Wait.....Brad Miller?

First of all I love the Bulls. I grew up watching Michael and Scottie. I grew up watching the dominance, the triangle and the swagger. I knew I was watching greatness and I knew what I saw, I would never see again.

So now, as the Bulls flounder in mediocrity, I don’t expect that decade of Bulls basketball to be re-lived by this bunch. I don’t expect those glory days to come back into my life. All I want is for my favorite NBA team to make good decisions, to just try and inch this team closer to being relevant again.

To me, the Bulls are the son you hope you never have. You know, the one that shows talent at a young age, so you start planning his future as a major leaguer, only to witness him in his teens throwing it all away by getting drunk, chasing dirty women and by smoking weed on the toilet in the upstairs bathroom. My point is that lately every move the Bulls make to move forward, really just pushes them back.

I understand why the team got rid of Larry Hughes, why Nocioni had to go, but why now? Why are the Bulls making all these meaningless moves when it only makes them slightly better? We have one of the most dynamic point guards to come along in years and the Bulls really believe Brad Miller, John Salmons, Tim Thomas, Jerome James and Anthony Robertson are the players to show him how it’s done? Really, Brad Miller? Wait didn’t we have Brad Miller? And didn’t Tim Thomas force a trade a la Larry Hughes just three years ago? And who is Anthony Robertson? Am I crazy?

Anyway, I understand that in 2010 the Bulls will have enough cap space to sign a major free agent, but I just don’t trust the Bulls with any of that cap room to make a competent deal. For the past decade the Bulls have been employing role players as stars, while passing up on potential stars. So for now, we Bulls fans get to look forward to another few years of Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas and Luol Deng jogging up and down the court looking lost. The one thing I pray for is that Derrick Rose doesn’t learn how to be an underachiever because, as of right now, he is the lone star on the Underachieving All-stars.

Old School + New School= New School

There used to be a time, long ago, when sports journalist's words were taken as they were set in stone. There was no other media to compete with print and broadcast journalism and that monopolising created an empire for the likes of ESPN or Sports Illustrated. Now, in this time and place, millions of young people choose to get their sports news elsewhere. Instead of reading or hearing people who's opinions might be slightly dated, they flock to websites or blogs that coincide with their own feelings. Some of these blogs or websites might not carry the same credibility, as say the New York Times, but this young generation of readers do not care.

This generation wants to be entertained and they want their own views expressed, rather than relying on hard news. Websites like Deadspin.com and Awfulannouncing.com present this kind of content and have created an online niche for readers tired of listening to old school journalists. Slowly these blogs are closing the gap between old school and new school reporting as they gain more access to further their own credibility. Now some bloggers have access to live games, locker rooms and other sources. Soon there will be no new school and old school, there will be a hybrid of the two, but with more emphasis online. Soon entertainment and information will be one in the same and paper might be obsolete.

Baseball's Larry Flynt

As the ongoing steroid saga is thrown in our faces yet again, let us all remember that the stars, especially in baseball, we root for can be flawed. Now I am not an A-Rod apologist nor am I a Yankees apologist, I am just an observer of the way baseball likes to hide its problems. What I mean is that A-Rod will be playing baseball for the Yankees come spring and yet one of the greatest hitters of all time cannot find a team.
Barry Bonds might be a complete asshole on the surface and he might of lied about his alleged steroid use, but the man can flat-out hit a baseball. In Bond’s last season in 2007 he hit .276, had 28 homeruns, and 66 RBIs. Those numbers might seem ordinary, but then take a look at his OBP(On Base Percentage)of .480, his walks at 132 and his OPS (On Base + Slugging) at 1.045. In 2007, at 43, Bonds led the league in walks and would have led in OPB had he qualified. Please look at those numbers again, .480, 132 and 1.045. I don’t care that Barry Bonds is perceived as a menace by the media, fans, and the owners. Just look at Barry Bonds from a pure baseball standpoint and tell me why he is not on a major league roster? And as the A-Rod story goes away, as we all know it will, the greatest hitter I’ve ever seen in person will still not have a job. While others who made the same mistake will still be playing come spring. Again look at 480, 132, and 1.045, along with .276, 28, and 66 then explain to me why Barry Bonds wouldn’t help a ballclub. If you can’t, don’t worry I can’t either.