Finally we get a weekend series on the North Side to renew one of baseball’s storied rivalries. And, yes, the Cubs understand what is at stake.

“It’s a series that could really put them in a bind,” Cubs utility man Mark DeRosa told the Chicago Tribune.

“People say this is July or August, that it’s not the end of the year, that this isn’t that big of a series, but really it is,” pitcher Ryan Dempster told the newspaper.

“They are a little more intense than usual and I think we feed off that,” Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly said. “Everyone understands that these are important games for us, but if we win the series or lose the series, we still have work to do. We can’t clinch anything against St. Louis, but we understand the importance of this.”

The Cards stand six games behind the Cubs and one game behind the Brewers in the wild-card race.

“You need to rack up wins,” first baseman Derrek Lee said. “Milwaukee and St. Louis aren’t going anywhere, so it’s kind of a race to see who can get as many wins as they can.”

EDMONDS WON’T BITE

The Tribune asked Jim Edmonds about his second reunion with his old field manager, Tony La Russa.

“Tony who?” Edmonds said.

You may recall there was a bit of a hoo-ha between the two at Busch Stadium earlier this season. Jimmy Ballgame apparently doesn’t want to travel that road again.

BARRY BONDS LIKES THE X GAMES?

This clip seems to prove it:

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Chad Pennington updates his resume:

• If the Cards can’t hit Clayton Kershaw, what will they do against Carlos Zambrano?
• Isn’t it just a little weird to see Felipe Lopez play left field for the Cards in the heat of the pennant race?
• Did Chris Perez’s first career save buy Adam Wainwright a little more time to get sharp?

EXCELLENT POINT

A lot of NBA free agents are fielding offers from overseas teams these days, but Gilbert Arenas isn’t interested.

“I can’t even understand my kids, let alone another language,” he explained.

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times: “If the Packers were so maniacally insistent on mistreating and ultimately dumping Brett Favre, it stands to reason that his next team would be one drunkenly serenaded as the “J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!” This is one of sports’s most non-descript organizations, a team that hasn’t done boo since Joe Willie Namath guaranteed a Super Bowl upset 39 years ago and damn well pulled it off. What are the Jets best known for lately? Oh, some of their fans have a halftime ritual where they pack the spiral ramps of Gate D at Giants Stadium — yes, they have to borrow the field of the bigger team in town — and encourage women to lift their shirts. Welcome to the afterworld, Brett. Maybe you should have stayed retired.”

Frank Fitzpatrick, Philadelphia Inquirer: “When Yao Ming lifted the Olympic torch high above his 7-foot-6 frame earlier this week in Tiananmen Square, you half-expected him to say, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’”

Thomas Bonk, Los Angeles Times: “You can’t say the Kansas City Royals aren’t trying everything to stop their longtime, long-term losing pattern. They’ve hired sports psychologist Andrew Jacobs, whose job is to give the Royals positive vibes. Maybe he can have a little chat with the bats while he’s at it.”

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “There is only one thing worse than the Tampa Bay Bucs actually pursuing Brett Favre. And that’s the Tampa Bay Bucs actually pursuing Brett Favre and then not getting him. In the wake of Favre stiffing the Bucs and signing with the New York Jets late Wednesday night, Tampa Bay is left with a coach (Jon Gruden) and a general manager (Bruce Allen) who have lost all credibility with their betrayed quarterback Jeff Garcia and probably every player in their locker room. How appropriate that the Bucs are holding their training camp at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. What better place for Gruden to don his Goofy costume and Allen to play his traditional role of Pinocchio?”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Defending all-around gold medal gymnast Paul Hamm of the U.S. withdrew because of injuries. Shouldn’t Hamm be competing with Turkey?”

Mike Finger, San Antonio Express-News, after Georgia suspending linebacker Darius Dewberry for damaging hospital property: “In his defense, that HMO paperwork can be quite frustrating.”

MEGAPHONE

“The course is 7,500 yards long, the greens are firm and the pins are tucked away. They are sucking the fun out of the major championships when you set it up like that. I sound as if I’m moaning — which I am — but it’s a great shame. It’s a fantastic golf course. They are great greens and they are playable. But there is no need to play it as it is.”

Lee Westwood, ripping the Oakland Hills layout for the PGA Championship.