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Either last night’s game went by way too fast or the NBA All-Star game has lost it’s swagger. The 2012 NBA All-Star game had all of the stars, but none of the star power. Derrick Rose scored 16 points in the game but I didn’t notice. Luol Deng played 6 minutes but I don’t remember him entering the game. Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibideau didn’t seem to care if the Eastern Conference won or lost. The West won 152-149 but it seemed like the lowest scoring game of the century. Kobe Bryant passed up His Airness {Michael Jordan} on the all-time list for most total points scored in all-star game appearances but for some reason I didn’t care.
Mary J. Blige was amazing with the national anthem, Pitbull had a decent halftime show, but then Chris Brown killed it for me. Even worse, I failed to realize the significance of that. Is that bad? Ever since TNT won the rights to broadcast the NBA All-Star game, the only memorable year that I can remember was in 2003 when Michael Jordan in his final all-star game tied the game in the 4th quarter to force overtime. Although the East wound up losing in overtime, Jordan gave everyone something to remember for many years to come.
Since then, the TNT version of the all-star game has failed to deliver in my book. I mean c’mon, if I forget that the game is even on television most years then something isn’t right. When NBC had the rights to the annual game, the star power was there, the games were memorable, and they didn’t need a flashy halftime or pre-game show {Like TNT does now} in order to attract viewers. Plus not to mention the names that played in the game during the NBC era: Jordan, Pippen, Shaq, Magic, Bird, Olajawon, Mullin, Thomas, Dumars, Lambieer, etc.
The players in today’s all-star game are more hated then they are respected. The players during the NBC era were always respected despite the tension among rival fans. This day and age, not so much. There were plenty of Kobe, LeBron, and D-Wade haters in attendance in Orlando last night. Where has the excitement of the NBA All-Star game gone and how can we get it back? My fear is that one day the NBA All-Star game will become obsolete like the NHL’s All-Star game has. Don’t get me wrong, regular season ball is great, and playoff ball even better.
But the all-star game which one was a proud tradition is all about the flash and bling instead of celebrating the games best players. This attitude needs to change if the NBA All-Star game is to remain within the fabric of the sports society.
And just a friendly reminder to all of my readers out there, please tip your waiters and waitresses accordingly: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/banker-insulting-tip-incites-class-warfare-between-1-164624882.html
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Did you see Will Ferrell do the introductions of the Bulls-Hornets game in New Orleans Wednesday night? The NBA needs to do more stuff like this we say! Apparently Will is in New Orleans filming a new movie called “Dog Fight”. Oh, and for the record, Q101 couldn’t agree more with Will’s assessment of Carlos Boozer. He’s so soft in the paint, even “Jackie Moon” mocks him. Check it out:
How easy was it for the Chicago Bulls last season?
Well they won the Central Division by a whopping 25 games over Indiana and the Pacers, Bucks, Pistons and Cavaliers finished a mighty 207 games below .500 collectively with a winning percentage of .369.
Led by MVP Derrick Rose the Bulls cruised to a 62-20 season that ultimately saw them lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat in five games. A fifth game by the way that saw them blow a 12-point lead with less than three minutes to go and Rose missing a free throw that would have tied the game then a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Given the state of the NBA and superstars choosing to leave, the Bulls made certain their leader wouldn’t be going anywhere and signed Rose to a five-year contract extension just last week.
The Bulls that take the court on Christmas Day against the Los Angeles Lakers won’t look much different than the team that left the court against Miami back in late May. The one big addition, though, will be shooting guard Richard Hamilton, who comes to the Bulls after spending the last nine years with Detroit.
“On this team, there are no ball hogs,” Hamilton said recently. “There are guys trying to make plays for each other, guys always helping each other out. That makes the game so much easier.”
2010-11 Results: 62-20, first in Central; Lost in East finals to Miami.
READ MORE INCLUDING THE KEY CHANGES WITH THE ROSTER
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/sns-tsn-acn-outlook-chi-20111223,0,857763.story
Well, we were hoping the unthinkable wouldn’t happen but it did. The Illinois Fighting Illini football program completed one of it’s worst seasons in school history. They started the season 6-0 with high hopes and a lot of promise. But they finished the season 0-6, their worst losing streak since the 2006 season when they lost 7 in a row. After Illinois lost their first 4 games, rumors about Ron Zook’s job security started buzzing.
But the Fighting Illini lost the final 2 games of the season, the last game was on Saturday a 27-7 loss to Minnesota. Minnesota was the 2nd worst team in the Big Ten this year, beating Illinois was only their 3rd victory of the season. And after this disaster of a season, Ron Zook was fired from his head coaching job on Sunday morning. His dismissal ends a 7 year reign in which he compiled 34 wins, 50 losses, no conference championships, finished 5th the Big Ten Leaders division this year, and only 1 bowl victory.
His recruiting ability has been called into question because while he had a winning season every year while coaching at the University Of Florida, he only had 3 winning seasons at Illinois. His success at Florida was mainly because he had some of Steve Spurrier’s leftover recruits. While at Illinois he used mostly his own recruits and was mostly unsuccessful. Ron Zook will eventually land on his feet. I predict that he will either coach a smaller university, or he will be hired as an assistant coach.
But now Illinois Athletic Director Mike Thomas has to find a new coach for the U of I’s football team. Should Illinois get into a bowl game this year, Defensive Coordinator Vic Koenning will be the Interim Head Coach for that game. But eventually a new coach and a new staff will be brought in for the 2012 season. As for candidates to replace Ron Zook are concerned, the coaches on everyone’s Christmas wish list have already been claimed.
Urban Meyer was hired this week by conference rival Ohio State, and former Michigan and West Virginia Head Coach Rich Rodriguez was named the new coach at Arizona. So who’s left? Well the name on the Illini faithful’s wish list is former Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach. Leach who was fired after the 2009 season for a controversial run-in with a Texas Tech player has not coached since then. And according to reports Mike Thomas has already received a flood of e-mails and phone calls demanding that Leach be hired as the new coach.
Leach is the man who invented the “Air Raid Offense” which was adapted as a spread offense which is now used by several college and high school teams. Leach who coached Texas Tech from 2000-2009, posted an overall record of 84-43, and posted a bowl game record of 5-4. He never won a Big 12 Conference title, but he did win the Big 12’s South Division in 2008 which was his best season at Texas Tech.
Before coaching the Red Raiders, Leach was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma during the 1999 season where he worked with eventual Heisman Trophy winner Josh Heupel. Before that he ran the offense at Kentucky for the 1997 and 1998 seasons where we worked with the number one draft pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, Tim Couch. Leach has a reputation of breeding record breaking quarterbacks. Aside from Tim Couch and Josh Heupel, Leach has also made prospects out of Graham Harrell, Kliff Klingsbury, and B.J. Symons. But Thomas has said that he will “take an appropriate course of action in finding a new football coach”. Another possible candidate could be recently fired UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel. Although his overall head coaching record stand at 87 wins and 58 losses, 3 of his 4 seasons at UCLA were losing seasons. This year the Bruins went 6-6 this year, and won the Pac-12 South Division by default because of USC’s football team being on probation. But it wasn’t a pretty season at all.
But Neuheisel is quite the offensive mind himself, he is a big proponet of the West Coast Offense. He is also a man with his own line of quarterbacks such as Kordell Stewart, Koy Detmer, Marques Tuiasosopo, and Cody Pickett. But only time will tell to see who will be Illinois’ next coach. But after the misfortunes with both Ron Zook and Ron Turner, I am sure the University Of Illinois will make the right decision this time around.
NBA Lockout Ends
On a couple of side notes unrelated to this matter, the NBA will open it’s practice facilities to players today. Players can workout, and strength/conditioning coaches along with medical personnel will be allowed to monitor workouts. However coaches and executives will not be allowed to attend workouts. But on the plus side, teams can speak with player agents. But no official deals can be made until the new labor agreement {Which came to light early Saturday morning} is officially ratified by both the players and owners.
NBA Commissioner David Stern has said that he hopes that teams can start making transactions on December 9th.
T.O. Touchdown?
As for the latest on free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens, there are rumors buzzing about that Owens could end up with the New England Patriots before the season is out. Owens’ agent Drew Rosenhaus has been spotted on the sidelines at Patriots games and has been seen visiting Patriots practices.
Even though Patriots Receiver Chad Johnson (No, “Ochocinco”) is also client of Rosenhaus, he normally doesn’t frequent teams sidelines as often as he has been with New England as of late. Could the addition of Owens push Johnson to become more effective on offense? Or would such an addition crash and burn like it did in Cincinnati? I guess we have to wait and see….
By Q101.com Blogga Gabe “The Animal” Salgado
Think you are ready t be Q101.com Blogga? Hundreds say they are, but only a few actually prove it like Gabe. Step up and be somebody: http://bloggas.Q101.com
Are you jolly? Do you have “back?” Are you a dude? Are you able to “perform on demand”? Get your mind out of the gutter. Ahem. The NBA’s “Billionaires fighting with millionaires over money” (as Derrick Rose said) notwithstanding, there may yet be a pro basketball season this (or next year). We’d all better be prepared.
The Chicago Bulls Matadors, the all-male “dance” team which proves that size truly does matter when it comes to supporting your favorite team, will host auditions on Friday, October 28 at the UIC Flames Athletic Center beginning at 7 p.m.
The ideal Matadors candidate is first and foremost, a BIG Bulls fan. He loves being the life of the party, proudly displays a wacky sense of humor and rarely, if ever, visits the health club. Men who have painted their face and/or chest to demonstrate team loyalty, initiated stadium-wide chants or shaved the Bulls logo into his chest or back hair are strongly encouraged to audition.
The audition process will consist of an informal interview as well as the opportunity for the applicants to strut their stuff. Selections will be based on personality, sense of humor, creativity, team loyalty and the ability to perform physical comedy.
For more information, click here now.
When: Friday, October 28, 2011
Where: UIC Flames Athletic Center, 839 West Roosevelt, Chicago, IL
Time: Registration starts at 6:30 p.m. | Auditions start promptly at 7:00 p.m.
* You will learn any required dance routines at the auditions. * You will not have to perform your own routine at any time.
Attire: Comfortable dance shoes/sneakers.
Judging: Judges will focus on rhythm, energy, enthusiasm, personal appearance and showmanship.
Rehearsals: All rehearsals are mandatory.
Application Deadline: Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Download: Tryout packet and application | Application
>> Print and complete the application form, then mail it with a non-returnable photo of yourself to the following address: CCCI | P.O. Box 4712 | Wheaton, IL 60189
1. Right click on this link and save the file (PDF format) to your desktop or wherever you typically save files.
2. Open that file in Adobe Acrobat and complete the two-page application, then save the file.
3. Attach the completed application, along with a photo (JPG format), and e-mail to matadors@bulls.com.
Source: http://www.nba.com/bulls/dance/matadors_111028.html
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