The Bulls

I did not see the game last night because it was not televised here in the Hawkeye state but from what I've read I didn't miss much. From Jim Boylan's comments it sounds like this team has quit on him too. I think that Boylan needs to go; no more experiments. Next Wallace need to make way for Noah; he needs to move into the starting lineup along with Sefolosha permantly as well. There have been a lot of trade scenarios that have been floated one name that has not come up is Andrei Kirilenko. He has not rescinded his trade demand and we could possibly send Wallace or Noce and Tyrus along with a pick or cash. Anything to change the makeup of this team. This off season resign Deng and if Gordon wants to sign the qualifying offer and become a free agent the next off season God bless see you around. I think a line up of Hinrich, Thabo, Deng, AK47 and Noah would be a good fit. A guess we will see if Paxson pulls the trigger on this or any trade to try and shake up this team.

This week in politics

Well McCain won Florida and Rudy checked out of the race a while back I predicted a Rudy and Huckabee ticket. I guess I was wrong. On the Democratic side John Edwards has left the race as well. He had been campaigning for the past four years and turned his sites on poverty as his main issue. Now he can go back to his huge North Carolina mansion and think about it full time

A realistic trade scenario for the Bulls

Matt from Blog a Bull (http://www.blogabull.com/) has a created a trade scenario that makes sense for the three teams involved, the Nets, Lakers and Bulls. Basically the Bulls receive Lamar Odom and Darrell Armstrong from the Lakers and Bostjan Nachbar from the Nets while giving up Chris Duhon, Joe Smith and Andres Nocioni. While I am not sure how I feel about giving up Nocioni but I think Odom would be a bigger addition and getting rid of Noce and Smith frees up minutes for Noah and Tyrus Thomas. If you want to see all the details of the trade follow the link.

Some people should not be allowed to speak in public part 2

Last night we were at my daughters basketball game in small town Iowa. My wife, younger daughter and myself are sitting among the crowd when I hear this man behind me bragging about how he went to the barber and asked him to start trimming the sides of his hair for his mullet preparation. I immediately turned around because I thought he was joking but lo and behold he had had this done. He and his wife both beamed proudly to their "friends" I am not sure friends let friends get mullets. I almost asked if he made an appointment at the urologist to be neutered because he should not be allowed to reproduce further. Then my thoughts turned to having the barbers license revoked for agreeing to do this but I decided to let this pass. It just goes to show that in hearts of many the mullet still rules

Super Bowl XLII thoughts

I won't actually be going to the Super Bowl but nonetheless I do have some thoughts on it. Much has been made of Tom Brady being seen in the walking boot and how this may derail the perfect season they've had thus far. I think that Brady is the least of their concern their linebacker core is not made up of spring chickens anymore. And second they should have probably lost at a minimum the Ravens game and to the Giants in week seventeen. There are probably more that I did not see but when the going got tough the referees started throwing flags. At times I thought the NFL was trying to help the Patriots stay perfect.

This brings me to the Giants. The Manning family gets plenty of grief here in bloggerdom and I had spent some time thinking this weekend that maybe Eli is the better of the two. He is in his fourth season and Peyton was in his ninth; I believe; before he made it to the Super Bowl. I noticed a couple of times during the season when Eli seemed to take the bull by the horns and deliver when his team needed him the most. During the Bears game he led them down field in the fourth quarter. He certainly didn't lose the Patriots game and then in OT against the Packers when he led them into field goal range a third time before his kicker sealed the deal. I am smelling an upset here.

I finally saw Superbad

I had been dying to see the movie and I finally had the opportunity on Monday. I work at a government agency and we had MLK day off so it was perfect timing. The wife and kids were at work and school so I went to the Red Box and rented this cinematic masterpiece. I have not laughed so hard in years. I can remember my first fake id like it was yesterday. Like Fogel mine stated I was not 21 because everyone who had a fake college ID theirs said they were 21. So I opted for 23. It was the worst Indiana University ID ever my friend from ROTC worked in student services and forged them for us. This same person went on to serve at Arlington National Cemetery as part of the honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. But I digress; so to see how foolish I probably looked trying to pass a fake was funny. To say I enjoyed it is an understatement.

This week in politics

This week we saw two candidates drop out of the presidential race. One of them; Fred Thompson; I don't think was ever in it and Dennis Kucinich who had no chance whatsoever. The problem with Fred was that there was so much build up to him entering the race and then he joins the race and does absolutely nothing. I believe part of the problem was people expected him to be like his on screen persona and he was nothing like that. People tried to build him up as the next Ronald Reagan and he failed to deliver on that as well.

The Florida primary is coming up as well as the South Carolina Democratic primary. The Florida primary is being billed as the one will determine a frontrunner in both parties leadning into Super Tuesday. Rudy has placed all of his eggs in this basket if he is to remain a viable candidate he will have to win in Florida.

Heath Ledger 1979-2008

Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in his New York apartment. My personal favorite Ledger film was the Patriot with Mel Gibson. When I heard the news today I was driving home from work and I began to wonder if people would put him in the category of "gone too soon" much like River Phoenix was after his premature death. Time will tell.

Eli's coming out party

I was a little surprised by the outcome of this game. I was speaking with a classmate last Thursday and I mentioned that if the Giants won it would be because of their defense and not because of Eli he agreed. I think I may have been wrong Eli seemed to make plays when his team need him to and Brett Favre didn't. Last year Peyton proved he could play in the big game and I think that Eli proved he could as well. I thought he would melt after the Favre interception but he drove then into field goal range during overtime and sealed the deal. I know going into the Super Bowl they will be underdogs however I think their defeat to New England in week 17 will be motivation to come out swinging

The Bulls

If the Bulls only had to play the Pistons and Miami Heat they would be great. Last nights victory reminded me of the Bulls of last year they played hard and they played with passion. They had their lapses but they battled thru them. I think part of the difference has been the play of Thabo Sefolosha. In the loss to Golden State he had nine points and eight rebounds and in last nights victory he twelve points and thirteen rebounds. When he was matched up against Billups or Hamilton his length caused problems for them. The question I have is once Hinrich comes back will Boylan revert to Duhon in the starting line up or is this Sefolosha's chance to play the role he was drafted for? Time will tell but I liked what I saw

Somethings leave me speechless

A few weeks ago my oldest daughter was watching CMT and she saw a preview for their new show entitled "My Big Redneck Wedding" she looks at me with that smart ass grin she gets and says "classy we need to watch that". Well last night we saw an episode and I could not believe what I saw. These people should not be allowed to reproduce let live among civilized society. I am not sure what struck me as the weirdest; the minister who was ordained in state prison or riding their horses to the liquor store or his wedding gift of the Wrangler jeans tattoo on his ass but nonetheless this show was like an automobile accident no matter how bad it was I couldn't look away.

Mike Huckabee is a stooge

I noticed this morning on the Drudge Report there is a post from the Washington Times that says Mike Huckabee has signed a promise to deport all illegal immigrants. This pledge was signed at North Greenville University; which is a Christian college in South Carolina. Mr. Huckabee is turning his back on some of the same people he helped during his tenure as Governor of Arkansas. It is obvious that he is just pandering to the far right wing of the party to cover up his record as governor. I am not sure how Mike and his friends at Numbers USA; an anti-immigration website; plan to do this? The government? The only people I've seen who are successful in finding immigrants are restaurant owners and lawn service company owners unless you plan to deputize them Mike you maybe unsuccessful.

Congratulation Mitt! Romney wins Michigan

I have to admit when Mitt came on the scene I kind of liked him. Some of his positions on social issues were similar to mine and I liked his record in business and thought to myself this is someone I could vote for. However what I didn't care for was his shift to try to become the poster boy for the social conservatives. I didn't and still don't care that he is Mormon; I have a lot of friends who are Mormon and they are all decent and hard working people. I know that sounds a lot like what people say when they are confronted with charges of racism but it is true. When my wife was in graduate school a number of her classmates were from the Church of LDS and talked to me about their beliefs and misconceptions about their beliefs. Anyway I've felt for a long time that we need someone fresh with fresh ideas and a record of success in something other than politics. The social conservatives will have you believe that gay marriage and Mexican immigration are the greatest threat to us as a country. If that is what you believe I want to live in your world. We have American businesses that are being rescued by overseas investors, the sub prime mortgage situation, a hostile Russia and emergence of China as a superpower, the Iraq mess that our current administration has us in when we should be concentrating on Afghanistan and Pakistan I could go on. When there is a true lack of leadership in this country we need someone to emerge who appeals to all Americans not the fringes and crackpots. Can Mitt be this man? Can Obama be that man? Time will tell, all I know is I am tired of the lack of leadership in this country; I want someone to stand up take the reins and lead not give me more tired rhetoric.

Good luck Brett

I am not one of these Bears fans that hate the Packers because I am a Bears fan. I like Brett Favre because of what he has accomplished and the way he plays the game; he plays with a youthful enthusiasm that is rarely seen in professional sports these days. Can he be self-serving? Probably but I am just in awe of how he goes out there week after week to compete. I would love to see him and the Packers dispense of the other Manning brother and the Giants to reach the Super Bowl. There they will probably be destroyed by the Patriots. But none the less good luck Brett

I am unfurling the white flag

It is not flying yet but I am getting it ready to go to the dry cleaners. Man this is horrible. You have a team meeting called by Wallace, who does not play hard and Adrian Griffin; who never sees the floor. I am not saying that what Noah did was right but come on who is running this damn team? They are not playing hard, losing to bad teams and make the Knicks look functional. The tail is wagging the dog. You need to break this crap up. Noah needs to play, Thomas needs to play, Thabo needs to get on the court and we need to see our "core" of Hinrich, Gordon and Deng stand up. All we've heard is they are "untouchable" and our "core" well stand up and say something! Show something! If we had just pulled the trigger on the Garnett trade we could very well be leading the Eastern Conference but no. We are in the basement and lottery bound, we deserve better than this

More random Bulls thoughts

In todays Chicago Sun Times columnist Jay Mariotti's column about the Bulls sums up their situation. They need a coach and a superstar. He mentions Jeff Van Gundy who I think would be a great coach and has finals and playoff experience so he will not be out coached in the fourth quarter of games. And the rumor has it Pax has talked with Houston about Tracy McGrady. According to ESPN trade machine McGrady makes $18,257,750 a year the package would have to include Wallace and Duhon or someone like Thabo, Gordon and Noah and maybe even a pick. Or it could possibly be Hinrich and Noce however I doubt this scenario gives the Rockets enough to bite. The only issue I have with McGrady is health he has been called "half man, half a season". If we dealt Wallace that would open the floor for the development of Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah who I believe are the future. This may allow us to move Deng to the shooting guard position and play McGrady at small forward with Noah and Thomas splitting time at the four and move Joe Smith to center. Then Gordon comes off the bench for Hinrich and Thabo for Deng. However this probably will not come to pass even though the Rockets are playing better without McGrady. Toronto is also looking to trade for a point guard due to the injury of TJ Ford however I think this is unlikely because one they are in our division and in the playoff hunt and two the only thing on their roster that would be of interest to the Bulls is Chris Bosh and that is a pipe dream.

New Hampshire Primary

My friend GB4 had a post on his website (http://www.bigheadhiphop.com/) from a blogger named Jay Smooth about Obama's win in Iowa. Now I live in Iowa but I did not caucus. Anyway Jay Smooth goes on to say in this video post that people are not honest with themselves when they say that they are ready to vote for a Black man to be president and they fall back into their comfort zone. I believe that is what happened in New Hampshire the last few days people told the pollsters they were going to vote for Obama and when they got into the voting booths they fell back into their comfort zones. I am tired of the imperial presidency we had four years of G.H.W. Bush then eight years of Bill Clinton followed by eight more of G.W. Bush. Do we want four to eight more of another Clinton? Do we remember the scandals of the Clinton years? I tend to be more conservative and in 1992 I voted for Clinton because I felt he had a message of change and I was excited. I am feeling that way about Obama too because I think he would bring a new voice to politics however I am afraid we are not ready as a nation to bring about this change and it would be a shame because we deserve better. You can see Jay Smooth's video on his blog http://www.illdoctrine.com/ .

Random thoughts on the Bulls

I am not surprised by the recent spark they are playing with since the dismissal of Scott Skiles it was to be expected. I am wondering if Jim Boylan will keep the job after this season and if not who are they going to bring in? The unemployed; Rick Carlisle, Jeff Van Gundy and Doug Collins are Skiles like, Hubie Brown is old so who else is there?

Second thought I want to see more of Tyrus Thomas, Noah and Thabo. I think that Thabo will work his way into the two guard position to help take the pressure off of Hinrich guarding taller two guards and will also make up defensively for Gordon when he is on the court with him. Tyrus I think will eventually be the starting power forward he is the most athletic player on a team that lacks athletes. I also think that in the end we will be the winners of the draft day trade. And finally Noah he is growing on me but I think eventually he maybe included in a trade for a post presence which leads me to my last thought...

Trades. I have been playing around on ESPN Trade Machine and I am finding two problems. First off the machine rejects a lot of them due to salary issues; although I was able to get a Noce, Noah and Duhon for Pau Gasol to work. But after looking further at other teams rosters I don't see a whole lot out there to help us; other than problems and bad salaries for cap space. If a team has a young big man who shows any talent whatsoever they are not letting them go for our poo poo platter.

Bulls lose in double OT

I was on Blog a Bull ( http://www.blogabull.com/) last night before the game and I mentioned I had a bad feeling about this game and someone replied way to think positive. I believe that was a valid reply since it is a site by a Bulls fan for Bulls fans. But the Blazers had won 14 out of the last 15 so I was a little pessimistic. At one point the Bulls were up by fourteen points and I thought that they had this one. Boy was I wrong Kirk went cold, Deng was sidelined by Achilles stiffness, Noce could not buy a bucket and we had no answers for Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Jared Jack, and Travis Outlaw. I could not believe my eyes we were being beat by Jack and Outlaw I live with getting beat by Roy and Aldridge but man alive we had no answers whatsoever. Aldridge would go to the perimeter and forced Wallace to come out and guard him basically taking away his help defense inside and either dump inside forcing Wallace to shift down to help out or hit an open jumper. Roy just torched Hinrich all night I can't believe we passed on him. I believe in that draft a big man was the mandate and we had Aldridge but traded him for Tyrus Thomas who I believe would develop if he ever sees the floor. On the bright side Ben Gordon continues to light it up, he scored 32 last night followed by Joe Smith with 31. The biggest disappointment for me is the blown fourteen point lead this team has no killer instinct. If you look at the Lakers, Celtics and Pistons in the 80's and the Bulls dynasty of the 90's they had that instinct when they had you down it was over. However those teams had Magic, Kareem, Isiah, Dumars, Bird, McHale, Michael and Scottie and no one on this current roster is in that rarefied air.

Iowa Caucuses

I am glad that they are over. For months I've been pestered incessantly by the various politicians to vote for them. If thy had just left me alone I might have actually caucused however the Bulls were on TNT last night and I thought to myself which was more important? The Bulls won that contest. I think that the caucus is overblown and in reality Mike Huckabee, the Republican winner, has no chance whatsoever of winning the nomination let alone the presidency. I like Huckabee but I would not vote for him, Obama on the other hand I think has a better chance to be the Democratic nominee. If he can carry over some momentum going into New Hampshire and then into Super Tuesday he has a very real chance of defeating Hillary. On the Republican side I am not so sure. I had predicted a Giuliani/Huckabee ticket and I think that in the long run Rudy will pull it out. There are too many question marks among the other candidates Thompson will be out after next Tuesday and may not even be awake, Paul is a nut case, Romney is a Republican John Kerry, and Huckabee would just get shredded in the general election. If Huckabee somehow does pull this off Obama or Hillary; one of these two will win the Democratic nod, may as well start looking at new drapes for the Oval Office. This leaves McCain and Rudy. If it is McCain I get the feeling it will be Dole 96 all over again, the I've been around forever you owe this to me campaign. Rudy may not be perfect but I believe he is the Republicans best choice.

2007 A year of Chicago Sports disappointment

It all started with the Bears loss to Indianapolis in the Super Bowl from there we went to the NBA playoffs. Which in retrospect I was pleased with the sweep of Miami and for a fleeting moment thought we may beat the Pistons but it was not to be. Then came baseball season and it was bad. The Sox stunk and then we get beat out for every free agent in the world even Aaron Rowand would not come beck to the South Side. Then to top it off when Detroit trades for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis Kenny Williams says "Detroit is in a better position to compete with us". Kenny you will always have a special place with me because we will always have 2005 but the clock is ticking. Everyone in our division has gotten better and all you have done is traded a great starter, Garland for a shortstop who is at the age where their skills start to diminish. This brings me to the Cubs. Jim Hendry says Fukodome is the missing piece to the puzzle. What? You have a starting rotation that has one stud Zambrano, a good pitcher in Lilly and three question marks. I predicted that they would be swept in the playoffs and I was right Jimmy I think you may need to rethink that. Then football season began and we expected the Bears to be back at it but we fell to the curse of the Super Bowl losers. We trade Thomas Jones and find out that Cedric Benson could not produce we knew Grossman could not produce, the defense gets banged up and our offensive line needs to be fitted for walkers. Now we have basketball season again and the Bulls who some have predicted to win the Eastern Conference are not playing up to expectations. They are only two games back from the eigth seed but I think we expected better than this. The players get Skiles fired and they get the predicted shot in the arm that comes with a new coach but they need to turn it around now if they want to get into the playoffs. Anyway I am depressing myself so I will end it here.