alexei

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCulf-6l71o&eurl


mj photos from the tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/cs-michael-jordan-chicago-bulls-archive-photos,0,7890901.photogallery

new rankings + bear

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking?season=2009&week=-1&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

bull are ranked #17.
i think the celtics should be 2 and the lakers #1. bynum and ariza are huge additions and the celtics lost posey


cannot believe the bear are 2-2, and the 2 wins have come against indy and philly. we could easily be 4-0 (or 0-4). at least we will hang around the top of the division for a while (already thru 25% of the schedule and tied for first!


risk v. reward -

devin hester is awesome, and awesomely stupid. how he can pick up a rolling punt and return it for -8 yards and then return the next kickoff past midfield baffles me.
he is also terrible as a wr and one of our best options ...
how did he drop that deep slant (that hit him in the hands) and then catch that td??

jason williams retires

not sure why he signed with the clippers a couple months ago? sad to see him go ...
pretty sick

bg & lil wayne

from hoopsworld ...

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=10052


In an ongoing story that's yielded nothing but the same news the last several weeks, we've finally got a little tidbit of something new—a source close to the Bulls has indicated that Ben Gordon is still unsigned not because the Bulls haven't given him a fair offer, and not because his agent has blown the negotiation process for him; it's because Gordon's ego might be getting in the way of his financial stability.


lil wayne is blogging for espn the mag ...
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3607474

good stuff on refs

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-34-107/Notes-from-a-Day-with-NBA-Referees.html

bears & derrick rose

from tmq on espn:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/080923&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1


Single-Worst Sequence of the Season -- So Far: Chicago had led 24-14 at home with 6:38 remaining, and managed to lose in overtime. When City of Tampa took over on its own 7 in overtime, Bears defenders repeatedly casually jogged toward the ball carrier, rather than going all-out to pin the Bucs deep and force a punt. As Tampa relentlessly moved down the turf for its winning points, play after play, many Chicago defenders only jogged toward the ball, especially on the 36-yard pass to Antonio Bryant that set up the visitors' victory. Sure the Bears were tired: Tampa players were tired, too. NFL players receive serious money in part to do offseason conditioning. In consecutive weeks, the Chicago defense couldn't hold 14-point leads, and both times, appeared to be dogging it. When the Tampa offense went hurry-up in the fourth quarter, Chicago's defense seemed to lack the conditioning needed to respond. Bears defense, you are guilty of the single-worst sequence of the season -- so far.





from david thorpe at espn
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=thorpe_david&page=RookieWatch-080919


Rose's most glaring weakness in both the NCAA Finals and his brief stint in summer league was his inability to exploit ball screens set for him. They are not typically found in the dribble-drive motion offense that he ran for Memphis, so it's not surprising that he was easy to defend in July. Studying the options he has as a ball handler and practicing them each day should get him up to speed quickly.

josh howard

i was attempting to avoid writing about this ... but here we go

i've heard it said that the nba is a thug league that has lost touch with reality. you can label all the stereotypes you want based on a bunch of tattoos and identity problems. my thought (as i once read somewhere) is that the major problem with the league is the "finish line"

for older players (best example: mj), signing a huge multi-million dollar deal was not the "finish line" or goal of their career. i'm sure making some mad coin was a goal, but it was not the ultimate end. for all these younger guys (who all seem to have the same story of growing up poor, getting out of rough situatiions) things are different. they do not have the same "athletic" goals (read: desire to be champions). instead, they grow up using sports to overcome the rough situation/neighborhood, so the "finish line" (or ultimate goal) is a multi-million dollar contract.

they reach that "pinnacle" and have nothing left to aim for, so they are a direction-less millionaire with a lot fo free time and a lot of money to waste.

i'm sure these broad generalizations don't apply to everyone ... but look at the recent nba news: josh howard, the drug incident at transition. these guys seem to lack a sense of direction. imagine if you were given multiple millions right after college (or after a year of college) ...






here's why i'm glad we won the draft last year: this upcoming draft looks weak! but we would prolly take rubio (so we would have ended up with a stud pg anyway)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=DraftWatch-080922&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos1

glad we picked rose!

was beasley's involvement even mentioned when the report first came out?

they talked about the 2 kansas kids, but i didn't see anything about the k-state problem child. and now he gets the biggest fine of the 3??

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3596442

busy with stupid law school

but couldn't resist this post ...

http://www.docksquadsports.com/2008/09/lebron-james-song.html

(posted on truehoop on espn)

random

red line world series?

i am hoping for an ozzie rant sometime very soon to get the streaky sox back on track. despite the poor play, the white sox are holding on to a first palce tie (with the also terrible twins). the problem is that both are falling behind the red sox on the wild card race ... so we need to start winning to pull away from the twins.

as to the minor league half of the red line series ...
are the cubs done now that zambrano is hurt? they have a big enough lead, but prolly can't go anywhere in the playoffs without their ace.




random basketball

i hate that people (ie john hollinger) think that mario chalmers is good. if he never made that shot, he prolly would have been a very late second round pick and maybe not even make a roster.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=22179

Joe (Stanford): John, who is your second round rookie of the year this year (aka the Paul Millsap award).

John Hollinger: Gotta be Chalmers. I had him rated in my top 12 and was surprised he fell so far, plus he might be an opening-day starter.


looks a lot less likely now ...
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3567481





luol deng dropped 30 v israel
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-34-21/Luol-Deng-Plays-for-Great-Britain.html