Bulls Draft Rose

John Paxson has finally gotten something right.

Time to build a team around Derrick Rose.

An Era Coming To An End In Chicago Radio

(taken from northtonorth.com)

Hello everyone, I am now done at the Score. I met with management this past Friday and since I wouldn’t accept the deal they offered; they told me I wasn’t allowed to be on the air anymore. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye so here goes… I wanted to say my 16 1/2 years with the Score were awesome. When I was on the air, it was unreal. To be able to entertain, have fun, and sometimes get serious… well you never knew what would happen on a daily basis. I want to thank all the listeners and callers who not only laughed at me but with me. I heard from a lot of you over the years, and good or bad, I always welcomed your comments. To do radio in my hometown at such a great station was an honor. To all the people I used to work with and I work with now, I say thank you. To the advertisers on my show and on the station who were always with me thank you for being there. Without you, there is no station. The sales staff at the Score was always second to none; we made some bucks together. Thanks to you guys too. You’ll be hearing from us real soon. Keep your eyes and ears open and stay tuned. On behalf of Be-Be, Lucky, myself, and everyone associated with us, thank you once again. -Mike North

Sox sweeping, Cubs sleeping

It is now Friday, June the twentieth, year of Our Lord two thousand and eight. That means the single most overheated and unnecessarily grandiose event on the Chicago sports landscape is upon us.

THE CROSSTOWN CLASSIC

The first three of six games that have a lot more importance to the tribal fan bases of the teams than to the players of the teams themselves. I do not know why it is that the fans and media see fit to make this into baseball Armageddon, but - it’s not. It’s just an interleague series between two teams who happen to share the same city as their home. It’s really not that big a deal.

There are, in fact, compelling stories about both teams right now, independent of the facrical hype machine that is the Crosstown Classic, though.

The Chicago White Sox
The surprising 41-31 Chicago White Sox hold a 4.5 game lead in the American League Central. Some guy named Carlos Quentin has like a billion home runs and runs batted in and has, essentially, carried the team for the bulk of the season. He has had to carry the team is because Paul Konerko is batting .215 and Jim Thome is batting .228. Konerko was actually just put on the DL this week with an oblique strain. Luckily for the Sox, the starting staff and bullpen have been, for the most part, brilliant. Gavin Floyd has flirted with a no hitter several times and has posted 8 wins to 3 losses. Pitching’s answer to Julio Franco, Jose Contreras, has somewhat regained his mystifying form, only allowing 4 home runs in 94 innings. John Danks has been snakebit most of the season, with an ERA under 3 but only a 4-4 record in 14 starts to show for it and Javier Vasquez continues to be a reliable strikeout machine with 93 K in 96 IP. The ever important back end of the bullpen has been solid, anchored by Bobby Jenks who is 16-19 in the save department. Scott Linebrink and Matt Thornton seem to have their act together as set up men and when Octavio Dotel has his good stuff (which is NOT always), he is fairly nasty. The Sox followed up a 7 game winning streak at the beginning of the month by getting swept in Detroit and losing 2 of 3 to the Colorado Rockies at home. Coming into the series against the Cubs at Wrigley, though, the Sox got fat against the Pittsburgh Pirates and their dancing cavalcade of awful Pirates starters with funny names (Snell, Gorzelanny & Dumatrait), scoring approximately 600 runs in 3 games and sweeping the Pirates out of Chicago.

The Chicago Cubs
The 45-28 Chicago Cubs have a 3.5 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central and have spent the bulk of the season enjoying the billing as one of, if not THE best team in baseball. The unlikely heroes of the north side have been closer-turned-starter Ryan Dempster and rookie backstop Geovany Soto. Dempster has, somehow, been the ace of the staff. He shares the team lead for wins (8 ) with Carlos Zambrano and leads the team in lowest losses and ERA at 2 and 2.76 respectively. I don’t really know how and why Dempster has been so effective and I am still terrified that he is going to implode any day now, but up until this point he has been a stud. His battery mate Geovany Soto has not only been excellent behind the plate, but also standing aside where he has spent the past 2 1/2 months tearing the cover off the ball to the tune of .282/.365/.525 with 12 HR and 43 RBI. Soto is rookie of the year material. Japanese import Kosuke Fukudome plays an excellent right field and was just moved into the lead off spot in the lineup after Alfonso Soriano went on the DL after getting HBP in the hand and breaking a bone. Fukudome leads the team with a .403 OBP, so this move should hopefully pay off. Set up man Carlos Marmol has the absolute sickest, filthiest, nastiest stuff in all of baseball. Period. No doubt about it. Kerry Wood has also proven effective, although gut-wrenching at times, in the closer role with 18 saves in 22 attempts. While they started off June strong, the Cubs are heading into this weekend’s series after suffering a sweep at the hands of the mighty mighty Tampa Bay Devil Rays down in Tampa. Worse than the sweep, though, is the fact that Carlos Zambrano left Thursday’s game early with shoulder pain and is set to undergo an MRI. It has already been announced that he will miss his next start.

The crosstown classic…let the insanity begin.

Exercise Diary: Day Two

I planned to start working out to compliment my dieting on Monday. Unfortunately, the baby kept wifey and I up for almost then entire night, so I was far too exhausted to exhaust myself first thing in the morning on Monday and I pushed it until Tuesday. After a good night’s sleep, I got up at 9:30 to get my work in. I did a vigorous mile on the elliptical and then started a mobility workout laid out by the Titleist Performance Institute. For the uninitiated, that site is pretty spectacular, particularly because it is absolutely FREE to join. It is chock full of videos ranging from swing drills to exercise and stretches and weights for the golfer who is looking to repair or elevate his/her game.

That’s right…I’m using a workout plan specifically designed to help golfers.

Would you expect anything less?

In all fairness, though, the stretching routine I am doing (Mobility Workout A for those of you who sign up for a FREE account) is no joke and as I sit here and type this having just completed my routine, I am in all sorts of pain in places that I didn’t know I had - which is good. It probably doesn’t help that I am doing a few more reps than the workout guidelines recommend, but I like to push myself and feel like I am actually accomplishing something.

I have decided that my years of inactivity has rendered my body stiff and unyielding, so instead of focusing on morphing myself into Bruce Lee, it would benefit me to work on my range of motion as I lose weight. Chasing my daughter around playgrounds and trying to squeeze my fat and unflexible ass down tube slides with her has become embarrassing, so I will hold off on the serious weight training until I am at my target weight (which I haven’t even set yet). I feel like my upper body gets enough of a workout slinging mops and pushing around 2000 rpm buffing machines all day and my lower body tackles far more stairs than the average bloke (I refuse to take the elevator at work unless I am moving something I cannot carry), so for the time being, I am going to work on being able to touch my toes before I work on being able to bench 400 lbs.

Stretching fucking hurts.

The Boston Celtics will spit on your grave

I was busy with dinner and the baby and the Cubs so I wasn’t paying attention to game 6 of the NBA Finals for most of the night, but when I tuned in with 9:00 left in the 4th quarter and the Celtics were up by 30 POINTS I was a little shocked to say the least. I mean, the Celtics are a good team but 30 DAMN POINTS?!?!?!? Not just any old 30 point 4th quarter lead in game 6 of the finals either…this was against Kobe Bryant’s Lakers, and the last I checked, Kobe Bryant is no slouch.

The thing that shocked me most was that, even though they had already taken out their star players and their second tier star players and were playing mostly big fat guys and little skinny guys, the Celtics did not step off the accelerator for a damn minute. They were chucking up three pointers and dunking on Laker faces. They were throwing baseball passes at from half court to get open shots, and they were still trying to prevent those guys in purple and yellow from getting an open look or easy two. I can’t tell you with what level of intensity the first 39 minutes were played but the last 9 were a lot more fast and physical than one would expect in a drubbing.

Anyway…congrats to the Celtics and their fans. Congrats to KG and Ray Allen, too.

2008 U.S. Open, or, How Tiger Learned to Stop Worrying & Step On Rocco Mediate’s Throat

For those who have not been watching all weekend, the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego has been quite a roller coaster ride. Many lead changes and stories, the most important of which, of course, involve Tiger Woods. One month removed from left knee surgery and in obvious pain, Tiger came into Sunday leading the tournament at -3 after an absolutely inspired and unbelievable back 9 on Saturday that featured 2 birdies and an eagle. The first hole at Torrey Pines had given him fits all week and Sunday was no different. He pulled his drive over the gallery and into some thick, nasty grass. His attempt to get out of said thick, nasty grass resulted him being further ahead in the same thick, nasty grass. His attempt to get to the green from said thick, nasty grass was thwarted by some tree branches. In the end, Tiger put up a double bogey on the starting hole for a second straight day.

Rocco Mediate, on the other hand, played a steady, far less manic round today, as he had in the previous 3 days. Rocco spent most of the tournament near the top of the leaderboard, popping in and out of the first spot here and there, but always on the first page. Rocco posted 1 double bogey in four rounds to Tiger’s 4 doubles. Otherwise Rocco was all birdies (14), pars (46) and bogeys (11). Tiger, in addition to the 4 double bogeys, notched 3 eagles in his 72 holes.

Rocco was playing in the next-to-last group with Geoff Ogilvy and Tiger was playing in the final group with Lee Westwood who also was in it right up until the end. Mediate put up a 2-putt par on the 18th after pulling his drive into the first cut, ruining any chance of reaching the green in two. Westwood and Woods came into the 18th both needing an eagle to win or birdie to tie. Both men put their tee shots into fairway bunkers. Both men elected to lay up out of the sand, although Tiger’s lay up ran into the primary cut of rough and was laying in a depression that someone had played out of earlier.

He managed to put it on and left himself about a 10-12 foot putt to force a playoff. Westwood ended up away with about a 15 footer and choked away his chance to tie Mediate when his downhill putt lost speed and broke a foot or so before the cup. He tapped in for par to finish +1 for the Open.

Tiger looked over his putt for quite a while.

He putted.

The end result:

Tiger’s putt was right edge and lipped around the back of the cup before dropping in on the left edge.

18 hole playoff.

My heart is saying “Rocco!” My heart, though, is soft as a grape and loves rooting for John Q. Everyman.

My brain and my sense of logic and reason, though, are screaming “TIGER!!!!!!” at the top their lungs. My brain, sense of logic and reason are a little more pragmatic and realize that, unless Tiger’s knee completely gives out and he has to golf from his knees like Tim Conway as Dorf, that he will win the playoff.

I’ll be up at 11 to watch the coverage. That’s for sure.

16 days and counting until NBA Draft!!! Rose vs Beasley

The following are the thoughts of my good friend Mark, who is an NBA addict and Bulls fanatic. I asked him to give me his thoughts on the Bulls draft.

Wow, so here I am. Still in disbelief that I’m writing a blog about the Bulls getting the number one pick in the NBA draft. Still getting the goosebumps every time I go back and think about that wonderful day. Oddly enough I had just got back from Las Vegas that day with much less money then I left with, but boy did I hit the jackpot when I got home. Who would have thought that with a 1.7% chance we would get it. I know I certainly didn’t. I mean come on, that’s like Cedric Benson getting into his car after a long night of drinking and crashing into Joakim Noah while he is walking on the sidewalk sparking up a joint. Okay, well I guess maybe that would be a little MORE then 1.7% but you know what I mean.

I honestly don’t know where to start with the comparison of Rose and Beasley. The Bulls have needed a big man that can post and score with his back to the basket for a long time now, but with the way that the league is forming now point guards have become a very essential part of their teams. Take Tyson Chandler for example. He was such a dud when he was here in Chicago, but look at him now. Still a very skinny, and tall, goofy looking guy yeah, but a lot better basketball player. Two words as to why that is. Chris Paul. Which leads me to my opinion on who the Chicago Bulls should take with there number one pick in the 2008 NBA draft on June 26th, 2008.

Brook Lopez.

That’s right I said it!

AFTER 6 LONG MONTHS THE BULLS HAVE FINALLY HIRED A COACH!!!!

AND IT’S THIS GUY:

Personally, I couldn’t pick Vinny Del Negro (translation: Vinny of the Black) out of a lineup if he had the little Vinny Del Negro plaque in front of him and a t-shirt that said “I’m Vinny Del Negro” on.

I could, however, pick Flip Saunders out of a lineup. He would be the guy with the dearth of NBA head coaching experience.

John Paxson must (read: better) know something about Vinny of the Black that the rest of the world doesn’t.

And the next Bulls head coach will NOT be Doug Collins

After the Doug Collins to coach the Bulls thing seemed all but finalized, Doug Collins decided he did not want to compromise the beautiful relationship he and Jerry Reinsdorf have so he withdrew his name from contention.

The carousel continues spinning.

This Cubs thing…it’s officially a “thing”

Let me preface this by saying that I believe baseball teams can neither be impeded by curses nor guided by destiny.

Yesterday the Cubs hosted the Colorado Rockies. The wind was howling out at Wrigley and the Rockies threw their best starter (by the numbers one of the best starters in the NL) Aaron Cook up against Ted Lilly. After 3 innings the Cubs were down 7-0 and Ted Lilly was pulled (8 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 3 K, 2 HR). John Lieber replaced him for 3 2/3 innings and gave up another 2 runs, so going into the bottom of the 6th inning the Cubs were down 9-1.

That’s when it all started.

Micah Hoffpauir (who???) hit a ball to center that stuck in the top of the ivy. Ground rule double. Kosuke Fukudome hits a home run the other way to make it 9-3. Jim Edmonds, who is somehow still ambulatory, follows up with a solo home run in the next at bat. Two ground outs and a Jon Lieber strike out later, the Cubs leave the inning within earshot at 9-5. It should be noted that, immediately after the Jim Edmonds homer, I thought long and hard about sending out a text to all my Cubs peeps predicting a Cubs win, but thought better of it.

Lieber stayed in the game and faced 4 batters in the top of the 7th only yielding one hit.

The Cubs offensive craziness continued in the bottom half. Soriano lined out. Jeff Blauser Mike Fontenot singled and Henry Blanco (oh…did I forget to mention that Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto were pulled after the 5th???) hit a home run. Now it is 9-7. Micah Hoffpauir (who???) singled, Fukudome singled and the amazingly ambulatory Jim Edmonds doubled which scored Hoffpauir (who???) and Koskue to tie the game. Then the super-sub-who-plays-every-day Mark DeRosa homered to center to give the Cubs their first lead of the game and twenty-somethingist straight game where they held the lead. After the end of the 7th, the Cubs lead 10-9.

Carlos Marmol, who is fucking sick, struck out the side (all looking) in the 8th and Kerry Wood, who has been far and away better than I expected in the closer role, got a double play ball and fly out to get his 13th save.

Again…I don’t think the Cubs are cursed and I don’t think they are a team of destiny, but they are definitely a lot better than I thought they would be. My preseason prediction of 88 wins was not based on the quality of the team itself as much as it was what I perceived to be a lack of quality in the division. After one third of the season, though, the Cubs are “on pace” to win 102 games.

I’ll still take the under on 102, and there is still a lot of baseball to be played, but good breaks and good luck and unexpected performances from unlikely sources are the kind of things that make teams into champions.