By George Ofman
High energy, second chances points, scoring in the paint, smart lineups, all the starters in double figures, good defense . . . wait. Stop! This can’t be the Bulls? It is! How about that? In beating the Spurs on opening night, the Bulls resembled a half-decent NBA team. Yeah, they clanked some outside shots but they beat San Antonio inside. Now that’s a little more like it.
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Four of the Bulls next six games are @Boston, @Miami, @Cleveland and Denver. And on November 17th, they begin their annual circus trip including games against the Lakers, Portland, Utah and Denver again. The early portion of the Bulls schedule has been a disaster since Michael Jordan left. Save for the strike shortened ’98-’99, they have managed to produce a winning record only once by the time the silly circus trip ended. Last year they were 8-9. Now that’s progress. Overall, the Bulls record through the circus trip since the ’99-’00 season is 32-103. OY!
By the way, Ben Gordon came off the bench in the Pistons opener and scored 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting including four three-pointers.
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Good luck to Tom Ricketts, who got the keys to Wrigley field and the Cubs. First things first; drive Milton Bradley as far away from here as possible!
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Here’s one rumor; a Milton Bradley for Pat Burrell Trade. Burrell can’t play the outfield dead and is coming off an injury-plagued season at Tampa. And if the Cubs believe Kosuke Fukudome belongs in right, there’s no way Burrell plays center. Burrell is a DH who has $16 mil left over the next two years. Bradley has 22. But if your intention is to rid yourself of Bradley, you find a way to be creative.
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The Braves are looking for a hitter and might deal either Javier Vazquez or Derek Lowe to get him. Does Jim Hendry have Frank Wren on speed dial?
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The White Sox re-signed hitting coach Greg Walker. His biggest project: Alex Rios. His second biggest: avoid comparisons to Rudy Jaramillo.
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Tommie Harris finally practiced on a Wednesday. But he gets paid every day of the week!
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After watching the hit laid on Jonathan Toews over and over and the eventual concussion he suffered, I get the feeling he might not play for a while, like maybe another few weeks. Teammate Ben Eager suffered one October 3rd and hasn’t played since. Brent Seabrook also suffered a concussion the same night Toews did but got on the ice last night. Safe to say this could be a slight migraine for the Hawks
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Twitter me this: when does incessant twittering becoming annoying to the point you want to twitter the world to stop twittering, at least for a few minutes?
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Scottie Pippen believes the Lakers can match the record 72 wins the Bulls achieved during the ’95-’96 season. Bet you anything if they get to 71, Michael Jordan will unretire and play for the opposition.
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The Tribune’s Dan Pompei notes that the 11 times Jay Cutler’s teams were behind by two touchdowns, they lost every game. So a word to the wise: do not attach the word cardiac and Cutler in the same sentence.
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I was on the air November 1st, 1999, the day Walter Payton died. I delivered the breaking news on WSCR. I took a deep breath and then announced what all of us were dreading. We had known for months Payton was suffering from bile duct cancer and his days were numbered. Still, it was an immensely sobering task to have read that release.
Payton is among the greatest athletes to play in any sport and if he doesn’t rank first among Chicago pros, then he’s awfully close. I was there when he broke the all-time rushing record and there for his last game when he simply sat at his locker and said nothing to anyone.
He was as affable off the field as he was intense on it. And he was a noted prankster. Like many others in our field, I was the recipient of his playful pinch on the butt on several occasions. Hopefully, the statue of “Sweetness” will be unveiled either at or very near Soldier Field in the next few weeks
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George Ofman, an original member of The Score and a veteran of NPR, has covered more than 3,500 sporting events over the course of his career. Comments welcome.
Posted on October 30, 2009