they’re battling it out with a bunch of other .500ish teams, and when you are battling mediocrity, there is always a chance for success.

But I’d say the Bulls’ playoff chances are now cloudy with a just missed the postseason.

Exhibit A: Last week, Joakim Noah was shut down for three weeks. There’s no guarantee he’s going to be playing again once that timetable is up. He’s going to be limited in his minutes even if he does comes back. Brad Miller is Brad Miller. Chris Richard brings the effort, but is a D-Leaguer. The Bulls are now clearly at a disadvantage at center.

Exhibit B: They’ve lost four straight, and their schedule does them no favors in the immediate future — games against the Jazz, Magic, Heat, Grizzlies, Mavericks and Cavs this week and next — and with the Bucks stepping up and grabbing hold of the fifth spot with an impressive run of late, that’s one less spot available for the Bulls in the top eight.

Exhibit C: John Hollinger’s Playoff Odds now gives the Bulls a 52.9 percent chance of making the playoffs. Better than 50 percent, yes. But the Bucks (98.1 percent), Heat (94.7 percent), Bobcats (81.9 percent) and Raptors (71.9 percent) have much better odds in comparison.

All things to keep in mind as the last month of the season rapidly approaches.