Dye, Thome made available by the Sox for waiver claims

Chicago White Sox put Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome on market - ESPN.com

This comes as no great shock to me, but after the White Sox have effectively shot any chance of making the postseason on the current road trip, they have made Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, and Scott Linebrink available for a waiver claim. Teams need to pick them up by Monday at midnight for them to be eligible for postseason play with their new teams, so it's not an inevitability that any deals will be brokered (especially for Linebrink and his gawdy contract).

It will be sad to see Dye and Thome go. Thome is a standup guy and future HOFer, if he continues to play it would have been nice to see him reach the 600 HR plateau on the South Side. And JD is the 2005 World Series MVP who has been a rock in the middle of the Sox lineup ever since we picked him up. They will be missed.

If any deals are made for young prospects, it will set the White Sox up for a new look in 2010 and beyond. A likely younger, faster lineup will be a fresh change of pace on the South Side...Konerko would seemingly be the only old, slow veteran left in the lineup.

The Michael Jordan Collection, Part 1

Last week I posted The MJ Challenge -

Think you have a big collection of MJ memorabilia/collectibles?

I feel confident saying that (assuming you're just an amateur collector like me) I have more MJ memorabilia than you. I've told plenty of people about my collection, but no one has ever really seen all of it.

In response to articles like this (claiming that the MJ shrine is a corporate sham), I want to post a completely non-corporate tribute to the NBA's G.O.A.T.

I'll start with an extensive post of my collection, and then feel free to send in pics of any cool MJ collectibles that you have, and I will post them on the blog.

And here is The Michael Jordan Collection, Part 1 ...
I started with all of the random / odd things that I had collected over the years. I then get into newspapers and magazines.
"The Michael Jordan Collection, Part 2" will be posted next week, featuring: the actual collectibles and limited-edition memorabilia, then finish things off with the MJ cards, easily my favorite part of my collection. Enjoy!




My first Jordan t-shirt, "Why drive? ..." -

 

Some Bulls Championship t-shirts -

 

 

Couple MJ shirts -

 

And the greatest coat of all-time. I think I wore this everyday from 1991-1998, and might start wearing it again -

 

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And now some really random things:

Books -

 

 

More books and a menu from Michael Jordan's Restaurant -

 

Boxed set of "For the Love of the Game" -

 

Space Jam figures -

 

Collector's Edition Big League Chew and a random picture -

 

Couple calendars and the only pair of Jordan's I ever owned (the 1992 Olympic edition) -

 

VHS collection of the Bulls first 3-Peat -

 

Another MJ VHS and some MJ pogs -

 

Bulls Dynasty 1990s DVD and 20th Anniversary edition Ultimate Jordan DVD -

 

Life-sized MJ cutout -

 

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Old school Champion jerseys in all 3 colors -

 

20th Anniversary authentic Nike throwback -

 

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The newspapers (I tried to take a random sampling because I did not have time to take pics of all the old newspapers I saved):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Some random MJ magazines -

 

 

Sports Illustrated:

 

 

 

 

SI and ESPN Career Tribute -

 

Wheaties boxes -

 

The greatest cereal box ever made -

 

 

Click here for "The Michael Jordan Collection Part 2".

Derrick Rose

from SLAM -

Look out, ‘Bron, Kob, and CP-3. D-Rose wants that top ranking in the L: “What are the expectations you’ve put on yourself for the 2009-10 season? DR: To be the best player in the league at my position, and hopefully be the best player in the NBA. There’s no point of playing basketball if you don’t want to be the best — or doing anything if you don’t want to be the best. So that’s my goal for next season.”

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Here's the MJ HOF link. Required reading daily as far as BBS is concerned.













Not technically BBS related (and I hate linking to Perez Hilton), but had to get this info out there -

A big sigh of relief can be had by all Arrested Development fans - the movie is on!

At a roundtable interview for his new movie, Extract, Jason Bateman gave away some deets about the status of the film verision of Arrested Development.

What is the state of “Arrested Development”?

Jason Bateman: The script’s being written and when Mitch (Hurwitz) is done with it we can go to the scheduling part of it which will probably prove to be a bit challenging given the size of the cast.

And they’re all attached?

Jason: He is asked us not to speak about specifics, but that he’s working on it.

It seems like 5 or 6 months there was a lot of momentum. A lot of people talking about the film. And then it seemed like it sort of got a little bit quiet. Everyone’s a little nervous it’s actually happening. Is it, in fact, actually being written right now?

Jason: Yes.

That’s 100%?

Jason: Yeah. Yeah. That’s never changed. I mean people have guessed and “rumored” and all that other stuff in all areas of the media. I’ve always been a little sort of…I’ve always felt bad that I never had more information to give people when they asked me about it, but I guess people kind of got frustrated by that and they just started kind of making up their own sort of “well, we haven’t heard that much” or “news hasn’t changed so it must be going away”. I don’t know. It sort of took a life of its own on and fatigue started to set in I think about the whole story of it. I mean, there’s really no need to write anything about it at all until he’s done writing it. Once he writes it then, just like any movie, then it becomes something a little bit more real and then you try to figure out scheduling and you try to figure out people’s deals. I mean, it’s got the same life that any other project would have. It has just as much a chance of happening as it does of not happening really.

Quick Links

Truehoop Thursday Bullets -

Jannero Pargo is back in the NBA. Here's what you can expect, Bulls fans. To me his greatest play to date was his reaction to being assaulted by a frustrated Jason Kidd. The Hornets had the game in hand. Pargo went down really hard, but broke his fall, did some kind of dive roll and literally came up clapping. No way his spirit was broken, and he wasn't about to let Kidd keep him from a great moment of Hornets basketball. The Hornets, of course, won the game and the series.

Jordan Tribute available from SLAM.

Luol Deng in Oak Lawn -

Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng will sign autographs and accept a donation on behalf of his charity this Saturday at the grand opening of Boost Mobile's retail store, 6764 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn.

The event begins at noon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by a presentation of a $5,000 check to the Luol Deng Foundation.

Deng's charity has supported causes such as youth basketball camps and toy drives for the Chicago Housing Authority, Boost said.

Deng will be available from 12:30 to 1 p.m. to meet with fans and sign autographs.

For more information about the Boost store, call (708) 599-6400.

D-Rose and MJ

Top5 PGs -

Honorable Mentions

Derrick Rose - Chicago Bulls: Leaving Rose out of the top five was difficult. From a strictly physical talent and skill-set perspective, Rose is off the charts. D-Rose possesses other-worldly athleticism. His quickness is blinding; he can jump through the roof; and he is also a terrific passer who constantly makes plays. He is not a great shooter, but his jumper has improved, and can score from anywhere due to his slashing ability. But, at just 20 years old, he currently lacks the intangibles and leadership skills of veterans like Nash and Billups. There is very little doubt in my mind that Rose will quickly crack the upper-echelon of players at his position, and in the NBA in general; but he is still a pup matching up against wily old bulldogs.

Cannot believe D-Rose is only an honorable mention?!





Love this post - The 1990s: Decade of the Centers, mostly because it's ridiculous to call it anything other than "The Decade of Jordan" after he lead the Bulls to 6 titles while only playing in 6.5 seasons. I don't care how many great centers happened to play during the 1990s, the only reason any of them (read: Hakeem) got a ring was because MJ 'retired'.

"Be Like Mike"

Gatorade Commercial -

Downloads: Views: 543792

D-Rose and TT

Memphis penalty too harsh? Dick Vitale thinks so -

I've had a chance to reflect on the penalties doled out to the University of Memphis basketball program.

A big part of the punishment came over Derrick Rose having someone take the SAT in his place.

I have a big problem with this whole situation.

Here is a simple question: Which Division I coach would keep Rose out of the lineup after the NCAA declared him eligible to play? There is an NCAA clearinghouse that determines player eligibility and they told Memphis that Rose could play.

I don't believe there is a coach in America who wouldn't play him after the clearinghouse declared him eligible.

Why shouldn't they play the No. 1 point guard when the governing body, on two occasions, declared him eligible.

Most influential in basketball -

40 - Derrick Rose, Player, Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose will enter the NBA season with a new distinction as one of the top four pitchmen in the league. Rose's everyday persona, demeanor and life-like size have made him an instant hit in the shoe world and his success as a rookie on the court is fueling an up swell that could turn Rose into one of the more marketed NBA players this season. adidas is responding with a lot of support behind Rose and in Chicago's urban-centric market Rose has been a hit. If he can help power the Bulls into serious playoff consideration his stock and influence could be on the rise.

D-Rose and TT in top10 blocks -


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And here's a link that should be clicked pretty much daily ...
BULLS.com has an MJ HOF series going on for the next few weeks.

Not so SuperCool, Beas ...

First, I want to wish Michael Beasley they best of luck with his rehab, and moving on with his life and career.

Second, I cannot help but think of the ramifications on the (at one point heated) debate of Rose v. Beasley for last year's #1 NBA draft pick.

The Rose SAT "scandal"/"controversy" has been covered with some previous links (3rd link down).

I realize that this reflects somewhat poorly on Rose (and rightly so), but the fact remains that it is in the past. This is a person whose goal/dream was to play in the NBA, but he had to play in college for a year to get there. He was not able to get the score needed to take that middle step ... so he "cheated" and did what was necessary. Poor decision? Probably. Completely in the past? Definitely.



Beasley on the other hand had some red flags, had issues at the rookie orientation, and now has this issue, which come about from twitter -

The NBA has established itself as the most successful league to integrate itself with social media. The league itself is one of recognizable stars, so it only makes sense that these players further their personal brands through means like Twitter and... ahem... UStream. It's a great opportunity for players to connect with their fans in a meaningful way, on their own terms. As long as they use it responsibly and don't do anything to draw undo negative attention to themselves, it's nothing but a win-win.

In completely unrelated news, Michael Beasley did something that doesn't look too bright right now. Why, do you ask?

So Beasley got himself a new tattoo with his nickname, 'Supercool Beas' across his back along with angel wings and a "God's Son" piece of text. Because, you know, when you're promoting your Supercool Beasness, you want to rep your Lord and Savior. And he wanted to share that with all his 'Tweeps.' So he took a picture and uploaded it to TwitPic. Then he tweeted that link. I'd love to link you to that tweet, but he deleted it. Here's the text, though, courtesy of Twitter-Athletes.com: "GorillaBeas I told u, I'm still SupercoolBeas!!!!!!!!! "

Not only is he the Supercool Beas, but he's very excited to share that information with you.

Ah, a young kid being silly. No harm, no foul, right?

Take a good look at the bottom right-hand corner of that picture.

No, not the 7-Up bottle, that's a good thing. Kid doesn't need any caffeine. No, what's curious, and what drew multiple comments on the TwitPic page and his Twitter account are what appear to be two plastic bags of something on the table.

Which lead to rehab -

Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley has checked into rehab, according to a Yahoo! Sports report. Sources are saying that the team encouraged the former Kansas State star to seek help for possible psychological and substance-abuse problems.

On Friday afternoon, Beasley had a very public meltdown via Twitter in which some of the following quotes were attributed to his account.

"Y do I feel like the whole world is against me...I can't win for losin," Beasley wrote.

"Feelin like it's not worth livin!!!!!!! I'm done."

Beasley's frustration had been born out of a posed Internet photo on his personal Twitter page. In the photo, Beasley showed off on his back while two plastic baggies could be seen on a table in the background. Some people have speculated on the bags' contents, even though the clarity of the photo makes it difficult to determine. After the photo became a fast-moving Internet story, Beasley posted the messages on his Twitter account before the page was shut down on Saturday night.

Speculation was fueled further by the fact that Beasley was fined $50,000 by the NBA for being in a room where marijuana was found during last year's rookie symposium.

So while it's clear that I would choose D-Rose as a player, it's now clearer ... Even though both of these players have issues, Rose will have an easier time moving forward in both life and his career.

Bored at work?

Perfect for a Friday afternoon ...

Ray Clay -player introductions from the 1992 NBA Finals -

Downloads: Views: 75439

Easily my favorite non-MJ shot of the Bulls dynasty ...

Downloads: Views: 10566

I will never forget how happy I was watching this, and it was 17 years ago -

Downloads: Views: 928

Downloads: Views: 928

MJ will never be matched, best ever ...

Downloads: Views: 151916

More proof ...

Downloads: Views: 144537

3 Weeks of Jordan on Bulls.com: Sam Smith Intro -

It will be a great moment in the history of basketball during enshrinement weekend Sept. 10 through 12 when Michael Jordan joins the Class of 2009 for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

This is the greatest player ever to play the game being accorded the greatest honor in the game. This is Babe Ruth going into the baseball Hall of Fame. This is Bobby Jones at the first Masters, Ali winning out over Frazier. These are the historic moments of sport, and this year’s in Springfield, Mass. is special because it is a moment in history.

Of course, being the so-called greatest player is a subjective category. There certainly is consensus about Jordan for not only his almost mythical accomplishments in the game, but for the styles and precedents he established around the game and cult like following he developed. Perhaps no one ever has had more impact for basketball on and off the basketball court.