How to Mess Up Your Chance for an NBA Championship

Well, it has been TOO long for me to post something on here...I've been busy commenting on Bulls.com (d-rose01) and ESPN.com (dabulls2012) with little nuggets here and there, but this whole near disaster (and we're not out of the woods yet Bulls fans) with Derrick just pushed me over the edge and I can't take it any more.

I've had Bulls season tickets since 1999 so I've seem some HORRIFIC basketball...I'm thrilled Thibs is here after replacing Vinny Del Negro following two under-achieving .500 seasons BUT let's not kid ourselves...before last season, this guy had the same amount of NBA head coaching experience as you and I...yet, he comes in here acting like he's got Phil Jackson's 11 rings. Heck, he's only been an assistant coach for ONE championship team...he does NOT know it all. What he's done for this franchise defensively and even offensively (taking Luol out of the corner where Vinny stuck him) has been fabulous and he earned that Coach of the Year award by taking a .500 team to the NBA's best record in a single season...of course, co-Executive of the Year Gar Forman and Team President John Paxson surely helped him out with a roster renewal. I love just about everything he's done for this team and credit him with the Bulls success...

But...if you read the title of this post, you knew that was coming, right? But, I've been complaining about Coach Thibs' questionable use of his bench pretty much from day one...of course, it started with Keith Bogans inexplicably "winning" the starting shooting spot out of training camp over Ronnie Brewer who was brought in to fill that spot...that was OK, because surely Ronnie would eventually win out once he was healthy...NOPE, the Bulls were winning so Thibs was right and we were all wrong...who cares about the obvious...he averaged an absolutely PATHETIC 4.4ppg on 40.4% shooting (and we're talking WIDE OPEN shots as the opponent would literally ignore him) in too many (17.8) minutes per game...and his D was OK, but far from lock-down by any stretch of the imagination. Ronnie Brewer did play more minutes at 22mpg but still...Bogans shouldn't have been playing more than 5mpg on a sporadic basis...instead, he started ALL 82 regular season games and ALL 16 playoff games. I've got no ill will for Keith whatsoever...how can you be mad at a guy that was just doing his job...it wasn't his fault his coach played him when he shouldn't. But had he not been playing that much, might the Bulls have had enough last year to beat Miami? As we all know, the Bulls were a couple of shots away from being up 3-2 in that series instead of down and out 4-1. Who knows what might have happened with the right lineup?

Besides the Bogans/Brewer thing, it was his lack of playing time for Omer last season and then again with Jimmy Butler this year. Omer was able to earn more and more playing time as the season went along...actually it was more Joakim and Carlos Boozer giving it away with their play late in games. Either way, he did get more and more playing time and began to develop (that's what happens when you let a guy actually play Thibs!)...even to the point that GarPax pretty much took Omer off the trade market (well, at least they didn't trade him). So Thibs surely learned to trust rookies after Omer played so well last year, right? NOPE! And that now seems to be Thibs' thing...he doesn't or maybe just refuses to learn... Anyway, Luol goes back in a worthless game against the lowly Bobcats when Thibs feels they're getting a little too close...Lu comes out of the game with a torn ligament in his wrist...did it happen at the end of the game or earlier? We'll never know, but my suspicion is that it happened at the end...you know, when Lu shouldn't have been in the game. So Lu misses the next game completely so Jimmy Butler will surely get some minutes now...NOPE...not a single second! WHY?!? And then in Lu's first game from the wrist injury...take it easy on him right...after missing SEVEN games indirectly proving his value as the Bulls go 4-3 in that stretch without him...NOPE...Lu plays a game high 41 minutes (actually 6 minutes more than anyone else) in a 23-point "squeaker". Does this guy ever look at the scoreboard??? Maybe someone should introduce Thibs to it...

Well, speaking of injuries, let's talk about prized free agent and planned Dwyane Wade stopper Richard "Rip" Hamilton...I know a guy who knows the trainer from the Wizards where Rip was initially drafted...says the guy has had groin issues since day one...did the Bulls know this? Again, we'll never know...BUT they did know he was struggling in camp and yet, he was out there for the Lakers and the next 3 games before sitting for first 2 home games and then coming back TOO QUICKLY and completely unnecessarily against his former team...Detroit Pistons. He then missed the next 8 games before again coming back too quickly...did Thibs ease him back into the lineup? NOPE - after playing just 21 min in that first game, he played 26, 32 (back-to-back), 42 (15-point win), 38, and 36 (gutty performance admittedly on one leg in Miami) before finally being sat down indefinitely. OK, so lesson learned on dealing with recurring injuries, right? NOPE!

So Derrick has this toe injury which has gone back and forth between being turf-toe and a strained ligament...I don't know which is worse or which he really has...doesn't matter to me. What I do know is that when one part of your body is hurting, especially something in the leg or feet, that your body automatically compensates to lessen the pain on the injury. Is that what caused the back problems? I don't know...again, doesn't matter to me...Derrick played through it and looked pretty darn good too. Well, then comes the game in Milwaukee...Derrick tears up Brandon Jennings in a patented "revenge game" (revenge after Jennings went off on Derrick at least for the first quarter with 16 points) in the first quarter scoring 16 of the Bulls first 18 points...then he goes out in the 2nd with "back stiffness"...Bulls scored a season high 67 points in the first half and the game was OVER...yet, rather than sit Derrick as a precaution with the stiff back, he sends him back into the game...Bulls win by 23 and were never threatened. So surely Thibs would sit him for the next game against the lowly NJ Nets, right? NOPE (see a pattern yet?)! Derrick plays 11 minutes of the stiffest basketball I've ever seen...he was fairly effective but that was NOT the Derrick we need to win it all. Sit him for the even lower New Orleans Hornets who are playing without their two best players??? STILL NO! Derrick plays 22 minutes and leaves the game with back stiffness reporting he could hardly walk! So now that Derrick can't even walk (has "the franchise" even had an MRI to this point?), Thibs FINALLY sits the kid against the lowest of the low Charlotte Bobcats... The Bulls won all of these games by 20+ points...first team in NBA history to win 4 straight road games by 20+ points...what kind of trophy do they win for that Thibs? I believe it is the same trophy you get for having the best regular season record Thibs...NOTHING! Now is there any doubt they win EVERY one of those games without Derrick setting foot on the floor...hardly! So now the Bulls finish off the road trip against their second biggest rival...the Boston Celtics...now the Celtics aren't having a great year but you know they've had this date circled on their calendars and so did their former assistant coach...our very own Thibs. Well Derrick still can't walk so we're stuck with CJ and Ronnie Brewer in the starting lineup (remember, Rip is still out)...not bad, but limits the effectiveness of the bench mob especially since Thibs' pet midget is the backup point guard...last the world besides Bulls fans saw John Lucas III, LeBron James was jumping over him for a dunk during a 10-2 Heat run (Bulls lost by 4) during the 3 1/2 minutes Derrick rested with CJ out with his elbow injury.

So for the ONLY game the Bulls actually needed Derrick, he wasn't available...now would he have been able to play had Thibs rested him for those 4 games with the lesser teams on the schedule? Again, we'll never know for sure, but he most definitely would have had a MUCH better chance.

Now is it all Thibs here? No, but he's got to take the responsibility...Derrick is a 23-year old kid playing basketball for a living...he's the most competitive player we've seen in Chicago since Michael...if he can stand, he's going to say he can play...Thibs has to be the parent there telling Derrick NO. And where is the Bulls crack training staff? Why aren't they telling Thibs that Derrick should NOT play? And then where's Bulls management? Didn't Paxson fire Vinny Del Negro at least in part for playing Joakim too many minutes while injured? Yet they sit on their butts while their coach runs "the franchise" into the ground in WORTHLESS games?!?

Come on folks...looks like we got away with something here as it appears Derrick is going to be OK. There are MUCH BIGGER things going on this season than winning some regular season games...home court didn't prove all that valuable against Miami last year...why does it matter this year? What's SO MUCH more important is having a healthy team come playoff time...start aiming for that and forget the mealy-mouth BS about "one game at a time" and "we've got to treat each game the same" when you're playing teams that have no chance of beating you...TRUST the team your bosses put together...TRUST the offensive and defensive schemes you've put in place and let's win us a RING Coach!

Ready for Some NBA?

Well, the Bulls just finished off the Pacers to go 2-0 in the ultra-shortened pre-season setup by David Stern...the games start for real on Christmas and the Bulls are on the docket of highlighted games on the NBA's opening day. So the question is, are they ready? I know I am...

Ya, BIG fan of Rip so far...Boozer looked WAY, WAY better tonight than he did on Fri so that's a HUGE key too. Rip is certainly going to help a LOT in my opinion...he just seems to make his teammates better and isn't that what this team is all about...TEAM? But to me, Boozer is still the biggest key to the Bulls taking this all important next step. As well as he played tonight, I still would have liked to see Boozer more on the block instead of taking that fadeaway J...much easier for the J to be "off" while scoring from the block would be more consistent...his J was definitely falling tonight and he went to the hole several times in finishing 11-for-17 from the field significantly helping the Bulls shoot over 50% tonight.

After Korver looked pretty good on Fri, he couldn't buy a bucket tonight (0-3)...he's still a threat so the D has to account for him so even when he's not hitting, he's still at least partially doing his job.

Deng was...well...Deng with 15 points and 7 boards with ZERO turnovers...I'm sure Danny "The Chucker" Granger isn't going to miss Luol's D draped all over him as he shot 4-for-11 after going 5-for-17 on Fri night.

Joakim wasn't a dual threat tonight but he certainly had a very positive effect on the game tonight with his 5 blocks...unfortunately his blocks also matched his point total...he had 8 boards (all defensive) and 3 assists too...I'd just like to see him be a little more aggressive on offense...hitting that tornado jumper every once in a while would be helpful too.

Derrick was in a whole different situation tonight...was it just the presence of Rip on the floor with him or was it something else? He took just 9 shots to account for a pretty efficient 12 points with 9 assists in just 28 minutes on the floor...and maybe even more key...only ONE turnover! Was that "something else" possibly the rumor of him signing an ENORMOUS contract extension...said to be 5 years for $95 million starting next year...that means 6 more seasons with his hometown team...our Bulls! That's pretty exciting news, wouldn't you say? He's obviously a VERY humble guy...especially considering he's the youngest NBA MVP ever. He'll be fine...not at all worried about Derrick.

Boy Derrick and Rip missing back-to-back layups that would have seemingly put the Pacers on the ropes...instead both missed and the Pacers went on like a 6-0 run keeping them in the game in the 3rd quarter...when the opponent is on the ropes, you MUST put them away...I'll chalk it up to getting to know each other still, but they need to finish. Also not happy with Hansbrough dominating that way either although he was much quieter in the second half.

One of my concerns is with Thibs and the way he works the bench...why didn't we see more than a few seconds of Jimmy Butler tonight when he looked awfully good on Fri against this same Pacers team? Heck, even the White Mamba played as much as Butler. Omer had a nice game with 4 points including a nice dunk in traffic and 6 boards (2 offensive) in just 11 minutes...again, I'd like to see the bench get more time...how about some time with he and Joakim on the floor at the same time? Especially with Boozer and Taj in foul trouble like they were tonight.

Still...I'll take the W and 2-0 against a tough, up and coming Pacers squad.

Games start for real on Christmas...Ho Ho Ho GO BULLS!

Dwight Howard to Bulls???

If you have a chance to grab the best player at ANY position to pair up with your superstar, don't you just HAVE to do it? Howard turns 26 on Thu...pair him with 23-year old defending MVP Derrick Rose without giving up your entire roster and THAT is something. I'd throw Noah, Taj and Luol plus the Charlotte pick along with a Bulls top pick at Orlando for Howard and whoever else makes the salaries line up including Turkoglu if that's what it takes. That's WAY better than any of the other proposed deals I've read. Noah is a near All-Star (would have made it last year if he didn't get hurt) and is easily the best player I've heard in any rumors...Taj is a defensive animal and awfully good shot blocker whose offense is coming around...it's tough to trade Luol after the great 2-way year he had on both offense and defense...definitely an underrated player in this league.

But Bynum? Come on...dude plays like 50 games a year and is such a head case, he's suspended for the first 5 games this year due to his horrendous conduct in the playoffs last year. Gasol? Hasn't he already proven he can't be the best player and actually win plus he's 31! Lamar Odom? Dude doesn't even start for his own team and he just turned 32...how is Orlando supposed to rebuild around him? And Brook Lopez from the Nets plus a couple picks? 6 rebounds per game for Brook...isn't he a 7-footer? Sounds more like Brooke Shields...

The Bulls would be AWESOME with Howard, Rose, Boozer (doubt Orlando would take two big contracts so they'd pick Deng over Boozer...less money, younger player, fewer years), Caron Butler (now you could use a 3), and Brewer/Korver...plus you still have some guys on the bench like Omer, rookie Jimmy Butler and hopefully veteran and solid overall player Kurt Thomas.

The problem with a deal like this is GarPax is too much like ex-Cub GM Jim Hendry...too in love with their own players...so they won't pull the trigger on this under the excuse that they had the best record in the East already and just need a better 2. The problem with that theory is the only good 2-way players are going to make more $$$ than you can give them under the CBA...I'd love 26-year old Arron Afflalo (yep, that's how he spells it) as he'd fit right into Thibs' defensive philosophy plus his offensive game is coming around with more playing time, but with half of his team's players literally stuck in China, I have to think Denver will do whatever they can to keep him. The next guy on my list at 2-guard is Jason Richardson, but he'll be 31 next month and he didn't play too well for Orlando at the end of last year. After that, I think my favorite name is Shane Battier...unfortunately, he's not a 2-guard and is better suited to play the 3.

I guess worst case is what happens if Howard goes somewhere that hurts like NY or Boston or stays in Orlando and gets paired up with CP3? That would be bad, right?

MLB Ball Park Review - Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (Arlington, TX)

This is our second ballpark visit of the year and our 19th overall over these last five years. We now have 11 left but as mentioned yesterday, we'll knock off one more this year leaving us with 3 trips left to catch the last 10 teams.

No ballpark tour for this one...we did find RV parking and it was really quite close to the ballpark...we parked for "just" $40 which is what I've paid to park my car in some makeshift lots near Wrigley Field, so $40 didn't seem to bad for an RV.

This is one of the older newer ballparks and was opened in 1994...this was part of what I call the first wave of the old-school new ballparks along with Camden Yards, Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field in Cleveland), Coors Field, Turner Field, etc. which followed an era of cookie-cutter astroturf stadiums...to me, ballparks are just WAY better for baseball than the old stadiums.

This one looks pretty cool on the outside with brown brick and clean lines...there are Texas Longhorns and Stars lining the top of the outside of the ballpark which looks pretty cool. It is really close to the Jerry Jones behemoth called Cowboy Stadium and shares parking which is of course, pretty smart since the seasons hardly overlap and the schedulers for both sports can make sure they aren't hosting games on the same day at nearly the same time. Nice big TV screen above the folks in RF just like The Juice Box I discussed yesterday...quite nice, but not enough replays in my opinion.

Many of the park's features were incorporated from other famous ballparks such as Tigers Stadium (RF roof), Yankee Stadium (white steel in the OF), Fenway Park (scoreboard), and Ebbets Field (non-symmetrical dimensions in the outfield) but there are plenty of other features unique to this ballpark...4-story office building enclosing the outfield in CF and Green's Hill just beyond the CF wall where homerun balls are picked up by scrambling fans.

Going in, I had pretty high expectations...the Ballpark did not exactly live up to those expectations. Don't get me wrong...I certainly enjoyed my experience and we had fantastic seats in the Lexus Club boxes which is the lower seats in the second deck...we had a waitress come by to take our dinner order and deliver it just a few short minutes later...that was REALLY nice. We arrived early and had a chance to get to the bleachers during the Mariners' BP session, but with the wind blowing in and not many big HR hitters on the Mariners, I could count the HRs on my two hands. The Seattle pitchers were shagging balls in the OF and the kids were all screaming for them to throw a ball up to us, but finally at one point, one of them let us know that they were told not to throw balls into the bleachers...see, this is the park where a fan recently died after he fell over a railing catching a ball thrown to him by Josh Hamilton...the security there wouldn't even allow us to stand in the first row during BP without a ticket for that row. No matter, my son and I braved the 100+ heat and it paid off as my son caught a HR...pretty cool!

The food was good (I had the chicken quesadillas), the service was good, and the Rangers pounded the last place Mariners with an absolute barrage of hits. One thing that really surprised us was the lack of fans in attendance...I know the Mariners are in last place and the temps were well into the 100s prior to gametime, but these Rangers just played in the World Series LAST YEAR after winning their first ever playoff series (and second too!)...where's the local support??? They reported 27,000 but there's no way there were nearly that many people there. The crowd was quite subdued too...not much energy...I guess they feel spoiled now and will get back into baseball come playoff time (they only had a 1 game lead on the LA Angels prior to tonight's game so that's no guarantee) and come cooler temps I guess.

That was probably part of my feeling when ranking this park...no fan energy. I mean we were in Houston a couple nights ago to watch the worst team in MLB (Astros) play so I expected their crowd to be dead...but these are the 1st place Rangers...the defending AL Pennant champs...where's the love??? Speaking of the Astros...they have that retractable roof which helps keep the fans in the stands even when the outside temps are in the 100s...heck, they close the roof anytime the temps reach 85...no such technology available for the Rangers...perhaps if they had waited a few more years for the technology to better develop, they'd have an affordable retractable roof too.

The game itself was entertaining...at least if you were cheering for the hometown Rangers (we always cheer for the home team) as they pummeled the Mariners 9-2. Nelson Cruz started off the scoring with the lone HR of the game but the Rangers tacked on an unearned run following a two-base error, a groundout, and a base hit by Mitch Moreland. That would be a theme for the evening as both teams scored at least 2 runs in every inning they managed to score at all leaving the box score with 5 straight innings of crooked number scoring between the two teams. The 5th-8th hitters on the Rangers did the bulk of the damage hitting a combined 11-for-16 with 7 RBIs and 6 runs scored on the night...that's some intense production from the second half of the lineup.

So between the lack of fan frenzy, the lack of any "wow" factor at the park itself, and not having a retractable roof to keep my fan experience from burning up, I've got this park a lot lower than I expected going in.

OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Minute Maid Park (Houston)
4. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
5. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
6. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
7. Safeco Field (Seattle)
8. Fenway Park (Boston)
9. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
10. AT&T Park (San Francisco)
11. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (Arlington, TX)
12. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
13. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
14. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
15. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
16. U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago)
17. Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland)
18. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
19. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)

Next up is our slow trip back home...in a little over a month, we'll be at it again...we're flying to Denver to catch a Rockies' game at Coors Field in mid-September. That will be ballpark #20 out of 30 on our tour leaving us with 10 parks left to visit...we figure 3 more trips ought to cover it. So come back and check out the blog update following the Rockies' game in mid-September to see where Coors Field is ranked.

MLB Ball Park Review - Minute Maid Park (Houston, TX)

Well, we're off on our 2011 baseball trip...this is our 5th annual and we're visiting the two parks in Texas right now...somewhat similar to last year, we're going to take several days "off" between games 2 and 3 on this "trip"...we're going to catch the Rockies at Coors Field in mid-September on a quick fly-in/fly-out weekend trip to get our minimum of 3 games in.

So this is our first ballpark visit of the year and our 18th overall over these last five years. We now have 12 left but as mentioned above, we'll knock off two more this year leaving us with 3 trips left to catch the last 10 teams.

We had a busy day planned as usual for these trips, but this time we actually started at the ballpark with a behind-the-scenes tour of Minute Maid Park (a.k.a. The Juice Box - my favorite ballpark nickname ever!). The tour starts off at the VAST entrance behind the wall in LF...when they created this new ballpark (originally called Enron Field - not a single utterance of that name nor any evidence whatsoever of this name can be found anywhere in the park...if you can find one, you get $100 and someone on the Astros staff gets fired!), they started by renovating their old Union Station (train station)...per the guide providing the tour, they even painted the inside with what they think are the original colors from the early 1900s ("they didn't have any Fuji film back then, so we don't know for sure"). When you arrive more than 90 minutes before game-time and they haven't yet opened the gates, you can literally wait inside this vast room which is AIR-CONDITIONED. The whole luxury box area is quite nice and is entirely air-conditioned ("if it is carpeted in Houston, it must be air-conditioned or the carpet will just rot"). We got to walk out on the field, but were NOT allowed to even touch a blade of grass...those were the rules...for which a LOT of experimentation has been done to get the ride "flavor" so to speak. See The Juice Box has a retractable roof so they need some sort of grass that doesn't require all that much sunlight PLUS with all the shadows that creep across the field even with the roof open, there just isn't the same amount of sunlight we all get on our backyard lawns at home.

As I've noticed time and again with these newest ballparks, they have ALL the hi-tech features that are available today, but still have that nostalgic old school feel to them that makes you feel like you're back in time at a game in the 60s. And as I have written before, after visiting some of these parks way back in our first trip, I've completely changed my tune on my hometown ballpark - Wrigley Field. I'd be totally fine if they bulldozed the place tomorrow if they were going to rebuild it like these other teams have done in the last 15 years or so. This park similar to Safeco in Seattle (but for WAY different reasons) has a retractable roof...they apparently close the roof for the obvious reason of rain, but they'll also close the roof whenever the game-time temperature exceeds 85 degrees...it was well into the 100s on Fri so there was no question the roof would be closed for our game and it surely was.

Anyway, The Juice Box has an old-fashioned human-operated scoreboard below the LF bleachers...that's where we sat for the game so I couldn't see them, but we saw this scoreboard up close and personal during the tour...just like the one up in Wrigley, but they do have enough room for all the games (Wrigley's scoreboard was build WAY before expansion so it is missing 3 games on a day when all teams are playing).

Another important feature that we didn't get to see in action was the train out in LF...with the connection to Union Station, the ballpark designers kept that in mind with some of the amenities and features. The train is supposed to get into action whenever an Astros player hits a homerun...with as bad as the team is these days, they might as well start getting that guy in action anytime they score a run...the train still would have only been in action one time on Fri night for our visit.

The Astros are the worst team in all of baseball and they were taking on the 1st place Brewers so I felt our winning streak was in serious jeopardy...unfortunately for us, I was right. The AAA Astros (that's basically what they are at this point after trading away their two best remaining players in Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence at the trade deadline...by the way, there apparently was a mural on the wall leading from the Astros locker room to their dugout that included these guys...GONE...painted over with fresh paint) didn't hardly put up a fight against the Brew Crew and were CRUSHED 8-1. Astros' starter JA Happ didn't help his team much giving up 3 runs in the first inning while facing 8 of the 9 Brewers batters...two of the outs in the inning were absolute rockets off the Brewers' bats that just happened to end up in the glove of an Astros' defensive player or they might still be batting now. The lone Astros' highlight was the rookie debut of John Schuck...he singled in his very first MLB at-bat which was one of only 4 Astros hits...the crowd gave him a very nice ovation after that hit...he then stole 2nd base (left stranded of course) as the Astros left 4 of their 5 (1 walk) base runners on base.

The ballpark itself was VERY nice indeed! As mentioned above, we sat in the LF bleachers 6 rows up...these seats are infamously called the Crawford Boxes...we could see everything except plays right at the wall in LF. Minute Maid has THE deepest CF in all of baseball with the wall measuring in at 435 feet from home plate. On top of that, there is a hill...YES, literally a hill with a 20-degree incline for the last 90 feet or so...and, oh, did I mention there's also a flagpole on that hill and it IS in play? The park has been hosting games for nearly 12 years and no CF has gotten hurt out there...some have looked a bit silly falling down as they all of a sudden start running uphill and some have made some pretty amazing catches up there too...that's a LONG way from home plate!

There is a HUGE nearly 7000 sq ft HD scoreboard above the fans in RF...AMAZING picture quality...it's little brother was above the fans down the 3rd baseline (we could easily see both)...I believe it was about 4000 sq ft but was also HD...very nice too! Not a lot of replays but maintained the batting order including position and number which certainly helped my son keep score on his iPod app especially as the 'Stros paraded 5 pitchers to the mound with a couple of double-switches and a LOT of stats associated with the batter which was cool.

When they were announcing the lineup for the game, I only recognized Carlos Lee (now playing 1B) and Clint Barmes (SS) although I didn't know he was on the Astros...apparently I'm not the only one...their own fans don't know these guys either...since we hung around town for a couple days, we were listening to some local radio...they had a call-in contest where the DJ would name a player for the Astros or Dynamos (local soccer team) and the caller only had to pick the appropriate team for that player 4-of-7 times correctly...this guy went 0-for-4 to start so he was officially done, but the DJ gave him one more chance to get a consolation prize just by getting the 5th one right...buzz! wrong answer AGAIN. That's how it is with the 'Stros these days...

Of course, we also sampled the cuisine while we were there...I had some kind of sausage delight my wife picked our for me that had pico de gallo, jalapenos, and grilled onions...it was huge and delicious and quite gone in just a few minutes...I even surprised myself that I was able to finish it. My son had a beef brisket sandwich (BBQ as they call it down here in Texas y'all) that he loved and my girls split some buffalo chicken nachos and authentic steak tacos...all three of them LOVED their assorted food. My wife for some reason grabbed herself a Chicago Style hot dog...apparently overwhelmed by hunger and too many choices...she said it tasted like a regular "eh" ballpark hot dog with Chicago-style trimmings like relish, pickles and tomatoes...not what she had in mind.

After the disappointing game, the 'Stros saved the best for last...the post-game fireworks show. Since the 'Stros didn't hit any HRs during the game, we didn't get to see any action from the train although the engineer made the big-screen during one of the between inning songs as he was dancing his chubby little heart out to the roar (if that's what you call 8000 people cheering) of the crowd. Well after the game the 'Stros put on a fireworks show. First, they had to open the roof which started just seconds after the final Astros out that ended the game. Well, they did NOT disappoint with the fireworks show...VERY COOL and pretty long too as they were able to play 5-6 current songs during a show that rivaled a pretty good one from the 4th of July. I already had The Juice Box placed high on my list before the fireworks show so that didn't really have any bearing on their placement on my list.

OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Minute Maid Park (Houston)
4. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
5. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
6. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
7. Safeco Field (Seattle)
8. Fenway Park (Boston)
9. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
10. AT&T Park (San Francisco)
11. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
12. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
13. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
14. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
15. U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago)
16. Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland)
17. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
18. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)

The overall experience at Minute Maid Park was pretty impressive from start to finish...we're in an RV this week and we were able to find parking for the ballpark tour and the game (5:30 on a Fri night) fairly easily.

Next up is Rangers Ballpark in Arlington tomorrow night as the 1st place Rangers take on the last place Seattle Mariners who have been struggling of late as they were .500 at 43-43 on July 5th before dropping 17 straight to go from 2.5 to 15.5 games back in their division.

WORST Officiated Game in the HISTORY of Sports

Sorry it took me so long to post this...I have been brooding since storming out of the United Center last Thursday night after watching that travesty put on display by the NBA.

That was the WORST officiated game in the HISTORY of sports...not just NBA or even pro sports, but I'm including Olympic boxing, Little League games, et al....WHY is NOBODY talking about this? The Bulls should have been up 30 in the 4th quarter if not for the PUTRID officiating that kept bringing Miami back into the game each time the Bulls stretched out to a double-digit lead and then that run of lucky off-balanced shots those guys were able to throw in wouldn't have mattered. Instead everyone is talking about how LeBron is all of sudden clutch and how he might be better than Michael Jordan...GIVE ME A BREAK!

It started with the flagrant foul call on LeBron by Boozer...Bosh must have been working with LeBron on his acting skills because that was terrible! Bulls were up 11, flagrant allows Miami to shoot 4 FTs in the possession scoring 3 points; Korver gets called for a travel, then Joakim is called (actually called on Taj originally) for a ticky tack foul on a rebound, Taj gets T-d up for arguing a call they actually reversed netting the Heat 3 more FTs...that's 7 FTs in two possessions over 39 seconds (Bulls would shoot 6 FTs for the entire quarter!). Following a layup by Derrick where he was fouled THREE times on his way to the basket without a call, LeBron gets the benefit of another call for two more FTs...that's NINE FTs for the Heat in 1:12 taking a Bulls 11-point lead back down to 5.

And then what might have been the "play of the game" for me...the one where you just absolutely KNEW the fix was in...right after the Heat called timeout following Brewer's "nail in the coffin" 3-pointer gave the Bulls their 12-point lead with 3:53 left, Brewer knocked the ball away from LeBron back to half court, both guys trying to get the ball and what??? Foul call on Brewer 45 feet from the basket with about 5 seconds left on the shot clock with BOTH guys laying on the ground...two FTs for LeBron since the Heat were already in the bonus.

Here's the final numbers to review:
LeBron - 2
Bosh - 1
Wade - 4
Anthony - 3
Bibby - 1

Rose - 5
Boozer - 4
Deng - 5
Noah - 4
Bogans - 3

That's the number of fouls called on each team's starters...pretty significant difference, wouldn't you say? That's why Deng couldn't guard LeBron in the 4th quarter (because every time he breathed on LeBron, he was called for a foul)...not a big deal? Well with Luol guarding LeBron pretty much exclusively in the 1st half, LeBron scored 11...he had 17 in the second half...many of which came with the skinnier 2-guard Ronnie Brewer trying to guard him.

What happened to home court advantage? The Bulls were called for 28 personal fouls while Miami was called for only 18 (10-foul difference for two great defensive teams). Miami shoots 33 FTs on the road; 12 more than the Bulls and the Bulls lost by 3 lousy points. I'm sorry, but that is RIDICULOUS! It wasn't like Miami was going inside either...they had a meager 22 points in the paint (that includes FTs as a result of fouls inside the paint).

I stand by my story from last week...the NBA and ESPN/ABC just has too much invested in the Miami Heat for them not to be in the Finals. You say Miami is a much smaller market than Chicago...I say look at the ratings...when Miami plays, people watch...most people are rooting hard against Miami, but they still watch and THAT, my friends is how the NBA, ESPN, ABC, etc. make their money. So as they say...the fix was in, were you? I sure wasn't!

I for one will NOT be watching the NBA Finals...it's going to be a FT shooting contest anyway which is SOOOO boring...David Stern better wake up and do something about this officiating BS because it is ruining the game! The NBA could be so much fun to watch...they have arguably the best athletes in the world and yet the way they call flops and arms flailing around as fouls, it just doesn't have any flow any more...that makes for more commercials (cha-ching!) but sure doesn't make it fun to watch for the fans.

NBA, ESPN, ABC Too Invested in Heat?

Starting with an hour long special where LeBron announced he was taking his "talents to South Beach", the hype associated with the Miami Heat by the NBA and especially Disney owned ESPN and ABC has been unprecedented. How many specific teams does ESPN have a webpage dedicated? Just one as far as I know.

So how are the rest of us supposed to ignore these facts as we watch the playoffs without wondering about the integrity of the game? I mean it doesn't take more than a couple calls to change a game...get Derrick a second foul in the first quarter like we saw in Game 2 and he goes the bench. Call an offensive charge on Boozer instead of a blocking foul on LeBron and that takes Carlos and not LeBron out of the game too. Make a questionable over the back call on Joakim for his second and he's gone either mentally or physically if not both like we saw in Game 3.

If you don't think a couple calls in a close game can make all the difference in the outcome, then you just don't watch enough games. Of course there are other factors like stupid interior passes like Derrick made to LeBron to seal Game 3 or Luol did earlier in the game, blown lay-ups or tip-ins, or losing a ball out of bounds, but the refs and NBA can't really control that...they certainly CAN and DO control the officiating...I mean I know the refs are supposed to be scrutinized following each game, but by who? And if they're told ahead of time how to call a game..."let em play" like Game 1 or "call it tight" like Games 2 & 3...that changes the entire complexion of the game. As we all saw, the "let em play" officiating greatly benefits the non-whiner Bulls because LeBron and Wade are used to getting a TON of calls to go their way and when they don't, they struggle just as they did in Game 1...when the game is called tight and they can get to the line 8+ times each, they usually win those games.

I was thrilled with the old school Eastern Conference Finals officiating in Game 1 that allowed the PLAYERS to determine the outcome of the game, but for whatever reason (and this was my fear going into Game 2), starting with Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals (ya, the one where Dirk was 24-for-24 and the Thunder shot 43 FTs), the refs went to the tight calls because NBA fans really like watching a free throw parade rather than watching the best athletes in the world make athletic plays that the rest of us can't do. I can stand in a gym and make 8-of-10 FTs; heck one night a few years ago, just messing around, I dropped 31 straight FTs...what I can't do is dunk an offensive rebound in traffic...THAT is what I want to see! That is what makes the NBA amazing...isn't that their theme? NBA: Where Amazing Happens! Well I'm sorry, but amazing isn't done at the FT line.

LET THEM PLAY!!! LET'S GO BULLS!!!

M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!

There has been a LOT of talk around the NBA "circles" (are these crop circles because I haven't seen any circles labeled NBA) about our own Derrick Rose for MVP. Derrick tried to nominate himself for the title in the pre-season by asking the question "why not me?" when asked about the MVP. Most people laughed it off, but take a look folks...he's doing it...he's right there in the mix. And we've been hearing the chants when he steps to the free throw line at the United Center...I thought it was a little premature back in November, but apparently not. Heck, he's hearing those chants on the road too! The Bulls are #1 in home attendance (#2 in home percentage) and #4 in road attendance...so lots of people are seeing this team and more specifically, this kid of ours play some ball.

For me the MVP must be the answer to the following question...can Player X' team win without him? Obviously any player on this list is affecting his team's win total so I'm not asking...can his team win at the same rate, but rather can they win at a decent rate...say .500 or so?

The top 3 guys this year in my opinion are LeBron, Dirk, and Derrick Rose...so let's talk about each of them one at a time...

So can the Heat win without LeBron? I would argue that YES, the Heat can win without LeBron as they have another superstar (and NO, I am not talking about "fake tough guy" Chris Bosh!) on their team that can and has already carried them at times even with LeBron in the lineup. LeBron has only missed two games this season as he continues to prove that he's a pretty durable player...he's never played in all 82 regular season games, but he's never played fewer than 75 either. The Heat are 0-2 in those two games which occurred back-to-back against the Nuggets (as a side note, Wade has never beaten Carmelo in Denver) and Bulls. While that's obviously not .500, it's hardly a large enough sample size to call that record a determining factor...the Heat also lost the game before with the Clippers while LeBron played nearly 40 minutes and the game following against the Hawks while LeBron played 44 minutes in an OT loss.

So can the Mavs win without Dirk? Well, Dirk has missed 9 games this season and his Mavs went 2-7 over that time frame so the instinctual answer is NO. They also lost Caron Butler in the middle of Dirk's absence although they had already lost the first two with Butler. The Bulls swept the season series with the Mavs this year and Dirk played in both games; Derrick played in both games; Butler played in the first game in Dallas, but missed the second at the UC; no Boozer for the first, and no Boozer and no Joakim for the second as Derrick was the only Bull in double figures in that second game...result - Bulls 2; Dallas 0.

Can the Bulls win without Derrick Rose? Ummm...I really don't think so especially in this first part of the season with Boozer out, Joakim out or even both guys out. Can they scrape together a win or two out of 10, maybe. The Bulls lost the only game Derrick has missed this season (knock on wood!) although it was in heartbreaking fashion when Melo hit that fade-away J over Luol at the buzzer. But let me explain by bringing up a situation from last season...the Bulls lost Joakim Noah for a 10 games in the second half...they went on to lose ALL 10 which seemed to end their playoff hopes in March (luckily Chris Bosh had already given up in Toronto so the Bulls were able to slip into the playoffs with a bit of a late season surge going 10-4 to finish up 41-41). That was last year...this year, Joakim has already missed the last 28 games, but this is Derrick's year...he's not only kept the Bulls going, but they are 21-7 in those 28 games. Of course, the Bulls have played the entire season with either their #2 or #3 players hurt or out or even BOTH out at the same time (Derrick's Bulls are 2-1 with both out) and yet, they still have the 5th best record in the NBA! I'm sorry, but THOSE are MVP numbers. Need more...here's a quote from ESPN's Maurice Brooks who does the "Awards Watch" page for them (http://espn.go.com/nba/notebook/_/page/Awards-110215/nba-awards-watch) - "On 13 occasions, the Bulls have trailed in the fourth quarter only to have Rose rescue them. That is another stat on what is turning into a long list of reasons to give him the award." Really...what else is there!

So how will Derrick perform as the starting (and healthy) point guard for the Eastern Conference All-Stars? I don't know...this type of show-off game isn't really his thing as he's not the ego-maniac LeBron, Kobe, Amar'e, and Wade are...I think he's probably going to want to show he belongs so its not like he's going to be cowering in the corner...he still loves to play in front of the big stage...he sure proved that Thu night on TNT in front of a national TV audience, so I expect him to have a pretty good game.

I don't know why I didn't think about this before with Michael and Scottie as regulars in the All-Star games, but how will these guys even get along? The East consists of 3 Heat, 4 Celtics, 2 Hawks, 1 Knick, 1 Magic, and Derrick...that's all 12 guys representing the top 6 teams in the East right now. I know Derrick is a very competitive guy, but most of the rest of the guys really seem to enjoy this type of game. Interestingly, he'll be paired in the starting lineup with LeBron and Wade, both of whom spurned the Bulls this summer; otherwise we could have potentially watched the three of them play together every night. In addition to playing with two of the Three Am-EGOS to start, the third Am-EGO is also there as a reserve and then there's the issues with the cheap shots by new teammate Dwight Howard which helped somewhat ruin Derrick's last trip to the All-Star Game. Then there's the 4 Celtics including Rajon Rondo who Derrick beat out in the voting to become the starter. Remember that epic playoff series between the Bulls and Celtics in the first round during Derrick's rookie season? NOBODY that I've ever heard has ever said anything really negative about Derrick so I'm sure he'll do well with everyone.

Other than the 4 Celtics who each won a ring 3 years ago, the rest of the East has just one ring combined. The West have a LOT more rings on their side as the West has pretty well dominated the ring collection since the Bulls second three-peat winning 9 of the last 12 NBA Titles. So what kind of game can we expect to see from Derrick tomorrow? I'd be thrilled to see him throw down a couple of nice 2-handed dunks and dish out about 12 assists...most importantly, I want him to really enjoy the moment and learn from it just like he did with the Team USA experience over the summer.

Let's keep those M-V-P! chants going nice and loud at the UC! Heck, I've even been hearing it on the road when he goes to the free throw line; let's keep em going there too!

By the way, I started writing this earlier in the week before the San Antonio game...if you weren't convinced of his MVP status before that game, hopefully his career high 42 points pushed you in the right direction. He shot 18-for-28 against the league's best team and added 8 assists and 5 boards. It started out as a battle between Rose and San Antonio's Tony Parker...kind of a battle between two of the leagues best PGs. This was the 3rd such match-up in the Bulls last 4 games after matching up with and totally outplaying Deron Williams in Utah (longest tenured coach in US pro sports was gone following that game) and Chris Paul in New Orleans back-to-back the week before.

Charles Barkley (a lot smarter than he makes himself out to be) thinks Derrick's Bulls are the best team in the East now that Joakim Noah is coming back following the All-Star Game tomorrow. I tend to agree, but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself...but I am REALLY excited at the same time.

GO BULLS!

Da End of Da 2010-11 Bears

Well, the Bears certainly over performed WAY beyond anything I would have ever thought for this team especially after a mostly horrid pre-season. The Bears made a big splash (probably THE biggest splash) in free agency this past off-season signing their own version of the Big Three with Peppers (should be up for Defensive Player of the Year), Chester Taylor (under used and primarily addition by subtraction from the Vikings), and Brendan Manumaleuna (saw him about 10 times all season). Peppers was a HUGE pickup, but when you spend what Angelo spent on a new QB, WHY don't you do something, anything really to improve a very suspect O-line or an inexperienced WR group with no clear "go-to guy"?

While Mike Tice (one of 4 head coaches on the Bears coaching staff) worked miracles with the scraps including former first round pick (14th overall) Chris Williams putting together a workable O-line, Angelo's total ineptitude with the draft certainly stretched his coaching skills.

I don't know who the Bears WR coach is, but after watching Johnny Knox AGAIN not go after a ball in tight coverage and allowing yet another interception, he needs to be fired. I know Hester and Knox are not the sharpest tools in the shed, but after two years, you'd think a starting NFL WR would know you cannot just let the defender have the ball on a pass in tight coverage. Would the NFC Championship Game have gone differently if Hester had actually finished his route on that first series instead of beating his guy and then inexplicably slowing down allowing Cutler's pass sail well over his head on what would have been a sure TD.

Speaking of Cutler, what a HORRIBLE job of reporting by Fox on Cutler's condition coming out of halftime. Granted, I'm sure Lovie had a lot to do with that which is understandable, but late in the 3rd quarter shouldn't it have come out that he had a serious knee injury and the Bears doctors had ruled him out of the game? Personally, I'm stunned with the reaction particularly by all the NFL players sitting home on their couches watching this game just like the rest of us. I know Twitter is fairly new to the NFL and particularly the players but just because you have an account doesn't turn you into a journalist requiring you to report on anything football related. Isn't there some type of brotherhood out there amongst players? Too bad the Bears don't get to face the Jaguars this year as that bunch of LOSERS seemed to be the most vocal regarding Cutler's injury although the only guy I had honestly ever heard of was Maurice Jones-Drew. WHAT are these guys even talking about? At the point of their Tweets, they have ZERO clue what's going on so why say a word? Like I said, too bad the Jags aren't on the Bears schedule for 2011...I'm sure Urlacher who REALLY came out swinging about these "critics" would have LOVED to have a shot at him.

So what have we learned and what's the plan for 2011? Here's my list of rhetorical asked and answered questions:

• What happens with the Bears coaching staff?

What started out as one of the "hottest seats" of all head coaching positions following 3 straight seasons without making the playoffs turned into a pretty good situation for Lovie Smith. Going into the bye week, it didn't look too good as the Bears were 4-3 after a couple of horrible home losses to Seattle and Washington.

Well, there was a meeting of the minds during that perfectly timed bye week and the Bears turned things around quickly and made it all the way to the Championship Game playing for their namesake's trophy (George S. Halas Trophy). Even though the worst nightmare happened as the Bears were forced to watch their northern rival Packers take "their" trophy on the Bears home field, my hope actually is that they keep the big name guys completely intact BUT do NOT extend Lovie until he can do this again. My fear is that Lovie has earned himself (at least in the eyes of the inept owner and more inept GM) an extension even though he still has another year on his contract.

• What happens with Jerry Angelo?

He too escapes the hot seat with the team's run to the NFC Championship Game...unfortunately. The scary similarities between this guy and the Cubs Jim Hendry is unreal and gives me a very uneasy feeling regarding the future of this team. The number of gaffs this guy has made during his tenure really should have set this franchise back several years. It is primarily thanks to the will of a few players like Urlacher, Briggs, Devin Hester, and Kreutz. There are a few other players that have helped out of course too. Johnny Knox is one for sure as a 5th round pick as the Bears picked him up as part of the Jay Cutler trade.

• What about a QB controversy in Chicago?

Yes, Caleb Haney played quite well under horrible conditions starting with the fact he was unbelievably named as the 3rd string QB. This isn't unbelievable because he's so good but that Todd Collins had been so unbelievably bad. Collins' 2-to-1 ratio doesn't relate to TDs-to-Int; rather this is completions (10)-to-interceptions (5). By the way, he had the same number of TD passes you had - ZERO but in many more attempts.

Most people said "Cutler better be hurt" considering he sat out of the second half of the biggest game of his entire life and it turns out that yes, he indeed was hurt with a strained MCL. He will be back next year and there is no QB controversy going into next season.

For me, it's all about talent evaluation on BOTH sides...pre-draft and then on the team itself. I mentioned Johnny Knox both positively and negatively above. Did you know Johnny Knox was on the practice squad last year before Devin Aromashodu got hurt in the preseason? Well Knox finished with 5 receiving TDs which was good for 2nd on a pathetic 7-9 Bears last year. This year he was 400 yards ahead of the next closest Bears receiver in yards (yes, even ahead of supposed #1 WR Devin Hester) and this time led the team in receiving TDs. If Aromashodu hadn't gotten hurt, he could have ended up on some other team's roster.

So I started writing this shortly after the NFC Championship Game and now I'm finishing it up after the Super Bowl. How do you think the Bears "brass" are feeling about their decision to let the Packers win that game in Week 17? The Bears starters played the whole game so the only thing the team didn't do was apparently game plan for the Packers. HUH? That means it wasn't about the safety of the players or keeping them healthy for the playoffs rather just giving the coaches a week off from doing their jobs...makes sense and worked out great guys...THANKS! So let's extend Lovie and watch as even the Lions pass up the Bears next season. The NFL has never looked so winnable in my eyes and the Bears BLEW their opportunity to REALLY make something of it...instead they watched their division rivals work through 14 guys including 6 opening day starters go on IR and STILL win the Super Bowl. Do they think it will easier next year? The Vikings will be done with the circus that is Brett Favre, the Packers will almost certainly be healthier, the Bears will almost certainly be less healthy, and the Lions are another year removed from Matt Millen's "reign" as GM. I see three more years similar to the three years we had between Championship Game appearances.

GO BULLS and GO HAWKS!

DA BULLS vs. THE THREE AM-EGOS part 1

Well, the Bulls got their chance to face off against the NBA's most hated team (at least hated by the fans) at the United Center on Saturday this past weekend in what was reportedly the biggest ticket in Chicago this weekend even with the Bears hosting a playoff game for the first time in 4 years. I guess everyone was saving up for this weekend's showdown with the Packers for the NFC Championship.

So in front of a celebrity filled crowd with sightings of Jesse Jackson, Devin Hester, Johnny Knox, White Sox GM Kenny Williams, Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez and former Bull Will Perdue (I'm sure there were others as well), the Bulls faced off against The Three Am-EGOS less LeBron James who remained out with a sprained ankle. Of course, the Bulls weren't exactly healthy either as they remain a man short with Joakim recovering from hand surgery.

How do you like the poster? I designed it and had some help from a friend with better software to finish it up. You might have seen it during the game as I sat somewhat behind the east basket.

The game was a back and forth battle between two pretty good teams. The Heat remained in it with unbelievable shooting from the 3-point line making 13 of them while Derrick carried the Bulls. While Wade was joined by Bosh, House and Chalmers in double-digit scoring, Derrick just had Boozer and Deng with 12 points each. It still ended up mostly as Rose vs. Wade down the stretch, but I'll get to that...

Bosh started out poorly but picked it up as the ever disappointing Carlos Boozer failed to keep him from doing anything he wanted in the 2nd quarter. His day finished in the 3rd quarter as Omer Asik rolled up on Bosh's ankle as both were going after a loose ball on the floor. First off, that may have been the first time I've ever seen Bosh on the floor going for a loose ball rather than just flopping trying to draw a foul. Second, his comments after the game were unbelievable as he basically blamed the Bulls rookie for diving for the loose ball with a "star" in the neighborhood. "C'mon, that is how guys get hurt, that is how serious injuries happen. You've got to watch people's legs. I know guys want to hustle and everything but we all want to play and provide for our families and have a job. We all want to be healthy and that is very important," Bosh said. "If it is by somebody's leg, don't dive for the ball, it's too close." Did he forget his $100 million contract is fully guaranteed and I'm pretty sure that money will provide pretty well for his family. And what is this if "it's too close" "don't dive for the ball" BS? Just because you're 6'11" but play like a pansy, don't bring that type of play on everyone else.

While it is very difficult to argue with the ultimate results especially under the circumstances the Bulls have been given with Boozer, then Noah, and now Boozer again being out of the lineup, I'm still not 100% happy with Coach Thibs. He seems to simply have a set rotation and doesn't like to adjust it regardless of the circumstances or game situation...like why not double Carmelo at the very end of that Denver game when everyone on the planet knows he's going to be the guy to take the shot? But Sat night against the Heat, I was literally SCREAMING my head off calling for Brewer on Wade, but Thibs decided to stick with Luol to keep him off the line supposedly and then finally after CJ Watson gave up the go-ahead 3 which actually could have been a 4-point play as Wade leaned into CJ while seeming to primarily draw the foul. That was the second 3 the Heat had actually hit while trying to draw a foul.

I'll give them credit...every time the Bulls seemed to be getting going and heading to blow out the Heat less LeBron, the Heat answered back...mostly it was Wade and Bosh had his moments until the ankle injury late in the third, but there was also the outside shooting that kept them in it. The Heat finished the first half on a 17-4 run to turn an 8-point deficit into a 5-point halftime lead. Well, the Bulls came back to start the 3rd quarter with a run of their own...this one was 17-0! I don't know how many TOs Spoelstra called in that span but he couldn't find an answer through the first several minutes of that second half. They eventually figured it out and came right back again.

Back and forth they went...like two heavyweights hammering on each other. But then it came down to the last couple of minutes...Rose, Wade, Rose, Wade, Rose...it was a crazy playoff like atmosphere with cheers for the Bulls and boos for the Heat (mostly Wade). Some of the loudest cheers were directed at Wade when he was called for a foul and then when he got knocked down and laid on the floor for a couple minutes. I did think it was awfully nice of the refs to give him all the time he needed to make himself right before continuing the game without making the Heat use a timeout. Boy, that was some serious star treatment and this for a guy that did nothing but whine and moan about every single call throughout the entire game. I couldn't believe Ken Mauer (he's the ref that T'd up the Timberwolves 5 times in 10 seconds earlier in the week) put up with Wade's behavior without ever issuing him a T.

At the end, the Bulls were able to make one more play than the Heat and the Bulls were able to escape with the W. Korver hit the big 3 following Rose's missed floater and Boozer's brutal miss from point blank range which Wade then tapped out in an attempt to start a fast break...unfortunately for Wade (what was LeBron saying about karma?), he tipped it where Korver was able to outrace 2 Heat players and set himself up for a wide open 3 which turned out to be the game winner. The Heat called timeout and Thibs FINALLY made the substitution I had been begging for throughout the 4th quarter when he put Ronnie Brewer (wasn't he brought here specifically for his defense?) on Wade. So what did Brewer do in his 25 seconds of PT down the stretch? Well, he got the big rebound after the mad scramble in the Heat's second to last possession; got fouled but was only able to split the FTs giving the Bulls a 3-point lead so even the one FT was HUGE as it limited the Heat options with only 4.4 seconds left; and then he was ALL OVER Wade forcing a horrible shot that landed woefully short giving the Bulls the W. While his missed FT did cost us our Big Macs, had he been in the game for the final 2+ minutes instead, the Heat would have been fouling like crazy and the Bulls would have ended up well above 100.

So the question remains...is the Bulls' rookie head coach learning anything or is just looking at his own record and thinking he's got the right mix right now? I'm afraid it is the latter as he hasn't made any changes or adjustments other than based on injuries. The Bulls are like 9-0 when Bogans scores 6 points or more...how pathetic is that? The Bulls starting shooting guard has only scored 6 lousy points 9 times in 41 games! He has started every game this season and hasn't hit double-digits in the last 33 games. What the heck IS that? Doesn't he want to try a couple different things to see if what he has is the best they can do? Why not spread the floor with Korver starting with Rose? I'm fine with Brewer off the bench in most cases although I would have adjusted the starting lineup specifically for Miami (Thibs does know he can do that, right?). I would have started Taj over Thomas and stuck him on Bosh and would have started Brewer over Bogans and stuck him on Wade. Deng usually does a pretty good job on LeBron so even with The Three Am-EGOS all playing, I still think the Bulls match up pretty well. While neither Taj nor Brewer are considered scorers, they can both put the ball in the basket. Now on the other side of the ball, who from Miami is going to guard Derrick? Obviously nobody based on Sat night's game! I would certainly hope that Boozer plays MUCH, MUCH better than he did on Sat night as he looked as tentative as I've seen him even counting his first few games back from injury.

Look, if Boozer wants to stay in the lineup (no given in my opinion), he needs to provide a better effort on the defensive end. This waving at guys driving the lane without getting in their way to draw a charge or at least impact the shot just doesn't work for me! So for Miami part 2 assuming the Bulls are 100% healthy and so are the Heat, I would go with Joakim, Taj, Deng, Brewer, and Derrick with Boozer coming off the bench with Korver along with Asik (can this guy EVER get a call?). Beat the Heat with your advantage...they have no bench, no answer for Derrick and no answer to Joakim...DONE!

GO BULLS!

HOW ABOUT DA BEARS 2010 VERSION?!?

What a GREAT weekend for Chicago sports fans, huh? The Bulls took both of their weekend games plus today's matinee too. The Hawks earned 3 points with a somewhat painful shootout loss on Sat night, but a 4-goal barrage in the 3rd period finished off the Nashville Predators on the second of a home-and-away (actually away-and-home for the Hawks) last night.

Of course, the biggest Chi-Town W over the weekend was the Bears big playoff win at home over the surprising Seattle Seahawks...surprising in that they were actually still alive in the playoffs after a shocking W against the defending Super Bowl champion Saints. They dominated from start to finish which was fantastic to see. Other than a lucky TD "look what I found" catch by a pretty well shutdown Mike Williams when Peanut Tillman not only dropped, but conveniently tipped up would-be pick right into Williams' hands. The extra point made the score 35-17 Bears with just over 2 minutes left and the Bears slacked off a bit on D but still covered the spread with an 11-point W most predicted but others still did not.

How many of the so-called experts were calling for a trade of Greg Olsen before the season saying he had no place in the Mike Martz offense. Well, he came up pretty HUGE against the Seahawks yesterday, wouldn't you say? His blocking has come a LONG, LONG way too so they can keep him on the field more often and keep the defenses guessing more too. Of course, Kellen Davis and Brandon Manumaleuna (and I spelled that on my own although I did check it) also had some big plays on the day...Davis had the "nail in the coffin" TD from Cutler making it 35-10 and Manumaleuna had a NICE block on the Chester Taylor TD run that made it 14-0 in the 1st quarter.

The Bears advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the second time in 4 years and they'll be hosting this one too. But this time...drum roll please...THIS TIME THEY HOST THE PACKERS! This is the 182nd time they've faced off with the Packers in their 90-year history but the first ever NFC Championship game between the two fierce rivals. That's a bit shocking to me...the first time these two teams have faced off in the NFC Championship Game...WOW! I guess thinking back, it is quite a rare feat when both of these teams are good at the same time so it shouldn't be that surprising as it sure isn't easy to make it this far. However, this is also the first time in nearly 70 years since they've faced each other AT ALL in the playoffs too...not even once during this wild card era. Kinda crazy!

How nuts is it going to be at Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon? Every time these two teams face each other, there are still plenty of the visiting teams' fans in the stands regardless of win-loss records or situation. With the two teams going up against each other with the chance to move on to Dallas (hey, how about those Cowboys? Sorry, couldn't resist) to face the AFC Champ in Super Bowl XLV, it should be even more nuts. Add in the fact that this is the 25th anniversary of the Bears first Super Bowl victorious team - the storied 1985 Bears who are STILL celebrated in this town as if this happened yesterday.

A very minor question came up...if these Bears win the Super Bowl this year, will we finally be rid of the 1985 Bears? Personally, I just don't think so. Can you seriously compare Da Coach to Lovie? Forget coaching...personality is what sells in this town and Lovie just doesn't seem to have...well...ANY. Cutler vs. Punky QB Jim McMahon...Forte vs. Sweetness Payton...WR Devin Hester and Johnny Knox (go to the ball!) vs. Willie Gault and Dennis McKinnon. Heck even LB Briggs and Urlacher (who I LOVE) vs. Otis Wilson, Samurai Mike Singletary and Wilbur Marshall...those are NOT good personality match-ups. What about DT Tommie Harris vs. Steve McMichael and William "The Refrigerator" Perry? Peppers vs. Richard Dent or Idonije vs. Danimal Hampton? Anyone remember The Black-N-Blues Brothers? These were the O-lineman for that 1985 Bears team...this team was all characters!
 
I'm sorry, but there's just not a lot of personality on this version of 2010 Bears. Of course, the skill level and utter dominance isn't remotely comparable either as the 1985 Bears are typically in discussions as one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the history of the NFL while this year's version lost some pretty silly games. Let's all hope that the result at the end of the season matches up though and then we can "worry" about this other stuff which really just doesn't matter anyway.

DA BEARS!!!

What Do the Haters Have to Say Now?

Well, what do you haters have to say now? Well, I'll tell you because I was one of the haters...notice I said "was" because this was a HUGE win for this franchise, this coach (actually all three of our head coaches), and this QB. I still HATE the Bears GM Jerry Angelo as this team is put together with duct tape and paper clips, but this coaching staff put together a pretty amazing game plan to take advantage of the tools and players currently at their disposal. The downside for me of the 8-3 record to date is that the status quo will remain...and while Lovie and Martz and Marinelli (those are the 3 head coaches on the staff) have pulled this thing together, I believe this is happening despite what Jerry Angelo has done to this roster not thanks to his efforts but now is not the time to spotlight this major deficiency.

Let's face some facts though...the Bears did face one of the easiest schedules to date as their opponents had a combined winning percentage of .370 going into today's game...that's really pretty pathetic. And the only team with a winning record they had beaten before today was the Packers on Monday Night Football. The Packers probably played one of their worst games of the season with a TON of really stupid penalties and practically gave the game to the Bears, but it was still a win; a divisional win; a BIG win against their #1 arch rival too.

But that was really it as far as Ws against good teams...you can say "what about Dallas?" but they were a TOTAL mess when they played...you can say "what about the Vikings?" but they were even more of a mess. If not for a just terrible rule forcing receivers to "complete the process", they would have lost their home opener against the lowly Lions. You have to wonder what might have happened had they lost that game...actually, you don't "have to wonder" as we're way past that game now.  When they lost the game against the Giants most people (again, myself included) wrote them off for the season as they fell to 3-1. They only lost 17-3 although Cutler would tell you (if he remembered any of it) it seemed much worse that that and showed how seemingly flawed this team really was.

They came right back the next week to demolish a HORRID Carolina Panthers team with their backup QB Todd Collins throwing 4 picks and only 6 receptions to his own guys. But the next two games really turned the tide against them with home losses to so-so teams Washington and Seattle back-to-back. Brutal!

The bye week seemed to come at the perfect time so the Bears coaching staff could regroup. They were 4-3 going into the bye and not at all firing on all cylinders. The big question on everyone's mind...could these pretty arrogant coaches REALLY take a look at their personnel and REALLY put together a game plan that "gives them the best chance to win". How many times have we heard this from Lovie over the years about his head-scratching personnel decisions?

But then came another terrible team in winless Buffalo and they barely eeked out a W up in Toronto in front of a bipartisan crowd (not fair to the Bills who were supposed to be the home team) with a BIG pick late in the game turning a sure game-clinching TD on a slightly underthrown pass into the game-winning drive for the Bears...another W and they were now at 5-3.

Next up were the reeling Vikings that were imploding at the time but that was still Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson and a division rival. They took pretty good care of them with a nice game plan and they totally shut down Favre (4 turnovers) and AP (averaged 3 ypc and no TDs). Nice W, but the 5-3 Bears were actually slight underdogs AT HOME against the 3-5 Vikings...so I wasn't the only hater out there; it seems not many people in the entire country believed in them.

Next up was a trip to Miami. The Dolphins were 5-4 but their 4 losses came to the Jets, Patriots, Pittsburgh and Baltimore while the Bears at 6-3 had lost to the Redskins, Seahawks, and Giants. So again the team with the better record was an underdog and again the underdog Bears won the ballgame. But the breaks continued to fall the Bears' ways (I'm referring to their easy starting schedule and the Packers' play in their first game) when all three of the Miami QBs were knocked out in their previous game (a W at home against the Titans) leaving 3rd string Tyler Thigpen as the starter against the Bears. He was WAY out manned by one of the NFL's best defenses and the Bears had their first shutout and a tie atop the NFC North at 7-3.

Surely now they'd be favored at home...I mean they were 7-3 and playing at home although they were playing the red-hot Philly Eagles and no, they were not the favorite AGAIN as a 3-point underdog. I had heard the Bears were 3-0 against Michael Vick (or is it Mike Vick now?)...well, after a nearly perfect game by the hometown Bears, they are now 4-0 against Vick and even more importantly 8-3 and ALONE at the top of the NFC North as the Packers were losing in Atlanta on a last second field goal.

Do I wish we had a better offensive line? HECK YA! Cutler was sacked 4 times in that first half (none in the second half!) with a couple of them happening without an interior D-lineman getting a finger laid on them by our O-line. But with this newly transformed Mike Martz O, they mix things up enough to keep the defenses way off balance. They had huge play after huge play this afternoon in the Fox game of the day with two first place teams facing off. Cutler has been pretty close to amazing as of late making many, many, many more good decisions than bad since the bye week and is now actually taking advantage of his amazing athletic skills by running for big chunks of yardage when flushed out of the pocket...this instead of forcing the ball into a tight spot for a pick or holding onto the ball for a sack and maybe a fumble. The D and the newly ball secure conscious Jay Cutler along with the new run-oriented (ya, I said it!) offense are the keys to the turn-around.

So in my opinion, EVERYTHING is clicking MUCH better now with this team. Are they world beaters? No, but they don't have to be...they don't have to beat the world; they just have to win the majority of their remaining games to get into the playoffs and see what happens. Certainly teams that have looked worse than these Bears have gone to the playoffs in the past and have done some serious damage when they got there so all you can really do now is continue to learn and get better and try to be peaking come playoff time.

GO BEARS!

First Road Win for Bulls

How about that for a nice start to the Bulls infamous (or should it be notorious?) circus trip? The starters didn't exactly dominate as Rose was the only one that finished on the plus side of the +/- stat. Can I say thank goodness for the bench?!? Kyle Korver, who took a commercial flight well after the rest of the team took off on their charter to get to Houston (if you think YOU don't have enough leg room in the back of a commercial airplane, imagine being 6'7" back there!) led the Bulls with a +23 as he gutted out 26 min with a sore knee. Brewer and Asik were both +16 on the bench as well. Again, CJ Watson continues to struggle but didn't do any damage to the Bulls with a 0 in +/- although he had 2 steals. Joakim had the worst +/- at -18 and again struggled in the second half. I can't find a split on 1st/2nd half, but I believe for the second time in two games, he had about 8 boards in the first half and no more than 2 in the second half. Is he healthy? Doesn't seem like it to me...

Well, how about those 6-3 Bulls without their prized free agent signing as Boozer hasn't set foot on the court in uniform (he looks nice in his suits though) leading their Eastern Conference in scoring?!? And you thought Coach Thibs was a defensive-oriented coach and were worried about the offense...  Don't get me wrong...I've liked the "new" defense as they seem to be able to get stops when needed and their rotating MUCH better than Vinny had them doing last season. But they are still giving up too many points overall and a lot of that has to do with their inability to adequately guard the 3-point line. Anyway, I can't believe the Bulls are leading the conference in scoring and I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened since the "glory days".

Tough test tonight going up against a very veteran savvy Spurs team with a seemingly rejuvenated Richard Jefferson. The Spurs have an NBA-best 8-1 record (tied with New Orleans). Of course, they were off last night while our Bulls were busy battling the Rockets down to the wire.

So where are they now?

Well, if you're like me and you LOVE the Bulls, you're probably feeling pretty good right about now. Of course, that can all change after this ruthless 7-game circus trip that includes 3 back-to-backs and a stretch of 4 games in 5 days all in different cities.

As my son just pointed out, our Bulls are leading the league in blocks, #4 in rebounds without Boozer (actually that Wizards game was the first time they were out-rebounded), #2 in rebound %, #6 in ppg, #4 in field goal %, and #8 in opponent turnovers. Other than that lousy game with the Knicks, they've played pretty well as they're only other losses came on the road against a pretty good OKC team and in OT in Boston. And they were totally in both of those games to the very end and actually could have won that Boston game had the refs blown the whistle on Rondo's reach-in to finish the 4th.

Rose vs. Wall - part 1b...I say 1b because they did face off once in the pre-season too. Well, call it 2-0 in favor of our Derrick Rose. While Wall showed off his athleticism, he just isn't quite the basketball player that Derrick is yet. He's flashy and gets on SportsCenter, but doesn't seem to have the hoops IQ Rose has right now. He seems to have a nice head on his shoulders like Derrick (other than dance thing Wall did on opening night in Washington).

Anyway, we've got Boozer coming back in a few weeks (hopefully) and then about 6 weeks for the team to get acclimated with each other before taking on The Three Am-EGOS. That's the Bulls biggest free agent signing since...ummm...EVER! And he hasn't played yet and the Bulls are 5-3 atop the Central Division. If they can just survive this circus trip with a 3-4 record, they'd still be above .500 when they come back. And if they can just remain at or near .500 until Boozer gets back, that would be KEY.

Don't get me wrong...Taj has been FANTASTIC in Boozer's place, but think about how much stronger the bench will be when Taj is added. If we don't see Kurt Thomas ever again, I'll be happy with that. Actually, maybe he can be out there in Orlando to help protect Rose from Dwight Howard who inflicted some damage on our PG not once, but twice last season. I'd prefer that didn't happen next time around with Orlando. With the surprising emergence of Omer Asik, Thibs will have LOTS of options on that front line depending on match-ups with Noah, Asik, Boozer, Deng, and Taj. Both Taj & Boozer can play some C for a more athletic front court; Deng can move to the 4 when Thibs wants to keep some extra scoring while running a 3 guard lineup. And we've already seen a bit of Noah and Asik on the floor at the same time with a twin towers setup.

As I told my son, I'm remaining "cautiously optimistic"...that's all I can do right at the moment as I've had my heart torn out of my chest by Chicago teams my whole life.

GO BULLS!

How about that team in South Beach?!?

WOW! The supposedly almighty Miami Heat who were supposed to challenge the 1995-96 Bulls record of 72 regular season wins has now lost their 3rd game. They're are just a touch behind the Bulls' pace...NOT! That Bulls team didn't lose their third game until after Christmas leaving them with a 23-3 record to that point. The supposedly unbeatable Heat are now 5-3 or just 1/2 game ahead of spurned Cavs who are 4-3 without LeBron (more on him later).

Tonight's loss happened at home against a seemingly undermanned Jazz team. They blew a 19-point half-time lead and led by as much as 22 points. Paul Millsap, who ironically allowed the Jazz to not resign Boozer, scored a career high 46 points with 33 in the second half including a very Reggie Miller like 11 points in the final 28 seconds to tie it at the regulation buzzer. The Heat allowed 84 points after halftime. That's an incredible number!

First LeBron...while he did finish with a triple double, where the heck was he in the OT? He stood around and watched Dwyane Wade score all 10 of the Heat's points in OT which wasn't quite enough as the Jazz scored 12 and won 116-114. Wade scored a team high 39 on a pretty impressive 12-23 shooting and I say impressive because his running mate in LeBron shot 5-18. Both guys made their living at the line as usual as LeBron was 10-11 and Wade was 12-16. By the way, LeBron who has been mentioned by some as a potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate through 7 games (must be the same guys that voted for Derek Jeter to get the Gold Glove this year - what a joke!) failed to close out on Andrei Kirilenko who hit the "big 3" in OT to give the Jazz the lead they would never relinquish. Oops!

Bosh & Millsap...so who was "guarding" Millsap during his 33-point outburst after halftime? Well, Bosh is supposed to be the South Beach PF which is the same position Millsap plays...hmmmm. I didn't see the whole game, but I watched some of the first half and then the entire OT. I think Bosh had 6-7 boards early in the first half...well, he finished with 9. Big 3, huh? He did exceed his pathetic season averages with 17 (14.4) and 9 (5.4), but didn't do much in crunch time either except one nice block in OT.

Heat depth...for a game that went into OT, the bench really didn't do much scoring only 24 points (only 4 guys) while the Jazz had 7 bench players combine for 28. With no real center on the team and with Bosh's lack of D inside, the Jazz outscored the Heat 58-38 in the paint...combine that with being outscored 24-18 from the arc too. LeBron tied Deron Williams of the Jazz with a game high 14 assists, but the next highest assist total on the Heat was Wade's 3...not exactly great ball movement.

Lastly and most importantly for us Bulls' fans...the Heat have now lost 3 games and I mentioned this yesterday...the first two losses were to teams with dynamic point guards...well, chalk up #3 as the Jazz are led by the very dynamic Deron Williams. January 15th...put it on your calendar if it isn't already on there...Heat @ Bulls!

It is still WAY early and you don't win (or lose) an NBA title in November, but for the MANY, MANY fans out there hating on the Heat for the way The Three Am-EGOS handled their free agency, you must all be LOVING this...I know I am. My hope is that the team just implodes with so many egos over there including Pat Riley who undoubtedly will be coming down to the bench if they continue to lose games like this...I mean they blew a 19-point halftime lead...AT HOME!

Other NBA Notes
Did you see the Indy game against the Nuggets? The Pacers shot 20-21 from the field in the quarter including 8 3s. The only miss came with under 10 seconds left in the quarter by rookie McRoberts on a long 3 at the end of the shot clock. They had a 10-point lead at halftime and scored 54 in the 3rd quarter which extended their lead to 37 at that point. They won 144-113...yikes! Tough trip through the Midwest for Carmelo after a tough 2-point loss to the Bulls last night.

DA BULLS!

Did any of you see the Bulls game tonight?  Big W!  Especially considering their pending departure on their stupid annual circus road trip following two more home games that they seemingly must win (Golden State and Washington are next up).

Anyway, the Bulls and Nuggets went back and forth throughout the game and the Bulls iced it with Deng going 1-for-2 (missed 3 of his 4 FTs down the stretch!) with one second left.  He hit the second of two and Coach Karl called a timeout, brought the ball to the timeline and called a play to throw in an in-bounds pass for a wide open layup at the buzzer to close the game out 94-92.  Guess what the spread was…3 of course!  The Bulls were up 4 (i.e. covering) and then gave up a non-contested layup to win by 2 (i.e. NOT covering).  Interesting…not at all surprising (I actually thought immediately about the spread as soon as that layup happened).

If you watched the game, what do you think of the supposedly proposed Noah for Anthony deal now?  Anthony scored 32, but Noah was a total beast going for 13 points, 19 boards and 4 HUGE blocks.  Gibson had 16, 6 and 5 blocks!  I think the Nuggets’ price is going to come down as the season goes on…they saw what the Raptors and Cavs got for prized free agents (i.e. absolutely NADA) and their new management can’t end up with nothing…AND Carmelo MUST sign his extension BEFORE July 1st which is when the current CBA expires and the expected contract limits will be about ½ what they are today…i.e. Melo will be getting about half that $65 million the Nuggets are offering so he’ll be expanding his team demands beyond NY.  If the Bulls can turn Luol into an expiring deal (needed to equalize the dollars), I think they can get the deal done with Taj, JJ, Omer, and a couple first rounders including the one from Charlotte which should be a pretty decent pick…that’s a HELL of a lot more than Cleveland and Toronto got for LeBron and Bosh.  Obviously, I’m trying to throw logic into an NBA situation which NEVER seems to actually happen, but we’re due to sneak in something like this (remember how the Lakers stole Gasol, why can’t we do the same with Carmelo). 

   1. Rose

   2. Brewer (he’s been getting better and better which I think means healthier and healthier)

   3. Carmelo

   4. Boozer

   5. Noah

   6. Bogans

   7. Korver

   8. Watson (NOT a big fan…reminds me of Pargo)

   9. Scalabrine (he’s growing on me)

  10. There will be some extra guys coming back with Carmelo, plus they could get John Lucas III and Kyle Weaver to fill out the rest of the roster, but WHO CARES with those starters and top 2 coming off the bench?

With tonight's win, the Bulls moved into a tie atop the Central division with the LeBron-spurned Cleveland Cavs. Scott Skiles' division favorite by many Milwaukee Bucks are off to a slow start at 2-5. This is nothing new to Skiles who once led the Bulls to a 47-35 record and 2nd place in the Central after an 0-9 start in 2004-05 so don't count them out as the Bulls top competition this year within the Central.

South Beach Update

By the way, for you guys scoring at home, the 1995-96 Bulls didn’t lose their 2nd game until game 12 to go 10-2; the Heat lost their 2nd in game 6 to go 4-2.  They are now in 3rd place in their division at 5-2.  To beat that Bulls record and go 73-9 which some predicted, they just need to go 68-7 which is a .907 winning percentage. They have played two teams so far with dynamic point guards - Rondo's Celtics and Paul's Hornets...guess what - lost BOTH. Gee, do you know any other teams around here with dynamic point guards? January 15th at the UC baby!

LeBron leads the NBA in turnovers with 33 and Wade isn’t too far behind him with 25.  Bosh is averaging 14 ppg and 5 rpg…not exactly All-Star numbers and identical to Michael Beasley’s numbers…Taj Gibson is averaging 15 ppg and 6 rpg for the Bulls.  How much longer will Bosh be smiling as he completely disappears into the background?  Big 3?!?  HA!  It will be tough to make the All-Star Game with those lousy numbers.

Is the Old Big Z Back?

I know the Bears just won a HUGE game against their arch rival in a game they were a 3-point underdog even though they were 2-0 just like the Packers AND playing at home…HUGE! And obviously the Cubs are WAY done, but I left ESPN on after the game and Baseball Tonight came on. They threw a stat up there about Zambrano that shocked me.  With tonight’s 1-0 win over the Padres, that was Z’s 10^th straight start giving up 2 runs or less in at least 5 innings.  That’s a Cubs record for the “live ball era” (i.e. since 1920).  So here are his stats over this last 10-game period:

    10 GS       7-0*          64 IP      41 hits    9 ER     1.27 ERA

    *The Cubs blew all three of his no-decisions

Those are some pretty sick numbers…as much as most everyone believes the Cubs REALLY blew it with their #1 starter entering the season by demoting him to the pen so early in the season (after only 4 starts!) and then suspending him for over a month while sending him to anger management classes, it is even harder to argue with the results.  Of course, there is definitely a “no pressure” factor in play here as the Cubs have been out of it for a LONG time so there really isn’t a lot of pressure right now, but I’m not sure I buy that completely. I think he puts an awful lot of pressure on himself and while that's not completely the same as playoff type pressure, it is still at least some pressure.

My question is - do the Cubs really know how much they need this guy? Did they have a premonition this season was going to end up in the dumpster and did this to get Z back to being the Z they signed to that $90 million contract a couple years ago? Nah....I don't believe that. I still think they TOTALLY screwed that up this year and have gotten VERY lucky with how it has turned out.

That's it for now...tick tock...another year of "Wait 'til Next Year" is about to wind down this weekend...next up is the pending manager signing screw up.

DA BEARS!!!