Can we trade Boozer for Burrows?

The Bulls were able to win Game 5 in regular season fashion. They looked like their old selves by playing good team defense (minus Carlos the Playoff Ghost of course), a shooting percentage above the Mendoza Line, and a MVP performance by none other than DRose. The Bulls were up by 10 early in the 3rd when Derrick picked up his 4th foul and had to sit. The Pacers whittled the lead down to 4 and Thibs had to roll the dice with DRose in foul trouble. It was at that point where Derrick added to what will be a pantheon of great playoff performances. The 3rd quarter became the "DRose Show" as he first hit TajMahal for an open J, then he put a savage block on Hibbert (couldn't find a version with Stacey King), and then he started raining 3's. Bogans joined the party with a few 3's of his own. Bulls closed the 3rd with a 21-8 run and the Fat Lady was warming up her vocals. Shows how much trust Thibs has in Rose even though he was playing with 4 fouls. The ankle didn't look like it was bothering Derrick as much last night, but it's great that he gets to rest it until their next game which won't be until Monday. DRose had the help from his surrounding cast that they've been looking for this whole series. Joakim and Lt. Deng played both played great. Noah looks like he's in full form since his late season injury. Deng was pouring it in from everywhere and at the same time chasing down Granger the whole game. TajMahal made a strong case for himself with a 30-minute performance that maybe made Thibs think about starting him Game 1 in the 2nd round. Taj put up a solid 10-point performance in place of a foul-plagued and "injured" Boozer. This is where the Boozer-hate-fest portion starts, feel free to skip ahead to the Hawks review.

Sixteen minutes played, 2 points scored, 5 rebounds, 4 fouls. No, that isn't Kurt Thomas' stat line. BigSexy got a DNP but I would have much rather had him in the game than Booz. He picked up 3 quick fouls in the 1st half and only played 10 minutes. Supposedly he suffered from "turf toe" injury in the 1st half. This immediately bring's two things to mind: 1.) apparently you can get turf toe on other playing surfaces than turf, and 2.) Boozer was playing healthy the first 4 games?!?! Ugh. The performances of TajMahal and Bogans picked up Boozer's slack and it looks like we're going to have to look for those performances in the next round.

In other news, the Blackhawks season is over although they went out with a bang. After sneaking in the back door to make the playoffs and coming back from a 3-0 deficit against one of their main rivals, the Hawks were playing in a 7th game down by one goal with only a couple minutes separating them from what looked like the end of their season. Burrows and Kesler were absolutely dominating the Hawks and they looked like they were unstoppable. With Duncs in the sin-bin, a comeback was certainly almost impossible. Then with a little bit of magic, Toews made a great individual effort just to get the puck to Hoss in a place where he could get a shot off, and then The Captain got a shorthanded put back goal to tie the game. Unreal. My neighbors probably thought I was slaughtering a cow with all the hooting and hollering going on. I thought the game was ours going into OT. Hawks had all the momentum, Bobby was doubting himself again, and the Hawks picked up a quick man advantage. I thought the game was over when Sharpie took that shot from a wonderful pass from Toews through the crease. The game ended when Campoli was unable to clear the puck from their zone and Burrows got a little bit of luck snatching the biscuit out of the air for the breakaway winning goal. Crawford was huge last night. He made a bunch of clutch saves and single-handily kept the Hawks in the game. It was unfortunate that his stellar performance resulted in a heartbreaking loss, but hopefully he can use this game as a stepping stone and raise his game next season.

And so ends the Hawks campaign to defend the Stanley Cup. Perhaps the loss of great role players like BigBuff (who raised his game to All-Star status this year) and Ladd proved to be too big of a loss to the team. Hopefully they can build on what they have with a promising Ben Smith and Nick Leddy. At least we still have the Bulls before we have to start watching baseball. Bulls Round 2 preview to come later...

Game. Blouses.

This needs to end now...

This was almost the scene at Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. You could almost hear the entire city of Chicago (and half of the crowd at Conseco) let out a collective "Oh Shit..." when Rose went down with a sprained ankle. He was obviously smarting from that injury after he came back into the game as he shot 3-for-16 (6-for-22 for the game, eww). Even when the Bulls were pressing and shooting the passing lanes, Derrick came up with a couple steals but couldn't finish at the rim like he usually does. The comeback would obviously been great not only to close the series, but also the added rest for Derrick and his now injured ankle. This game was again marred by turnovers and a poor shooting percentage. Before the injury, DRose and the rest of the team were settling for outside jumpers. Derrick couldn't drop a 3, while the Pacers were hitting anything and everything and popped out to a 18 point lead. After DRose's injury, the Bulls needed a second scorer to emerge and help take the game off of his back. Can't look to Boozer the Playoff Ghost. Another poor shooting game for Booz (6-for-15). Seriously don't understand why he constantly is shooting fade away jumpers when Jeff Foster is checking him. The one time Booz did finish strong at the rim he got T'd up for staring down Hibbert, once again showing how dumb Booz can be. Deng had a rough night going only 5-for-14 for 16 points and Korver wasn't knocking down shots. The Bulls were starving for someone else to score and Noah was the only one who showed up. He ended up being the team's leading scorer and proved to be too fast for Hibbert as he had a couple great drives to the hoop. The only knock on Jo was that he kept trying to get the interior passing game going early, but that just lead to turnovers. Especially because he was passing the ball to the NBA player formally known as Carlos Boozer. I'm guessing Thibs wasn't especially happy with the result and probably stuck it to the team afterward. Hopefully this loss can finally get the Bulls to get back on their game and back to playing the way they did in the regular season. Reports were out that DRose showed up to the Berto Center yesterday in a walking boot and did not practice, but the MRI was negative. DRose will play tomorrow night, no doubt. Hopefully the treatments, a little bit of R&R, and a video session with Thibs will get his game right. Bulls look to close out the series tomorrow night. Lets go.....

Public Enemy Number 1 : Jeff Foster

                                                             Creep

So this guy is really starting piss me off.  He is literally trying to get players on the Bulls injured.  He has been playing middle linebacker in the paint and I literally have no idea how Kurt Thomas has not stuck a shiv in this guy's side and put him on his ass.  The Bulls as a team and specifically Derrick Rose and Luol Deng have shown a ridiculous amount of restraint in not killing him or McRoberts.  Jeff Foster is a goon and we may need to put this in the hands of the Greek who will be taking a trip down to Indy to watch the Bulls break out the brooms against the Pacers Saturday.  We have a certain red haired friend who will be accompanying the Greek and we may need to employ his services to take care of Foster.  How this POS has managed to stay in the league for 11 years boggles my mind.  He's averaged a stellar 4.4 points per game over 11 seasons and never more than 7 points per game in his career.  Foster is playing like Charles Oakley and Dennis Rodman during the late 80s and early 90s, main difference being he sucks at basketball.  I mean Foster, White Basketball Jesus, and McBobs have been going after DRose maliciously and I think someone on the Bulls needs to step up and hit them right back in the mouth.  The MVP should not be getting treated with this much disrespect.  I nominate Boozer to take care of this.  It's the least he could do considering he cannot score anymore.  Go Bulls, break out the brooms.

Listen Carlos, we need to talk...

Seriously? I knew game 2 was too good to be true. Someone put out an all-points bulletin out on Carlos Boozer. When did he turn into Zack Galifinakis? Watching him play tonight almost gave me a stroke. He starts the game by missing two bunnies two feet from the rim, picks up two stupid fouls, and then needs to sit for almost the rest of the half. How Thibs doesn't rip out what little hair he has left, I have no idea. Four points (2-for-10) and 11 boards, big fucking deal. You suck. If it weren't for your 2nd of TWO MADE FIELD GOALS, I would have thought that you forgot how to dunk or at least didn't have the athletic ability to do so. I'm sick and tired of you screaming "Gimmie dat shit!" after every rebound you do get, and "Grab dat Jo!" after every rebound you're too lazy to jump for. Aren't big time players (and largely compensated) supposed to show up during the post season? He has less confidence than Rory McIlroy on the 10th tee at Augusta. People want to complain about how bad Bogans is? Bogans has less expectations than Boozer, is not making as much cash as Boozer, and scored more than twice as many points tonight than Boozer. I hate you Carlos. Did you really let Josh McBobs drive past you for an uncontested layup? I realize you are both Dookies, but that doesn't mean you can just let him get on the scoreboard. Aren't Dookies supposed to have a high basketball IQ? Could have fooled me, because you make Corky from "Life Goes On" look like Christian Laettner.

Okay, that's enough. But seriously, Thibs has to hold that man accountable at some point. If this is how he's gonna play, the Bulls could absolutely get swept by the Heatles. The only thing that was nearly as bad as Boozer was the officiating. The zebras had a few calls wrong, namely falling for the Pacers flopping and what should have been called a flagrant on Foster for dropping 'bows on Lt. Deng's dome piece. Surprised they didn't fall for AJ Price's best Reggie Miller's "I got fouled while shooting" leg kick impersonation. Again the Pacers prove that the lack of a closer that they can go to down the stretch hurts them. Granted, Granger was on fire for the last couple minutes. But all his shots are coming off screens or loose balls as he can't make his own shot. As usual, DRose came up huge in the last minute. Although he went 4-for-18 from the field, he still managed to get to the line a bunch and put up 23 points. That last drive to the hoop he made was amazing. The Bulls played perfect defense on the Pacers last possession, forcing Granger to put up a tough contested shot from deep, RonRonJuice grabbed the board and hit the FT's to close it. Deng quietly had a great game. The Man from Sudan couldn't miss a shot in the first half. He was able to put up 21 points while trying to guard Granger on the other end. Still a little confused as to how the Bulls are still managing to turn the ball over so much and why they didn't keep going to HotSauce down the stretch. Without the Pacers' points off turnovers, this game is a blowout. Korver came up with some huge shots near the end and couldn't miss. Why they stopped passing to him, I don't know. I'm just glad the Bulls won while shooting less than 40% from the field. Bring your brooms Saturday afternoon because its gonna be a sweep.

Welcome back Boozer

Let's not jump back on the Boozer train too hastily. Looking at the box score he put up 17 and 16. But for some reason, at least to me, it didn't look like that great of a game for him. He still looks shaky on defense and looks like he is on skates when he closes down shooters. Lucky for him, Psycho-T returned to normalcy and wasn't hitting open looks. Overall, it was a very identical looking game compared to game 1. But is Thib's game plan of playing good defense and let DRose win it at the end going to keep working? Again it was a close match until Rose hit some clutch shots in the closing minutes to put the game away. The Pacers looked a little unorganized in the clutch moments of the game. Paul George ended up with the ball with the shot clock ticking down on 2 straight possessions. Seriously? They obviously don't have a superstar who can make their own shot down the stretch. The Pacers were obviously missing Collison after he left with a sprained ankle. The Bulls outscored the Pacers 23-11 with AJ Price playing with their starters. Bad news for Indy if Collison sits tonight.

Albeit, the Bulls are up 2-0 and winning games in the last couple minutes in stunning fashion. And even though they are better than what their 37-win regular season record says, this is Pacers that we're talking about not the Heatles. The Bulls were 2nd in point differential this season and they're squeaking out victories, AT HOME no less. But I suppose this is the playoffs, so you can throw whatever happened in the regular season out the window. Tonight is when this new Bulls team earns its stripes. Playoff games on the road is where players make a name for themselves. It is where good players become great. Two years ago, DRose shocked the NBA world with his other-worldly play in front of an unsuspecting and hostile Boston crowd. I still have no doubt the Bulls will sweep this Pacer team. Hopefully these next two games on the road will change something in this team so that they can play to their potential.

WHAT TIME IS IT!!!! GAME TIME, WHOOO!

Wow, this blog really lost some steam and tyler colvin bobblehead night

Lady Killer

Yea, so I know there has not been much written lately, but the Chairman of Cheddar has actually been trying to do something with his life over the past week.  Anyways, we are back and in full swing starting with the Bulls, Hawks and all things Chicago baseball.  Cubs boring. Did you know that the Cubs have been 1-1,2-2,3-3,4-4,5-5,6-6,7-7, and now 8-8.  That is actually kinda crazy but also boring.  How bad has Dempster been?  Jesus, between him and Garza, I do not know who has been more horrendous.  But you know who really stinks..........the White Sox.  I would have never guessed the Sox would go through a stretch like this all season.  The division is upside down right now with the Indians and Royals on top.  Point being, it does not matter. Those teams stink.  STINK.  They will have be back.  Adam Dunn and Juan Pierre have been brutal this year.  Adam Dunn has quite the strikeout ratio going right now.  He is on pace for something like 350 strikeouts.  That would be quite a feat.  I am totally shocked by this. I would blame it on the cold weather, but Dunn comes from cold weather, plus he is not from the Dominican so that excuse is not valid.  Pretty sure Ling Ling will have something on the Hawks blowout and upcoming Bulls game.  We will be giving you live coverage of game 4 as some members of the Cheese's writing staff will be making the trek.  Go Bulls.  Anyone want to go to the 6:05 Cubs game with Chairman Chet tonight?  Or you can buy them from me if you are interested. 10 dollars a ticket? Let me know, its Tyler Colvin bobblehead night. sweet

TV worth watching

Stop watching that dogshit reality TV for a moment and tune in to HBO. There is also a gem on AMC right now called "The Killing"

Mad Men won't be back for a while so we must make do. You'll also have True Blood and How to Make it in America (Lake Bell, very nice). Entourage will mercifully be put to bed this summer, finally.

Which reminds me. I literally ran into Adrian Grenier two weeks ago. I am pretty sure that guy rolls out of bed and onto the set. No makeup, no wardrobe just straight action. Nice guy though.

Game of Thrones is also awesome but a bit on the geekier side.

The next Basketball Jesus

Well that wasn't fun. Tyler Hansbrough is going to be better than Larry Legend. Just kidding. I knew Psycho-T would be giving Boozer a hard time, but I at least thought Boozer would match him on the offensive end. Boozer got owned on both ends of the court. Don't confuse this as "Tyler Hansbrough should have been an all-star" because everyone knows that he isn't that good, he just had a great game. This may sound cliche, but what he lacks in basketball skill he makes up for in basketball IQ, grit, and hustle (AKA - the recipe for white guys who can't drain 3's for making the NBA). Boozer happens to be the exact opposite. Looks like Boozer's feet are buried in concrete on the defensive end. During post-game conferences Boozer blamed his timidness on both ends was because he was in foul trouble. Um, Booz, try harder on the defensive end, move your feet, stop pointing and screaming, and then you won't be in foul trouble. Thibs stood up for his guy and said that it wasn't just his fault and said that the team failed as a whole in trying to stop Psycho-T. Partly true because TajMahal and Jo had a hard time too. Thibs knows that Carlos needs to figure it out on the defensive end. Maybe Thibs needs to make a change and switch Jo to check P-T instead of Booz. There's no way an undersized white boy who doesn't shoot beyond 15-feet should be lighting up this Bulls squad. To say that Derrick had a great game is an understatement. You can obviously see by his 39-point (19 from the charity stripe) that he was the best player out there. Even the Pacers coach was in awe. But his run in the last 3:00 were unbelievable. He refused to lose this game. Unfortunately, this is the playoffs. This can't happen every game and every night. The Pacers played a great game, I'll give them that. We can't expect them to be on fire from beyond the arc tonight as they shot well above their average. But whether its against the Pacers or beyond the first round, Boozer is gonna have to play up to his contract if the Bulls are to advance.

It's Playoff Time

Well that was fun. Bulls improve their regular season record from 41-41 last year to 62-20 this year. They went from the 8th seed to home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The acquisition of Thibs, Boozer, and a good surrounding cast, multiplied by DRose's evolution over the summer (development of a 3-pt shot, USA national team experience, increasing confidence, etc.) are all to thank for the drastic improvement from last season.

All of that doesn't really matter anymore as the 1st round of the playoffs is upon us. The Bulls are a favorite to win the East and many have already locked them in to get to the finals. Kind of crazy seeing as DRose has yet to make it out of the first round let alone play in the Conference Finals. Did Thibs play this team too hard during the regular season? Phil Jackson and Greggy Pop know not to stretch their teams too much in the Fall and Winter because the meaningful games don't start until April. Will this team's playoff inexperience impede a deep run let alone a trip to the finals? I think it would be foolish to not take these arguments into account. But with that being said, I don't think we'll have to think about that for another week and a half as we have a 37-win Pacer team in the 1st round. The Pacers are the only blemish on the 15-1 Bulls record against divisional opponents and enter these playoffs as the worst team based on their overall record. On the other hand this Indy squad has given good teams a handful. Ever since their coaching change and Psycho-T's emergence as, well a psycho, they've been giving teams fits. Let's break this bitch down.

Starting Five:
The Pacers could give the Bulls a hard time because they have a decent PG in Collison, George and Granger are pretty athletic on the wings, Psycho-T will be giving Boozer fits, and Jo isn't playing at 100% (Hibbert sucks). But they have less playoff experience than the Bulls, the Bulls have the #1 defense, and the Bulls have Derrick Rose. He's been driven to win more than ever before and there's no way he's not getting out of the 1st round against this Pacer team. Advantage: Bulls

Bench:
Being that we're in the playoffs now, Thibs will probably be pretty short on his rotation. Brewer, TajMahal, HotSauce, BigSexy, and CJ will probably be the only ones seeing meaningful minutes. Butler looked good in the Nets game and may see more minutes if Brewer is still hurt. Pacers will be throwing out the pu-pu platter of AJ Price, Mike Dunleavy, Josh McRoberts, Dahntay Jones (no, this isn't a Duke reunion), Jeff Foster, Brandon Rush. TJ Ford has just come back from injury and may not see a lot of minutes. Albeit the Pacers will more likely go deeper into their bench, TajMahal and Korver would be starting on the Pacers. Advantage: Bulls

Coaching:
Frank Vogel was thrust into the position after the firing of Jim O'Brien and the Pacers have been playing well under the interim coach. But lets be real, although this may be Thibs' first year as a head coach, he has 20+ years in the NBA under his belt, was a main architect of the Celtics' past successes, and coached his team to 62 wins. Advantage: Bulls

Intangibles:
The Bulls will be kicking off the NBA playoffs Saturday at Noon in front of a rabid crowd at the Madhouse. This team has been the best this city has seen in more than a decade and have been waiting for a team this dominant ever since. The city of Indianapolis is just glad that their team made the playoffs and their fans are probably more excited to watch the Bulls play in Conseco Field House two more times. Advantage: Bulls

Prediction:
I think we might see a Bulls blowout in one of the first two home games and tougher games played in Indy. But get your Adam Scott putters out because I'm looking for a SWEEP in the 1st round. Bulls in 4 (.....aaaaannnnnnd there's the jinx).

I guess I Put the Hex on Matt Thornton and the White Sox Bullpen

Well, all that love that I spewed on the Sox Bullpen was obviously premature.  Apparently Matt Thornton does not have the stones to close baseball games.  They say the toughest outs to get are 25, 26, and 27 and that has proven to be the case this year.  The Sox are extremely lucky to be where they are seeing as that they have 6 blown saves already.  Twice the Sox have blown 3 run leads in the 9th which is really heartbreaking.  The Sox as a team have a bullpen ERA of 6.00 which yes its early but outside of Sergio Santos, everyone has been awful. Chris Sale's velocity is noticeably down.  Last year his fastball ranged in the 98-100 MPH, but this year its more like 94-96, which is cause for concern. Sale's ERA is over 7, as is Thornton's.  And then there is Pena and Ohman who have ERA's over 11.  Crain's been decent and I already mentioned how Santos has pitched.  The Sox are going to need to get this figured out, otherwise Ozzie is going to lose his mind.  He is already a crazy crazy man, but this could be the season where he totally loses his mind.  You have to wonder why the Sox didn't use any money to sign Rafael Soriano. If you combined the money they gave to Ohman and Crain, you pretty much have the money needed to sign Soriano.  The move would have made sense, but to late now.  I believe he would have taken a couple less million than he got with the Yankees to actually be a team's closer.  Well, obviously can't turn back the clock now, but atleast this is happening in April as opposed to August.   This happening in April allows the Sox to make adjustments and make a trade in a month or two. In the short term though, I really think Ozzie has to try Santos now as closer. He has wicked stuff, and hopefully he will have the stones to take the job and get outs 25, 26, and 27. 

Why Can't Juan Pierre Catch Fly Balls

Now, if you read this site regularly you know what I think of Juan Pierre.  He Stinks.  No ifs ands or buts about it.  He stinks and I do not care what argument you make that he does not.  In Juan's defense, he has hit decent this year, and probably should have atleast one home run if not for the early season leader for catch of the year by former Cub Sam Fuld.  Well, lately, Juan has had a huge issue catching fly balls.  There is only one explanation for this: ENORMOUS HAT.  The guy wears a hat and its just too damn big to see.  Now Juan has always worn his hat like a gangster rapper and teenagers nowadays as opposed to like a real ballplayer. 

Now, Juan is no spring chicken anymore, but there is no reason that he should be playing the outfield like Alfonso Soriano.  Juan unlike Sori is not a guy who takes plays off, which means that Juan is just getting really bad.  Back to the issue of the hat though.  With that oversized brim which is pretty straight, how does Juan catch anything.  I hate the way he wears his hat and I hate the trend of how kids 10 years younger than me wear their hats like this and look like absolute jackasses.  This whole trend started with Juan and CC Sabathia.  I hate it passionately.  I am someone who believes in the bent rim of a cap.  The reason for that is when you bend the rim it can actually block the sun and keep it out of your eyes.   When I was coaching baseball, my second year my whole team had the straight brim look going on and I despised it.  They called me who was 25 at the time an old timer because I wore my hat the way it should be when your playing baseball.  They wore it like they were gangsters and left the stickers on and all that jazz.  Totally disgraceful.  Anyways, our record matched the way we looked.  10-20.  Pitiful.  All our team seemed to care about was how we looked, and the record showed that.

Next up. Matt Thornton.  Stop blowing saves. I know Juan can't catch, but you have to get through that. Stop sucking, it is screwing with my fantasy teams performance.  Get with it. 

Seriously Quade, What the F**k?

I swear to God, this Cubs bullpen which I thought would be a strength is el horrible.  This season so far has been a gosh darn joke.  Quade's management of his pitchers this season has really made me question what the hell the Cubs were thinking hiring this guy. This is just awful.  I just do not know what the hell he is thinking.  He is leaving his starters in way too long, especially Dempster.  I know Dempster was all over Quade's shit this off season and praising him as the second coming of God in the dugout, but so far all I have season is a bunch of missed signs and poor pitching management.  IE. why the hell was Demp still in the game tonight after Bill Hall hit an oppo bomb off him.  After that he should have been pulled immediately.  But nooooooooo, he stayed in to give up a 2-run bomb to some dude named Sanchez. This team should be 6-3 at worst going into this series with the lowly Astros.  Instead we are 4-5 and its not looking good.  Unfortunately this season looks to me like it is lost already.  I just really don't understand Quade's game management.  He stinks.  This is not the minor leagues dude.  Winning actually does matter.  Getting guys work means nothing in this league.  I do not think he understands that John Grabow is not good.  He should be pitching in bull shit games.  I know Wood sucked up the joint yesterday, but if the Cubs have a lead I dont want to see anyone but Marshall Wood and Marmol.  I just do not like where this season is heading.  Quade gets an F from this guy so far.

Chet Steadman = Wally Backman

If anyone was curious about what I was like as the manager of the St. Viator Sophomore Baseball team in 2008 and 2009, I would have to choose my man Wally Backman.  While I do not know anything about Wally, I do know a little about myself, and I could not have found a better video of someone that emulated me in my coaching days more perfectly.  Without further interruption, Wally Backman.

Hello my friends...

The limo industry in Vancouver should be on the upswing as Patty Kane is back. As everyone very well knows, the Hawks slipped into the playoffs via the side door as the Stars failed to beat the Wild (Marty Havlat still loves Chicago). It's too bad that the Hawks couldn't pave their own way into the 8th spot with a win against Detroit, even though it proved to be a pretty entertaining game. Mikey Frolik got the party going with a goal in the 2nd only to be answered a minute later by Kronwall, and then followed up by another by Datsyuk. Kaner played like he was still hungover from partying the night before and Datsyuk was shredding the Hawks D. Drew Miller got a junk goal at the beginning of the 3rd putting the Wings up 3-1. At this point, it seemed like they were gonna lose the game until Seabiscuit dropped a bomb from the blue line to cut the lead to 1. Then the Hawk D broke down again as former Hawk draftee Dan Cleary put one past Crawford to go up 4-2. Duncs got one in to cut the deficit by 1 with 8 minutes left, and the Hawks pushed to try to tie the game up. They failed to convert a powerplay in the final 2:30 and couldn't come up with the 1 point needed to secure a spot. In the end, the Wild threw us a huge favor and the Hawks have a date with Bob Luongo just as I asked for.

Bulls won against the Magic without Dwight Howard. Didn't watch much of this game as I was committed to the chief and of course the insanity that was The Masters.

After the most boring "Moving Day" in Masters history, I was pleasantly surprised with probably the craziest Masters Sunday that I've ever watched. It was so open that at one point 7 different people had a share of the lead. Tiger got this baby popping off first with a 31 on the front. He absolutely slayed it. Birdies at 2, 3, 6, and 7. A very Tiger-esque eagle at 8. Then he capped it off with almost an impossible par save on 9. He was just one off the lead at the turn and had the look and demeanor as if he was gonna flip this tournament on its head. His back 9 wasn't as stellar as we hoped. Had a 3-putt bogey on 12, and only mustered out a par on 13. He stuffed his second shot on 15 to 5 feet, but missed his eagle putt that would have put him in solo 1st. Grabbed a birdie at 15 and then grinded out pars for the last 3 holes and in the end he finished tied for 4th. Some people will jump and say that Tiger is back, and I hope that is true. Golf is much more entertaining with him in the mix every Sunday. He made Masters Sunday incredibly entertaining, and I hope that continues throughout the year.


And then.....there was Rory. Everyone was wondering how the young 21 year old kid from Northern Ireland would be able to handle the pressure with owning the 54-hole lead at Augusta. For the first 9 holes he looked a little shaky but still had a 1 shot lead over Tiger (and Charl) and could possibly just grind out a winning round. But then the back 9 at Augusta reared her ugly head and crushed his hopes. Rory yanked his drive off 10 into the woods (get your chainsaw out), punched out from an herb garden for his 2nd, yanked a 3-metal back into the woods for 3, hit ANOTHER tree on 4, on the green on 5, and then 2-putted for a 7. Didn't end there for the young lad. Bogeyed 11, Double bogey on 12 (4-putts), drove the ball into the creek on 13 (still saved par), and bogeyed 15. Thanks for coming out Rory. Just an absolute brutal back 9 for the guy, almost feel bad for him. He was even able to give a classy immediate post-round interview with Peter Kostis and somehow didn't break down in tears. But he also highlighted his hair earlier this year and looked like an idiot, so I don't feel as bad.

Then there were the guys with funny accents. The boys from down under were in the mix down the stretch. Adam Scott, Jason Day, and Geoff Ogilvy were able to tame the back 9 and were dropping birdies almost at will. Scott almost had an ace at 16 and hit a bunch of huge putts (with a broomstick none-the-less). Day was right there with him finishing the round with back-to-back birdies to get to -12. Geoff Ogilvy birdied 5 straight holes to put him at -10 (t-4) and the other Aussies finished T-2. Pretty amazing seeing as this was Day's first time at Augusta (led the tournament in birdies with 23) and Scott pretty much fell from the face of the planet after being deemed the next big golfer a couple years ago. Hopefully we'll see more from these two going forward.

Meet Charl Schwartzel. Started the day with the chip-in birdie on 1 and then dropped an eagle on 3. He was tied with Tiger for 2nd and 1 back of Rory at the turn. Hung in there with 10 straight pars even after the collapse of Rory, Tiger's run up the leaderboard, and the Aussie's birdie barrage. It was then when Hot Charl dropped a deuce on the chest of the rest of the field and birdied the last 4 holes to win his first Green Jacket. He had a great combination of luck (holes 1 and 3) and played the best golf down the stretch. That's what you need to win at Augusta. He said that he felt completely comfortable out there. Easy to say when Phil is putting the jacket on you and Rory is balling his eyes out by himself.

Going into Sunday, I thought this was Rory's tournament to win. Turns out he didn't have the stones to hold the lead and it led to the most open Masters in history. Overall it was a very entertaining and intriguing tournament, bring on Congressional and the US Open.

Pre-Tournament Picks (Just happy they all made the cut)

• Philbo Baggins: -1 (T-27)
• Luke Donald: -10 (T-4)
• Stricks: -5 (T-11)
• Tiger: -10 (T-4)
• Bubba: +1 (T-38)
  

Cry Me A River

Between the Master's, Blackhawks and Bulls dominating yesterday's daytime TV rotation, I have a feeling most people missed this interview on ESPN. I stumbled upon it half way through with a sobbing Tom Brady struggling to get a word out and apologizing to the camera for letting his emotions get the best of him. I paused to let the interview play out because I thought for sure something serious had happened. These ESPN stories are always inspirational and depressing at the same time, so why would this be any different? Eventually Brady was able to gain his composure and says, "Then finally the Patriots called my name." Wait, what? This puddle of tears is about getting drafted in the 6th round and not the 3rd round? I get it, it sucks to be passed up by other teams and it's normal to hold a grudge against those teams but let's save the tears. Maurice Jones Drew did the same interview and talked about wearing the #32 because that's the number of teams that passed on him in the first round. MJD also talked about how he changed his last name in honor of his late grandfather that raised him and passed away during his final college season and he didn't shed a tear. News flash for Tom, you got the last laugh. You have more MVP's and Super Bowl trophies than all the QB's taken ahead of you combined and are a first ballot hall of famer so let's not get so dramatic here. Usually you hear people say that Tom Brady has it all being the star QB, having millions of dollars and and being married to a model but if you combine this with the hair, dance moves in Rio and man Uggs, you gotta start to question this guy.

P.S. In case you were wondering, the Bears had two 6th round draft picks and took WR Frank Murphy and K Paul Edinger, both who were drafted before Brady.

Today's episode was brought to you by the letter 'W'

BULLS CLINCH 1ST PLACE!!! HAWKS WIN AT DETROIT!!!!!!! SOX LOOK LIKE THEY MIGHT WIN TONIGHT, BUT WHO CARES IT'S ONLY THE 8TH GAME OF A LONG ASS SEASON!!!!! (I mean seriously, it's the home opener weekend and they can't even put 5,000 fans in the seats?!?!) CHICAGO SPORTS IS ON TOP OF THE WORRRRRRRRRLLLLLLDDDDDD!!!

Wait. What? Did he just? Where the f--k did that come from? TIGER WOODS IS 3 BACK?!?!?! DUDE BIRDIED HALF THE COURSE?!?!?! IS RACHEL UCHITEL IN GEORGIA?!?!?! HIDE YO KIDS, HIDE YO WIFE, AND HIDE YO HUSBANDS, CAUSE TIGER WOODS IS RAPING ERRRRRRRRYBODY OUT HERE!!!!!!

Source Code Review

Quantum Leap meets Ground Hog day. That is exactly what this movie is. Story goes like this. Army hero is chosen to save the city of Chi. They use a new method called "Source Code" to tap into the last brain functions of a deceased person. Basically they view a persons memory but are able to let someone act out the memory in anyway they choose. Not a lot of science behind this one but it doesn't really matter as its pretty obvious whats going on in the flick. So our hero, Jake Gyllenhaal (Harvard-Westlake's finest) relives this memory over and over again to find clues on who is looking to set off a massive dirty bomb before its too late! In the process he of course starts a little relationship with Michelle Monaghan (She purrtty) and that leads to a feel good ending. Felix from the new Bond movies is in it, I like that guy, would kinda like to listen to a book on tape with him doing the reading. It's also heavily filmed outside of Chicago in Glenbrook so all you homers can love that.

It's an average movie at best. In fact I'd describing it as not sucking, which really means its not good but you also wouldn't want to call it bad. Frankly I wouldn't spend $13 on this thing, especially this weekend when you got Jim Nantz to lull you in and out of sleep on Sunday at Augusta. Save this one for Netflix.

Verdict: 2 Cushies outta 5.

There are other sports going on????

Apparently Chairman Chet is trying to take my job. Nothing much else to note that he didn't cover. Rose was pretty damn efficient last night scoring 30 points. What was scarier was their lock-down defense. Noah was done early and didn't see a minute in the 4th quarter. So much for trying to fix the deficiencies with Boozer. Jo is probably still hurt with an ankle injury and it was good for BigSexy to see a lot of meaningful minutes as he will be Jo's backup come playoffs. It was noted that Thibs played a pretty short rotation last night with BigSexy/Korver/Brewer the only ones seeing a lot of time. Could be a sign that Thibs doesn't completely trust the "Bench Mob" in big game situations. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks. Bulls magic number is 1 for 1st place and they should be able to achieve that tonight in Cleveland against the bloated corpse named "B-Diddy". Should they somehow not manage to pull that off, hopefully they can do it against a Magic squad without Superman.

And now onto the Hawks. They're in Detroit tonight. Ugh. Why does their postseason future come down to 2 games against the mutha f-ing Redwings? After a huge OT goal by the Captain on Wednesday against the Blues, the Hawks eliminated the Flames chances of playing anymore hockey. Hawks have a 2 point lead ahead of the Stars (they play the 'lanche again tonight after beating them last night) and are 2 points behind the Ducks (they play the Kings tonight). Big time players come through in big time moments, and this my friends is the behemoth. Thank god Sharpie is back because they'll need him to come up big tonight. They just need to get into the postseason, then anything can happen. Personally, I'd like to see them as the 8th seed. Why? Because they own Bob Luongo. If the Hawks oust the #1 seeded Canucks for the 3rd year in a row, Bob should just hang up the pads and go back to the backwoods of French Canada.

As for my Masters picks, they were awful. The way Tiger is playing, he might not even play tomorrow. I am mush.

In other sporting news, this is a ridiculous goal by Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic across half of the pitch in a Champions League match against Schalke. Click the link, you won't be sorry.

Bulls Beatdown

That was not even fair.  D-Rose said he thought the Bulls were going in the wrong direction.  Well that assessment was the recipe for a great performance by the Bulls.  D-Rose was awesome per usual, and Lieutenant Deng had a second half to remember.  The Bulls made the Celtics look old.  Does anyone else love the fact that the Bulls do not need to guard Rondo until he gets to the free throw line.  You could have done the same thing to Derrick last year.  This is why D is so revered in this town right now.  He took the time and made himself a complete all around player.  Rose was phenomenal last night and proved why he is the MVP.  He hit some huge 3's and had some insane drives to the basket as usual.  That's enough gushing about D. I feel like I could do that for hours on end.  I just love him. its getting a little wierd.  Anyways, did anyone else miss the fact that John Lucas III and Janero Pargo sit on the end of the Bulls bench.  Thats just awesome.  I mean I hope during the playoffs when John Lucas II is in the stands they show him every other second like they did when JL3 was lighting it up with Tony Allen at Okie State.  I mean JL2 got more air time than the actual game.   Nonetheless, this Bulls team would not be complete without a guy on the bench with a famous father that we can show during playoff games in Chicago instead of Jim F'ing Belushi and John Cusack.  I'm done with those two. To conclude. Bulls 'SHIP

Edwin Jackson : Filthy

          
The Sox opened up in strong fashion yesterday jumping on David Price early for a couple of runs and not turning back.  Edwin Jackson was phenomenal setting a White Sox opening day record for strikeouts.  He had 13 k's and only gave up 4 hits and 1 walk.  While some questioned this trade for the White Sox when it occurred, it really seems to be working out for both sides so far.  Both Jackson and Hudson have been fantastic since switching teams.  Hudson was electric at the end of last season turning in a great second half with the Dbacks.  And Jackson was solid down the stretch last year as well, but he has started this season on absolute fire.  His stuff has been filthy.  On another note, Juan Pierre still stinks.  He could hit .400 and steal 200 bases and I would still think he stinks so anyone who thinks they can change my mind please go ahead.  I find it so funny to hear Sox fans who ripped this guy when he was with the Cubs give him so much praise now.  His numbers are identical to when he was a Cub.  Next:  Adam Dunn is tough as nails.  This man wants to play tomorrow despite having an appendectomy.  Large balls.  Thats all I have to say about that.  Oh yea, and Johnny Damon is hitting .053.  Thats pretty bad, even for this early in the season.  More on the Bulls Later.

Get out of my stadium

Is there any doubt I am like the Santa Clause of blogging? I don't come around very often, but whenver I do it is with a sweet gift that is without a doubt going to brighten your day. This little gem is a personal fave. You wonder why Cubs fans get a bad rep? Absolutely hilarious.

Opening Day: The Cubs biggest fan from WBEZ on Vimeo.

Why so serious!?

Uhhh. People from Iran Looking At the Cheese

What's the deal with that? The last thing the Cheese needs is Ahmadinejad checking the site.  I mean you have to wonder what in God's name anything written on the cheese is possibly interesting to an Iranian. You would think that our free wheeling and dealing here at the cheese would not relate well with Iranian culture, but who knows, maybe we can be the voice of the Iranian people who are living under a dictator/psychopath who does not believe that the Holocaust even took place.  Iranians unite against lunacy in power. Chairman Chet is with you. Bring it Ahmadinejad.

How Bout them White Sox and why Does Everyone get Hurt

So that was quite a comback against the Mexicutioner.  It definitely did not help my fantasy team as I saw my team ERA sky rocket after his horrendous outing. Carlos Quentin is playing out of his mind this year.  I mean absolutely out of his mind.  Mark Buehrle did not have a very good outing whatsoever, but got bailed out by his team's great comeback.  Even more remarkable was that the rally was all after two outs.  The Sox bullpen did a good job holding the Royals down offensively after Buehrle left the game.  Congrats on a nice win.

The Sox open up against the Rays today with Edwin Jackson on the hill.  The Rays have been awful this year. Longoria is out.  I look for the Sox to take 3 out of 4 this weekend against the Rays. David Price on the mound today so this could be the one they lose, but I still like them to win the series.

Randy Wells and Cashner on the DL.  Not good, especially when Ryan Dempster continues to get rocked.  He needs to figure it out and figure it out fast. To start 0-2 with an ERA over 7 against the Pirates and Diamondbacks who stink is not good.  The Cubs have gotten 4 great starts and 2 horrible starts.  Those 2 starts belong to Dump.  He better figure it out fast otherwise this team does not stand a chance this year.  This team will struggle with Cashner and Wells out.  Just bad bad bad.

A tradition unlike any other...

No, I'm not talking about Butler shooting 18% from the field. I'm talking about the Masters. Azaleas. The Eisenhower Tree. Amen Corner. The Green Jacket. Fried chicken and collard greens. Gives you the chills doesn't it? Okay maybe I'm not as captivating as Jim Nantz, but you shouldn't need his silky-smooth commentating to get pumped for the greatest golf tournament of the year. Screw baseball and opening day, this is what signals Spring for me. Its the most pristine looking course you'll ever see and the tradition behind the tournament is unparalleled. I'm gonna take a step away from the Bulls/Hawks to give you a preview of this years tournament and my favorites to put on some oddly-colored formal wear come Sunday.

Phil Mickelson is public enemy number one in my book. I don't know if I can adequately express how much I abhor this man on this website. Chairman Chet will probably try and revoke my writing privileges. What's even worse is how much the media is slurping him and his chances of winning this weekend. Just because he won last year and the Shell Houston Open last weekend (against a mediocre field) doesn't mean we can start re-fitting him for the Green Jacket just yet. I don't care that he is the most liked player on tour and I certainly don't care that he is finally ranked higher than Tiger for the first time since he hired his first escort (1997). His extensive knowledge of the course and ability to hit a ball really far and into a small hole will most likely put him into contention on Sunday but hopefully he won't win.

Luke Donald didn't make the cut last year, but he has been really golfing his ball this year. The Evanston resident is in the top 10 in scrambling and putting this year. Both are keys to win any tournament, but will be especially needed this week. He won the WGC Match Play tourney against world #1 Marty Kaymer earlier this year and was a rock for the Europeans in the Ryder Cup. The man is consistent as they come, he just hasn't been able to get over the hump when it comes to majors. Even though a euro hasn't won at Augusta since 1999 and he won the Par-3 contest yesterday, (the winner has never put on the Green Jacket in the same year) I think there is a good chance he'll be in the mix on Sunday.

You can't talk about consistency without mentioning Stricks. A favorite of Squints, (you may remember him from posts such as his introduction to the cheese and....his 2nd post) I however also dislike this man. My reasoning is three-fold: 1.) he is from Wisconsin, 2.) he went to U of I, and 3.) he cries after every tournament he wins. All valid arguments obviously. Stricks is #1 in putting this year (no surprise) and that will certainly come in handy if Augusta's greens are as fast as they are normally. You can guarantee that the waterworks will be flowing if he puts on the Green Jacket.

I wonder how much weight bitch tits Phil can curl. Anyone who knows LingLing the BBall Panda knows that I am camp Tiger Woods. Always have, always will be. Ian Poulter went on record as saying that Eldrick won't finish in the top 5 this week. Idiot. Tiger's life was in shambles and didn't play a tournament last year before going to Augusta. He tied for 4th. Why? Because Tiger knows this course like the backside of a B-list pornstar. He knows every curve, undulation, and every spot to put his ball to give him the best shot at getting it in the hole (not enough corny puns?). Granted, he is re-vamping his swing and hasn't been playing well at all this year. But you'd be stupid to think he isn't going to do well this week. Tom Rinaldi pretty much asked Tiger in an interview if he thinks he is ever going to win again. Tiger wanted to backhand him across the face. Screw you Rinaldi.

Other than Tiger, my actual pick to win the tourney is Bubba Watson. He has only played at Augusta twice and his best finish was a T-20, but he's playing well over the past year. He won his first tourney in 2010 and was in a 3-man playoff in the 2010 PGA. He's probably not on anyone's list to do well this week and I'll be first to admit this pick was made purely on bias. But this course favors those who can hit the ball right to left. Guess what, that is right up the big swinging lefty's wheelhouse. Bubba is one of the longest hitters on tour and is in top 3 in GIR. When you're hitting greens in reg on the reg, you're cashing in on the reg. I truly believe this man can contend for the jacket, what I don't know is if he can keep his emotions in check while in contention over the weekend. He showed guts during the PGA last year, we'll see if he can use that experience to his advantage this week.

Coverage starts at 2PM on ESPN, 7AM if you're lucky enough to have the Golf Channel.

No Tourney, No Problem

Yesterday someone asked if Jimmy the Greek was still going to continue making picks even though the NCAA Tournament is over. Although it would be easy to sit back and count the winnings we made over the last month, I think it's only appropriate that as long as basketball is being played, I'll keep providing you with winners. My first pick is actually a futures bet for the NBA Championship and it's the Oklahoma City Thunder at +1800 to win it all. Before you choke on your Manny's sandwich, hear me out. First of all, I don't think the Thunder have the best chance at winning it all, simply they are the team that offers the most value. The Lakers +250, Heat +300, Bulls +400, Celtics +425, and Spurs +600 are teams that all have a decent chance at winning it all but you could make the argument that they are all at fair value. The top 5 seeds in the West are pretty much locked in so as of right now the Thunder's road to the Finals would most likely look like the Nuggets, Spurs, and Lakers. With out going into too much detail, the Thunder just beat the Nuggets in their first matchup since the Carmelo trade and to be honest, the Nuggets had no one to match up with Durant. The Spurs have looked old and pedestrian over the last month and with Tim Duncan a shell of his old self, I think the Spurs will have trouble matching up with the Thunder over a seven game series. The Lakers are better than the Thunder but seven times better when you consider the odds? I don't think so. The Thunder played a competitive opening series with the Lakers in last years playoffs and if you through in another year of experience for the Thunder and add a legitimate center in Kendrick Perkins, I'll take the Thunder and hope for the minor upset. As far as the finals go, I won't break down all of the matchups against the Bulls, Heat and Celtics but as a gambler, I'll take any team that is getting +1800 in a championship game or series.

Turco Rules

So apparently Marty Turco made a few wagers with a Canadiens fan last night during the game. After the Habs took a 1-0 lead, the fan bet Turco that the Blackhawks wouldn't score the rest of the game (pretty stupid bet knowing that the Hawks are 4th in the league in scoring and there was still a period and a half remaining). Minutes later Kaner put one in the net and the fan promptly slid a $5 bill through the glass which read "Habs rule". Turco, who apparently is financially struggling after signing a one year, $1.3 million dollar contract, gladly accepted the $5 bill and went on his way. After the third period expired, the fan offered Turco 5 to 1 odds that the Canadiens would win and since Turco was playing with the house's money, he accepted. After the Habs scored the game winner, Turco handed the fan a wad of $5 bills which included the original $5 bill that had "Habs rule" crossed out and instead read "Turco Rules".

First off, I think this awesome. Not just as a compulsive gambler, but as a fan of all sports. Just like I appreciated the extended conversation between Mike D'Antoni and a Knicks fan on whether the Knicks should've fouled at the end of regulation, I love the interaction between athletes/coaches and fans. Obviously these fans spent a pretty penny on those tickets, whether it's floor seats at Madison Square Garden or glass seats at Bell Centre. As long as the fans aren't being idiots, saying things they would never say if a security guard or a sheet of glass wasn't between them and the player they are talking too, I'd love to see more interaction between the athletes and the fans. The only question I have is how come Turco has a wad of $5 dollar bills on the bench? Are there pockets in goalie pads and if so, does Turco carry his wallet in case he wants to buy some popcorn and watch the Corey Crawford show? And although I love that he responded to the "Habs rule", lets not get selfish here Marty. Last I checked you haven't started in the last 24 games so maybe next time you should go with "Hawks rule" or "Turco used to rule".

Are the playoffs here yet?

Well that was ugly. Bullies almost shit the bed last night against the vacation-bound Suns. After being up by as much as 22 in the 3^rd quarter, the Suns whittled that lead down to 2 points in the 4^th quarter. The corpse known as Vince Carter decided to give his best “Weekend at Bernie’s” impression and go off for 23 points and at one point converted a huge 4-point play. This guy is a fucking joke. He bitched and moaned his way out of Toronto and admitted to not trying so that he could get traded (he is still vehemently booed every time he touches the ball at the Air Canada Center). Despite his languid playing style and “off-and-on” desire to win, the guy has a pretty good ability to fill the bucket. DRose put up less than stellar numbers (19 points on 6 of 15 shooting, goo), but still came up with the goods coming down the stretch. He hit a tough shot going to the rim for a 3-point play and stuck a 17ft jumper in G.Hill’s face. Joakim put up a 12 and 4 in his first game back from a sprained ankle and the Booz added 12 points himself. The frontcourt tandem looked like they were becoming a little more comfortable with each other as Boozer had some good passes to Noah for easy buckets. The lapses in defense are hard to overlook especially after losing a 22-point lead. Maybe there is truth to the talk about the Bulls having a hard time playing smaller and quicker line-ups that can stretch the floor. With that said, the Bulls were still able to buckle down and win the game at all costs and they still remain in 1^st with a shot for the #1 record (although somewhat a long shot). Overall I think this was a good win against a good team that would be in the playoffs if they played in the East. Bulls play Thursday against the C’s.

To perpetuate the ugliness, the Hawks lost their 2^nd in a row to the Habs in OT last night. Both goalies came up huge throughout the game. Crawford came up with a bunch of ridiculous saves. I thought that Pat Foley’s head was going to explode mid-broadcast. Carey Price somehow kept the game tied at 1 a piece with some huge saves in the 3^rd frame. He had some fantastic stops during a Hawks power play and stoned Ryan Johnson on a shorty try. Toews was put into the sin bin on a questionable call 30 seconds into the OT period. The 1-man advantage was enough for the Habs as PK Subban rifled one right were Mom keeps the peanut butter. Hawks are still in 8^th, 2 points ahead of the Stars and Flames (who have one less game to play) and they host the Blues at the UC tonight. Just like every game in the previous 2.5 months, tonight’s is as paramount for the Hawks playoff future if not more. Oilers at Flames and Sharks at Ducks tonight, both games are also important. Hopefully the Hawks are focused on the team at hand and not scoreboard watching. Brows may not go tonight as he suffered an injury last night, thus debilitating our forward corps even more so with Bolland and Sharpie still watching games from the box seats. Madhouse on Madison indeed….

Master's preview tomorrow....

Who Plays SS for the Royals????

After watching the last few innings of the Sox game, maybe the Royals are not the worst team in baseball.  Alcides Escobar made one of the sickest plays on an Alex Rios grounder in the hole that I have ever seen. The play was made with such ease.  I mean the throw was just insanely on target and his release was so damn quick.  Freaking awesome.  Next note. Gavin Floyd was decent, but when you get a 4 spot in the top of the first for support, you need to hold that lead.  There is nothing worse than when your team gives you some nice support and then you give it all right back.  Next, the balls that Butler and Gordon hit still have not landed.  I mean they were crushed.  Alex Gordon might finally be starting to figure the game of baseball out.  This guy was deemed bust and may still be, but he is off to a hot start nonetheless.  Note : What the hell was Lillibridge doing getting picked off in the 11th.  That was just stupid. stupid stupid.  Where's your head at.  dumb.  Chris Sale, what the hell. I give you all this credit for your performance and so far this year you have done nothing but laid an egg.  I mean how are people getting hits off him.  His stuff is filthy. Just don't get it. Anyways.

Cubs Over .500 For First Time since 2009

                                                                       The Truth
Well, how about Andrew Cashner? That was a pretty damn good first start. Now let's hope his arm is not dead.  Few thoughts from the game : Starlin Castro who is the youngest player in the National League may by the end of this season being the best hitting short stop in the NL.  Maybe I am a getting a little to excited about this kid's hot start but he spends his summers in the gaps.  Its insane how major league ready this kid is at the plate.  His fielding is still a bit raw, but he made some extremely athletic plays in the field today and played a phenomenal game.   Next Thought; Shark needs to go.  Samardzija is a joke.  He is just terrible.  After 3.5 years this dude still cannot find home plate.  Cubs bullpen without Wood and Marmol in it, not good. Other thoughts, Colvin played a pretty decent 1B today.  Not to mention he hit a 2 run homer and drove in another run.  pretty solid fill in for CP.  Ahhhhh. what else. Marlon Byrd finally had a good game and really came through in the 7th after the bullpen gave up a 3-run lead in the 7th. Still don't like him in the 3 hole, but nice game Marlon.  No real other thoughts. Kinda shocked Quade let Jimmy Russell hit with the bags loaded but thats what happen when you play in tight ball games and your bullpen gets a lot of work.  Its all good though. Cubs over .500...finally.

Chlorophyll....More Like Borophyll

That had to be the worst national championship game that I have ever watched in my 20 years or so of watching this tournament.  Butler, who I adore, was God awful.  UConn was not much better but for the first time in this tournament, Butler could not beat a more talented team than themselves. In every game of this tourney Butler played a team that probably had more talent with ODU maybe being the exception.  Butler played them tough in the first half and Mack hit that big 3 at the buzzer, but after hitting their first shot of the 2nd half, they were ICE.  They could not make anything until there was 4 minutes left in the game and by that time the game was ova. Brad Stevens. I love you. Tonight was just not your Butlers night.  They had absolutely no answer for Jeremy Lamb.  I do not know how it was even possible for that kid to go scoreless in the first half. Anyways. congrats to Kemba Walker who really seems to be an all around great kid. graduating from college in 3 years and just being a rock for UConn this year.  Seriously awesome stuff Kemba. Good luck in the league next year. Hope this one stays in the rafters for UConn because even though there coach is a dirt bag, this team really had one hell of a run the last 12 games of the season.

Well Done Randy

 Well, that was one hell of an outing from Randy after giving up a HR to the first batter of the day.  Apparently, he wasn't drunk for once. Randy was able to pitch his way out of trouble all day and got some big ground balls and strike outs in key situations.  Randy kept his sinker down for the most part and threw some great change ups.  When Randy handed it off to the bullpen, they were able to battle and gave up nothing again.  In the 8th, Kerry Wood pitched a great inning.  Starlin Castro made an error by being a bit lackadaisical on a ground ball hit by Justin Upton and Upton was able to beat it out.  The K Kid got some big outs after loading the bases. He got a big 1-out strikeout with the bags juiced and then got the last out on a groundball to Bake.  Marmol of course walked the opening hitter in the 9th, but calmed down after that to close it down. 

Providing the pop today was Al Soriano again.  It's great to see him getting off to a hot start.  All 4 of his hits have been run producing hits.  He has got to be the scariest 7 hitter in baseball.  And yes I know he is the highest paid 7 hitter in baseball as well.  Carlos Pena also played a real nice game today defensively and offensively.  He hit the ball hard every time he was up today except for his AB in the 7th.  Anyways, lets see if the Cubs sticks can keep giving the pitching staff adequate support and that Cash can go out there and get some outs.  If the Cubs can win tomorrow, it will be the first time since 2009 that they were over. 500 at any point in the season. 

Screw The Books Pick of the Day

I'll be honest, I'm not looking to mortgage the house on tonight's game but being that it's a National Championship game, I feel obligated to put a little bit of coin on this game. Plus I found some sucker to take Kentucky -2 on Saturday so I'm playing with the house's money. With that being said, I am going to lean towards Connecticut at -3. For those keeping track, the spread originally opened as high as -4.5 and has been on a steady climb down, meaning most of the money is being put on the Butler. You know Jimmy The Greek likes to fade the public. Being that it's a title game, lets take this to the next level and take an in-depth look at the matchups...

Coaching: I read some where that Butler has a distinct advantage in this category. I found that interesting because although Brad Stevens is a great in-game coach and has been to back to back title games, he is going against a two time National Champion in Jim Calhoun. Something to think about, if Calhoun wins tonight he will join the ranks of Wooden, Rupp, Kzryzewski, and Knight as the only coaches to win 3 or more National Titles. Not a bad party to be invited too. I'd be willing to concede that this matchup is a wash but refuse to put Stevens ahead of Calhoun until he wins a ring.

Superstars: It's no surprise that Kemba Walker will be the best player on the court tonight but I think Shelvin Mack is a close second. Kemba does have the advantage when it comes to creating his own shot and getting to the basket and I think that is were he separates himself from Mack. As far as Matt Howard goes, I'm not sure anyone in the country can match the intensity and hustle that he brings to a game and tonight won't be any different. With that in mind, UConn does have the bodies to throw at him and after watching the UConn bigs contain Josh Harrelson Saturday night (6 points and 4 rebounds), I'm confident they will be able to limit the impact that Howard has on tonight's game. That leaves UConn's Jeremy Lamb who I think will be the X factor tonight. At 6'8 with a 7'4 wingspan, he is going to be a matchup nightmare for the Bulldogs. If they try to guard him with a bigger player, Lamb will have a distinct advantage when it comes to getting to the basket. If they put a smaller, quicker guard on him, he will have no problem shooting over the top. You may see Steven's play a lot of zone to try to negate this advantage but that will leave Kemba with plenty of open shots and if he gets hot early, look out.

Bacon Better

Well, looks like put the hex on my sleeper Cy Young pick yesterday John Danks. Sorry about the lack of run support John.  With the exception of Alex Rios, the whole Sox lineup is killing the baseball.  Hitting .324 in the opening weekend is pretty damn good no matter who you are playing against.  And how about CQ. 7 RBIs already and going 6 for 11 in his first ABs of the year will play and 4 of those are extra base hits.  Each starting pitcher this weekend had pretty solid outings for the Sox and it was hard to judge the bullpen because none of them threw in meaningful situations. 

Another nice thing to see was the hot start that Gordon Beckham got off to.  Sox fans have to be excited about that considering the horrible start he got off to last year. I think it took him two months to get 4 hits last year.  I know I am not a Sox fans, but if I was I would be ecstatic about the start the team as a whole has gotten off to.  The Sox trouble in past years has been losing to teams they should beat.  For the Sox to go into Cleveland the opening weekend of the year and beat them like a drum twice in the first two games of the years is great news for this team so far.  You have to win every series against teams like the Indians and Royals. That is how you win a division and the Sox doing that on the road in the first series of the season is big.

Really Cubs....

Well, the Cubs let one go yesterday and it was pretty hard to stomach.  Not only did they lose this game in the 9th, but they beat themselves which made it even worse.  Starlin Castro made a horrible play in the 9th. Instead of just eating the ball, he threw it wildly to first allowing the go ahead run to score.  He was not charged with an error, but it was definitely an error in his judgment.  A ball that went no further than 80 feet from home plate scored two runs.  Brutal. And dont ya know it, Marmol rolls a double play ball on the next pitch.  Then to make matters even worse in the bottom half, Marlon Byrd, with runners on first and third after the cubs caught a huge break on a ronny cedeno error, grounds into a weak double play. That dude needs to be out of the 3 hole today. He is a solid player, but not a 3 hitter in the major leagues. Couple positives though: Colvin's play in the 8th was awesome.  Showed some real arm strength and accuracy. Two days in a row now, Soriano has come through with a huge hit which is nice to see.  Bullpen has been awesome.  Castro is killing the ball, and last but not least, Matt Garza looked real good. I know he gave up 12 hits, but they were all singles.  He also struck out 12 and pounded the strike zone all game.  Now all we need to do team is learn how to beat the fricken Pirates. 

I want home court!

Another great weekend for the Bulls and their quest for home court advantage for the playoffs. Detroit attempted their best at an April Fools joke by playing tough on Friday night until DRose foiled their plans. Per usual, the MVP candidate took the game over in the final minutes to seal the deal. Rose came up big with some key dimes and hit a few huge FT's to escape the Palace of Auburn Hills with a 5 point win. Rose had 27 points and 7 helpers while Boozer came up big with 22 points, 8 boards, and 7 dimes himself. The Pistons also honored Dennis Rodman at halftime by retiring his No. 10 jersey. Unfortunately he did not wear the outfit above (contrary to popular belief, this is not Chairman Chet on Halloween 2010). He was and will be one of the premiere defenders to ever play. He was the only one who could guard MJ, Magic, and Larry Legend on a consistent basis in the 80's and early 90's. He won consecutive DPOY awards, had 7 rebounding titles, and won 5 championships. He obviously played a huge part in the Bulls second three-peat. He is 10x better than Ron Artest will ever be, but never punched a dude in the stands (he only kicked a cameraman in the nuts, totally different). Hard to believe that as great of a player he was, the man enjoys dressing up like a chick.

On to the next one. Toronto marched into the UC on Saturday after last beating the Bulls after the All-Star game. DRose took that to heart and made it a point to make sure they didn't lose again. Another great performance with 36 points and 10 dimes and Boozer had 18 and 10. With the absence of JoNoah, Boozer is playing like he has almost all year. Kind of weird that he seems to flourish when Noah doesn't play because it's not like Jo is taking shots away from Booz. It most definitely has to be a chemistry thing between the two. Or he is still distraught about Prince destroying his Hollywood mansion. Very imperative that they figure that out as the regular season comes to a close. The game also produced this defensive highlight as DRose welcomed JimmyJohns back to the Chi since he got shipped North of the border (wish this was the Stacey King version).



Bulls are 2.5 games ahead of the Heatles in the East, and 1.5 games behind the Spurs for home court. They play again Tuesday at home against the Nash's and have a biggie against the Celtics Thursday.