The section will be renamed "Chicago Sports." Page 2 will be known as the "Smack" page. Among other features, Steve Rosenbloom, who had been writing for the Trib's Web site, will return to print five times per week.

Associate managing editor for sports Mike Kellams writes in a memo to the staff: "Smack (Page 2) is going to do a lot of work for us, much like the opening pages of a magazine. It's Steve's new home. It's where we'll tell readers where to find you outside the Tribune and our sites."

Mr. Kellams said the changes are being put in place to take dead aim at the Sun-Times.

"Much like the Cubune myth, the conventional wisdom among some in Chicago has been that our pals across the way have the better Sports section. We've all heard it. Dan (former sports head Dan McGrath) and I sat in meetings where people in our own building parroted that to our faces. Pardon the Hoosier in me rising up, but that's (BS). You know it. I know it."

Going after the Sun-Times is fine. However, as I see it, the main challenge for the print edition is to remain relevant in the digital age.